13 May 2026 – Council meeting (minutes)

GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 13th May 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

Chair: P. Watson
Councillors: H Cooksey S Pennington M Cameron
C Wren N Cotter N Catlow
B Simpson M Hussain C Lynas
A Muqeem

Other: PCSO S Grady & PCSO M Jones
K. Carter (Parish Clerk)

1. Election of Chair.
PARISH/2026/5/38: Cllr Watson elected as Chair of Great Sankey Parish Council (LGA
1972 s15 (1)).

2. To hear Declaration of Acceptance of Office from Chair.
Cllr Watson accepted the office of Chair of the Parish Council for 2026-27. It has been his
pleasure to be in the post for 12 years and believes the council has achieved a lot in this
time.

3. Election of Vice Chair.
PARISH/2026/5/39: Cllr Cooksey elected as Vice-Chair of Great Sankey Parish Council
(LGA 1972 s15 (1)).

4. To elect Chair and members of the following Committees and Advisory Groups:
4.1 Finance Committee (min. 5 members)
PARISH/2026/5/40: Cllr Pennington elected as Chair of the Finance Committee, with Cllrs
Watson, Wren, Catlow, M Hussain & Simpson as the other members (LGA 1972 s15 (1)).

4.2 Employment Committee (min. 5 members)
PARISH/2026/5/41: Cllr Watson elected as Chair of the Employment Committee with Cllrs
Cotter, Pennington, Cameron, Muqeem and L. Hussain as the other members (LGA 1972
s15 (1)).

4.3 Community Projects Committee (min. 5 members)
PARISH/2026/5/42: Cllr Morley elected as Chair of the Community Projects Committee with
Cllrs Cotter, Catlow, Watson, Pennington and Wren as the other members (LGA 1972 s15
(1)).

4.4 Parish Estates Committee (min. 4 members)
PARISH/2026/5/43: Cllr Pennington elected as Chair of the Parish Estates Committee with
Cllrs Simpson, Muqeem, Lynas, M Hussain and Catlow as the other members (LGA 1972
s15 (1)).

4.5 Brentnall Park working group
PARISH/2026/5/44: Cllrs Watson, Pennington, M Hussain, Cotter & Cameron elected as
members of the Brentnall Park Working Group.

5. To review the role of Police Liaison.
Although there is no longer a Parish Funded PCSO position, it was agreed that it would still
be useful for a councillor to meet with the Neighbourhood Beat Sergeant and/or the PCSO’s
on a regular basis.

PC/2026/15 10.6.26
GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 13th May 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

6. To receive apologies for unavoidable absence.
Apologies had been received from Cllrs Morley & Parish.

7. To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 8th April 2026.
The minutes had been circulated prior to the meeting and were approved as an accurate
record.

PARISH/2026/5/45: To approve minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 8th April 2026
as a true and accurate record.

8. To receive declarations of interest on items on the agenda.
None.

9. To review and accept GSPC’s Standing Orders and Code of Conduct.
No comments or amendments were proposed and both he Standing Orders and Code of
Conduct were accepted.

PARISH/2026/5/46: To approve GSPC’s Standing Orders.

PARISH/2026/5/47: To approve GSPC’s Code of Conduct.

The meeting was suspended to hear from the PCSO’s present.
• PCSO Michelle Jones covers Burtonwood & Westbrook, Old Hall and Whittle Hall.
• PCSO Steve Grady covers Penketh & Cuerdley and Great Sankey.
• Surgeries for residents in Sankey North and Sankey South have been combined and
alternate between Kings Community Centre and Tim Parry Community Centre. The
focus of these is on community interaction; as well as dealing with residents’
concerns, the police can offer advice on dealing with issues not directly in their remit,
such as noise, parking permits, and assist with contacting the relevant organisation
for the resident.
• The Police have recently been concentrating on speeding issues leading to several
arrests for drink/drug driving and the seizing of adapted push bikes, as well as
targeting anti-social behaviour on Dakota Park.
• Cllrs raised several issues for the PCSO’s to consider;
o Patrols in the Hood Manor shop area to deter anti-social behaviour
o Joint surgeries with councillors
o Parking on double yellow lines on Burtonwood Road
o Parking/school traffic, particularly around Old Hall Primary School
The PCSO’s were thanked for their attendance and the meeting resumed.

