NOTICE OF VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF PARISH COUNCILLOR

Notice is hereby given that a casual vacancy is deemed to have occurred in the office of Councillor for the Locking Stumps Ward of Birchwood Town Council following the death of Pauline Nelson.

Rule 5 of the Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) (England and Wales) Rules 2006, provides that on a casual vacancy occurring in the office of Parish councillor, an election to fill the vacancy shall be held if within fourteen days* after the date of this notice (i.e. no later than Thursday 13 August 2020) has been given in accordance with section 87(2) of the Local Government Act 1972, notice in writing of a request for such an election has been given to the proper officer of the council of the district within which the Parish is situated by TEN electors for the Parish Area.

For further information, including the 'Request for an Election' form, and details regarding the impact that coronavirus is currently having on elections, click here.

There is no Town Council meeting in August 2020 as the Council is in Recess.  Day-to-day maintenance and office operations remain ongoing.

SEPTEMBER 2020 MEETING

Due to the current 'lockdown' conditions, until further notice meetings will take place online.

The September 2020 Town Council meeting will take place remotely on 22nd September 2020, starting at 6pm

Log-in details will be posted on our Facebook page and here as soon as they are available.

Log-in details for September 2020:

For the September 2020 Town Council Meeting Agenda Notice click here. (This will be published 6 days prior to the meeting.)

For the September 2020 Clerk's Report to the Council and Part I Finance Items to be received/considered at the September meeting click here.  (This will be published 6 days prior to the meeting.)

For the DRAFT July 2020 Council Meeting Minutes - click here. (This will be published 6 days prior to the meeting.)

For the DRAFT July 2020 Part I Finance Meeting Minutes - click here.  (This will be published 6 days prior to the meeting.)

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

For Coronavirus (COVID-19) information/advice from Warrington Borough Council, please click on the links below:

https://www.warrington.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19-warrington

https://www.warrington.gov.uk/shielding-vulnerable-people-coronavirus-update

Please note that in order to comply with Government guidance we have had to make adjustments to how the team work.  Most aspects of the working day are affected in one way or another so we have put additional measures in place.  For example one person per vehicle, staggered start and finish times and additional PPE.

BIRCHWOOD CLIMATE EMERGENCY PLAN

A climate emergency motion was presented to Birchwood Town Council and approved unanimously by Council in June 2019.

To view the Town Council's Climate Emergency Plan click here.

About Birchwood Town Council

Birchwood Town Council is the first tier of local government and is therefore the closest to the local community, followed by Warrington Borough Council.

Parish and Town Councils were created in law and they can only act within the law by exercising their powers and functions which have been conferred on them by Statutes (i.e. Acts of Parliament). Town Councils have a number of powers available to them, but the ability to exercise any such powers may sometimes depend upon a number of other other factors such as land ownership, financing or planning approval.

There is some confusion as to what the difference is between a Parish and Town Council. The answer is simple, nothing, they are exactly the same. However, a Town Council can elect a Mayor to be Head of Council instead of a Chairperson. Birchwood Town Council chooses to have a Chairperson, and in May of each year a Chair is elected by the Council. The tenure of the Chair is usually 12 months, however, due to the current pandemic and the removal (via government legislation) of the requirement to hold an annual meeting, Cllr Reeves will remain the Chair for 2020-21 with Cllr Breslin continuing as Vice Chair.

   Cllr Nigel Reeves, Chair, Birchwood Town Council 2019-21

In order to support their activities Parish/Town Councils need funds, and they are primarily funded from a small percentage of the Council Tax charge made by Warrington Borough Council to parishioners. This is known as the Precept. For the majority of Parish Councils the precept is a small portion of the whole Council Tax Bill and is the main source of income. The level of this precept is at the discretion of the parish, based on the Council's budget and the number of Band D equivalent properties within the parish. Birchwood Town Council does not receive any Government funding or income from business rates, but it does receive a very small amount of additional income from letting out its meeting room.

The Town Council campaigns on local issues and lobbies other agencies (including land owners) to take action or rectify defects which are in the interests of the local community and it normally comprises of twelve Councillors who are elected by the people of Birchwood. The next election will take place in 2021, due to Covid-19 causing the cancellation of the 2020 elections; it will be an all-out election. The twelve Councillors represent four wards within Birchwood; Chatfield (2), Gorse Covert (3), Locking Stumps (4) and Oakwood (3).  Following the passing of Councillor Pauline Nelson in July 2020, Birchwood currently has two Borough Councillors; Cllr Russ Bowden and Cllr Chris Fitzsimmons.

There are three part-time administrative staff based at Parkers Farm; The Clerk, Business and Finance Officer and Deputy Clerk who, together with local Councillors, deal with matters of concern to local residents on a daily basis. There is also a part-time Facilities Caretaker/Cleaner who takes bookings for the Community Meeting Room and keeps the Town Council's premises clean and tidy.

Birchwood Town Council is quite unique in that it has its own community maintenance resource currently made up of a full time Senior Maintenance Operative and five Maintenance Operatives. They are on hand five days a week to tackle things such as litter picking, some landscape and horticulture maintenance, footpath gritting as well as many other jobs.

From 2017 the team took on some additional, intermediate grass cutting on the Warrington Borough Council land located in Birchwood. This is done in between, and in addition to, the Borough Council's grass cutting schedule.

There are many things which the Town Council does on a daily basis; delivering and coordinating services to meet local needs and striving to improve the quality of life in the parish.

All our staff are competent and are equipped with the knowledge, support and equipment required to do their job.

The administrative offices are usually open Monday to Friday from 9.00 am until 4.00 pm and the Maintenance Team is out and about from 8.00 am until 4.00 pm Monday to Friday.

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

Data Protection law has changed. On the 25th May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation, known as GDPR, came into effect. GDPR imposes additional obligations on organisations and gives you extra rights around how your data is used.

We want you to know that Birchwood Town Council respects the information we hold on you and that we take the security of your information very seriously.

We have recently published a new Privacy Notice to give you more information on the data we hold on you, what we do with that data, who we share your data with and your new rights under GDPR.

Click here to view our Privacy Policy.

Alternatively we can send you a copy if you ask us to.