Meeting documents
Community Governance Review
Wednesday, 23rd June, 2010
Draft Motion for Community Governance Review Outcome
MODEL 1 - The "full change" Model (3 x new parish councils)
(1) to approve the recommendation contained in the community petition calling for a separate parish council for Midsomer Norton on the grounds that:
(a) there is sufficient and robust evidence that the Midsomer Norton community has its own identity and sense of civic place and civic pride and can itself sustain a capacity to fulfil its own potential and work to resolve local issues;
(b) a Midsomer Norton Parish Council (styled as a Town Council) as one of the largest in the area, would be equipped to offer strong local community leadership and would have the capacity to develop wider initiatives such as Quality Parish status which would give it greater powers, including partnership working with Bath & North East Somerset;
(c) such a Council would be well placed to develop co-operative working with adjoining councils to ensure that it develops services that can support the needs of its resident population and those in its more rural hinterland;
(d) the creation of such a Town Council is not seen as having a detrimental impact on the local governance of adjoining communities within the review area - in fact it will enhance it for the reasons set out in (c) above and in view of the recommendations below.
(2) to agree that the Midsomer Norton Town Council's governance area be the existing wards of Midsomer Norton North and Midsomer Norton Redfield [and that these wards remain as constituent wards of the new Council] [other or no warding arrangements];
(3) to agree that the number of councillors on the new Midsomer Norton Town Council be [12 - comprising 6 elected for Midsomer Norton North and 6 elected for Midsomer Norton Redfield] [ other numbers/permutations of warding ]
(4) to agree that the first election for the new Town Council take place in May 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter.
(5) to approve the recommendation contained in the community petition calling for a separate parish council for Westfield on the grounds that:
(a) there is sufficient evidence of an established community identity, a sense of place and of local distinctiveness;
(b) local people gave evidence of a sense of pride in their area;
(c) such a parish council would be of sufficient size to sustain strong leadership of the local community, in supporting local needs and securing resources;
(d) the creation of such a parish council would complement and not compromise the effective local governance of the whole review area giving the Westfield community a strong voice in the development of co-operative working between local councils in the review area and beyond.
(6) to agree that the Westfield Parish Council's governance area be the existing ward of Westfield [and that there be no warding arrangements within that area] [and that the area be divided into {number} wards named as {names}]
(7) to agree that the number of councillors on the new Westfield Parish Council be [11] [some other number or relative to warding]
(8) to agree that the first election for the new Parish Council take place in May, 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter.
(9) as a consequence of the decisions at (1) and (5) above, and in the light of evidence, including a supportive 235 x person petition, to approve the creation of a separate parish council for Radstock (styled as a Town Council) on the grounds that:
(a) there is an established community identity and a proven sense of place and local and historic distinctiveness;
(b) such a parish council would be of sufficient size to sustain strong leadership of the local community, in supporting local needs and securing resources;
(c) the creation of such a parish council would complement and not compromise the effective local governance of the whole review area giving the Radstock community a strong voice in the development of co-operative working between local councils in the review area and beyond.
(10) to agree that the Radstock Town Council's governance area be the existing ward of Radstock [and that there be no warding arrangements within that area] [and that the area be divided into {number} wards named as {names}]
(11) to agree that the number of councillors on the new Radstock Town Council be
[11] [some other number or relative to warding]
(12) to agree that the first election for the new Town Council take place in May, 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter;
(13) to abolish the parish of Norton Radstock and consequently to dissolve the Norton Radstock Town Council;
(14) to authorise the Electoral Registration Officer to make the Reorganisation Order under statutory powers to give effect to the above decisions and incidental matters (including the transfer of assets, resources and liabilities and the setting of the initial precept), the Order to come into force on 1st April, 2011.
MODEL 2 - The "partial change" Model (2 x new parish councils)
This is based on M/N and R/W.
A similar motion can be drafted for you to reflect any other combination you feel justified.
(1) to approve the recommendation contained in the community petition calling for a separate parish council for Midsomer Norton on the grounds that:
(a) there is sufficient and robust evidence that the Midsomer Norton community has its own identity and sense of civic place and civic pride and can itself sustain a capacity to fulfil its own potential and work to resolve local issues;
(b) a Midsomer Norton Parish Council (styled as a Town Council) as one of the largest in the area, would be equipped to offer strong local community leadership and would have the capacity to develop wider initiatives such as Quality Parish status which would give it greater powers, including partnership working with Bath & North East Somerset;
(c) such a Council would be well placed to develop co-operative working with adjoining councils to ensure that it develops services that can support the needs of its resident population and those in its more rural hinterland;
(d) the creation of such a Town Council is not seen as having a detrimental impact on the local governance of adjoining communities within the review area - in fact it will enhance it for the reasons set out in (c) above and in view of the recommendations below.
