You could become a parish councillor?
By becoming a parish councillor you can:
- Take an interest in issues that affect your area
- Represent the views of members of the village community
- Have an impact on decisions that affect the lives of those around you, for example you can comment on local planning applications or give your support to community groups in the area
- Have a say on how money is spent to benefit your community and local area
Being a parish councillor isn’t a full time job. It’s possible to represent your local community whilst still being in employment elsewhere. You will need to attend a meeting no more than 2 times a month depending on the number of Committees you join and these are held in the evening.
Parish councillors represent on average less than 1000 residents and so they are able to reflect the views of their community easily (Harlington has a population of approximately 2,300 including children).
Working as a parish councillor is done on a voluntary basis. There is no salary involved but the benefits are that you get the chance to influence the decisions taken to improve services for your local area.
Local councils value the wide range of skills their members bring to the running of the council.
Harlington Parish Council is not political as some larger parish and town councils may be.
Examples of the types of services which Harlington Parish Council provides are:-
- Allotments
- Village Car park
- Cemeteries
- Footpaths
- Parish Hall
- Street lighting
- Open spaces
Qualifications for Candidates
To stand as a candidate for election to Parish Council you must: –
- Be 18 years of age on the day you are nominated as a candidate and
- Be included on the register of electors for the Town or Parish, or
- Have owned or occupied land or premises within the Town or Parish for a year prior to being nominated, or
- Have worked within the Town or Parish for a year prior to being nominated, or
- Have lived within the Town or Parish for a year prior to being nominated, or
- Have lived within three miles of the Town or Parish for a year prior to being nominated.
All candidates who are elected are required to sign various documents before they take up their duties.
The first document is a Declaration of Acceptance of Office. In addition each newly elected Parish Councillor must also make a declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary and other interests, these include employment/ business interests, sponsorship, contracts, land (ie property ownership), licences (ie an allotment agreement), corporate tenancies and securities which may be seen to have a bearing on the way in which a member of the parish council would vote. The declaration is retained by the Clerk and the Central Beds Monitoring Officer and is open to inspection by any local elector as well as being published on both websites in accordance with the Localism Act 2011.
How can I find out more about being a local councillor?
If you’re interested in obtaining more information about how Harlington Parish Council works, please visit our website (Harlington-pc.gov.uk) where you can find out about the dates and times of meetings where you could attend and see what goes on and maybe speak to your local councillors to find out just what is involved:
Alternatively, contact the Clerk to the Council on:
Email: clerk@harlington-pc.gov.uk
Tel: 01525 875933