10. Community Projects Committee: to receive the draft minutes of the meeting held on
23.4.26
The draft minutes were noted. A request was made for councillors to volunteer to help at
Sankey Fun Day.

PC/2026/16 10.6.26
GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 13th May 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

11. Employment Committee
11.1 to receive the draft minutes of the meeting held on 28.4.26
Noted.

11.2 to consider and decide on recommendations requiring full council approval.
Recommendation EC/2026/2 related to the recruitment of a Horticulture Apprentice. The
contract had been reviewed and a starting salary proposed based on guidelines from the
Professional Gardeners Guild. The recruitment process and timeframes for this had also
been agreed by the Employment Committee. The recommendation on contract and salary
was accepted with no queries raised.

PARISH/2026/5/48: To approve the contract and starting salary for the Horticulture
Apprentice as proposed by the Employment Committee on 28-4-26 (LGA 1972 s112).

12. Finance Committee
12.1 to receive the draft minutes of the meeting held on 5.5.26
Noted.

12.2 to consider and decide on recommendations requiring full council approval.
The recommendations from the committee were explained.
FINANCE/2026/05/36 proposed that the monies for the Parish-funded PCSO be left in the
budget at present and review in the future or if there is a demand for it from another project.
Agreed.

FINANCE/2026/05/37 related to surplus monies from the last financial year. The Finance
Committee suggested that £40k should be added to the General Reserve to raise this level
to more prudent sum of around 3 months net revenue expenditure as advised by the Joint
Panel on Accountability & Governance (JPAG). This will bring the general reserve to a total
of £150,000. The remaining surplus (£8947 to be added to earmarked reserves. Agreed.

FINANCE/2026/05/39 recommended payment of £2053.27 to WBC for the feasibility study
on Childs Wood Field. Most of the costs for the surveys have been covered by the grant
from the UKSPF of £15k which include a preliminary ecology assessment, stage 1 desktop
survey and tree survey.

PARISH/2026/5/49: To leave allocated sums for the PCSO provision which is no longer
needed in the budget and review later in the year.

PARISH/2026/5/50: To move £40k to the General Reserve and £8,497 to Earmarked
Reserves of surplus funds from the 2025-26 financial year.

PARISH/2026/5/51: To send payment of £2053.27 to WBC for the feasibility study on
Childs Wood Field.

13. To review the terms of hire for Tim Parry Recreation Ground for football training.
The terms of hire for the recreation ground had been redrafted. It was noted that the
reference to premises throughout the document could be confused with the community
centre. It was agreed to change the wording to recreation ground and add page numbers.

PC/2026/17 10.6.26
GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting: Wednesday 13th May 2026
Tim Parry Community Centre

PARISH/2026/5/52: To approve the terms of hire for Tim Parry Recreation Ground with the
minor amendments of including page numbers and changing the wording from premises to
recreation ground (Public Health Amendments Act 1907 s76).

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

15. To consider correspondence received by the Council and decide if any action is
required.
Update from WBC on the update of Warrington’s Local Plan – no comment.

16. To hear verbal reports from Parish Councillors and from Borough Councillors on
items of note within the Parish.
Cllr Cameron reported that the Hong Kong community is developing a website that can be
used to both promote community events and find volunteers for events as their members
are keen to be involved in local life. It was recognised that this could be a valuable resource
for the council in the future.

Cllr Hussain reported that there had been some misinformation posted on Facebook in
relation to the maintenance of Marina Avenue Park and the current road closures in Sankey
Bridges. Cllr Hussain has provided full details and information on these subjects to the
individual concerned but the posts have continued. Marina Avenue Park is maintained by
WBC and the grass cut on a rolling 6–8-week programme with other sites in the area,
although there may be delays due to adverse weather/ground conditions. WBC also
promotes No Mow May to help the bee and insect populations and therefore leaves some
areas uncut. The considerable work programme in Sankey Bridges to alleviate flooding
issues is almost complete; the drainage has been finished, and the roads are now being
resurfaced with road closures planned to facilitate this until the end of May.

Part 2

17. To receive latest information on the Sankey Station project & leases.
No further update. Responses are awaited from Arch Co’s solicitor on queries raised.

PC/2026/18 10.6.26