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OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR COMMUNITY
Parishes are the smallest areas of civil administration in
England and are the statutory local authority set up under the
Local Government Act 1972. Hemingby Parish Council is an
essential part of the structure of local democracy and has a
vital role to act on behalf of the community we represent.
KEY
ROLES
·
Undertake projects and schemes that benefit local residents;
·
Work in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for
the parish;
·
Alert relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that
needs to be undertaken; and
·
Help the other tiers of local government keep in touch with the
local community.
OUR POWERS
We
have a wide range of powers essentially related to local
matters, such as looking after community buildings, open space,
allotments, play areas, street lighting, bus shelters, car parks
and much more. The Council also has the power to raise money
through taxation called the precept; this is the parish
council’s share of the council tax. The precept demand goes to
the billing authority, the District Council, which collects the
tax for the Parish Council.
In addition to the services outlined it is our declared
objective to ensure that we engage with residents at every
opportunity to promote and enhance community cohesion. We
believe that it is only by people working together that we can
maintain the sense of belonging that exists in Hemingby. At the
heart of our strategy is the need to be active, consultative,
organised, participative and inclusive of all. That all
residents have the opportunity to contribute to decisions that
affect their lives and this village.
FINANCE:
In order that we have sufficient funds to conduct the Parish
Council business it is necessary to raise the parish council’s
share of the council tax through an annual precept. Each year
the Council prepares a budget to arrive at the level of taxation
required to maintain the services it provides. This is then
collected on its behalf by the District Council. Careful
consideration is given to this task and it is our committed aim
that we should only raise the level of the precept to prudently
maintain services. This is why the Parish Council is able to
function with a budget which has a weekly cost to each household
of less than the current price of a postage stamp
PLANNING:
The Parish
Council is consulted by the planning authority, i.e. the
District Council on all developments affecting the village and
responds to all applications. Our role in this process is
purely to make comment for the authority to take into account
based on a set of planning regulations. The Councils policy is
one of conserving the Parish as a village.
HIGHWAYS:
The condition of
highways and footways is monitored and problems reported to the
highways department at Lincolnshire County Council for action.
FOOTPATHS:
The Parish Council maintains the footpaths (not the footways
alongside the highway) within the built up areas of the village
and monitors the footpaths through the fields within the Parish.
In conjunction with Lincolnshire County Council we are part of
the Parish Paths Partnership which fully funds the maintenance
of the footpaths
PUBLICITY:
Activities are publicised via the Parish Council notice board,
public notice board, a quarterly newsletter, this web site and
in local newspapers. We seek to consult at every opportunity as
our objective is one of consensus politics and this village
belongs to its residents, we are purely your representatives.
CONSULTATION:
The Parish Council has the right to be consulted on many local
and national government issues and provides a local perspective
in responses to consultation requests.
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