Before commencing the Meeting proper, the Chairman invited Mr Adderley to address Members on the subject of DEFRA's Rural, Social and Community Programme.

He explained that DEFRA had funds which had previously been administered by the Countryside Agency. He expected approximately £330,000 to be made available to the Cheshire/Warrington sub-region over a two year period. Of this, about £130,000 would be allocated to help implement the actions identified in Parish Plans. He would be able to confirm the availability of these funds and advise how to make a claim at the beginning of April. In the meantime the Council would let him know which items in the Parish Plan they intended to seek funding for. These should be items which could be completed within the two years and smaller claims and those to which councils were also prepared to contribute were more likely to be successful.

He then enquired if the Parish Plan had already had any influence on outside agencies and fund providers and the Members confirmed that the Play Area and Traffic Calming Measures had both received funding after inclusion in the Plan.

The Chairman thanked Mr Adderley for attending and he left the meeting.

The member of the Public raised the issue of the footpath outside the old Post Office being blocked by builders' vehicles. The Chairman agreed to speak to the builders about this problem.

There were no Declarations of Interest registered.

Apologies for Absence were received from Cllrs. Fallon and Salmon and from Boro. Cllrs. Furlong and Kolker.

Resolved to accept the Minutes of the Meeting of 14th February 2006 as a true record and to take them as read.

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

In the absence of Boro. Cllrs. Furlong and Kolker, there were no Borough Matters reported.

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

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

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

Planning Report 131 had been circulated.

It was reported that Planning Application 05/1296/FUL, 11a Booth Bed Lane had been permitted by Congleton Borough Council despite the Parish Council's comments.

Resolved to accept Payment Schedule 03.06

The Clerk referred to the items in Appendix 03/06

a) An invitation to the Congleton County Forum was noted.
b) A letter from CBC Planning Department about the formulation of Development Plan Documents to be dealt with under item 18.
c) A letter from Northern Point Developments Ltd. expressing interest in the old Youth Centre site to be kept on file.
d) A copy letter from the 'Older Persons Forum' to the East Cheshire PCT about the shortage of NHS dentists was noted.
e) A reply from CBC Planning Department about Owl's Hoot, Blackden Lane. It was reported that a new planning application for a replacement dwelling had now been submitted.
f) A telephone call from Alistair Cook, CBC advising that new seats had been ordered for the damaged swings at the Play Area and that the swings were being inspected to assess their safety in the meantime.

The Clerk then tabled the following additional correspondence which had been received since setting the Agenda:

a). Invitation to the Cheshire Planning Forum, this being handed to Cllr. Leake.
b). Invitation to a Briefing Session for Town & Parish Councils on the NW Regional Spatial Strategy, this being handed to Cllr. Leake.
c). A revised timetable for Borough and Parish Elections to be held on 4th May 2006 together with Election Packs, these to be distributed to those Members intending to seek re-election.

The Clerk referred to the items in Appendix 03/06 and reported a reply from Joint Highways about the overhanging hedge on Main Road. The householder had been advised that if the hedge was not cut back within a week a legal notice would be issued. If the work was then not carried out within 14 days Joint Highways would not hesitate to arrange for the work to be done by their contractors.

The Clerk was asked to write to Joint Highways about the leylandii hedge alongside Cheshire House and to reply to those residents who had expressed concern.

Joint Highways had also replied on the subject of hawthorn hedge debris damaging bicycle and car tyres. Once they are informed of any areas requiring sweeping they will ensure action is taken, usually by pursuing the landowner and/or actioning sweeping themselves.

Our letter about sweeping moss from footways had been passed to the appropriate department and Cllr. Robinson confirmed that some sweeping had taken place.

'No Through Route' signs have been included in the order for works when the A535 is closed at Twemlow Green, now likely to be in April.

An invitation for 2 representatives to attend 'Highways Agency M6 Study into increasing Capacity from J11a to J19' was passed to Cllr. Ball.

