Full Council
Manage the strategic delivery of all of the council’s activities.
Macclesfield Town Council Full Council
Macclesfield Town Council Notice of Meeting
6th December 2022
To Chair Cllr Fiona Wilson and Councillors Sarah Bennett-Wake, David Edwardes, Alift Harewood-Jones, Mike Hutchison, Janet Jackson, Sandy Livingstone, Neil Puttick, Lloyd Roberts, Ruth Thompson, Mick Warren and Chris Wilcock.
You are hereby summoned to attend a meeting of
Macclesfield Town Council’s Full Council meeting to be held at
Macclesfield Town Hall
on
12th December 2022
commencing at 7pm,
for the purpose of transacting the business shown on the attached agenda.
With thanks,
Laura Smith
Town Clerk
Agenda
The agenda of the meeting to be held on the 12th December 2022 at 7pm at Macclesfield Town Hall.
1 Apologies for Absence
To receive apologies and approval.
2 Declarations of Interest
To receive declarations of interests from members relevant to items under discussion at the meeting.
Public Questions
The meeting will be adjourned to invite comments and questions from the public.
The meeting will then be reconvened.
NOTE:
If you would like to speak during public session, please email
clerk@macclesfield-tc.gov.uk with your question by 5pm Thursday 8th December 2022. Every practicable effort will be made to try and arrange your inclusion.
If you would like to submit a written statement, please submit your statement for inclusion and circulation to the committee to clerk@macclesfield-tc.gov.uk by 5pm Thursday 8th December 2022.
3 Minutes of the Full Council Meeting held 3rd October 2022
Action: To approve the minutes.
4 Matters Arising from the Minutes
Action: To consider any matters arising from the minutes.
5 Planning Committee Minutes
5.1 Planning Committee Minutes 23rd September 2022
5.2 Planning Committee Minutes 14th October 2022
5.3 Planning Committee Minutes 4th November 2022
5.4 Draft Planning Committee Minutes 25th November 2022
To note the minutes.
5.5 Matters arising from the minutes.
Danes Moss Nature Recovery Zone
6 Services Committee Minutes
6.1 Services Committee Minutes 26th September 2022
To note the minutes.
6.2 Services Committee Minutes 21st November 2022
To note the minutes.
6.3 Matters arising from the minutes.
To consider any matters arising from the minutes.
7 Finance Committee Minutes
7.1 Finance Committee Minutes 7th November 2022
To note the minutes.
7.2 Matters arising from the minutes.
To consider any matters arising from the minutes.
7.3 Spend to date
To approve the spend to date (end of Sep 22) of £417,732 as approved for recommendation by the Finance Committee 7th November 2022.
8 Community Delivery
8.1 Local Police Unit
Chief Inspector to brief the Council.
8.2 CAB
To receive and note the report.
8.3 CCTV
To receive and note the report.
9 Governance Review
9.1 MTC Planning Committee TofR
Action: To approve the above document.
9.2 MTC DBS Certificate Handling policy
Action: To approve the above document.
9.3 Health and Safety System
Action: To approve the above policy.
10 Florals ITT
Action: To consider the proposal within the report and the ITT to provide flowers in the town.
11 Budget 2023/24
Action: To consider and approve the proposed budget for 23/24
12 South Park Pavilion Update
To note the attached report.
13 Community Enforcement Update
To note the attached report.
14 Toilets for Public Use
Action: To consider the proposal within the report.
15 20’s Plenty CEC Speed management Strategy
Action: To consider the proposal within the report.
16 Town Centre Recovery Working Group
To receive and note the updated report.
17 Visitor Information Centre
To receive and note the report
18 Date/Time and Place of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Full Council will be held on 20th March 2023, at the Town Hall.
3. MTC Minutes Full Council 3rd October 2022
5.1 MTC PC Minutes 23rd September 2022
5.2 MTC PC Minutes 14th October 2022
5.3 MTC PC Minutes 4th November 2022
5.4 MTC PC Minutes 25th November 2022
6.1 Services Committee Minutes 26th September 2022
6.2 Services Committee Minutes 21st November 2022
7.1 Finance Committee MInutes 7th November 2022
8.2 CAB Macclesfield Q2 2022-23
9.1 MTC Planning Committee TofR
9.2 MTC DBS Certificate Handling Policy
9.3 Macclesfield Town Council – Health and Safety Management System – October 2022
15. 20’s Plenty – CEC Speed Managment Strategy
Macclesfield Town Council Full Council Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on the 12th December 2022 at 7pm at Macclesfield Town Hall.
