On Friday, March 4, 2016 6:09 PM, Phil Grafton <Phil.Grafton@stratford-dc.gov.uk> wrote:
Hello Corinne
Thank you for your e-mail to the Chief Executive, which has been referred to me for response. Gaydon Parish Council's (GPC) request is likely to necessitate a Community Governance Review (CGR). The process for a CGR is controlled by the Local Government (Public Involvement in Health) Act 2007.The up to date version of section 80 of the Act states as follows:-
80 Community governance petitions
(1) A community governance petition is a petition for a community governance review to be undertaken.
(2) A petition is not a valid community governance petition unless the conditions in subsections (3) to (6) are met (so far as they are applicable).
(3) The petition must be signed as follows-
(a) if the petition area has fewer than 500 local government electors, the petition must be signed by at least 37.5% of the electors;
(b) if the petition area has between 500 and 2,500 local government electors, the petition must be signed by at least [187] 2 of the electors;
(c) if the petition area has more than 2,500 local government electors, the petition must be signed by at least [7.5%] 3 of the electors.
(4) The petition mus:-
(a) define the area to which the review is to relate (whether on a map or otherwise), and
(b) specify one or more recommendations which the petitioners wish a community governance review to consider making.
(5) If the specified recommendations include the constitution of a new parish, the petition must define the area of the new parish (whether on a map or otherwise).
(6) If the specified recommendations include the alteration of the area of an existing parish, the petition must define the area of the parish as it would be after alteration (whether on a map or otherwise).
(7) If the specified recommendations include the constitution of a new parish, the petition is to be treated for the purposes of this Chapter as if the specified recommendations also include the recommendations in section 87(5) to (7).
(8) If the specified recommendations include the establishment of a parish council or parish meeting for an area which does not exist as a parish, the petition is to be treated for the purposes of this Chapter as if the specified recommendations also include recommendations for such a parish to come into being (either by constitution of a new parish or alteration of the area of an existing parish).
The consequence of this is that SDC is unable to deal with GPCs written request until such time as GPC has submitted a petition to SDC in compliance with these legal requirements. By my calculations this means GPC would need to collect 120 signatures for the purpose of triggering a review by SDC.To assist you with the process thereafter I attach a link to the SDC website that contains further information about CGRs and includes an example of how the legal process operates:-
https://www.stratford.gov.uk/council/community-governance-reviews.cfm
However, please disregard any reference to the number of signatures required, as the requirements shown above are the current applicable figures. If you require any further assistance then please speak directly to Graham Raspin, or to his Manager David Dalby, who starts work with us on Monday 14 March 2016.
In passing, please note that officers have already had some discussions about the potential consequences of the GLH development on community governance in the immediate vicinity of the site, assuming that the GLH site goes ahead. With that in mind I have included the Head of Environment and Planning into this response. It may be prudent to consider that prior to undertaking any work on your petition.
I trust that this response is helpful to you.
Kind regards
Phil
Phil Grafton
Head of Legal & Democratic Services, Cherwell, South Northamptonshire
and Stratford-on-Avon District Council Shared Legal Team
Monitoring Officer, Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Switchboard +44 (0)1789 267575, Direct +44 (0)1789 260400
email phil.grafton@stratford-dc.gov.uk, web www.stratford.gov.uk