Parish Council :: Pen Selwood Parish Council

Pen Selwood Parish Council

The primary function of the Parish Council is to represent the interests of residents of Pen Selwood in dealings with Somerset County Council and South Somerset District Council. Because of the village’s location, the Parish Council also deals with neighbouring County and District Councils in Dorset and Wiltshire. Issues with which the Parish Council is concerned include planning applications, maintenance of the roads, bridleways and footpaths within the parish, and support of village amenities such as the Community Field.

Planning Applications can be viewed by clicking on the following link. This link takes you to a search page where you can type in information such as area and post code: www.southsomerset.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=1925

The Parish Council welcomes public participation in its meetings, which are open to all the residents of Pen Selwood. There is an opportunity for raising issues at the start of the meeting, and where items on the agenda are known to be of particular interest, it has been the practice of the Chairman to invite contributions from the floor before the issue is debated by the Parish Council.

The agenda for each meeting is posted on all village notice boards a week before each meeting. Minutes of meetings are posted on the Village Hall Notice Board within two weeks of each meeting. Agendas and Minutes of Meetings can be found in the Document Archive section of the village Web Site.

Membership

Elections for the Parish Council take place every four years. With a few exceptions, residents over 21 are eligible to stand for the Parish Council. The next election is due in May 2007.The council is supported by a part-time clerk, who is a paid official, not a member. The current members and clerk of the Parish Council are:

Priorities

In 2005, following public consultation, the Parish Council adopted a set of priorities. These were revised in July 2006 and are:

1. To preserve the tranquil, rural character of Pen Selwood as part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

2. To support and encourage the active community life of Pen Selwood

3. To foster effective communication between the Parish Council and the residents of Pen Selwood

In support of these priorities:

a. We will offer financial support for community facilities, specifically the community field, the village hall, and the churchyard.

b. In considering planning applications, while respecting the rights of individuals to enjoy their own homes as they see fit, we will resist applications which would change the character of the village or increase traffic through the village without compensating benefits to the resident community.

c. We will highlight in advance issues coming before the Parish Council which are likely to be of particular interest.

d. We will post minutes of parish council meetings on the Village Hall notice board within 2 weeks of each meeting.

e. In addition to providing and maintaining Notice Boards, we will help to promote awareness of village events by creating and maintaining a village website. This is to be reviewed in September 2007.

f. In cooperation with the Parochial Church Council we will issue to all new residents an up-to-date version of the Parish Information Pack.

g. We will monitor the condition of the roads, verges and passing places in the parish and draw any problems promptly to the attention of the County or District Council as appropriate.

h. We will monitor the state of the footpaths and bridleways in the parish and bring any problems to the attention of the District Council.

The Parish Council would welcome any comments on these priorities.