Gawsworth Parish Council

About Gawsworth Parish Council

Gawsworth Parish Council was established in 1894 and the first meeting took place on 14th December in the Parish Schoolroom. Since then, the council has represented the views of Gawsworth residents at the most local tier of government.

The Parish Council comprises nine councillors who are elected every four years (the next elections are in 2027) with four councillors representing Gawsworth Moss ward and five representing Gawsworth Village ward. All councillors are unpaid and give their time for the council voluntarily.

The Parish Council meets monthly (except in December) in the Village Hall, standing items include raising maintenance issues and receiving working group reports. The council also considers any planning applications submitted in Gawsworth and submits comments to Cheshire East Council.

The Parish Council owns and manages Gawsworth Park and Nancy’s Wood as well as the Pleasance and Memorial Green. We are responsible for the parish pump, war memorial and ancient stone cross! The council also manages a contract to undertake maintenance across the parish with our Parish Ranger through which we tackle a variety of maintenance jobs!

Our Strategic Plan

In 2023 we adopted a new strategic plan, covering the current council term. The plan looks forward to 2027 and sets out the following vision we are working to deliver:

In 2027, Gawsworth will be a tidier and better cared for parish than in 2022. The natural environment will have been enhanced as part of a community wide initiative to be a more environmentally aware parish and the built heritage of the parish will have been better understood and conserved by the community.

Gawsworth will be a healthy and resilient community with access to the affordable housing it needs. Active travel networks will have been improved and people will feel safer using roads and footpaths to travel and there will have been a focus on improving accessibility across the parish.

The Neighbourhood Plan will continue to be effective in ensuring appropriate development and there will be a welcoming rural feel across the entire parish. Any new residents from the LPS15 development will feel part of Gawsworth community.

The parish will have a strong civil society with an actively engaged community. There will be evidence strong partnership working across the various organisations operating in the parish.

The plan sets out six strategic aims:

• Enhance the natural environment, built heritage and open spaces within the
  parish.
• Deliver a healthy, strong and resilient community
• Play an active role in the planning system and protect the rural identity of
  Gawsworth
• Enhance accessibility and active travel across and outside the parish
• Improve the standards of maintenance across the parish
• Maximise the use of IT and promote skill sharing the community

The Parish Council receives the majority of its income through the precept, an annual sum which is collected as part of Council Tax by Cheshire East Council and paid to the parish council. The precept is set every January as part of our budget setting process and and the precept from 1st April 2024 was £33,134 meaning a Band D household will pay £40.27 per year.

You can view our current year budget here: R&P Report May 2024