Community governance review

The consultation closed on 8 October 2017 and the working group’s recommendations (with one amendment for the Up Hatherley area) were approved by full council on 11 December.

For the full background, recommendations and amendment please see the full report documents.

Feedback and comments on the proposals were welcomed until 10 January 2018 and were taken into account for the January full council meeting. This time frame also included a further piece of consultation work to identify support to include an additional piece of land into the Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish.

On 23 January full council unanimously agreed the four draft reorganisation orders for the newly parished areas.

These documents form the legal agreements to ensure that the newly parished areas will be in place by 1 April 2018.

To see the full background, please view the council report documents from the 23 January full council meeting.

You can now download the signed and sealed reorganisation orders, with accompanying maps.

Any comments or queries can be addressed to:

• Strategy and Engagement, Cheltenham Borough Council, Municipal Offices, Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 9SA
• [email protected]
• 01242 262626

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What is a community governance review?

A community governance review is undertaken to consider arrangements for parish councils such as creating, merging, altering or abolishing parish councils, the naming of parish councils and their electoral arrangements.

Why did Cheltenham Borough Council carry out a community governance review and which areas were included in it? 

In 2017, the council carried out a community governance review following the receipt of a petition from the Pittville Parish Council Campaign Group in January 2017. The petition called for the creation of a new parish council for Pittville and meant that the council was required to carry out the review to decide whether or not it should be created.

The council agreed that as part of the review, it would also explore whether there was support to extend the boundaries of the existing parish councils in Charlton Kings, Leckhampton with Warden Hill and Up Hatherley.

The review was also used to consult with a small number of properties in St Nicholas Drive, which are the only part of Prestbury ward not to be part of Prestbury Parish Council’s area and with two properties in Merestones Drive, which are the only addresses in the road currently to be included within Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council’s area.

What does a parish council do?

Parish councils are the most local form of government. They are usually made up of local people who stand for election as (unpaid) parish councillors to represent their area. They are the democratic voice of the local community and work with other tiers of government and external organisations to co-ordinate and to deliver services.

Terms of reference

The terms of reference were published on 7 April 2017.

On 24 July 2017, full council approved the recommendation to amend the terms of reference for the community governance review 2017 to include consultation about making changes to the existing parish council boundaries:

• The addition of four small consultation areas for Charlton Kings Parish Council
• The addition of a consultation area for Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council
• The addition of a consultation area for Up Hatherley Parish Council

For further background information, please see the council report and background papers (item 11).

The review also had to consider the electoral arrangements including the number of councillors to be elected and any warding arrangements.

Timetable for the review

The timeline changed slightly from the dates included in the terms of reference, but the overall conclusion of the review remained the same:

Timetable for the review

Action	By when
Consultation phase consulting with all electors and interested parties within the defined areas	8 October 2017
Consideration of consultation responses	October 2017
Prepare recommendations	October/November 2017
Potential member seminar	Late November/early December
Recommendations presented for approval	December 2017
Recommendations published	December 2017
Reorganisation Order made	December 2017/January 2018
Precept for new parish council included in council budget	February 2018
Parish council elections	May 2018