Thinking of Becoming a Councillor?
Hennock Parish Council is the same as a Town Council; it has the same powers and acts within the same legislation.
It is the tier of local government closest to the people. It represents the concerns and aspirations of a genuine local community. Hennock Parish Council provides and maintains a range of services including allotments, play parks, car parks, and bus shelters in the villages of Chudleigh Knighton, Hennock and Teign Village.
What can Hennock Parish Council do?
As Parish Councils were created in law, Hennock Parish Council can only act within the law by exercising its powers and functions which have been conferred on it by Statutes. The basic responsibility of the Council is to make the lives of its local community more comfortable by representing the whole electorate within the parish, delivering or co-ordinating services to meet local needs and striving to improve quality of life in the parish. It also comments on planning applications.
The Parish Council does not receive Council Tax directly from the public, but it is primarily funded from a small percentage of the Council Tax charge made by Teignbridge District Council which it receives a precept twice a year.
Hennock Parish Council embodies the representation of people’s hopes and concerns for ensuring that local services are provided efficiently and effectively for the benefit of community wellbeing. It is aware of what its community needs and it strives to provide this through team work, accessing grant funding, representation at other meetings and lobbying appropriate bodies.
By becoming a parish councillor you become someone your community will look to for help, guidance and support – a community leader with the power to influence decisions for the benefit of the people you serve. What matters to you? What needs changing in the Parish of Hennock – you could be the person to change it!
Hennock Parish Council consists of 11 residents serving Chudleigh Knighton, Hennock and Teign Village.
CLICK HERE to see who is is currently on Hennock Parish Council
As a Parish Councillor you will help:
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Decide on how much to raise through the council tax in order to deliver your council’s services, this is known as the Precept
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Influencing and shaping the long term development policy for the parish, and as part of the planning process, comment on planning applications in the parish.
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Improve the quality of life and the environment of your local area.
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Work to identify issues which are important to the lives of the residents of the parish.
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Work to bring about improvements through local projects, lobbying other service providers and working in partnership with other parishes and agencies.
How to find out more
If you are thinking about becoming a councillor then we are happy to chat about what is involved and the best way for find out what is like to be a parish councillor is to talk to someone who is doing it now Cllr Charlie Fisher the Chairman who is more than happy to discuss what is involved and why he became a councillor give him a call on 07772 009362 and the Parish Clerk Elly Maynard is happy to chat through the requirements on 07841 215606.
You are welcome to attend any of the public meetings to see how we operate, you will see that we are a friendly bunch and we look forward to welcoming you. CLICK HERE to see the Programme of meetings and CLICK HERE to see the Agenda and Minutes.
There are various publications that can assist you with our decision:
Working with Government to Help Communities Help themselves
If you decide to become a parish councillor training is available and you will be given plenty of support from you fellow councillors and the Clerk.
Am I eligible to become a Parish Councillor?
Parish Councillors are either elected or co-opted onto the parish council. The ordinary elections are held every four years.
Any person wishing to be considered to act as a Parish Councillor must be qualified to hold office. Sections 79-81 of the Local Government Act 1972 contain the relevant provisions regarding the qualification of candidates, as follows:
To qualify as a candidate and to continue to hold the office of Parish Councillor a person must be a British or Commonwealth citizen, citizen of the Republic of Ireland or a citizen of another Member State of the European Union and, on the relevant day, must have attained the age of eighteen years.
In addition, the candidate must qualify under at least one of the following conditions –
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on that day and thereafter s/he continues to be registered as a local government elector for the parish (meaning the whole area of the parish);
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during the whole of the 12 months preceding s/he has occupied as owner or tenant land or other premises in the parish;
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during the 12 months preceding their principal or only place of work has been in the parish; or
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during the whole of the 12 months preceding s/he has been resident in the parish or within 4.8 kilometers of it (of its parish boundary).
It is also necessary that the candidate should not be disqualified from holding the office of Parish Councillor for any reason set out in Section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972.
If you do become a parish councillor you will have to sign up to the Code of Conduct.
Once elected, parish councillors sit on the council for a maximum of four years. If you want to stay on the parish council then you can stand for re-election.
However, this does not mean you have to stay for four years. If you find it is not for you, or you can no long meet the commitment, you can stand down.
How much time does it take up?
Hennock Parish Council's full council meeting takes the second Tuesday of every month excluding August and the Planning Committee meets the fourth Tuesday of every month excluding August. All the meetings are open to the public and they may one to two hours, depending on what’s on the list of items to discuss, the agenda for the meeting is advertised on the noticeboards and the website.
The Parish Council also has several working groups.
Still Interested? Forms to Complete
If you would like to join Hennock Parish Council, we would ask you to complete the application form and return it to Clerk@hennockpc.org.uk We can then arrange for you to attend a Parish Council meeting where the Chairperson will ask you to tell the Council a bit about yourself and why you would like to become a councillor; members of the Council will then vote to co-opt you.
Co-option application & declaration - this confirms that you satisfy the legal requirements to become a Parish Councillor. If you would like to apply, please complete this and return it to me – you can either scan it and email it back to me or send it by post to: Hennock Parish Council, Blindwell Farmhouse, 55 Fore Street, Kingsteignton, TQ12 3AX
Declaration of Acceptance of New Code of Conduct
Hennock Parish Council’s Register of Interests form – if you are co-opted to the Council, you will be asked to complete this form and return it to Legal & Democratic Services at Teignbridge District Council within 28 days of your co-option
Guidance notes on the Register of Interests form.
Proforma to accept agendas, etc. by email
Declaration of acceptance of office – if you are co-opted to the Council you will be asked to sign this declaration at the meeting .