Your Council

The Parish Council is the first level of government. In this Parish it is non-political. The Parish Council is not the Parochial Church Council (PCC).

What does the Parish Council do?   It is the job of the Parish Council to represent the interests of the whole community, and Parish Councillors have a responsibility to be well informed about diverse local views. The Parish Council is empowered by Parliament, including having authority to raise money through taxation (the Precept) and to spend that public money.

• It is consulted on all planning applications
• It pursues Warwickshire County Council on highway matters
• It is responsible for community safety
• It manages the children’s play ground
• It provides public seats and bus shelters
• It ensures rights of way are protected

These are only some of the issues that concern your Parish Council on a regular basis. For the future, Central Government is to encourage Parish Councils to deliver more services and to play a greater part in their communities.

We can Represent your views to local government. Give our view on planning applications from a local perspective taking into account your opinions. Deal with environmental problems, road safety, road and footpath maintenance, as well as maintenance of playground/memorial areas. Put you in touch with people at District and County levels who may be able to help you. Assist in making things happen in the village – we were instrumental in the provision of the new school and village hall. Assist in funding projects which benefit the village i.e. Local History group, Pre-school, Church, Sports Club, Guides, WI

We cannot Solve neighbourly disputes. Act as an extension of the police. Override District, County, National Government decisions Always give you what you want – we may not be able to, or we may consider it not to be in the best interests of the parish as a whole.

Structure of the Parish Council There are eight Parish Councillors who are elected every four years, and are volunteers. Of these eight Councillors, there is one Chairman and one Vice Chairman. The Clerk to the Parish Council is a paid position, but with no voting rights, and is an employee of the Council.

MEET YOUR PARISH COUNCILLORS

How to become a Parish Councillor
Every four years the Council is dissolved and all eight Councillors have to be reappointed. At this time anyone who lives in the Parish aged 18 years or over can put himself or herself forward as a potential Councillor. If there are more prospective Councillors than places there is an election – in the same way as all elected representatives are selected. If there are only enough nominees or insufficient there is no election and all are automatically appointed. If during the course of a four-year cycle a Councillor leaves for whatever reason the vacancy will be published and after a due selection process a replacement Councillor will be co-opted.

May 2023 was an election year, the six seats were uncontested with two vacancies remaining.

Meetings
The Parish Council meets ten times a year. The public is entitled to attend and listen to the discussions, and 15 minutes are set aside at the beginning of each meeting for the public to address the meeting. The Parish Council deals with a wide variety of issues and is well represented on County and District matters by the respective Councillors who regularly attend Parish Council meetings.

For further information on Parish Council Meetings click here