What We Do

What Your Parish Council Does

The Parish Council Is the first tier of government. In Dunchurch Parish it is non-political.
The Parish Council is not the Parochial Church Council.

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.

  1. It is consulted on all planning applications in the Parish
  2. It pursues Warwickshire County Council on highway matters
  3. It works with Warwickshire Police to provide the community with a safe environment
  4. It provides bus shelters, litter bins, dog bins and some public seating
  5. It maintains village street lighting including paying for the unmetered electricity supply
  6. It maintains Arkwright Playing Field including grass cutting We employ a village Handyman who six days per week ensures, as far as possible, that the village is clean and tidy. The Handyman also helps with maintenance issues.
  7. It organises the Christmas Lighting Display
  8. It is the controlling authority for the Community Library and the Community Building
  9. It funds a Youth Service within the village
  10. These are only some of the issues that concern your Parish Council on a regular basis the list is not exhaustive. In the future, Central Government is to encourage Parish Councils to deliver more services and to play a greater part in their communities.

We can – the list is not exhaustive:

  1. Represent your views to local government
  2. Give your view on planning applications from a local perspective taking into account your opinions
  3. Deal with environmental problems, road safety, road and footpath maintenance
  4. Put you in touch with people at District and County levels who may be able to help you
  5. Assist in making things happen in the village provided they benefit some or all of the community

We cannot – the list is not exhaustive:

  1. Solve neighbourly disputes
  2. Act as an extension of the police
  3. Make decisions on planning
  4. Override District, County, National or EU Government decisions
  5. We cannot offer funding to individuals
  6. Structure of the Parish Council
  7. There are ten Parish Councillors who are elected every four years, and are volunteers.
  8. Of the ten Councillors, there is one Chairman and one Vice Chairman.
  9. The Clerk to the Parish Counci l and the Responsible Finance Officer/Administrator positions are paid employees of the Parish Council, they do not have voting rights.

How to Become a Parish Councillor

Every four years the Council is dissolved and all ten Councillors have to be reappointed. At this time anyone who lives in the Parish aged 18 years or over and meet the criteria for office can put themselves 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 again. If more people apply than there are vacancies available there will be an election, otherwise, the Parish Council can co-opt a new Councillor.

Meetings

The Parish Council meets eleven times a year (not in August) on the second Monday of every month; this may vary in an election year. The public is entitled to attend and listen to discussions and 15 minutes are set within the 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

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