Parish Council

Mapledurwell and Up Nately is one of 51 civil parishes in the borough of Basingstoke and Deane.

Parish councils were set up by the Local Government Act of 1894 to replace the 18^th century institutions of the Church Wardens and Overseers of the Poor. They inherited many of the warden/overseer duties but their powers were purely secular, effectively cutting the church off from direct involvement in local government.

Parish councils are the first tier of local government and the closest to the communities they serve. They are answerable chiefly to the Annual Parish Meeting, to which they must report every year, and they must act with the tacit approval of that meeting. As well as holding an annual meeting they must hold at least three other meetings during each year, details of which must be published in advance, and members of the public can attend meetings.

Parish councillors are elected to serve for four years at a time and a chairman is chosen from amongst their number. Elections are only held if there are more people wanting to be parish councillors than there are vacancies available, and vacancies occurring between elections are filled through bye-election or co-option. Each councillor has to make a formal declaration of acceptance of the responsibilities of office and a declaration of interests.

The council meet six times each year, plus they hold one Annual Parish Meeting each year. A normal agenda covers:

Planning and the Environment
Roads and Footpaths
Recreation - including tennis, football, the children’s playground, allotments
Finance
Urgent Items - always a space for this at the beginning of the meeting for parishioners to raise items of concern.

The chairmanship of the council and the responsibilities of councillors are reviewed and renewed annually in the first meeting after the Annual Parish Meeting.

Different councillors take the lead on each of the topics under the guidance of the Chair and Vice Chair. You can see who’s currently responsible for each topic on the Councillors and Clerk page of this website.

Councillors know their parish and can represent its views to other authorities like district or county councils and health authorities, providers of transport services, and to Ministries. They are entitled to be consulted on planning applications and are often consulted on such things as schools and roads and they also put the parish's case at public inquiries.

They have the power to improve the quality of community life by spending sums of money on things which, in their opinion, are in the interests of the parish or its inhabitants. Their funds are a small part of the council tax (the precept) and they receive no general government grant.

Mapledurwell and Up Nately Parish Council's principle expenditures are for the insurance and maintenance of village assets and the expenses of the voluntary clerk. It also pays audit fees, being subject to an annual audit by the District Auditor, which covers not only financial propriety but also ensures that the council acts only within its statutory powers.

It has powers to regulate local open spaces, provide recreation facilities, manage footpaths etc. and has the right to be consulted on planning matters. Its ability to spend money on non-statutory objectives 'in the interests of the community' is strictly limited. So it is unlikely to spend money on 'campaigns' or charitable works or public art, but subsidy of the local news magazine is allowable at a modest level. Grants to local organisations such as the Village Hall Management Committee are allowable.

The Parish Clerk is responsible for the smooth flow of routine business and acts as Chief Financial Officer, reporting via the councillor responsible for finance, and prepares the appropriate accounts for audit. The clerk is also responsible for ensuring that the due forms and processes of meetings are observed and that the council remains within its statutory powers and limitations.

top of page