1 Jan 2026 – Council Meeting (Minutes)

GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 14th January 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

Chair: P. Watson
Councillors: B Simpson S Pennington S Parish
N Catlow C Wren C Lynas
T Williams L Hussain H Cooksey
M Hussain

1. To receive apologies for unavoidable absence.
Apologies were received from Cllrs Morley, Cotter, Cameron & Muqeem.

2. To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 10th December 2025.
PARISH/2026/01/1: To approve minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 10th December
2025 as a true and accurate record (LGA 1972, Sch 12, para41(1)).
3. To receive any declarations of interest.
Agenda item 5: Personal interest declared by Cllr Pennington as a member of the Friends
of Westbrook Library and Cllr Catlow as a member of Burtonwood & Westbrook Parish
Council.
4. Community Policing.
4.1 to receive the PCSO report for December 2025, request further information or
raise additional queries with the PCSO.
Noted.
4.2 to receive correspondence on the PCSO review being undertaken by Cheshire
Constabulary.
Noted that the PCC has negotiated with the Chief Constable to retain 37 PCSO’s out of the
current 87 across Cheshire. A letter received from the Chief Constable states that should
the proposals go ahead, the current arrangement for parish-funded PCSO’s will end on 31
March 2026 and there will no longer be a dedicated PCSO for the parish. Until the final
decision on PCSO’s is clear, it was suggested that the Parish Council retains its budget for
PCSO provision.

5. To receive a presentation and request for financial assistance from Westbrook
Library Friends CIC.
The presentation was provided by the Chair of Westbrook Library Friends CIC and Cllr
Warburton (Chapelford & Old Hall ward). Following the consultation on the future of the
library in May 2025, WBC revised the plans for the library for it to remain open and operate
as a reduced, unstaffed library provision, similar to other libraries categorised as Tier 4
within the new tiered system. There is now a partnership between Livewire/Comunities &
Wellbeing and Westbrook Library Friends CIC with the aim to generate income to cover
operational costs (~£37K pa) and become self-funded within the next 2 years. A large part
of this will rely on the hire of the space to community groups for rental income. There are
already a number of community activities and workshops on offer at the library with a total
of around 400 people attending per week, and 60+ active volunteers involved in the running
of the library. To increase the hiring potential, the building needs some modifications;
mainly replacing part of the flooring and installing an acoustic partition. The CIC is
requesting financial contributions for this from both GSPC and Burtonwood and Westbrook
Parish Council. The council thanked them for their presentation and informed them that the
contribution would be considered by the Finance Committee and full council at the February
meetings.

PC/2026/1 11.2.26
GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 14th January 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

6. Finance Committee
6.1 to decide on recommendations from previous meeting held on 2.12.25
All approved:
PARISH/2026/01/2: To purchase a replacement play turnstile from Wicksteed for Tim Parry
Play area, £2,733 +VAT (Open Spaces Act 1906, s10)

PARISH/2026/01/3: To purchase a replacement wall-mounted water heater for Whittle Hall
Community Centre, £648 +VAT (LG (Misc. Prov.) Act 1976, s19)

PARISH/2026/01/4: To purchase a replacement front door from Merseyside Multi Glazing
Ltd for Whittle Hall Community Centre, £5,399.71 +VAT (LG (Misc. Prov.) Act 1976, s19)

PARISH/2026/01/5: To accept quote from Tom Taylor Company Ltd for website
accessibility upgrades and design refresh, £16,850 +VAT (LGA 1972 s142)

PARISH/2026/01/6: To give a donation of £2,500 towards Warrington Armed Forces Day in
the new financial year, 26-27 (LGA 1972 s137)

6.2 to receive the draft minutes of the meeting held on 6.1.26 and request clarification
from the Committee, if necessary.
A question was asked about the earmarked reserves for Childs Wood Field and whether
this was for the potential building or for landscaping. It was confirmed that the money is to
start these projects, although no decisions have been made on the final design. The
feasibility study for the building is currently underway and there is to be a community
consultation on the landscaping element. Once these have been completed the council can
decide how to move forwards with the site.

