Minutes of Ordinary Parish Council Meeting held on Monday, 11th May 2026 in the Village Hall at 7p.m.
Present: Dave Clarke, Philip Morrey, Richard Moulds, John Meredith, TK Al Jorani, Ralph Howard and Richard Simm.
01/26 Apologies: Geoff Hughes (unavailable) and Jeff Smith (holiday).
02/26 Declaration of Interest. None.
03/26 To consider approval of Minutes of Ordinary Parish Council meeting held 8th April 2026. These were agreed as a correct record and duly signed by the vice-Chair.
04/26 Matters arising not covered elsewhere on Agenda: There had been an on-line meeting concerning Peak Cluster and further information will be provided following when available.
05//26 Public participation: There were no members of the public in attendance.
06/26 Village Hall:
- Dave reported that the Hall had received a Fire Safety report and Ralph agreed to assist with the interpretation of the points raised in this report.
- GP Surgery – currently there is wide consultation taking place by ICB but no further concrete information currently available.
- From a Village Hall point of view the fall in income should the GP surgery vacate the building will need to be addressed. Discussion regarding possible solutions revealed that possibly wellness related companies may be interested in hiring the premises.
- Fire Safety – each group using the Hall is required to have a Fire Warden. It was queried as to whether these needed to be trained personnel. Party bookings are provided with fire safety instructions. Further discussion on evacuation procedures etc. needs to be undertaken.
07/26 Road Safety: Richard Moulds reported that so far 32 people have registered for the Driving Safely Course to be held on 19th May.
08/25 Amenity Cleaning: John and Jeff had met with Mr Castle and Councillors had received draft recommendations for amenity cleaning and grounds maintenance work. Ralph proposed that these recommendations be accepted by the Parish Council, seconded by Richard Moulds. All Councillors present were in favour.
09/26 Grounds maintenance: As above. However, a great deal of discussion ensued as to the review date(s) of these recommendations and the costs involved. These included one year review, 2-year review, one year review of costings, time period agreed before the work is put out to tender. Regular work reviews during the current period to be undertaken in relation to inflation related prices until April 2027. No formal proposition was made following this discussion.
10/26 Footpaths: Nothing to report.
11/26 Resident Survey & Local Plan Process:
- Richard Moulds reported that CGBA assessment of green belt land within the Parish has been undertaken. Heritage Assessment has also been undertaken and the one single asset over the 7 Parishes involved is the Canal. Timetable not yet available regarding Local Plan.
- Richard Moulds outlined the process re land earmarked for development by Grosvenor Estate in the future. Ralph commented that the loss of the GP Surgery would impact on the services provided and the schools are currently full. It was also questioned as to how many Waverton residents are patients of Dr Kent & Partners surgery.
- Richard Moulds has the dates for public one-to-one meetings and round table meetings and Councillors will assist with these meetings. The 11th June date is cancelled due to elections and the Hall being unavailable. Richard will prepare “Question and Answers” sheets for Councillors assisting in the meetings.
- Housing Needs Survey – Richard Moulds formally proposed that we accept the final report. This was seconded by Ralph, and all Councillors present were in favour.
12/26 Planning applications: There were no items under this heading.
13/26 Playing Field: Nothing to report.
14/26 Play area: Nothing to report.
15/26 Village Green: Nothing to report.
16/26 Correspondence:
- Invitation to Civic Sunday on 24th May 2026 at Chester Cathedral.
- Outstanding Freedom of Information requests continue to be dealt with as appropriate.
17/25 Accounts:
Accounts paid from 14th April to 11th May 2026
| Date | Payee | Amount |
| 20.04.26 | Waverton Village Hall transfer return | £2,000,00 |
| 20.04.26 | Clerk’s Salary x 4 | £1,887.38 |
| 20.04.26 | J Windsor – Cloud Next account | £119.98 |
| 20.04.26 | Walker Fire UK Ltd | £308.99 |
| 20.04.26 | Countrywide Grounds Maintenance | £192.00 |
| 20.04.26 | Gaskells Waste Northwest | £87.54 |
| 20.04.26 | Hatcher Hughes (accountancy) | £108.00 |
| 24.04.26 | Peter Black (Consultancy fees) | £1,158,30 |
| 24.04.26 | Village Hall staff salaries | £1,801.11 |
| 24.04.26 | HMRC (all staff) | £511.92 |
| 01.05.26 | P Castle (£439.56 + £550) | £989.56 |
Accounts as yet unpaid
| Date | Payee | Amount |
| Gaskells Waste | £92.52 | |
| ChALC subscription 2026/27 | £494.40 | |
| Clerk’s Salary (April) | £445.88 | |
| Mid-Cheshire Footpath Society – subs | £8.00 | |
| Countrywide Grounds Maintenance (April) | £1,112.40 |
- To approve expenditure for the provision of new defibrillators and necessary electrical work. The figure of £3,500 was proposed by Dave and seconded by TK. All Councillors present in favour. Richard Moulds proposed that during the July meeting the Council considers what should be removed from the current budget to accommodate the cost of new defibrillators. All present in favour.
- It was agreed that the statement of accounts paid and unpaid (as above) be circulated to Councillors ahead of the meeting.
- It was also confirmed that whilst the Council now operates online banking, it is still possible to make payments by cheque in an emergency i.e. if Chair is absent and unable to approve online payments.
- A resident had submitted external auditor recommendations for consideration. These had been circulated to Councillors and noted.
Items for discussion/consideration:
- Wavertonian Newsletter – it was agreed that this would be 4 sheets plus 1 x A4 sheet as insert for the Village Fete. This should be with the Printer by 20th
Clerk will inform Mustard Print ahead of this date as they require a week’s notice
in order to plan their workload.
2.Clerk expressed appreciation to Chair (Jeff) for his continued support during some difficult times in the last few months.
Next meeting: Monday, 8th June 2026 at 7 p.m. in Village Hall.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.50 p.m.