Willaston Parish Council Budget 2025-26

What is Willaston Parish Council?

Willaston Parish Council is your local council which covers the village of Willaston and surrounding area.

The Parish Council is your first tier of local government and unlike the name suggests does not have any affiliation with any Church. Parish means ‘area’ and the powers and responsibilities of a Parish Council are the same to those of a Town Council.

The Parish Council obtains its funding via a precept which is collected as part of Council Tax.

The Parish Council is managed by 12 Parish Councillors. All Willaston Parish Councillors are Willaston residents who are un-paid volunteers elected every 4 years.

The Parish Council is advised by the Clerk / Responsible Financial Officer who ensures the legal requirements of the Council are met. The Clerk is a part-time post and is the only paid employee of the Parish Council.

What does Willaston Parish Council provide?

Amenities

The Parish Council owns the Lettie Spencer Playing Field, the Willaston Allotments and the War Memorial and is responsible for the upkeep of these. We are also responsible for looking after Mike Heywood Green, The Spinney area and the Book Box.

In 2025/26 Willaston Allotments will see a long standing project of part of the boundary fencing being replaced as well a professional clearance of several abandoned plots so that they are ready to be handed over to new tenants.

Each year the Council puts aside funds to maintain and improve Lettie Spencer Playing Field. Because of anti-social behaviour, it is necessary to close the playing field each evening. This was done for many years on a voluntary basis by councillors. In 2024 due to the level of anti-social behaviour being directed at councillors we started to work with a security company so that they could support in closing the playing field. Following further incidents of antisocial behaviour and the targeting of councillors homes, the security company now conduct all closures at the Playing Field on the advice of Cheshire Police. This will continue throughout 2025-26.

CCTV was installed in the playing field in July 2024, and upgraded in March 2025. This has been introduced to ensure that the Playing Field is a safe place for all users as well as deter those who do not respect this facility and the residents who live nearby.

Willaston in Bloom

The Parish Council provides the floral displays throughout the Village. Many of the displays are maintained by our contractor and other work is carried out by volunteers. The budget for 2025/26 sees a slight increase to account for price changes from contractors and suppliers.

Events

The Parish Council arranges community events throughout the year. In 2025 we plan to hold a VE Day Anniversary Commemoration, our regular Act of Remembrance and Carols on The Green. We have decided to pause our Garden Party for 2025 after hosting it for 3 successive years. The Events budget has been reduced accordingly.

Staffing & Training

The Parish Clerk is the Council’s only paid employee. His salary is set in line with national agreements from the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. The Parish Council actively encourages councillors to attend appropriate training.

Community Projects

Although Mike Heywood Green is a key central location and site of our Christmas Lights and Carol Singing, it is currently owned by Cheshire East Council with a management agreement in place for Willaston Parish Council to maintain this space at the Parish Council’s cost.

We are planning to replace the Christmas lights this year so that they keep this area looking festive throughout the holiday period.

We have budgeted for the provision of new boundary signage which will assist in bringing clarity to specific parts of the Parish and helps to protect Willaston’s identify and reduce the likelihood of residents properties being absorbed into a higher taxed area such as Nantwich.

Administration

In 2025/26 the Parish Council will continue to use bespoke software to manage the Council finances and the allotments. As well as the costs of running the Council such as stationery, telephone and meeting rooms.

We have plans this year to move to a new hosting platform for the Council website which will ensure that it meets the necessary standards and protocols.

Investing in Willaston in 2025/26

In October 2024 Council reviewed the first draft budget and in November 2024, the Parish Council set and approved the budget for the Council year of 205/26 which begins in April.

The total budgeted expenditure stands at £60,749 which is £4,087 less than the previous year. This budget will be covered by precept (93%) and income (7%). For many years the council relied on utilising reserves to cover expenditure so that the precept request was reduced. This brought benefits in each of those years. It was agreed though that for 2025-26 we would not appropriate from reserves and that budgeted expenditure will be covered exclusively by precept and other income.

 

In order to achieve the amenity enhancements and activities planned in 2025/26 and to cover budgeted expenditure without using reserves, it is necessary to increase the total annual precept from £52,209 to £56,572.

 

For a Band D property, this equates to a yearly increase of £2.39

to a total precept amount of £35.60 annually.

Despite this increase, the Council is pleased it is still a relatively low precept compared to neighbouring councils as shown in the table.

 The below table shows the Willaston precept over the last 9 years.