The Parish Clerk
The Clerk’s overall responsibility, as an employee of the Parish Council, is to carry out the policy decisions of the Council and to advise and guide it on matters of procedure and law. The Clerk is responsible for seeing that the business of the Council runs smoothly and efficiently and is conducted in accordance with the law, including ensuring that the Council’s financial transactions are properly authorised, recorded and audited. The Clerk also performs clerical and secretarial tasks without which the Council’s business cannot properly be transacted. The Clerk’s office is in the Community Building at Willets Heath in Shortfield Common Road.
Councillors
Frensham Parish Council consists of seven councillors: a chairman and three councillors from each of the two parish wards – Frensham and Rushmoor. None receives any remuneration or expenses for the work they do. Councillors are either formally elected or, in the event that a vacancy occurs, co-opted by resolution of the Council. Elections are held every four years – the next will be in May 2019.
On election, councillors formally undertake to perform their duties in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Councillors, and with the Council’s Standing Orders and Financial Regulations. They also have to disclose, and register with Waverley Borough Council, any personal interests that may conflict or be seen to conflict with their work as councillors.
At the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council, a Chairman for the coming year is elected and councillors are allocated responsibility – either individually or in small groups – for implementing projects or particular aspects of the Council’s routine work according to their expertise, experience, interests and availability.
For anybody interested in knowing more about how a parish council works and what its councillors do, a useful short summary is given in ‘The Good Councillor’s Guide’ published by The National Training Strategy for Town and Parish Councils which can be found online.
Meetings
Parish Councils are required by law to hold, as a minimum, an Annual Meeting of the Parish Council (in May) and three other meetings. In practice, the full Council meets formally every six weeks. Its Planning, Environment and Highways Committee meets every three weeks depending on the number of planning applications and other business on the agenda.
Details of forthcoming meetings can be found on the Meetings & Minutes page and on the Parish Council notice boards in the village. Council and Planning Committee meetings are held in the Parish Office at Willets Heath and are open to the public.
Planning
Waverley Borough Council (as the Local Planning Authority) consults the Parish Council on all planning applications originating in, or of relevance to, the Parish. These are considered by the Parish Council’s Planning, Environment and Highways Committee at its three weekly meetings. Comments and any recommendations are forwarded by the Clerk for consideration by Waverley’s planning committee (or more usually by a delegated planning officer), alongside representations made by members of the public or other organisations. The planning authority may or may not agree with our views, but can normally be expected to take account of them in determining the outcome of each application.
Although the Parish Council has no statutory powers in the planning process, its local knowledge, combined with an understanding of the planning system and its feel for local public opinion, means that it can still make a worthwhile contribution to Waverley’s decision-making process.
It is also able to draw Waverley’s attention to the relevant sections of our Village Design Statement. As this document has the status of Supplementary Planning Guidance, Waverley Borough Council must take it into account as a material consideration when determining whether or not to approve planning applications. It can therefore strengthen the influence the Parish Council has in the planning process. Councillors also attend Waverley Borough Council’s Planning Committee and any relevant appeal hearings, when these are of particular interest and importance to the Parish, and speak when permitted.
At its meetings, the Parish Council’s Planning Committee examines each application together with associated drawings and documents, and agrees the comments and recommendations to be made to Waverley Borough Council. The planning process is transparent, with all plans and documents relating to each application (including written representations by the Parish Council and members of the public) being published on
Waverley’s Planning Applications On-Line Enquiry System.