1 Apologies for Absence
Cllr Janet Jackson
Cllr David Edwardes
2 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
Public Questions
The meeting was adjourned to invite comments and questions from the public.
Anthony Hothersall and Diana Moss from the Saves Danes Moss Group and representatives of Macc Wild Network attended and thanked the Town Council for objecting to the planning applications at SDMA site at Danes Moss. They asked the Town Council to formally back the vision for the Danes Moss Nature Recovery Zone of which hard copies were given to Councillors. Rather than just not wanting it to be built on, this is an alternative that is much more environmentally visionary.
The vision could be improved, have more biodiversity and be more connected to other areas of wildlife around the town, so nature pockets are not isolated and the aim of creating a ring of wildlife spaces around the town. There are also many assets nearby including the forest and canal.
Cllr Brian Puddicombe, CEC for Macclesfield South Ward, attended and asked that the Town Council support this vision for Danes Moss also.
He explained there is an outstanding planning application for 950 houses, which was agreed by the previous administration at CEC, and there is a huge swell of objections to this application.
In due course he hopes these planning applications will be set aside and is grateful for the hard work and thoughtfulness taken in this design of the future vision and the potential for wildlife and improved air quality and also to encourage active travel by connecting areas.
Cllr Sarah Bennett-Wake asked how do you re-wet peat and how much does it cost?
Anthony replied it has been done in Greater Manchester and is done by controlling the water flow e.g. blocking dykes etc. The cost will be part of the feasibility work that would need to be done.
Cllr Ruth Thompson asked if there were Birch trees that would need digging out?
Diane replied that the key is to re-wet the area.
Cllr Fiona Wilson stated that Danes Moss is a beautiful green space enjoyed by local people for leisure and exercise and it was important to create active travel routes from Congleton Road to schools, the college and the Town Centre and she had submitted plans as part of the consultation on the vision.
The meeting was then reconvened.
3 Minutes of the Full Council Meeting held 3rd October 2022
Resolved: The minutes were approved.
4 Matters Arising from the Minutes
Resolved: There were no matters arising from the minutes.
5 Planning Committee Minutes
5.1 Planning Committee Minutes 23rd September 2022
5.2 Planning Committee Minutes 14th October 2022
5.3 Planning Committee Minutes 4th November 2022
5.4 Draft Planning Committee Minutes 25th November 2022
The minutes were noted.
5.5 Matters arising from the minutes.
Danes Moss Nature Recovery Zone
Resolved: It was approved to add the Macclesfield Town Council logo to the Danes Moss Nature Recovery Zone, an alternative vision.
6 Services Committee Minutes
6.1 Services Committee Minutes 26th September 2022
The minutes were noted.
6.2 Services Committee Minutes 21st November 2022
The minutes were noted.
6.3 Matters arising from the minutes.
Cllr Wilson raised the issue of the Middlewood way lights from the meeting on 21st November 2022, agenda item 8.3.
The lighting design paperwork dated 8th November was received shortly after Cllr Fiona Wilson registered to speak at CEC Full Council as per Services Committee agreement on 21st November 2022. As there is a substantial amount of paperwork to go through, a meeting will take place with Highways on 19th December, and if necessary, she will attend the next CEC Full Council after that.
7 Finance Committee Minutes
7.1 Finance Committee Minutes 7th November 2022
The minutes were noted.
7.2 Matters arising from the minutes.
There were no matters arising.
7.3 Spend to date
The spend to date (end of Sep 22) of £417,732 was approved.
8 Community Delivery
8.1 Local Police Unit
Neighborhood Inspector Christian Watkins attended the meeting. He has worked for the police for 25 years, although he is new to Macclesfield.
He commented that his first experience of Macclesfield was at the Remembrance Parade and he was impressed with how well attended and organised the event was.
