|
Home
Members
Calendar of meetings
Welcome to members of the public...
Meetings/
Minutes
Newsletters
Press Releases
Contact us
Brookfield Hall
opening times...
How to invite the Mayor...
What is a Town Council?
Annual Report 2010/11
Latest News!
Grant Applications
History of Nantwich
Nantwich Festivals/
Events
Local Community Contacts
|
Annual
Report
Annual
Report and Accounts for 2010/11...
The Mayor...
The Council civic year starts in May and on the 10th
May 2010, at the Annual meeting, Councillor Joyce Stockton was elected
Mayor. She had an exciting year. She visited Reaseheath College on a
number of occasions at awards and open days, including an event in June
attended by Her Majesty the Queen. Councillor Stockton was invited to
several Festivals and community events including the Nantwich Transport
Festival, the Nantwich Show, Wulvern Family Fun Day, the Food Festival
and the 200th birthday of the Oddfellows Association.
    
The Mayor also saw several excellent productions by our local amateur
dramatic society, the Players, as well as outstanding shows from the
Acton Amateur Operatic Society. On the 8th November, she was invited to
the Homecoming Parade of the 1st Battalion the Mercian Regiment and of
course, attended remembrance services for the fallen in World Wars and
more recent conflicts. Councillor Stockton raised £1000 for Help for
Heroes and £440 for Stapeley Animal Rescue Centre during her year of
office. Sadly, at the end of her Mayoral year in May 2011, Councillor
Stockton’s dear husband, Eddie, passed away after a short illness. It
was a sad loss and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Community Grants...
It has been a significant year for the Town Council
and for local organisations and societies. Community (revenue) grants
were made in May 2010 to the following groups:- Nantwich in Bloom
£3800, Samaritans (South Cheshire) £400, Holly Holy Day £1500, Nantwich
Museum Trust £9600, Family Fun Day £9000, Nantwich Players £1500,
Nantwich Words and Music Festival £1000, Nantwich First Responders
£1477, Nantwich & District Band £1200. Later in the year, smaller
grants were made to sponsor a fishing competition for young people
organised by the police; to a local Guide and Brownie group to buy
camping equipment; for the Food and Drink Festival in Nantwich; towards
the purchase of the Hurleston Brooch for the Museum and grants to
Greenspaces South Cheshire for planting on the riverside and to the
Flower Festival and Nantwich Transport Festival.
    
