Date: 21.01.2025
To: Members of Rainford Parish Council
You are summoned to attend a meeting of
RAINFORD PARISH COUNCIL
on Monday 27 January 2025 commencing at 7pm in the Council Chamber
The Press & Public are invited to attend
AGENDA
1. Apologies for Absence
Councillors are reminded that they must contact the Clerk in writing, prior to the meeting, to give
a valid reason for their absence
2. Declaration of Acceptance of Office, of Interest, and Updating of the Register
For new Councillors. Additionally, Councillors are reminded to make any new Declarations of Interest.
- Formal announcements from the Chairwoman
For information
- To hear and respond to any questions/deputations by members of the public:
- Anna Howard: Development of a Strategy for Flooding, following the incident in Kings Moss over the Christmas/New Year holiday period, along with confirmation of an investigation under section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
See separate document for further information & Item 8
- Graham Jones: Telecommunication Distribution
5. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Rainford Parish Council meeting held on Monday 16 December 2024
See separate document. For information and approval.
6. Financial Matters
For information
Receipts and Payments for December 2024
See FPA draft minutes for January 2025 for full details
Receipts £24,009.93
Payments £15,739.99
Bank balances @ 31.12.2024:
Current Account: £8,805.53
Business Account: £50,970.27
Transfers of £5000.00 were made from the Saver account to the Current account to make payments for invoices. However, staff costs for December are not included as the necessary documentation had not been received before the end of the month.
£246.61 interest was received in the Business Saver Account.
Budget 2025/5/26: The tax base for the financial year 2025/25 has been set at 3000 and this will be considered by the Section 151 Officer from St Helens Council, in consultation with the Cabinet member for Finance and Governance at some point this month. This will give a precept of £96,720.00. (3000 x £32.34 Band D equivalent)
7. Clerk’s Report
- Work started on 08.01.2025 on the decorating of the hall, stairs and landing. The work is due to take approximately 3 weeks to complete.
- The new vacancy for Junction Ward has been advertised. Councillors are requested to speak to possible candidates to join the Parish Council as there are now 3 vacancies: 2 for Junction Ward and 1 for Randle Ward.
iii. One of the caretakers has now returned to work following an extended period of sick leave.
- The Clerk & RFO vacancy has been advertised via poster, social media and the Parish Council and LALC websites.
- Paula Blellock has requested another EPC assessment for the Village Hall. The Energy Surveyor has not yet confirmed the date that this will take place.
- Donna Mooney CPSO has supplied the following crime statistics for Rainford for December 2024. Donna is hoping to return to full duties by March 2025.
vii. Residents have contacted the Parish Council regarding flooding in Kings Moss, Eagle Crescent and on the Miller Homes site. St Helens Council, as the Local Lead Flood Authority (LLFA) have been contacted, and a response is awaited. See Item 4 and separate documents
viii. A resident informed the Parish Council that they had been waiting 2 months from a response from Kieran Birch, Head of Planning at St Helens Council. On 09.01.2025, Lisa Harris, Executive Director Place, at St Helens Council has lodged a formal complaint with the Council’s corporate complaints team. No response has yet been received.
ix. A resident has contacted the Parish Council regarding an overgrown hedge on Church Lane. The details have been passed on the St Helens Council as the property appears unoccupied.
x. Several residents have contacted the Clerk’s office about mud on Higher Lane and Rookery Lane near the Miller Homes site entrances
xi. Replacements for the damaged replica Railway signs are being sourced.
xii. Councillor Denton was booked on to the LALC training session ‘Planning for Parish & Town Councils’ taking place on 22.01.2025.
xiii. Councillor Helen Smith resigned on 14.01.2025 as changes to her work and caring responsibilities mean she is unable to fulfil her role as a Parish Council member. The vacancy has been advertised on the village centre noticeboard, social media pages and website.
xiv. There is on-going dialogue with Cllr Riley from Windle Parish Council regarding sharing information on Neighbourhood Planning.
xv. The following planning application was received after the FPA Committee meeting for January 2025:
P/2025/0021/HHFP Ground Floor Garage Conversion and first floor side extension
51 Scarisbrick Road, Rainford
xvi. Various email scams have been received by on the Clerk’s, Event Manager’s and Councillor email addresses. These have been reported, and no email addresses have been compromised.
xvii. The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council will take place on 01.05.2025 at 6pm, and the Chairperson’s evening will take place on Friday 09 May 2025.
xviii. The flag for VE Commemoration has been ordered.