(2) to agree that the Midsomer Norton Town Council's governance area be the existing wards of Midsomer Norton North and Midsomer Norton Redfield [and that these wards remain as constituent wards of the new Council] [other or no warding arrangements];
(3) to agree that the number of councillors on the new Midsomer Norton Town Council be [12 - comprising 6 elected for Midsomer Norton North and 6 elected for Midsomer Norton Redfield] [ other numbers/permutations of warding ]
(4) to agree that the first election for the new Town Council take place in May 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter.
(5) to reject the recommendation contained in the community petition calling for a separate parish council for Westfield on the grounds that:
(a) there is insufficient evidence that the Westfield area has a distinctive community identity that would justify separate parish governance from Radstock;
(b) the review has identified a close inter-relationship between the communities of Westfield and Radstock, underlined by Radstock's role as an area centre for both communities;
(c) it appears at this stage that any change to separate governance arrangements for Westfield would not be in the interests of effective and convenient local government for the electors of the area;
(d) the communities of Westfield and Radstock will benefit more from the economies of scale of working together, including a greater capacity to attract and manage external funding for community projects;
(e) together, the communities of Westfield and Radstock would have a greater capacity to develop wider initiatives such as Quality Parish status which would give it greater powers including partnership working with Bath & North East Somerset;
(f) there exist within the Westfield and Radstock areas strong community bodies that will ensure a robust opportunity for liaison and dialogue about the views and priorities of local people.
(6) as a consequence of the above findings, and in the light of all the evidence, that a new parish comprising and combining the areas of Radstock and Westfield be created with a parish council for that area;
(7) to agree that the new parish council be called the [Radstock and Westfield] [other local name] Parish Council
(8) to agree that the [Radstock and Westfield] [other local name] Parish Council's governance area be the existing wards of Radstock and Westfield [and that these wards remain as constituent wards of the new Council with existing names retained] [other or no warding arrangements]
(9) to agree that the number of councillors on the new Radstock and Westfield Parish Council be [12 - comprising 6 elected for Radstock and 6 elected for Westfield] [other number/permutations of warding]
(10) to agree that the first election for the new parish council take place in May, 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter.
(11) to abolish the parish of Norton Radstock and consequently to dissolve the Norton Radstock Town Council;
(12) to authorise the Electoral Registration Officer to make the Reorganisation Order under statutory powers to give effect to the above decisions and incidental matters (including the transfer of assets, resources and liabilities and setting the initial precept), the Order to come into force on 1st April, 2011.
MODEL 3 - The "No Change" Model
(1) to make no structural change to the governance arrangements in the review area of Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Westfield on the grounds that
(i) there was no substantial benefit to be gained by change, in terms of effective and convenient local government;
(ii) sufficient evidence has been offered that the 2 x core towns of Midsomer Norton and Radstock and the surrounding village communities together have an inter-dependence and form a cohesive unit of local government at parish level, with an established and historical identity;
(iii) all the local communities within the review area will benefit more from the economies of scale that the Norton Radstock Town Council can provide, including a greater capacity to attract and manage external funding for community projects;
(iv) the Norton Radstock Town Council would have a greater capacity to develop wider initiatives such as Quality Parish status which would give it greater powers including partnership working with Bath & North East Somerset;
(v) there exist strong community bodies within the review area that will ensure a robust opportunity for liaison and dialogue with the Town Council about the views and priorities of local people;
(2) to note with concern evidence from local people about the working relationships within the Town Council that appeared to compromise its ability to support effectively the interests of the whole community - and more positively the indications from Norton Radstock Town Councillors that they would wish to help local people resolve their concerns about the Town Council;
(3) accordingly, to consider at its meeting on 22nd July, 2010 a report from the Electoral Registration Officer on (a) the re-warding of Norton Radstock Town Council to provide for two additional councillor elected for the Midsomer Norton area, as identified by a number of respondents, and (b) measures that could be taken in co-operation with the Town Council to bring about more effective working.