The Council organised and paid for a St George’s day
celebration in April 2010 and contributed to street entertainment in the
Square throughout the year. In addition, the Town Council made
contributions to Christmas decorations of over £7000 at the end of 2010
and gave £14000 from revenue to Cheshire Police to keep the front desk
in Nantwich police station staffed and open for the public.
Capital payments...
The Council also made some payments from capital,
to keep Nantwich safe and attractive. In February 2011 it contributed
£5000 to enable CCTV controls to be kept in Nantwich police station.
Because the CCTV monitoring headquarters has been moved to Macclesfield
by Cheshire East Council it was proposed that Nantwich pictures could no
longer be viewed from Nantwich police station. The Council stepped in
and paid for special equipment so officers could continue to view and
control cameras locally.
In November 2010 the Council learned that because the
sluice gates at Beam Bridge were to be removed by the Environment
Agency, levels of the river Weaver in the town might fall dramatically.
The Beam Bridge Sluice gates, which regulated the flow of water, had
reached the end of their useful life. They were damaged and corroded and
the Agency were considering removing them altogether. The Council made a
contribution of £20,000 to enable the gates to be replaced by ‘stop
logs’ which form a barrier to keep water levels up and make the river
look more attractive.
Over the year, the Council also spent £40,000 on a
new roof and windows for Brookfield Hall. As well as being the Council’s
headquarters, the hall is a meeting place for a church, Nantwich in
Bloom, two slimming clubs, the Allotments Society, Nantwich and District
Band, a toddler’s group and several other local groups. The CCTV, Stop
Logs and refurbishment of Brookfield Hall, were all paid for out of
capital, not council tax. The money was raised by a land sale about
eight years ago and was maintained for exactly this sort of eventuality.
Capital Grant scheme...
Also in 2010/11, the Council established a capital
grant scheme and the following organisations were awarded grants in
February 2011:- Nantwich Citizens Advice Bureau (new computer
system), Malbank School (assistance to fitness centre), Nantwich Free
Runners (free running park at the Barony), Nantwich Players (drama and
community arts venue), Nantwich Tennis Club (purchase of land or flood
lights), Nantwich Choral Society (staging for performances in St Mary’s
Church), Trustees of Church House (lift for disabled people – loan),
Nantwich Civic Society (interpretation boards / signs by the river),
Barony Park Bowling Club (pavilion).
These are all offers of grant for capital purposes
because government regulations say councils can only use money received
from the sale of land to fund capital items. So the awards to the nine
local organisations concerned (which amount in total to grants of
£54,000 and one offer of loan of £30,000) are all for capital projects.
The Council’s accounts are shown below so you can see
where the money goes and how it is raised. The precept (i.e., the amount
raised from council tax) was £153,000 in 2010/11 and the average council
tax bill from the Town Council was just over £28 per year. This compares
to a Cheshire East tax of around £1200 per year. The Council has one of
the lowest council-tax bills of any town in Cheshire East.
NANTWICH TOWN COUNCIL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2010/2011
Income & Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 March 2011
2010/11 £
Operating Income
Administration - Staff costs 0
Administration - General 100
Brookfield Hall 14,139
Events 857
Council Income (including precept) 196,632
Total Income 211,728
Running Costs
Staff costs 59,071
Administration - General 14,063
Subscriptions 1,253
Grants 33,877
Contributions 18,167
Brookfield Hall 9,937
Environmental Expenditure 3,571
Civic & Elections Expenditure 2,144
Events 10,328
Special Capital Projects 60,431
Total Expenditure 212,842
General Fund Analysis
Opening balance 42,575
Plus: Income for year 211,728
254,302
Less: Expenditure for year 212,842
41,461
Transfers To / From Reserves 13,888
Closing Balance
27,573
Balance Sheet at 31 March 2011
2010/11 £
Current Assets
VAT Refunds 1,984
Prepayments and Accrued Income 1,694
Current account - RBS 53,990
Direct Reserve Account RBS 250,377
Yorkshire Bank Time Deposit 250,000
Bank of Scotland Time Deposit 250,000
Lloyds TSB Time Deposit 200,000
Petty Cash 150
Total Assets
1,008,195
Current Liabilities
Creditors 7,536
Accruals 1,925
Receipts in advance 280
9,741
Total Assets less Current Liabilities 998,454
Represented By
General Revenue Fund 25,572
Repairs and Renewals Reserve 2,964
Holding Reserve 17,451
Capital Receipts Reserve 850,377
Revenue Reserve 100,000
998,454
(Subject to audit).
Helping the Community...
The aim of the Council is to encourage local groups
in the town, to foster voluntary activity and help make the town look
and feel more attractive. Apart from awarding grants and loans,
individual councillors are themselves members of local groups and
organisations, such as Nantwich in Bloom, the Museum Trust or the Civic
Society. They play an active part in such organisations. Nantwich is
very lucky to have many volunteers willing to give up their time to
further the community life of the town and town councillors applaud
their contributions and their efforts. One example of this was a survey
undertaken by the Civic Society to highlight the poor state of repair of
the town centre. This was followed by a ‘clean-up’ or ‘spring clean’
involving volunteers.
Challenges ahead...
The next big challenge will be whether the Council
can justify taking on buildings and services from Cheshire East Council.
At the moment, Cheshire East runs the Civic Hall, Market, the Gables,
public toilets, children’s play areas, green spaces and some allotments.
The bigger council is prepared to transfer all or some of these
facilities to the Town Council, which will take over their management
and maintenance if Councillors decided to accept them.
Since many of these facilities require a subsidy, it
will mean an increase in Council tax paid to the Town Council if they
are transferred. Many people feel these local services would be best run
by the more local Town Council. The Council would welcome your views.
Riddell Graham, Town Clerk.
|
|
|
Links
Location map of
Nantwich Town
Council




Nantwich is a
Fairtrade Town
Taste Nantwich
Food & Drink Walks
Visit Nantwich
Tourism website
Cheshire Market
Towns website
Nantwich Transport
Group Minutes
|