Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from:

Cllr Jacqui Lay and Cllr Ernie Clark

The Committee noted that Councillor’s Ian McLennan and Paul Oatway were in attendance virtually (non-voting).

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 3 April 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 April 2024 were presented for consideration, it was;

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a correct record.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

There were no announcements.

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 3speakers 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 29 April 2024 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 1 May 2024. 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 statements or questions were submitted.

To receive a report from the Director – Legal and Governance.

The Chairman presented a report on the consultation of the Additional Draft Recommendations agreed at the last meeting on 3 April 2024.

The Consultation ran from 10 April to 5 May relating to relating to internal boundaries in Melksham, and for the boundary at Southwick and North Bradley parishes.

For each recommendation the Chairman along with officers presented summaries of the responses to the consultation and issues that had been raised, before the Committee discussed the available options and determined what action to take.

Recommendation 13 – Melksham

Recommendation 13 was made following a request by Melksham Town Council to consider an anomaly in Coronation Road, where it appeared the opposite sides of the street were in different divisions.

The Draft Recommendation was to move the boundary to unify both sides of Coronation Road within one division.All residents proposed to move from one Melksham Town ward to another were written to directly.

No responses to the consultation were received, however Melksham Town Council had requested the review.

The Committee agreed to make a Final Recommendation in line with the draft proposal.

Recommendation 14 North Bradley and Southwick

Recommendation 14 was made following a request by North Bradley Parish Council to consider an anomaly relating to the boundary line between North Bradley and Southwick parishes, around the areas of Scotland and Ireland which appeared to run through the middle of the settlement.

Both parish councils were consulted and all of the residents in the area currently divided between Southwick and North Bradley were written to on two occasions.

In total, 3 responses were received, one from a resident in Southwick who agreed with the proposal, one from North Bradley Parish Council, also in agreement and a further representation arguing the Committee should defer making a recommendation at this time, and undertake a fuller review at a later date, noting in particular the impact of recent planning appeal decisions.

The Committee was satisfied the recommendation was in accordance with the statutory criteria, and that if there were any late objections these could be raised at Full Council. It considered the identified anomaly could be addressed even if a fuller review were to take place on other issues in future years.

At close of discussion, it was;

Resolved:

To delegate to the Director, Legal and Governance, in consultation with the Chairman, the preparation of a detailed Final Recommendations document for consideration by Full Council, and/or preparation of any Additional Draft Recommendations for consultation and the details of that consultation.

To note the date of the next scheduled meeting, if needed, as 26 June 2024.

If a future meeting was required, the date was confirmed as 26 June 2024.

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

There were no urgent items.