Aveton Gifford Parish Council

Please note – important information! A new Parish Clerk

Amy Clayton is our new parish clerk. She was formally appointed at the May parish council meeting, so please direct all enquiries to her by email agpcclerk@gmail.com, or by phone 07796 266559

Vacancies on the parish council

At the local elections in May three of our parish councillors stood down. We’d like to thank Josie Kirby, Dom Webb and James Reina for all their hard work, and particularly for representing younger age groups in the parish, they’ll be badly missed.

There are now three vacancies, and the parish council can co-opt councillors to fill them. Anybody can be a councillor as long as they are on the electoral register for this parish, and have lived, worked or rented/tenanted land or other premises in the parish (not just the village) for the past 12 months, or lived within 3 miles of the parish. You don’t need any special skills, the more varied the range of interests, abilities and ages of our councillors the better. Some people are very practical or enjoy problem solving, others are happier with accounts or reports or have business experience, and at the moment we badly need more people with any of these now that there are only 6 of us left. The most important thing is to care about the community, and be willing to take an active role.

There are monthly meetings (2 hours max) but councillors don’t have to attend every single one, some absences are unavoidable and you are allowed time off!  If you think you might like to join us please get in touch with any of our remaining councillors (Sarah Harcus, David Davis Berry, Peter Smith, Pete Wade, Rosie Warrillow or Ros Brousson) to see what’s involved, or our clerk Amy Clayton to register your interest – agpcclerk@gmail.com

Meetings

The parish council meets monthly, usually on the first Thursday in the month. Meetings are held in the village hall and start at 7.30 pm.

All parishioners are most welcome to attend, however all meetings have to be formally conducted; if you wish to raise a point or speak at a meeting it will be necessary to notify the Clerk before the meeting  (contact details below).

Agenda and minutes of meetings are posted on www.aveton-gifford.co.uk  and the notice boards opposite the school, at Icy Park and Bridge End and in the Fisherman’s Rest.

Every year in May the parish holds its Annual Meetings. The Annual Meeting of the Council is a shortened parish council meeting with a reduced agenda for business; this is the meeting at which all councillors are elected to the statutory positions for the year, ie. Chair, Vice Chair and sub-committees, and the representatives for tree warden, village hall, Parish Paths Partnership are also confirmed. After this the Annual Parish Meeting follows. It is not a parish council meeting, although for convenience it is chaired by the PC chairman; every organisation within the parish, for example the cricket club, allotment holders, the WI, the village hall and heritage group, also the school, the Hive, St Andrew’s PCC and representatives of public bodies like the police can give their report to the public on the year’s events. The meeting, like all the parish council meetings throughout the year, is open to all parishioners, and is their chance to find out more about what goes on in the parish.

Parish Council official documents

In the interests of transparency, the parish council must make policies and documents available to public view. These cover all aspects governing council regulations and procedures, including the annual audits, data protection, freedom of information, and Health & Safety assessments for the parish council acting as the operators for running the swimming pool.

Parish Clerk – please note!

Peter Javes, Aveton Gifford’s parish clerk for many years, has retired. Please note Amy Clayton’s contact details below;

The parish council has a quota of nine members, and was sorry to lose Josie Kirby, James Reina and Dom Webb in April.

Councillors and contact details.