Decision details

Councillor Braun presented the report which asked Council to agree to carry out a Community Governance Review which would allow the Council to consider governance arrangements for Town and Parish Councils and ensured that they continued to reflect local identities and facilitated effective and convenient local government. It was confirmed that a district wide community governance review was conducted in 2019 and that the Council resolved at that time to conduct a future review of the parishes which contain the Great Oldbury development by the end of 2023. The report set out which parishes had made a request and their reasoning for a review. It was recommended that all parishes who submitted a request were included in the review.

The report set out the timetable for the review including the two public consultation stages that took place. The first stage consultation was due to start at the end of this month. All ward Councillors for the parishes included in the review would be invited to join a Working Group to analyse the responses to the consultation and prepare the final recommendations for Council approval in July 2023. Any changes made would come into force at the next local elections scheduled for May 2024. It was highlighted that changes would only be made if they were necessary to reflect the identity and interests of local communities and ensure effective and convenient local governance. Councillor Braun also highlighted an error in the table in section 2.3 of the report and confirmed that it should have stated that Frampton on Severn currently had 9 councillors instead of 11.

Councillor Hurst advised that Minchinhampton did not wish to take part in the review but the only reason it had been included was because Nailsworth had put in a request to review its boundaries.

Proposed by Councillor Braun and Councillor Cornell seconded.

Councillor Ryder advised that the implementation of a new Parish Council at Huntsgrove following the 2019 Community Governance Review had been a very positive experience.

Councillor Ashley Smith advised that Woodchester had also only been included because of Nailsworths requests to consider its boundaries.

Councillor Cornell thanked the team for the presentation they delivered to Ward Members and Parish and Town Councils and confirmed that through consultation with the community they could look at whether any changes needed to be made.

Councillor Braun highlighted the consultation process at paragraph 3.4 which involved many stages and meant that residents and Parish and Town Councils would be able to get involved at every stage.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

RESOLVEDThat in accordance with the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, a Community Governance Review be undertaken for the Parish and Town Council areas of Cam, Dursley, Eastington, Frampton, Horsley, Hunts Grove, Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Standish, Stonehouse and Woodchester.