Responsibilities

• Representing Our Community
• Enhancing Well Being
• Allotment Management
• Planning Input
• Looking after Village Assets (Playing Field, Village Green, Play Equipment etc)
• Maintaining Paths
• Adding Value to our Village

Explaining the Democratic Process

Parish Councils are at the grass roots of public democracy in local government. Devolution is working towards increasing the areas of responsibility transferring to Parish Councils who are at the heart of what their communities need; our aim is to enrich and increase the quality of life for the village, embracing diversity and to support environmental challenges moving forward.

Parish Councillors support the democratic process by holding elections every 4 years to coincide with the main District Council Elections. Outside of these regulated elections we can hold parish elections, if so, required by the electorate, if we have a resignation of a serving Councillor. The criteria for standing as a Parish Councillor is clearly defined and this can be provided by contacting the clerk. If the election is not called for the Parish Council, all interested candidates who can be considered for co-option to work on the Council for the remainder of the current term – but must then stand at the next regulated election for re-election.

For our council to be successful we need the residents to come forward to act and be a part of this decision-making process, to engage with colleagues, residents, and business to achieve a collective responsibility to ensure that all residents have a ‘voice’ that will be listened to.

Key Decisions are made by the Councillors who debate the issue, arrive at a resolution which is then proposed and seconded by Councillors – a vote then takes places for all councillors to agree (or not), once a decision has been agreed, it is then said to have been ‘resolved’. The rules on local council governance are set out in various areas of legislation, many of these are set out in our Standing Orders (although not all). A copy of our Standing Orders is available on our website.

Parish Councils are, within current legislation, allowed to raise money through Council tax. This enables the Parish Council to fulfil its duties, the sum paid to the Council is known as a precept. The precept is worked on in December and provided to the District Council in January for agreement within the budget setting process.

The Role of a Councillor

A councillor is a member of the council and is normally elected for a term of four years.  People of any political or religious persuasion are eligible to become a councillor, although their personal views should not extend into their parish council work. A councillor is an unpaid voluntary role.

​They are elected to represent the interests of the local community as a whole and promote a harmonious local environment. The number of elected councillors depends on the size of the area. In Trunch we are able to have 11 councillors.

Local councils are the first tier of governance and are the first point of contact for anyone concerned with a community issue. They are democratically elected local authorities and exist in England, Wales and Scotland. The term ‘local council’ is synonymous with ‘parish council’, ‘town council’ and ‘community council’.