What does the Parish Council do? How can I get involved?

On this page we attempt to answer your questions about being a Parish Councillor.

What does the Parish Council do?

The Parish Council is the lowest tier of local government – and represents the communities across Grimley Parish. This includes Sinton Green, Worlds End, Oakhall Green, Birchall Green, Monkwood Green, Moseley, Grimley and the community along Walton Lane. The council has little power but a reasonable amount of influence. A prime example of this is planning applications. The planning authority is Malvern Hills District Council, but they give details of every planning application within the Parish to the Parish Council for review and will take into account the Councillors’ comments when coming to a decision.

Similarly Worcestershire County Council is the highway authority, but it consults the Parish when it’s considering any road scheme or activities such as mineral extraction.

Services that parish councils can provide include community safety, street lighting, playing fields, rights of way, allotments, cemeteries, litter, war memorials, seats and bus shelters.

The services currently undertaken here at this Parish Council include: (no particular order)

  • Lengthsman scheme (delegated by the County Council)
  • Custodian and owners of Monkwood Green Common (SSSI) and Sinton Green Village Green
  • Care of endangered plants and invertebrates on Monkwood Green Common
  • Use, care and maintenance of three parish notice boards
  • Provision of highways bench seating and care of memorial benches
  • Bus shelter provision and maintenance
  • Litter bin provision and maintenance
  • Defibrillator care and maintenance
  • Coordinate volunteers who assist with monitoring and maintaining rights of way and public footpaths.
  • Voluntary maintenance of grass verges in order to preserve footpaths at various locations
  • Memorial tree care and maintenance
  • Voluntary involvement in flood alert systems
  • Monthly news article in parish magazine
  • Maintenance of parish council website
  • Liaison with community service officers, with the Commoners' Association and with the Grimley Peace Hall Committee
  • Provision of grant funding where relevant to the parish
  • Comment on notified planning applications and local development
  • Liaison with community stakeholders

What is involved in being a Parish Councillor?

As a minimum you would be expected to attend most of the full Council meetings which are held on the third/last Monday of every month at 7:30pm in the Grimley Peace Hall at Sinton Green. Other committees or working parties meet throughout the year as necessary.

You may also get approached by villagers asking you to help them with their problems, especially in things like planning matters, but this does not happen very often and the parish clerk will be available to assist you in dealing with these as they arise.

What sort of people become Parish Councillors?

All sorts. They have a broad spread of ages with a wide variety of backgrounds and occupations.

Am I eligible?

In order to be a Parish Councillor you must be aged 18 years or over and be a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of an EU member state and you must qualify to be a Parish Councillor for Grimley Parish in one or more of the following ways:

  • be a local government elector in the Parish (ie on the electoral roll)
  • owned or rented land within the Parish for the last twelve months
  • lived in the Parish or within 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) of it for the last twelve months
  • worked in the Parish for the last twelve months

Many people qualify on more than one of the above grounds.

Do I have to join a political party?

No. Nor do you have to say if you are a member of a party if you are (although some parties may request that you do).

I am interested – what do I do now?

The full council is elected every four years, however Councillors sometime resign in mid-term so there are occasional “casual” vacancies that are usually filled by co-opting someone. The way this works is that the Parish council finds one or more people who might be suitable and then votes to select one. It is rare that there is more than one candidate.

So if you are interested in being co-opted the next time there is a vacancy make yourself known to the Parish Clerk Lisa Stevens, the Chair Adam Collett or any of member of council. Use the contact us form on this website, top right hand corner.

Published: 06/10/2025 Published by: Grimley Parish Council

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