The only issue raised by the member of the Public was that of children riding their bicycles in the dark without lights and the Clerk informed her that this had already been the subject of at least two items in the Parish Newsletter but he was asked by the Chairman to pass the comments on to the school.

There were no Declarations of Interest registered

Apologies for Absence were received from Cllr. Henley & Boro. Cllr. Furlong.

Resolved to accept the Minutes of the Meeting of 12th July 2005 as a true record and to take them as read. The Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of 18th August 2005 were also approved.

At this point in the Agenda, the Chairman elected to take Item 15, the presentation on Quality Status by Mr Chalky White, in order to allow him to then leave the Meeting as he had other commitments.

Mr White began by outlining his views on why the achievement of Quality Parish Status is important, particularly as it is independently assessed and therefore gives confidence in the Council to its electorate.

In terms of the practical issues of obtaining QPS, he referred the Meeting to a publication called " A guide to becoming a Quality Council" of which he tabled a limited number of copies. He explained that this booklet included a checklist of boxes to tick of qualifications necessary to achieve QPS but emphasised that documentary evidence of compliance would be required in each case. He further suggested that the Council should elect a working group to process the application but that its meetings need not be carried out on a formal basis with Minutes and that the Clerk need not therefore be involved.

After his taking questions of clarification, the Chairman thanked Mr White for his advice and he left the Meeting.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Cty. Cllr. Oliver raised the following points:

a). the implications of the Parish Council's objections to a fortnightly black bin collection in terms of the penalties imposed by the Government if targets for increases in the amount of waste recycled are not met and after some discussion it was suggested that a kerbside collection of plastic bottles would be of significant assistance to householders in helping to achieve this.

b). the objections to the Kinderton Waste site, final submissions to be in by the end of November in time for a hearing of evidence on 12th December.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Boro. Cllr. Kolker raised the following points:

a). as the Borough Council now have reliable figures on which to base budgets and expenditure levels, it is now possible to balance these, although severe problems have been caused by a number of factors including a reduction in investment income and increases in staff costs, pension funds and community wardens.

The Borough Council is therefore taking a hard look at how services are provided including establishing Partnerships with other Local Authorities, for example in payroll and building control services.

b). that the Parish Council had not been officially informed of applications for license extensions by the two public houses to allow comments.

AMENITIES: There was nothing requiring a Council decision arising from the last meeting, the Minutes of which were tabled.

FINANCE: Minutes of the last meeting had been circulated but Cllr. Salmon commented that the discrepancies encountered had not yet been resolved. The Chairman explained that she and Cllr. Henley were investigating these further and suspected that the way in which the system handles V.A.T. may be at least partly to blame. It was then observed that the last Finance Committee Meeting had failed to appoint a Chairman and Cllr. Kennington kindly agreed to take on this role if proposed and seconded at its next meeting.

VILLAGE HALL: There had been no meeting since the last Parish Council.

Cllr. Leake took the Meeting through Planning Reports 121 & 122 and also reported on some recent planning decisions.

Resolved to accept Payment Schedules 08.05. & 09.05.

Before presenting his report, with the Chairman's permission the Clerk announced that he intended to step down from his role with effect from the end of the financial year, 31st March 2006, or sooner if his successor wished to start earlier. The Clerk explained that his decision was arrived at purely for personal reasons in that he now wished to retire fully without any formal outside responsibilities. He stated that he was prepared to shadow the new Clerk for one month without any remuneration in order to introduce them to the practices of the role and it was agreed that an item regarding the recruitment of a new Clerk should be included in the October Parish Newsletter and that advertisements should be placed on the notice boards.

The Clerk then took instructions on relevant correspondence detailed in appendix 09/05, namely that the invitation to enter a team for the Cheshire Village Quiz should be posted on the notice board and that a letter declining a donation should be sent to Hope House Hospice. A letter regarding dog mess on the Dromedary Lodge Footpath had been received since circulating the appendix and the Clerk was asked to pass this on to the Dog Warden for consideration.

There were no items on Highways Matters listed in Appendix 09.05.

After some discussion, the Chairman kindly indicated her willingness to be the Parish Council's representative as a School Governor, this then being formally proposed by Cllr. Owen, seconded by Cllr. Leake and agreed unanimously.

The letter from the Post Office referred to in the Clerk's appendix of correspondence confirmed that a new Post Office facility would be opened on a part time basis in Mrs Kettle's Store from early November, details of which have already been widely publicised throughout the Village.

Cllr. Salmon reported on his discussions with Sgt. Richard Line regarding a possible pilot scheme in Goostrey using a "smiling face" speed indicator but that he had emphasised to Sgt. Line that the use of speed guns was still of interest.

The fact that this item is part of the Parish Plan then prompted Cllr. Salmon to report on the latest joint meeting of the Steering Committee and Focus Groups which had resulted in the Steering Committee now being replaced by an Executive Committee, which would meet every 3 months, and the Focus Groups now becoming Action Groups which would meet whenever necessary.

It was confirmed that the Play Area was now completed and that an opening ceremony would be performed at 2.30pm on Sunday 18th September with light refreshments being provided by the Parish Council.

It was, however, agreed that a formal letter of complaint regarding the delays caused through maladministration by the Borough Council should be sent to its Chief Executive, pointing out it was these delays which resulted in the Parish Council having to contribute the additional £12,000 by which the cost had increased, and that the matter would be taken up with the Ombudsman if a satisfactory response was not forthcoming.

Whilst this Item had been dealt with earlier, the Chairman offered to be a member of the proposed Working Group to process an application and Cllrs. Leake, Owen and Salmon also agreed to be members, the date of its first meeting to be advised.

a). Cllr. Leake tabled a letter inviting a representative to attend the Cheshire Planning Forum on Friday, 14th October, Cllr. Ball to check his availability.

b). Cllr. Leake tabled a letter and CD on new planning regulations and undertook to present this to the Planning Committee when he had considered it further.

c). Cllr. Robinson reported that she had received declarations of interest from 3 people regarding the role of Parish Archivist and it was agreed that they be invited to the next Meeting to jointly consider how this may work in practice.

d). The Chairman announced that she would be holding a Chairman's Ball to take place on Saturday, 28th January, proceeds going to Barnardo's and Macmillan.

f). Cllr. Robinson reported that the Home Front Event was being progressed.

It was confirmed that the date of the next Meeting would be 11th October 2005.

The Chairman closed the Meeting at 9.35pm

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