Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from:

Cllr Jacqui Lay & Cllr Ian McLennan

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2021.

The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 21 September 2021 were presented, it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Cllr Gavin Grant noted that as he was also a member of Malmesbury Town Council, he would not take part in the discussion or vote during consideration of St Paul Malmesbury Without area proposals, in his capacity as a Committee Member, but instead would speak and if appropriate answer any factual questions in his role as a Malmesbury Town Councillor.

Cllr Ian Thorn noted that as he was also a member of Calne Town Council he would not take part in the discussion or vote during consideration of Calne Without area proposals, in his capacity as a Committee Member, but instead would speak and if appropriate answer any factual questions as a Local Member for Calne Town, and not as the Calne Town Council representative.

To reecive any announcements through the Chair.

Statements
If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this
agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.

Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further
clarification.

Questions
To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such
questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 1 February 2022 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on 3 February 2022. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No questions or statements had been received within the timeframe set out in the agenda.

The Chairman noted that public speakers would be invited to address the Sub-Committee at the start of each agenda item.

To receive a report from the Monitoring Officer on proposals to change the name of the parishes of Biddestone and Charlton.

The Sub-Committee considered the requests for a Parish name change under S75 of the Local Government Act 1972, as set out in the report attached to the agenda.

The Committee discussed the report and the responses which had been received, as well as the reasoning provided for each request. They agreed with the reasoning provided for each change and agreed to recommend Council amend the parish names accordingly.

It was,

Resolved:

To recommend Council approve the following parish name changes:

1.    The Parish of Biddestone be changed to the Parish of Biddestone & Slaughterford;

2.    The Parish of Charlton be changed to the Parish of Charlton St Peter;

3.    The Joint Parish Council of Charlton and Wilsford be changed to the Joint Parish Council of Charlton St Peter and Wilsford

To receive a report from the Monitoring Officer on the ongoing Community
Governance Review.

Public Participation

Mr Ioan Rees, the organiser of a petition, spoke in support of the formation of a new parish of Derry Hill & Studley.

Mr Keith Robbins as a petitioner spoke in support of the formation of a new parish of Derry Hill & Studley.

The Chairman presented a report detailing all of the gathered information received during the initial stages of the Community Governance Review, including details of responses to an online survey and details of electorate projections, parish council views and notes from public meetings.

The Committee then discussed the areas under review and the various proposals which had been received along with public and parish views on those proposals. The Committee debated each area and agreed draft recommendations to be consulted upon, along with reasons for each recommendation.

Beechingstoke

Following the online meetings, online survey, and letters which had been sent to all residents in Beechingstoke, several people had made expressions of interest in putting themselves forward to become a parish councillor and to re-form a temporary parish council.

The Local Member, Cllr Oatway QPM, had offered to sit on the parish council and provide his support in its formation. It was noted that the Monitoring Officer could temporarily appoint members to a parish council where one was absent.

The Committee felt that the recent local interest to revive a parish council should be supported, and therefore agreed to conclude the process at this stage. It was noted that should the parish council revival not be successful, the Committee would then be able to undertake a further review for Beechingstoke at a later date.

Calne Area

The Committee discussed the proposals which had been submitted by petitioners, Calne Town Council, Compton Bassett Parish Council, Hilmarton Parish Council and Bremhill Parish Council. It discussed each parish within the Calne area in turn, including those who had not submitted any specific proposals, reviewing the governance arrangements against the statutory criteria for community governance reviews.

The Committee was persuaded that significant changes were appropriate to reflect the identity and interests of the local communities, and provide more effective and convenient local governance, and made recommendations for each parish as detailed fully in the Draft Recommendations and summarised in the resolution. In particular, it considered that many parts of Calne Without would be more appropriately transferred to other parishes, and accordingly that the remaining part of the parish should be renamed to reflect its identity.

Malmesbury and St Paul Malmesbury without

The Committee discussed the proposals which had been submitted by Malmesbury Town Council and St Paul Malmesbury Without Parish Council. The Committee also considered the updated information relating to discussions between the parish councils on possible options.

The Committee discussed the parishes at length and determined that the current arrangements particularly around the Burton Hill and Cowbridge area, being a built-up urban area, did not reflect the identity or interests of the communities. They reviewed both parishes in full, including their relationship with surrounding parishes, and made recommendations as detailed fully  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 19 May 2022 (date may be subject to change).

The next meeting is 31 May 2022.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.