But now, Handforth Parish Council has announced it’s legally changed its name.
Local council meetings are usually known to be like watching paint dry at the best of times, but it’s hard to forget when clips from a Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting went viral on social media all the way back in February thanks to a choir of raised voices, hysterical laughter, endless complaints, passive aggressive behaviour, and swearing councillors trading insults left, right and centre.
It went so viral, in fact, that people were aptly describing it as “British comedy gold” and “the best British comedy in decades”.
You may remember that with the tension between members having been continuing to build, the meeting eventually culminated with the Handforth Parish Council Clerk himself – or at least, that’s what his screen name said, but his identity is a little sketchy – being booted off the call entirely by the year’s unlikely star – none other than, Jackie Weaver.
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“You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver”.
Those were the Clerk’s famous last words before Jackie Weaver exercised the authority she actually did have, and removed him from the meeting.
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And it all went rapidly downhill from there.
Since the infamous meeting, three councillors – including the former chairman Mr Tolver, have left their positions, and now, new chairman John Smith said the council has been renamed to Handforth Town Council because they wanted to “move away from the toxic side of Handforth”.
Mr Smith said the name change had helped with the “disconnect between the old and the new”.
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He continued: “We’re just getting back to what we used to be doing, which was doing stuff for the town council [and] we’re trying to deliver a number of projects that will improve people in Handforth’s lives.
“What we’d like is, by definition of what we’re doing, people don’t refer to the viral issue any longer.”
Mr Smith also said that the change of name made sense because of the size of the Cheshire town and to make it more inclusive, due to the word parish’s links with the church, adding that: “So many people believed it to be something to do with the church [and] the Vicar of Dibley didn’t help.
“What we wanted to do was ensure people that we’re nothing to do with the church, we’re purely here as a town council so that’s why we decided to change the name.”
Alongside the changes made at the council, life has also changed for then-Clerk Jackie Weaver, who has since gone onto to become somewhat of a household name, and still maintains her links with the town of Handforth.
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“We’ve always had a good relationship with Jackie Weaver,” Mr Smith said.
If you’re wondering what Ms Weaver is up to nowadays, she is due to return to Handforth later this year to switch on their Christmas lights on 27 November.
Co-op Live confirms cancellations caused by part of air conditioning unit ‘falling from ceiling’
Daisy Jackson
The Co-op Live arena has confirmed the cause of tonight’s last-minute gig cancellation and subsequent postponement of future shows.
Reports said that an object had ‘fallen from the ceiling’ before doors to the public officially opened.
Co-op Live has now confirmed that ‘a component of the air conditioning system’ separated from the ductwork, and stressed that no one was injured.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, the artist who was meant to perform tonight, had said that ‘something happened with the venue while I was at soundcheck today’.
Oak View Group, which owns the venue, said that it had ‘made the necessary call to ensure the full safety of all visitors to the venue to postpone the performance’.
Tim Leiweke, Chairman and CEO of Oak View Group said: “The safety and security of all visiting and working on Co-op Live is our utmost priority, and we could not and will not run any event until it is absolutely safe to do so.
“Today was a very unexpected situation but without a doubt the right decision.
“I deeply apologise for the impact that this has had on ticket holders and fans.”
It’s believed that the issue with the HVAC system was an isolated incident ’caused by a factory defect’.
Co-op Live said: “We were not able to verify that all similar nozzles were free of such defects.
“In conjunction with wider stakeholders, Oak View Group has made the necessary call to ensure the full safety of all visitors to the venue, and to postpone the performance.”
The rest of the nozzles inside the huge arena will now be tested for similar defects.
They said in a statement: “We understand the need to reassure fans over future shows. We are working with artist management and promoters to limit the impact on the opening season schedule.
“Where necessary, we will identify alternate dates, and will continually reassess to provide fans with sufficient notice regarding imminent shows.
“Should shows be cancelled or rescheduled, fans will be contacted by their point of purchase and offered a full refund where preferred.”
Olivia Rodrigo’s two Manchester shows at Co-op Live have been postponed
Daisy Jackson
Olivia Rodrigo’s shows at Co-op Live in Manchester have been postponed after a night of drama for the new arena.
The star was meant to bring her GUTS Tour to the city on Friday and Saturday night.
But the huge 23,500-capacity arena has now confirmed that both of these gigs will be postponed.
New dates will be announced as soon as they’re confirmed.
Co-op Live said in a statement: “Due to an on-going venue-related technical issue, the scheduled performances of Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour on 3rd and 4th May are being postponed.
“Ticket holders can either hold onto their tickets or obtain a refund from their point of purchase.
“We deeply apologise for the significant inconvenience this will cause for many.”
The massive arena was supposed to open for the first time to the public tonight with a performance by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.
But it was called off at the eleventh hour, with fans turned away from the doors just minutes before they were meant to open.
Co-op Live has now confirmed that the reason for the cancellation was that a piece of the HVAC (air conditioning) system had ‘separated from the ductwork’.
Rigorous testing on the rest of the system now needs to take place before fans can safely be welcomed inside.
Olivia Rodrigo has yet to issue a statement about her Manchester shows on 3 and 4 May being postponed.