Parish Council February Update

Funding for the new play area and road safety were the main topics of discussion at a prolonged Parish Council meeting on Monday 1st February.

Before the main meeting, however, Carfest North together with Bolesworth Estate presented preliminary traffic management plans for the July festival. There has been considerable work by a highly experienced traffic management company and great care has been taken to minimise disruption to the local residents. Details will be made available once the plans have local authority approval. Regular news updates will be published and widely distributed, including here at Tattenhall Online.

The Council Chairman took the opportunity to congratulate and thank TADS for a fabulous village event at the weekend. There were 3 sell-out performances of the pantomime "Beauty and the Beast" which were so popular that and an additional matinee performance was necessary to meet demand. All Councillors agreed that the production was the result of considerable enthusiasm and teamwork, an example of the strength of our village community.

A £20,000 shortfall in funding has become apparent for the new park play area. In order to meet its commitment to rebuild this by Easter, the Council has decided to to uplift the precept from £24,650 to £34,650 for one year only. This is equivalent to increasing the contribution to the Community Charge from 49p to 69p per week per household for a Band D property.

Following local pressure, the Council will proceed with plans to extend the 30mph speed limit further up Rocky Lane. A survey of traffic speeds and volume is needed which CWaC will carry out at no cost to the Parish. However, the cost of any changes must be met from local funds.

There is a clear theme developing where responsibility for many public services is now passed to local level and funding must be sourced locally by whatever means including uplift of the precept. At least decisions about what, why, when and whether to fund local projects are made locally even if "how" becomes more difficult after central decisions to remove funding such as the New Home Bonus.

Progress on the Community Land Trust was presented. A well attended open day was held on 16th January and 98 members have so far been recruited – an outstanding level of support. The next step will be an inaugural meeting of an extended steering group which will take place on 22nd February.