The Clerk was asked to report to Joint Highways that the road surface at the junction of Main Road/Mill Lane/Buckbean Way was breaking up despite only recently having been repaired.

This item was deferred to the next Meeting.

Cllr. Leake reported that one planned session had, unfortunately, had to be abandoned but that preparation sessions for the collection of baseline information would commence on Thursday 16th March.

It was agreed that the application for Quality Status should not be taken any further until after the election in May. It could then be re-considered by a new Council with a relatively new Clerk.

There was nothing further to report on this item, no decision on the planning applications having yet been received from Congleton Borough Council.

A letter from Cheshire Constabulary about Police Community Support Officers had been circulated to Members. Cllr. Richardson had collected further information and reported that such posts are full time (37 hours per week), the officers have limited powers to deal with minor misdemeanours but can call for arrest capabilities. The police commander has the final decision about priorities and the officer can be called on the help with major incidents. 65% of the costs are paid by the Home Office and 35% (£11,000 pa) by the Parish.

The Clerk was asked to contact Cranage, Twemlow and Allostock Parish Councils to ask if they would be interested in sharing the services of an officer.

An Agenda for the Annual Parish Meeting was agreed, the Chairman, the Clerk and Cllrs. Ball and Henley to organise distribution of a letter and Agenda to every home in the Parish together with an information sheet from the Homewatch co-ordinator.

Cllr. Robinson reported that trees and shrubs were available from Cheshire County Council for planting during a recommended period from November to March. She asked Members to suggest sites in the Village which would be enhanced by additional planting.

Cllr. Owen reported a delay in completion of the work on the railway line. The train service was now expected to resume on 12th June. Clearance of the compound, including removal of the gravel and re-planting, had already started and should be finished during April or May.

Cllr. Henley commented on the need for more dog waste bins, the Clerk being asked to request these from Congleton Borough Council. Three locations were suggested: Manor Avenue, Hermitage Lane and near the path through the cemetery. It was also suggested that another item on dog fouling be included in the April Newsletter.

The Chairman reported on a meeting with CBC Planning Department attended by herself, Cllr. Owen and Boro. Cllr. Kolker. She had been asked if the Council required the Tourist Information notice board which had been removed from outside the old Post Office to be resited. The Clerk was asked to reply requesting a new board, to contain a Village and Footpaths map, be placed on the Bogbean.

The Chairman agreed to complete a questionnaire on the formulation of Development Plan Documents. This should indicate that the Council does not favour a market-led option which includes a potential housing development in Goostrey but in any case prefers the development of brown field rather than green field sites and a regeneration-led approach. Cllr. Henley commented that a development of small bungalows in the Village would be advantageous, allowing older residents to move out of their larger houses.

At the same meeting, the possibility of registering the Parish Plan as an Official Planning Document had been discussed. This would necessitate the production of a Parish Design Statement. It was agreed that this should be considered by the Planning Focus Group in order to provide continuity after the election. Cllr. Owen agreed to organise a meeting of the Group.

Cllr. Owen reported that a proposed development of 17 affordable homes in Twemlow would be intended for the benefit of Twemlow and Goostrey residents and that anybody interested should contact Congleton Borough Council immediately.

Cllr. Ball asked that information about the election be prominently displayed on all the Parish notice boards and suggested that the Welcome Packs distributed to new residents should contain more details about the Parish Council.

Cllr. Owen reported that traffic lights planned for Junction 17 of the M6 were likely to be delayed indefinitely on cost grounds.

Cllr. Owen raised the matter of allowing Cty. and Boro. Councillors to contribute to the discussion at Meetings. It was suggested that, although there is no entitlement to participate, the Chairman's authority to invite a non-Member to speak should be applied more liberally to permit attending Councillors to impart useful information.

It was confirmed that the date of the next Meeting would be 11th April 2006.

The Chairman closed the Meeting at 10.00 pm.