Community Governance Review

North Warwickshire Borough Council has received a petition from local residents asking for a Community Governance Review (CGR) of Caldecote. The petition suggests the creation of Caldecote Parish Council.  For legal reasons this must include additional properties to achieve the required size for a Parish Council.  It is proposed in this case that 9 properties, currently in Hartshill Parish, will move to Caldecote Parish.

This means that there are 92 properties in Caldecote (138 Electors) and 9 in the area of Hartshill (19 electors) are directly affected by this proposal.

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (the Act) provides that such a petition must contain at least 37.5% of the relevant electorate, in cases where this is fewer than 500 cases (as it is in this case).

Having received a valid petition from local residents, North Warwickshire Borough Council must undertake a Community Governance review as per these terms of reference and in accordance with Section 83(2) of the LGPIHA 2007.

What is a Community Governance Review?

 A community review is the process used to consider parish arrangements. It is a review to consider one or more of the following:

• creating, merging, altering or abolishing parishes,
• the naming of parishes and the style of new parishes,
• the electoral arrangements for parishes (the ordinary year of election; council size; the number of councillors to be elected to the council, and parish warding), and
• grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes.

What does this mean for you?

The creation of this new Parish Council will allow residents to elect Parish Councillors and for the Parish Council to raise funds.

Financial Information

Transferring nine properties from the parish of Hartshill would result in a reduction of the council tax base, leading to a budgetary loss of £735.62 for the Parish Council. Currently, Hartshill Parish Council's total budget amounts to £105,531.92.

A newly established Parish Council could set a precept for the residents in Caldecote which would mean additional Council Tax payments for residents. The amount is not predetermined; for instance, Hartshill's current Band D precept stands at £99.27. If Caldecote were to adopt the same precept, it would provide the Parish Council with a total budget of £9,180.

Background Information about Caldecote from the group who have organised the petition

Caldecote is a unique parish within North Warwickshire with a rich history that surrounds the surviving Hall and its estate owners over 100s of years, including, most notably, the Siege of Caldecote Hall in 1642, which led to William Purefoy being one of the signatories on the King Charles I death warrant in 1648. Other owners included Dempster Heming an infamous politician and key investor and advisor behind Joseph Hansom’s famous Hansom cab (Joseph also designed and built one of the Caldecote houses); Hon Thomas Bowes (3x GG of our current King Charles) and the benevolent Townshend family who provided many public services to the townspeople of Nuneaton and ensured suitable water and sewerage management.

More of Caldecote’s History can be read up on the holding website: https://incaldecote.wixsite.com/caldecote-parish/history

The layout of the village and surrounding properties have remained unchanged for 150 years since the Townshend rebuild of 1880 and many older buildings survive dating back to 1700s, such as those in the village. The Caldecote Parish Council will allow for the continued conservation, appropriate development and protection of this important, historic, parish and its community; parts of which are now a Designated Conservation Area that requires considered, proactive, management. It will allow us to proactively and appropriately improve and enhance the area. In addition, there have recently been many proposed developments that would specifically impact the environment here and Caldecote residents feel that a Parish Council would be the most effective and democratic vehicle to ensure we are unified in responding to these matters going forwards.

The larger proposed ‘Geographical Area’ includes the small part of Hartshill (including Leather Mills & Woodford Lodge) that have been historically connected to the Caldecote Estate and the Caldecote parish, reflected in historic census data and parish records. It is consequently closer to and more integrated with Caldecote through roads and footpaths than it is to the centre of Hartshill.

Amongst other services, precept funds could allow the Caldecote Parish Council to support existing community groups, the Caldecote Village Hall (once the old Caldecote School) that hosts weekly community events, as well as explore the best channels to protect the ancient Caldecote church, which holds much of the historical monuments connected with Caldecote dating as far back as 1600s. The previous Caldecote Parish Council ensured the ongoing protection of our historic sites.

The Statement from the Council in response to the consultation:

Hartshill Parish Council will naturally be disappointed if the occupiers of the affected residential properties decide they wish to join the new Caldecote Parish Council however the Council will respect the views of the majority of those residents after the formal consultation has taken place. 

Hartshill Parish Council's ethos is to serve the residents of the parish as best it can in the services it is able to provide. These include a paid Clerk who is available during weekdays to give advice, support and information on any issues residents may have. The Parish Council runs the cemetery which is now only available for residents of the Parish. It also manages the Community Centre, Community Library, Community Cafe, Snowhill Recreation Ground including football pitches, playground and pavilion. 

It is very unlikely that the size of the new Caldecote Parish Council will be able to provide that range of services to residents because of the number of residential properties in their proposed parish but we acknowledge their reasons for their endeavour. 

At last night's meeting the Council also agreed that should plans for a new Parish Council not work out for Caldecote they would be welcome to the idea of combining Hartshill and Caldecote as one Council if that was something they wanted to consider in the future. 

Relevant Documents

1. Full Board Report including Terms of Reference – Exec Board – 10th June 2025
2. Existing Hartshill and Caldecote Parish Boundaries Map PDF
3. Proposed Hartshill and Caldecote Parish Boundaries Map PDF

Please come back to this page as further documents/information is expected.

Next Steps

Click here to complete the questionnaire

Or come along to the North Warwickshire Borough Council drop-in sessions for residents seeking additional information - see timetable above.

Your name will not be published in the results of the survey.

Our preferred method for responses is online as this assists with administration of the process.

The deadline to complete the questionnaire is midnight on Tuesday 12th August 2025.

If you have any other queries please contact: planningpolicy@northwarks.gov.uk or call 01827 719499/451

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