Charfield Parish Council

The Parish Council is made up of nine Councillors and the Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer. It stands as the foundation tier of local government, in the local authority area of South Gloucestershire Council [link].

Parish Councils offer a highly local insight into government. They have a statutory right of comment over local matters such as planning and inform the development off policy at regional and national level. They also manage aspects of the local infrastructure, in Charfield including the bus shelters, some open space and the new burial ground.

Charfield Parish Councillors are unpaid, and serve a term of office. They are not “volunteers”, but elected government officials who serve for the good of their community. In Charfield the only employee of the Council is the Clerk and RFO, and representing Charfield at the regional level is our Ward Councillor.

Councillors sometimes also serve as representatives of the Council on other local community groups and organisations, ensuring we all work together.

Representation on:
Charfield Youth Project CIO: Cllr N Newns
Charfield Village Hall and Playing Fields CIO: Cllr A Threlfall

The Parish of Charfield, in South Gloucestershire

Meetings

Ordinary Meetings of the Parish Council normally take place on the second Tuesday of each month apart from August. Additionally there is a Budget meeting in January and other meetings may be called as required. Meetings start at 19:30 and are generally closed by ten (you don’t have to sit through it all!)

Nearly all meetings are open to the public, who are warmly invited to attend. Each meeting has a section for public participation, where you can air matters relevant to the parish. It is however not allowable for the public to speak outside that section unless directly invited by Council.

Agenda for meetings are uploaded to the web site in good time for each meeting. If you want an item put onto the Agenda, it needs to be with the Clerk at least one week before the meeting in question. Likewise, draft Minutes are published online prior to being formally accepted at the following full meeting. All approved minutes are archived and available from the Clerk.

The Parish Council also host and chair the Annual Parish Meeting, which takes place in the spring each year. This is an opportunity for the village to come together to discuss matters important to Charfield, but is not a Parish Council Meeting.