What Is A Parish Council?

A Parish Council is a local authority comprising Councillors who are elected for four years at a time. There are currently 35 Parish Councils in the borough of Maidstone. Parish Councils have many powers to provide and maintain certain facilities within their Parish. These facilities can include playing fields, leisure facilities, village greens and village halls. They can also maintain rights of way, bus shelters, public seats, allotments, cemeteries and some street lighting. They can also contribute to joint projects within the area with other authorities.

Parish Councils play a vital part in obtaining and representing local views on various issues and as a statutory body they are consulted by other public authorities such as Borough Councils, County Councils, Health Authorities and Government Departments on specific issues affecting their Parish. They have a legal right to be consulted on planning applications and are consulted on schools and highway matters.

Decisions by Parish Councils are taken by the elected Councillors, meetings are usually monthly and are open to the public. Each Parish Council appoints a Clerk to deal with correspondence and, report to and take minutes of its meetings undertake other duties on its behalf. To raise money, Parish Council issues a precept, which is added to the Council Tax bills of residents within the Parish. The Parish Council decides how much money it will spend each year and therefore how much it will ask each Council Taxpayer to contribute.

Thurnham Parish Council has a total of nine Councillors generally elected by parishioners, and meets on the third Monday of each month with the exception of January and August.