Ringshall
Parish Council
Parish Council
Parish Council
If you’ve never been to a parish council meeting before, you may be forgiven for thinking that parish councillors are a group of (probably older) people who meet now and then in a draughty village hall. If, however, you live in a community where something ‘big’ has happened, you’ll know that when people in the community need support and guidance, it is sometimes the parish council that is turned to.
By becoming a parish councillor you become someone your community will look to for help, guidance and support ? A community leader with the power to influence decisions for the benefit of the people you serve. Seeing your community change for the better, as a result of decisions you have helped make, is something that can give you a sense of achievement and pride.
Parish councils make all kinds of decisions on issues that affect the local community. Probably the most common topics that parish councils get involved with are planning matters (they are statutory consultees), crime prevention, managing open spaces and campaigning for and delivering better services and facilities.
It’s true to say that on their own, parish councils have limited powers to make decisions. But they do have the ability to negotiate with, and the power to influence, those other organisations that do make the final decisions (such as the borough council, health authorities, police etc).
In this respect parish councils are extremely powerful. The organisations that make the final decisions know that a parish council gives the best reflection of how a community feels about something, and its views will be taken seriously.
Councils usually meet once every other month for the council meeting, to which members of the public are also invited. Meetings may last two or three hours, depending on the agenda set for the meeting to discuss. Some councils have committees to deal with specific subjects, such as environmental issues. In addition to the regular meetings, councillors are required to attend other meetinsg representing the councilfor, for example acting as a representative on an outside body, community activities or helping develop a new project for the community. Such meetings won’t happen every day, so it’s not going to take over your life.
Once elected, parish councillors sit on the council for a maximum of four years. If they then want to stay in the post they can stand for re-election.
To stand for election on a parish council, you must:
To be eligible to stand for an election for a particular parish, you must:
You don’t have to be connected to a political party.
If you do become a parish councillor you will have to sign up to the Code of Conduct (PDF).
They have a wide range of powers which essentially related to local matters, such as looking after community buildings, open space, allotments, play areas, street lighting, bus shelters, car parks and much more. The Council also has the power to raise money through taxation, the precept. The precept is the Parish Council’s share of the council tax. The precept demand goes to the billing authority, the district council, which collects the tax for the Parish Council.
Parish Duties
Ringshall Parish Council has 7 Councillors who stand for election every four years. The duties and functions of a Parish Council are many and varied.
The Council meets bi-monthly and monitors the finances, considers planning applications and any other matters referred to it by local residents, MidSuffolk and by central government. All meetings are open to the public and there is a forum at which members of the public can raise concerns and ask questions. There is also an annual meeting which all parishioners are invited to attend. All meetings are advertised on the council notice boards, and this web site. Residents can bring to the attention of the Parish Council anything that concerns them, either directly or though the clerk. If matters raised are not the responsibility of the council or the Council cannot legally act, the clerk can bring them to the attention of the authority that can.
The best way to find out what it’s like to be a Parish Councillor is to talk to someone who’s doing it now. Come along to a Parish Council meeting, or speak to one of our Councillors and find out what they think of the job.
