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Graham reports back from Friends of Scholes Park meeting
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Parish Councils for Gatley and Cheadle? What do you think
by Lib Dem team on 7 November, 2020
Some people have asked the Lib Dems whether we should have Parish Councils in Cheadle and Gatley. We would like your opinion, so here are the facts. Please let us know what you think.
A Parish Council normally covers a village or town. Most places in England have a parish council, but there are none in Stockport at the moment.
Parish councillors are elected to the council. The council employs a clerk and may employ other staff as well (for example, a village ranger to keep the area clean and tidy). Parish councils are normally non-political.
If there were a Gatley Parish Council and a Cheadle Parish Council, each would probably have an annual budget of between £50,000 and £150,000 to spend on the local area.
Importantly, that money mostly comes from local residents. In areas with parish councils, each household normally pays £10-20 a year on top their normal council tax (for a band D property). If we had a parish council, we would collectively be funding it. We need to take any decisions with that in mind.
We would also need to be careful to ensure that we still got the full value from our regular council tax. There’s no point doing it if Stockport Council just takes money away from our area so we end up no better off than when we started!
Most parish councils cover more rural areas like Cheshire. There are some in Greater Manchester, but not many! And Stockport Council would remain responsible for delivering the vast majority of our services. Stockport Council would still empty our bins, maintain our roads, look after parks and green spaces, fix streetlights, fund schools and care homes.
How would we get a Parish Council?
If the community wanted to go ahead, the next stage would be to get signatures from at least 7.5% of local electors in favour. In Gatley, for example, we would need around 500 signatures. That is submitted to the Government minister for consideration. The council will work up the details and may choose to hold a local referendum.
It normally takes around two years from starting the process to having a Parish Council up and running.
What do you think?
Our local communities would have significant money to spend on our local area and the community would be able to decide how to spend it.
But there are downsides too. It would mean every household paying extra on their council tax: a precept of up to £20 a year for a Band D property.
We want to know what you think, so please comment here or drop us a note. No decisions have been taken by anyone – this will only happen if local people want it.
15 Comments
Iain – my recollection, from a few years back, is that there used to be a parish council in another Stockport ward (Bredbury?). It only lasted a short while. I’ve no recollection of what caused its demise but, presumably, the Council would have the information. Perhaps there might be lessons to be learned from there for any other proposed PC.
As a general comment, if I am going to have to pay more council tax, then I would want to be assured that there would be benefits. Can a parish council provide those very limited services better than the existing structure, bearing in mind that there are costs (you point out that the clerk is a paid employee). Would there be a significant “closer to the people” than the existing Area Committee? Or might there be better overall governance if the AC was given some more spending power, other than what I think are your very limited power of grants to local organisations?
Hi John – there was a Parish Council covering the Offerton estate for about 20 years, and I’m sure there are lessons to be learned!
I agree that there would have to be benefits. The Parish Council would have to be providing services that Stockport Council isn’t otherwise doing.
Increasing the powers of the Area Committee is an option – as someone who sits on it, I can see the attraction! But there’s not likely to be more money for that in the next few years.
I vote for the status quo
Iain
The projected income of between £50 and £150k has a yawning gap. I’d like a more precise indication of income plus a clear indication of the costs. We already have a semi corrupt BID in Stockport where over 25% of the levy paid is going on admin and wages and little on deliverable projects. What would the PC achieve that SMBC doesn’t for example?
Hi Alan – the gap is because a) it depends on the size of the Parish Council and b) it would be up to the elected parish councillors to set the levy and I do not know what level they would decide.
Parish Councils would typically fund smaller local works that the council doesn’t. For example, it might employ someone to keep the villages cleaner and tidier than the council can afford to do, put on events etc. The Parish Council could also take over roles from SMBC and do them better. In the end, it would be up to the local community and the parish councillors to decide how to spend the budget.
If the required funds were to come from the existing council tax take the yes.
If I’ve got yet another tax, remember the Mayoral tax and what have its benefits been? – then no. As a reluctant band F taxpayer I already think I get poor value for money.
It would be an additional tax of £10-£20 a year for a Band D council taxpayer.
I think it’s an idea worth pursuing in principle. The precise coatings of running would need to be shown. Ways of funding it could include charges on takeaways to cover the excessive litter and a levy based not on house value (as with council tax), but how many people live in each property and will then use and benefit from the services being provided.
Robert if that’s allowed that’s very progressive and to be explored fully. Taxation in this country is anything but fair
Unfortunately, the law doesn’t allow Parish Councils to invent their own taxes. If you have a Parish Council it’s funded primarily from a precept added to Council Tax and varying on the tax band.
We previously had a Gatley Village Partnership with Council input, but local leadership. That Council support was then withdrawn (due to the recession I believe and austerity) and the model moved to a purely volunteer basis.
We also previously had an organisation supporting local businesses, and we obviously have the Gatley Festival Committee also.
I think a Parish Council would be a step back in the right direction where there is proper funding for local people to help and support their local area. And despite peaks and troughs in the number of volunteers coming forward to help those organisations, the spirit in Gatley I believe is one where we really do try to help ourselves and our community where we can. The support group for COVID is another fine example.
I think a Parish Council could have real merit, as long as it retains funding and can get businesses and the population supporting it (learning lessons from previous organisations in the area).
Just in case my first message did not get through. I think that anything which improves political accountability and gives the ordinary citizen a chance to influence our local environment should be supported.
About 35 years ago I was Chairman of Cheadle Community Council. It started as Cheadle East CC which was a bit confusing as some found it too close to the name Cheadle Heath. It had no funding but operated in a similar way to a Parish Council and had a little help from Stockport MBC. The area Councillors attended our meetings and I attended the area meetings. It facilitated communications between grass routes level, Councillors, SMBC officers, and the Manchester County Council. From time to time we had specific issues that came up. For a short time there was a problem with Adswood tip, flies and smells and the engineer from the County Council attended our meeting. They were tipping untreated waste into water. The situation improved and there was almost no problem in the folowing summer. Another issue was a proposed science park that would have affected Bruntwood Park. The Community Council joined with Heald Green Ratepayers and Cheadle Civic Society in successfully opposing the scheme. There was close liason with the community police officer. We started a Youth Club and for several years organised The Cheadle Festival.
We managed to get the Ladybrook Valley made greenbelt.
Overall it was quite successful in providing good communications between volunteers at grass routes level and Councillors and Officers and was a low cost activity that worked quite well in a very democratic way. I doubt whether a similar organisation would work quite as well now but it might. A small extra amount on local charges would be worthwhile if it created good communications. The SMBC website almost seems designed as a barrier to this function. It had the advantage that it was not party political. It worked very well with local planning officers and stopped dubious development that would otherwise have remained secret. A Parish Council can work very well in rural areas. In suburban areas like Cheadle and Gatley it can bridge the gap between the SMBC organisation and interested people but to some extent that is already done by elected Councillors and Civic Societies. CIvic societies tend to concentrate on local amenities. A Parish Council might bring together groups that already exist and provide a voice but we now live in a different age where social media provides easier but somewhat unstructured communication. Sometimes one might be forgiven for thinking that Stockport SMBC does not want people to be able to shape their community. The difficulty is that there is often a conflict between Private and Public developers and people who just value open space and green areas.
I’m in favour but only if it replaces something that costs us money now. The savings should pay for the new service.
It always amazes me, those who live in 500k houses moan about additional £20 PA.
They are the ones who happily pay that sort money on decent Red!
We are going to need additional local ideas due to local CoOp , and Cheadle village will be decimated due to Covid lockdowns