Parish
Council
Overview
(The Chairman, in
the following context, may be either male or female as shown in the
Oxford Dictionary and no bias is intended.)
The Parish Council,
not to be confused with the Parish Church Council, was first formed in
March 1932. From the early beginnings with six councillors we now have
ten and a Clerk. The Councillors are either elected by the village
electorate or co-opted through a laid down procedure.
Full Council meet
on the third Wednesday of each month in the Village Hall commencing at
7.30pm A further meeting is normally held on the first Wednesday of
each month and Council try and restrict the business of this meeting to
planning matters only. If no new planning is received this meeting is
not normally held. As the make up of this meeting is the members of
full Council we can also discuss other urgent matters at this meeting.
Each meeting is preceded by an invitation to hold an open session. Any
member of the public may speak during this session and it is the
public’s only opportunity to address the Councillors. As
matters raised may not previously have been known about no Councillor
or the Clerk have to respond to a question raised.
If you have a
problem with any matter affecting council business, a planning
application, any suggestions that council might wish to consider in the
future, this is the time to make your views known. The matter might
then be placed on a future Agenda or your views expressed in favour or
against a matter being discussed. Again Council are not obliged to air
your views but their duty is to act in the best interests of the Parish
they represent. Your views may not however be the views of everyone.
Agenda for meetings
are sent out in the week preceding the meeting date and only items on
that agenda may be discussed and decisions made. There is no any other
business on our agenda as due notice of the item must be included on
the agenda.
If possible no meetings are held in August.
The Annual Parish
Meeting or Annual Parish Assembly is normally held on the first
Wednesday in April each year. The meeting is normally preceded by a
talk and discussion of a topic of interest to our electorate.
Reports are given by the Chairman – report on the last 12
months business
The Clerk – report on the last audited financial year.
As a result of a question posed at the 2006 meeting it is proposed to
give an overview of the year just ended but this will not have been
audited or approved by Council.
Our County Councillor.
Our District Councillors.
The Parish Councils nominated School Governor.
This is followed by
an open session to discuss any matter related to Council business.
The Annual Parish Meeting is NOT a Council meeting and no matters can
be agreed at this meeting. A Councillor may, however, agree to have a
matter placed on a future Agenda.
The Parish Council Annual General Meeting is the meeting of full
Council on the third Wednesday in May. Whilst it is preceded by an open
session where anyone may comment, the meeting, unlike most
AGM’s of organisations, is restricted to discussion by
Councillors only. The Chairman and Vice-chairman are elected and the
composition of Committees is also made. The Chairman of the Parish
Council, may attend any Committee meeting. If attending they must also
Chair that meeting. If the Chairman’s name is not included on
a committee that committee elect a chairman from within that number.
Only Councillors may speak during a Council meeting although the Clerk
may be given opportunity to speak if asked. Invited speakers, County or
District Councillors may also speak if permission is granted. It is
therefore important to ‘have your say’ during any
open session. The Chairman, with agreement, may close a meeting to hear
a view from the public if it is deemed beneficial and then re-open the
meeting. This is not a regular occurrence and may be refused. Anyone
disrupting a meeting by speaking may be asked to leave.
If a Councillor has reason to believe they have an interest in any
matter they are obliged to declare that interest and take no part in
any discussion or vote. They would generally leave the meeting so that
free speech is not inhibited if they were to remain.
Non members of Council may be excluded if the discussion is deemed to
be prejudicial to Council or a member, or of a nature that would be
beneficial to a business competitor in the case of deciding contracts
etc.
Council elections are held every fourth year and the next elections are
due in 2007. In our case if more than ten names are put forward an
election will be necessary. If ten or less names are put forward they
are elected without the need for a vote. If there is a shortfall
co-option procedures may be brought into effect. After this any vacancy
must be publicised and if more candidates are named a by-election will
be necessary. If ten members of the public write to insist on an
election one must be held even if no names are put forward –
a costly and wasted exercise. If no election is necessary names may be
submitted for consideration by co-option by Council. This could lead to
a name being submitted that Council do not approve. Further information
can be obtained from the Election Officer at East Hampshire District
Council or more informally from our Clerk.
Your Councillors are there for your benefit but they do sometimes need
advising that something is amiss or could be improved. As a responsible
citizen it would help Council if any such matter is brought to their
attention. This is generally carried out by contacting the Clerk or a
Councillor. One anomaly regarding this contact is regarding planning
matters that you yourself wish to promote. A Councillor, by
communicating with you on a specific matter, may prejudice their
position and have to Declare an Interest and not be able to speak when
the item is on the agenda. A Councillor may speak with you in general
terms but not specific. This ruling is often hard to understand and a
Councillor can be considered to be ‘rude’ in not
hearing you out. This is rarely the case and more likely to be the
Councillor protecting their position at future meetings. A similar
situation occurs if a Parish Councillor is also a District Councillor.
If they take part in Parish discussion they could bar themselves from
discussing the matter at Council. For a list of your current
councillors, click
here
Why not come and see for yourself what your Parish Council does. You
would be most welcome – as would any ideas that will improve
our village.
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