8. Committee & Working Party Reports
- Community Liaison Committee: Councillor Whalley
- Finance, Planning & Administration Committee: Councillor Long
- Health & Safety Committee: Councillor Bimpson
- VIP Working Party: Councillor Stockton-Pugh/The Event Manager
- Parish/Neighbourhood Plan: Cllr Roberts
For information and discussion
- Miller Homes Development: Cllr Bimpson/Cllr Denton
For information and discussion
- VE Day Commemoration 08.05.2025
For information, discussion and decision
The following is an extract from the latest NALC newsletter:
VE Day 80 – 8th May 2025 – A Shared Moment of Celebration
Following on from the enormous success of D-Day 80 – 6th June 2024, in which we all commemorated the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, through the lighting of over one thousand beacons and five hundred lamp lights of peace throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK overseas territories that night, we are now focusing all our efforts on the celebration of the 80th Anniversary of VE Day which marked the end of the war in Europe and WWII as a whole on 8th May 1945, in a similar way.
On Thursday 8th May 2025 we are encouraging the lighting of Beacons and Lamp Lights of Peace at 9.30pm, the raising of a unique VE Day flag at 9am and, where possible, holding parties of celebration throughout the day in the streets, gardens at home, churches, villages, town halls, pubs, clubs, hotels and all manner of locations throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories.
The Event Manager’s suggestion is that a Tea Dance is held in the Village Hall on 08.05.2025, serving small portions of fish and chips as these were not rationed during the whole of WW11.
- Line Management of Parish Council Staff
For discussion and decision.
See separate document for discussion points.
Currently, the Clerk is responsible to the Council as a whole and is the Line Manager for the Event Manager and the Caretakers. The Event Manager is the Line Manager for the Bar Staff. At the Extra-ordinary meeting of the FPA Committee on 07.01.2025, it was agreed that from 01.04.2025, the Clerk would no longer be the Line Manager for the Event Manager, and they would, instead, report directly to the Council as a whole. At present, the responsibility for managing the Clerk is delegated to the FPA committee, particularly the Chairperson of that committee.
- Local Life Newsletter
For discussion and decision.
At the FPA committee meeting on 08.01.2025, it was decided that the contract for the bi-monthly newsletter in Local Life should be renewed. Councillor Denton asked if extra copies could be made available for residents to collect, or for distribution, possibly by Councillors.
The following is an extract from an email from the publisher:
I’m happy to add the offices to our ‘Pick Up’ list, which consists of a few cafes in St Helens where coverage isn’t particularly high or is rural (Inglenook). Why don’t we start with 30 and then see how that goes? Our household coverage in Rainford is far higher than St Helens in general, and we will be going onto the Miller Homes estate once that is completed.
Having councillors deliver into distribution ‘holes’ is a nice idea in theory and, years ago, we used to drop off about 20 copies with Betty, the councillor who lives in Heyes Ave, who would deliver them to the outlying farms. But having councillors deliver to every place in Rainford that are not on our distribution – Derby Drive, Springfield, Mill Lane for instance – brings two problems. Our print costs are 50p per copy, so if there’s 300 copies that’s an extra £150, or £900 a year in costs. And secondly, when councillors finish their term and the next councillor isn’t inclined to deliver, or go on holiday who will the residents complain to in the case of non-delivery or late delivery?
If you remember, all those years ago when you started with Local Life, I mentioned that you could opt to publish a stand-alone newsletter. We would help you design a style, print it and deliver it to homes on our distribution area, and supply you with extra supplies so that you could deliver it to those places we don’t deliver to, plus farms etc. That’s still an option – we do this for Shevington PC – but it will require extra resources to do this.
Remember that residents can register to read an online copy of the Local Life – and around 2000 have already done so throughout our entire distribution area. They are sent a link to every issue as soon as it is published. Anyone who wants a Local Life can get a Local Life free of charge – it just may not be a hard copy, depending on where they live.
- Use of the hall by organisations and societies
For discussion and decision
It has previously been agreed that Rainford organisations and societies can book the hall once a year ‘free of charge’, providing certain conditions are met. The Event Manager would like the conditions clarified, in particular the following:
- If 2 societies/organisations have a joint fund-raising event, does that count as each one’s free use for the year?
- Is the timing a calendar year, the financial year or a rolling year from the date of the last event?
Clerk & RFO to Rainford Parish Council9. January Agenda 27.01.2025
