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Becoming a Parish Councillor
Posted 4 weeks ago (20/03) by Theresa Goss
Being a Parish Councillor
A Parish Council is the third tier of government sitting below the District and County councils. It is generally limited on what it can do within the parish but it does have the ability to influence the working of those above us. Note that the parish is not just the village of Milcombe, but also the area around it.
What are our responsibilities
Each year, as part of your Council Tax, every property in the parish will pay a small amount of money to the parish council. We then use that money to provide services for the parish and to pay for our Clerk, who is responsible for ensuring that the Council operates efficiently and behaves in a legal way.
Within the parish we can provide the following:
- Provide buildings for public meetings, though the Village Hall is actually owned by Milcombe Charities who we pay for our meetings.
- Own and develop the Play Area on Bloxham Road, including the CCTV system which was installed in March 2026 with funding from the National Lottery, with maintenance when needed.
- Maintain the white gate entries into the village.
- Arrange the grass along the roads into and through the village and the churchyard cut. Have an annual Spring Clean through the village.
- Provide the parish website at www.milcombeparishcouncil.gov.uk.
- Maintain the clock in St Laurence Church.
- Provide litter and dog waste bins, and salt bins for the winter.
- Provide and maintain seats in the village.
- Provide signs, including bus stops, and shelters.
- Install and maintain new trees on Parish Council land.
Note that some areas of the village, such as the area around the Dovecote and behind the Oak Farm development, are not under our control and are under the control of Cherwell Doistrict Council.
Interactions with other organisations
We will be informed of new plans within the parish and have the ability to comment on them, as a parish rather than independently as anyone else can do. This can extend to neighbouring areas which might have an impact on us. This also includes changes and closures of roads and footpaths around our area.
Our local CDC and OCC councillors will attend our meetings and inform us of changes that are happening.
We can contact them, as well as CDC and OCC directly, to inform them of issues under their control within the parish and to ensure that issues are resolved. This can also be applicable to Thames Water and National Grid.
Neighbourhood Plan
We have the ability to create a Neighbourhood Plan for the parish, which will give us more control on the growth of the parish. This will create a legal plan which CDC must follow. To do this we will need more councillors and other volunteers from the parish.
Become a Councillor
Anyone who is UK, Commonwealth, Irish or a member of the European Union, and is 18 years or more in age, and is registered as an elector in the parish, or owns or tenants land or property in the parish through the last 12 months, or whose place of work has been in the parish through the last 12 months can stand as a candidate for the parish council.
For this parish, we need at least three councillors and can have up to seven councillors. Our councillors need to attend parish meetings, for about 2 hours every other month in the evening, spend some time looking at plans and commenting on them, attending meetings and local groups as needed on behalf of the parish, and generally be aware of needs that are required within the parish.
This is your opportunity to help and grow the parish, and make it suitable for you and your families.