7. Budget & Precept Deliberations
7.1 to receive the draft budget proposal (3 options) and note the summary of
discussions from prior meetings (see draft minutes from the Finance Committee 6-1-
26)
Received and noted. Councillors agreed the recommendation from the Finance Committee
regarding the precept level should be consider before item 7.2.1 which was for a 4%
increase. Prior to the vote, representations were made both for and against. The
recommendation was agreed by majority (6 in favour, 2 against and 3 abstentions which
were Cllrs Catlow, M Hussain & L Hussain). Decision noted under agenda item 7.3.

7.2 to receive the following motions from Cllr Williams (seconded Cllr Lynas):
From 2011, this PC has had an ongoing policy of Greening Great Sankey. This policy does
not stand still. The policy has formed part of our Aims and Objectives and sits alongside our
commitments to maintain and develop our community centres thereby improving the
facilities for our residents. Developing Childs Wood and the Parish Playing Field estates will
need further investment and another pair of hands.

7.2.1 I propose increasing the Precept by £50,000 to £680,276. This will mean an
increase from £55.88 to £60.32 = £4.35 per year or 6p per week per band D
property.

Motion nullified by the decision under agenda item 7.1.

PC/2026/2 11.2.26
GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 14th January 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

7.2.2 I propose the employment of another apprentice from April 2026, subject to
the same conditions as the previous apprentice.

Cllr Williams explained the reasons for proposing a start date of the beginning of April for
a second apprentice. Members pointed out that the Finance Committee had previously
recommended that a second apprentice should be taken on mid-way through the 2026-
27 financial year and that this should take precedence for a vote. The Finance
Committee recommendation was voted on and agreed by majority nullifying the motion
by Cllr Williams.

PARISH/2026/01/7: To recruit a second Horticultural Apprentice in 2026-27 to start mid-
year (around September 2026).

7.3 to decide on the budget and the level of precept for the financial year 2026-27.
The potential budget and precept for 2026-27 had been discussed at several prior meetings
of both the Finance Committee, Parish Estates Committee and full Council. A summary of
these discussions and any decisions made to date were given in the minutes of the Finance
Committee meeting of 6th January 2026 and the final decision noted above under agenda
item 7.2.

PARISH/2026/01/8: To approve the budget for 2026-27

PARISH/2026/01/9: To agree a precept of £58.12 per annum per Band D property for
2026-27 to give a total precept of £655,419 for the Parish Council (LGFA 1992, Part 1,
s41).

8. To consider planning applications received by the Council and decide if any
objections are to be raised.
Noted.

9. To consider correspondence received by the Council and decide if any action is
required.
a) Local Government Boundary Review. It was explained that the review is for the Borough
Council ward boundaries and not the Parish Council boundaries. However, both GSPC and
Burtonwood and Westbrook Parish Council have requested a Community Governance
Review of the current parish boundaries which are not in line with the Borough wards in
some areas causing confusion. It is likely that this will be delayed until after the Boundary
Review.

b) Royal British Legion calendar of events for 2026 – noted.

10. To hear verbal reports from Parish Councillors and from Borough Councillors on
items of note within the Parish.
None.

11. PARISH/2026/01/10: Resolved to exclude the Press and Public from the meeting during
consideration of the item in Part 2 of the Agenda because of the confidential nature of the
business to be discussed.

PC/2026/3 11.2.26
GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 14th January 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

Part 2

12. To receive latest update on Sankey Station, including,
• Draft licence for alterations
• Draft licence to underlet

A couple of queries were raised – one on clause 5.1(a) of the Licence for Alterations and
one on clause 4.1 (d) of the Licence to Underlet. These will be referred to the solicitor for
clarification.

PARISH/2026/01/11: To clarify with Taylor Rose solicitor’s clause 5.1 (a) of the draft
Licence for Alterations and clause 4.1 (d) of the draft Licence to Underlet for the station
house (LGA 1972, s124).

PC/2026/4 11.2.26