Agenda item

To agree the draft proposals for public consultation.  

1.       That the draft recommendations for the Borough-wide Community Governance Review be ENDORSED for further consultation purposes.  

2.       That authority be delegated to the Borough Solicitor, in consultation with the Community Governance Review Working Group, to:

a.       consider the suggestion of forming a new Coopers Edge Parish Council covering the areas in the Borough that fall within the Parishes of Brockworth and Hucclecote and to make a recommendation to b included in the draft proposals report; and

b.       make any minor wording / accuracy changes prior to the draft proposals being released for consultation. 

69.1          The report of the Head of Democratic Services, circulated at Pages No. 215-256, set out the draft recommendations for the Boroughwide Community Governance Review which Members were asked to consider and endorse for consultation purposes. Members were also asked to delegate authority to the Borough Solicitor, in consultation with the Working Group, to consider the suggestion of forming a new Coopers Edge Parish Council covering the areas in the Borough that fell within the Parishes of Brockworth and Hucclecote and to make a recommendation to be included in the draft proposals consultation report as well as to make any minor wording/accuracy changes prior to the draft proposals being released for consultation.

69.2          The Executive Committee Chair welcomed the Chair of the Community Governance Review Working Group to the meeting. In introducing the report, the Head of Democratic Services explained that, in June 2021, the Executive Committee had agreed to carry out a Boroughwide Community Governance Review, approved the Terms of Reference and established a Community Governance Review Working Group. Following that, all Parish and Town Councils had been asked for their views on any changes they may like to see within their Parishes e.g. name, size, boundaries. The Working Group had subsequently worked through all the suggestions submitted with the aid of maps, and had been on a coach trip to visit the relevant areas, which had culminated in the draft recommendations which were attached at Appendix 1 to the report. The Committee report also sought a delegation to make any minor amendments to the draft recommendation report and further consider what, if anything, could be done to provide better representation for the residents of Coopers Edge that were within the Borough. The proposals involving residents outside of the Borough were outside the remit of the review. Following consultation on the draft recommendations, the Working Group would meet to consider any responses before finalising the recommendations for Executive Committee and Council. Tewkesbury Borough Council was not the determining body for all of the proposals as there were some elements that could only be decided by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) – these included any changes that affected the Borough Wards / areas that had previously been considered by the LGBCE e.g. changes to Innsworth/Longford were within the Council’s gift as they were in one Borough Ward whereas Wheatpieces and Ashchurch Rural Parishes were in separate Borough Wards therefore any changes would have to be agreed by the LGBCE. The final proposals had to be sent to the LGBCE in May in order that they would be in place for the 2023 Borough and Parish elections.

69.3          The Chair of the Working Group thanked Officers for their preparation and the quality of the maps provided to the Working Group as well as the tour which had been arranged at short notice. He indicated that the information had been discussed in great depth by the Working Group so he was happy to answer any questions Members may have. During the discussion which ensued, a Member indicated that, when the review of Borough Wards had been undertaken, Toddington Parish had requested something similar to the current proposals and at that time a representative from Stanway Parish had been unhappy at the proposals. In response, the Head of Democratic Services explained that the draft recommendations would go out to consultation and that would be when people would make their comments – the overriding factors were about community identity and strong boundaries rather than whether people liked the recommendations or not. All representations received would be considered and may result in different final recommendations. Another Member understood a lot of work had gone into the report to date and indicated that he had some questions regarding Coopers Edge and Bishops Cleeve. In respect of Coopers Edge, he questioned whether a Parish Council could be located within two Districts and, in terms of Bishops Cleeve, what the reasoning was for the recommendation not to include the proposed school site in Gotherington within the Bishops Cleeve Parish boundary. In response, the Head of Democratic Services advised that she was unaware of any Parish that crossed into two Districts - making a Ward of an existing Parish may be an option for Coopers Edge but this needed to be considered carefully which was the reason for the delegation. In respect of the Bishops Cleeve Parish boundary, the Head of Democratic Services advised that the proposal from Bishops Cleeve Parish Council had been carefully considered but Members of the Working Group were concerned that this could open up the land for development and were of the view that the current boundary of Dean Brook provided a strong definable division between Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve. In addition, the Chair of the Working Group indicated that Members felt they could only judge matters on the existing circumstances and residents’ current feelings – in this instance it was felt the area would be considered part of Gotherington Parish. The Group did not feel that the fact that a new school was to be built on this site which would serve Bishops Cleeve provided a strong argument to move a boundary, since the catchment area for the school would be much wider than Bishops Cleeve, including Gotherington. In addition, there were many examples of schools named after a Parish even though they were not actually situated within that Parish. In response to a query regarding Brockworth Parish Council’s request that the Parish warding be removed and that the number of Parish Councillors be increased, the Head of Democratic Services confirmed that the Working Group was happy to increase the number of Parish Councillors but that would not take effect until the elections in 2023. Regarding the removal of Parish warding, this had been introduced by the LGBCE to mirror the new Borough Wards and therefore would require its consent to change which was very unlikely to be forthcoming. The LGBCE had undertaken a full consultation process prior to introducing these Warding arrangements.

69.4          Upon being proposed and seconded, it was