Issues that the Macclesfield team are dealing with at the moment are as follows:
- Staffing, Christian met with Cllr Edwardes who has raised issues around staff retention. The challenge Cheshire Police have is that it has Merseyside and Greater Manchester recruiting at the moment, and many PCOS’s want to move to be Police Constables in these larger areas. He also recognised contact details for PSCO’s is an issue and has committed to providing the Clerk with contact details of all the PCOS’s.
- The supply of drugs is an issue, there were 4 drug warrants completed in the past 4 weeks. There are 12-15 pieces of intelligence about drug dealing in Macclesfield every week and the Police have to assess which ones to follow. Organised crime groups outside Macclesfield have been identified supplying drugs, and the Police are trying to disrupt the supply in this area.
- Vulnerable Children; Beat Managers are looking at finding 4 missing children under the age of 18. Police are working with all key partners, parents, schools, carers and other agencies to locate the children and prevent exploitation.
- The biggest call volume at the moment is from Macclesfield General Hospital, who have called 288 times in the last 11 months. Christian is working with the PCOS’s to understand why, and work through to solve problems, as a preventative measure.
- Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is a wide-ranging area, ranging from behaviour to problem parking etc. The PCOS’s produce a report to show what they have done each month, on themes like school based parking. The Inspector would like to share some of these reports with the Council if possible.
- The Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) is now in place in the town centre area and they have met with CEC to form a plan on how the PCOS’s can enforce the legislation.
- Finally, the Inspector highlighted the number of suicides in Macclesfield, which has been high recently. Police are working with the coroner to see if there are any issues, e.g. social media etc. to see if preventative measures can be taken.
Cllr Sandy Livingstone, welcomed Christian to Macclesfield and thanked him for his report and that PCSO’s in Central ward are very helpful and that Cllrs are willing to support the PCSO’s.
Cllr Sarah Bennett-Wake, also welcomed Christian and commended the new PCSO’s in Hurdsfield, who have been in the schools and parks and visited older people in the ward who have concerns. This is very much appreciated.
Cllr Chris Wilcock, asked if Cllrs could have information about the beat police on their wards also, which Christian said was acceptable.
Cllr Wilcock also asked if they could set up a community speed watch on Broken Cross and Upton, Inspector Watkins said they have the equipment, but the challenge is getting volunteers etc. to take part.
Cllr Neil Puttick, also thanked Inspector Watkins for his clear report and said he was alarmed about the number of suicides in the past week. The Council has supported many projects that work to be inclusive and support mental health etc., and that the Council are receptive to suggestions from the Police. Inspector Watkins thanked him and said he would come back to the council as they begin to understand more about the reasons.
Cllr Mike Hutchison thanked Inspector Watkins for the excellent information and asked if next time he came it would be great to hear more success stories as there will be many.
Cllr Fiona Wilson, thanked Inspector Watkins for the very informative report and asked if they could discuss the parking around the Football ground with the PCSO’s offline, which Inspector Watkins agreed too.
8.2 CAB
The report was noted.
8.3 CCTV
The report was noted.
9 Governance Review
9.1 MTC Planning Committee TofR
Resolved: The above policy was approved.
9.2 MTC DBS Certificate Handling policy
Resolved: The above policy was approved.
9.3 Health and Safety System
Resolved: The above policy was approved.
10 Florals ITT
Resolved: The proposal within the report was approved.
11 Budget 2023/24
Resolved: The proposed budget for 2023/24 was approved.
12 South Park Pavilion Update
The report was noted.
13 Community Enforcement Update
The report was noted.
14 Toilets for Public Use
Resolved: The proposal within the report was approved.
15 20’s Plenty CEC Speed management Strategy
Councillors to inform the Clerk (by 18th Dec 22) of any 20 mph roads/areas they have identified with residents in their ward, prior to meeting CEC Highways on Dec 19th 2022 where they will be submitted.
At this point in the meeting, in line with the Standing Order 4.28 the committee voted to continue the meeting past the 2-hour deadline in order to get through all agenda items.
16 Town Centre Recovery Working Group
The updated report was noted.
17 Visitor Information Centre
The report was noted.
18 Date/Time and Place of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Full Council will be held on 20th March 2023, at the Town Hall.
Chair: Cllr Fiona Wilson
Clerk: Laura Smith
Meeting closed: 9:04pm