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Chadlington Parish Council

Background

There are over 8,700 parish and town councils representing around 16 million people across England. They form the most local level of government and cover many rural and urban areas.

The Parish Council has an overall responsibility for the well-being of its local community. It plays an important role in the local community and is a vital link to district and county councils and other agencies on local issues.

The Parish Council’s work falls into three main categories:

  • representing the local community
  • delivering services to meet local needs
  • striving to improve the quality of life in the parish

Parish Councils funding comes primarily through the precept. This precept is a local rate which is collected here in Chadlington by West Oxfordshire District Council as part of the council tax.

Here in Chadlington

Chadlington Parish Council (CPC) is democratically elected once every four years and comprises six councillors. It employs a Parish Clerk for six hours per week to administer the wishes of the Parish Council and respond to matters raised by local residents. It is governed by its Standing Orders and Financial Regulations [see below for more details]

The CPC precept will be £15,034 in 2018/2019 financial year plus a grant from WODC for £355, making an annual budget of £15,389.

The Parish Council’s Parish Plan can be found here

CPC holds its meetings on the second Monday of every other month at 7:30 pm when members of the public have a dedicated slot to raise issues that concern them and when Councillors discuss, agree and approve Council business and expenditure.

The agenda for these bi-monthly meetings are posted seven days before the next meeting, both on the CPC Noticeboard located opposite Cafe de la Post, on the Stocks green, and on this Chadlington village website. You can sign up for email alerts for the latest CPC papers too, by subscribing to the website email updates.

The bi-monthly CPC meetings are minuted and the minutes are posted on the CPC Noticeboard and this website within 2-3 weeks of the meeting taking place.

Chadlington also has a West Oxfordshire District Council and an Oxfordshire County Council representative who attend CPC meetings,  when they are able, and provide a link  for local residents and CPC to the District and County Council.

Who are your Parish Councillors?

  • Chair: Zoe Townsend
  • Vice-Chair: Heidi Davies
  • Others: Andrew Carpenter, Nicola Lloyd, Hilary Moore

The Council are supported by the Clerk to the Parish Council who works 6 hours per week. The Clerk’s role is to ensure that the functions and responsibilities of the council as a Local Authority are carried out.

  • Gill Hill – Clerk to the Parish Council – 01608 676951 or email chadlingtonparishcouncil@gmail.com

Other local Councillors covering Chadlington

Specific CPC responsibilities

CPC has responsibilities for various local amenities, which include:

  • Children’s playground at Mill End
  • Two bus shelters
  • Public benches
  • Managing the village allotments which are leased from the Kathleen Hannay Trust
  • Keeping grit bins filled for winter road safety
  • Acts as a trustee for the Memorial Hall, on behalf of the village
  • Parish funds
  • CPC also has a representative Councillor on the Memorial Hall Committee and the Diplock Trust Charity

Reports at the 2018/9 Annual Parish Meeting

The meeting was held on 13th May 2019 and Councillors submitted a written report. Copies are these reports are available below:

Liaison with other organisations and individuals

CPC also reports to the relevant organisations any issues and problems that Councillors or residents have concerns about, such as

  • broken street lighting, potholes, road markings or street signage issues, emptying of salt traps at Brook End, overgrown vegetation obstructing highways – responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) and its Highways Dept.
    Residents can also report directly to OCC Highways via email highway.enquiries@oxfordshire.gov.uk or by telephone on 0845 310 1111.  Problems that are the responsibility of OCC can also be reported via http://fixmystreet.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
  • footpath matters, such as broken stiles, obstructed footpaths. Local footpaths – responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council Countryside Dept. Details of all Chadlington footpaths can be found on OCC Definite Statement footpaths
  • planning, road name signs, household waste and recycling collections – responsibility of West Oxfordshire District Council
  • housing – to either Cottsway Housing Association who manage social housing in Chadlington or West Oxfordshire District Council who are responsible for housing development through the Local Development Framework and its Local Plan
  • with Thames Valley Police on matters such as speeding, anti-social behaviour and crime prevention
  • with the local churches and the Diocese of Oxford
  • with local landowners and residents over individual matters

When are the Parish Council Meetings?

Parish Council meetings are held on Monday evening every other month at 7.30 pm in the Memorial Hall, Chapel Road, Chadlington.

How Can the Parish Council Help?

It depends! First of all, we need to know about the issue – one way is through the “Public Participation” section of each Parish Council meeting – where members of the community can raise matters for discussion. It would be great if you could give us a heads up on the issue using the contact form here in advance of the meeting, so the Clerk or the Councillors can gather any relevant information beforehand.

Alternatively, if you cannot or do not wish to attend the meeting, please get in touch using the website contact form or call the Clerk to the Parish Council on 01608 676951

If you wish to receive West Oxfordshire District Council planning applications alerts, please follow these instructions.

Standing Orders & Codes of Conduct

Parish Councils are governed by a set of Standing Orders and Councillors have to follow strict codes of conduct.

The relevant documents governing the operation of the Chadlington Parish Council are available to download here:

Who can be a Parish Councillor?

Parish Councillors must be:

  • Aged 18 or over;
  • A citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, EU or Ireland;
  • On the electoral roll, or a resident or within 3 miles of the parish, own land or work in the parish.

They should:

  • Be able to attend regular evening meetings (one Parish Council Meeting every other month plus occasional other meetings as required)
  • Be interested in local issues, preferably not just a single issue;
  • Have an understanding and willingness to represent the views of the whole community;
  • Have an interest in being a professional and effective councillor.

Please find a copy of the role of a Parish Councillor (in the form of a job description) here

The National Association of Local Councils has also published a very useful guide to being a local councillor. Available here.

The next parish council election for Chadlington will be in May 2020.

Transparency Code

Chadlington Parish Council (CPC) has to comply with national requirements issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). New requirements are laid out in the Transparency Code, introduced by DCLG in December 2014.  These are intended to increase transparency of smaller arms of local government, such as CPC, which has an annual turnover of less than £25,000.

This Code requires CPC to publish annually key information about CPC finances, assets and what the specific roles of your councillors are. CPC complies with this fully as its draft accounts and the statement of accounts are published with the agendas for the Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual Parish Council meeting annually in the first week of May.

This Transparency Code information for CPC  is posted on this website by 1 July each year, for the preceding financial year’s data (e.g. July 2015 for 1 April 2014- 31 March  2015 accounts

Main portfolio roles of Councillors

The responsibilities of each Parish Councillor can be found here

External representation

Nicola Lloyd – Parish Transport representative