In the absence of Cty. Cllr. Oliver, there were no County Matters reported.

In the absence of the Borough Councillors, the Clerk tabled items from Boro. Cllr. Kolker in which he reported on his attempts to improve the bus routes through the Village to enable more to service Leighton Hospital and also the latest Grant Application Pack from the Manchester Airport Trust which the Chairman accepted.

AMENITIES: Whilst there were no issues from this meeting requiring decisions from the Parish Council, the Chairman reported on her preparations to date for the Chairman's Ball and also agreed to send the letter of complaint regarding the delays to the play area, the Clerk to provide a disc copy of the Parish Council letterhead.

FINANCE: There had been no meeting since the last Parish Council but at the request of Cllr. Henley the next meeting was rescheduled to commence at 6.30pm.

VILLAGE HALL: Whilst there had been no meeting since the last Parish Council it was agreed that £400 should be spent on two wireless microphones for the Hall.

In the absence of Cllr. Leake, the Meeting was referred to Planning Report 126.

Resolved to accept Payment Schedule 11.05.

The Clerk referred to the items in Appendix 11/05 and then tabled the following additional correspondence which had been received since setting the Agenda:
a). From a Resident complaining about the overgrown state of some hedges along Main Road, the Clerk being asked to request more specific details whilst reporting that he had already included an item on this in the December Parish Newsletter.

b). From RAP stating the excess of income over expenditure for the fight against the Gas Plant and enclosing a refund cheque for £100.14.

c). From Cheshire Rural Transport Partnership requesting participation by Goostrey.

d). From Congleton Borough Council asking for comments on their website by means of a questionnaire which Cllr. Henley undertook to complete.

There were no Highways Matters raised.

The Clerk reported that he had received only one list of archive material following a request for this in the last Parish Newsletter and it was agreed that he should file this pending receipt of further lists from othersources.

It was agreed that the new Post Office is now open and fully functional.

Cllr. Salmon reported on the meeting between the Parish Council and Inspector Chris Jones which in summary was that:

a). Inspector Jones pointed out that from his observations, a number of speed restriction and advisory notices within the Village were obscured or unclear and it was agreed that this should be brought to the attention of Joint Highways, Cllrs. Ball & Henley agreeing to carry out a survey and to provide evidence of this and the Clerk being asked to provide Cllr. Ball with a suitable accompanying letter by e:mail.

b). The "smiley face" or actual speed indicator signs cost £3,180 each plus administration and training costs and the Parish Council was asked if it would contribute £2,000 towards a joint exercise to fund this activity, this being £1,000 towards the purchase of a machine and £1,000 towards the administration. On a proposal by Cllr. Salmon, seconded by Cllr. Owen, this was agreed and the Clerk was asked to confirm to Inspector Jones that this would be made available to him.

This Item had been dealt with under Committee Reports.

The Chairman reported that the first meeting of the Quality Sub-Committee had concluded that the Parish should qualify for Quality Status in every respect, other than for the holding of a certificate of competence by the Clerk, except perhaps for the question of an Annual Report which is currently included in the Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting.

The Clerk was then pleased to announce to the Meeting that following his resubmission of the items failing in his portfolio, he had now been awarded the Certificate of Local Council Administration and the Chairman arranged to meet with him to obtain the necessary items for submission to the Quality Status assessors.

The Clerk reported that he had received a response from Community Futures to the his latest submission of cash costs and volunteer time for the project but that the outstanding grant had been limited to £1,404 on the basis of the reduced cash cost, it then being agreed that the Clerk should accept this.

The Clerk reported that only the current contractor had responded to the call for tenders for the work and this was unanimously accepted not only for the Graveyard but also for the maintenance of Shearbrook Bank and other similar works.

The Chairman reported on the outcome of the interviews held by the Selection Sub-committee and it was unanimously agreed that Denise Draper be offered the post.

The only minor item was a report by Cllr. Owen on his attendance at what should be the penultimate meeting of the Railway Liaison Committee which confirmed that the project should end 26th March 2006 with the site returned to its previous condition.

It was confirmed that the date of the next Meeting would be 13th December 2005.

The Chairman closed the Meeting at 8.50pm.

There were no further issues raised by the member of the Public.