FINAL preparations are under way to create a Kingsmead Parish Council in the New Year.

The new Kingsmead parish will come into being at the end of March, with a parish council for the area set to be elected in May.

The area currently falls within the Davenham and Northwich parish boundaries, but residents called for Kingsmead to become a separate parish with its own council during a public consultation in 2008.

Two representatives from Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) attended Davenham Parish Council’s latest meeting to update councillors on progress and answer any questions.

Clr Adrian Bridge said: “From the admittedly limited number of people I’ve spoken to in Kingsmead, their only interest is how much the procedure costs.”

Alison Armstrong and Trudie Odaka, from CWAC, explained that they could not answer that question and added that most of the cost would have been incurred by the former Vale Royal Borough Council, which started the process and organised the consultation.

Clr Bridge said: “I don’t think that’s good enough in an age of austerity, where we have to look at every penny.

“Not to have a plan where you look at every £100 spent is sad and someone should know the answer.”

The community governance order to create the new parish is in place, but Davenham Parish Council was concerned about the detail of how things would happen, including when a clerk would be appointed and what would happen during the gap between the new parish being established and the new councillors being elected.

Trudie, from CWAC’s legal department, said: “Cheshire West and Chester Council will arrange the first meeting and will clerk it from our own democratic services staff.

“However, the actual appointment of a clerk has to be done by the parish council once it’s come into being – it’s important they’re involved in the whole selection process.”