Councillor Vacancies – February 2009

Two vacancies have just arisen for the volunteer post of Parish Councillor in Charfield.
For information please contact the Clerk.

Becoming a Parish Councillor is one way of putting something back into the community.  It can be a challenging role, and certainly in Charfield Parish we have a considerable ongoing and developing workload, but the satisfaction of knowing you are actively helping to improve the quality of the Parish cannot be understated. Right now, in Charfield, we have a number of continuing initiatives including the new Burial Ground at Churchend, Play Area equipment replacements, Street light initiatives and other works. We interface with the County Council and other authorities and groups such as “Safer, Stronger Communities” and comment on local Planning Applications before they go to the local planning authority.

The minimum requirements in terms of time are one meeting per month, by summons (i.e.  one cannot simply duck out because there’s something good on telly…) but of course we are seeking Councillors who will take on roles which will involve enthusiasm and committment, rather than someone seeking an addition to their CV…

Updated 5th March 2009: The time has now expired for nominations for election of Councillors per Local Government Act 1972, Section 87(2) without representation from the electorate. The Parish Council therefore now seeks to co-opt two new Councillors. If anyone is interested in becoming a Councillor, please do get in touch with the Clerk. Members of the Council will be only too pleased to speak with anyone seeking more information. Again, contact through the Clerk. Thank you.

Updated 14th April 2009: The two vacancies for Parish Councillors have now been filled by co-option, and the Council welcomes Cllr Paul Patterson and Cllr Mike Cheskin.

The date has been set for this year’s annual Village Spring Clean.

It’s the weekend of 25th and 26th of April.

Last year the turnout was a little on the light side, but we still managed to fill a skip with black-bagged rubbish, extracted from hedgerows and green spaces, roadside verges and ditches. Perhaps it didn’t take long for it to reappear, but for a while Charfield shone! We’re very hopeful that we can do even better this year.

Each day is split into morning and afternoon sessions, running 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00. The skip and the local coordinators will be in the Memorial Hall car park at these times, ready to assist with the loan of litter pickers and gloves, and plenty of black bags. This really is one practical and direct way you can make a positive difference to your community. Do come along, and bring the whole family – there is no doubt that today’s children are far more aware of the menace of litter than we ever were. We don’t however recommend the children handle dirty litter – their role is to manage the parents!

The Offence of Litter

Gazette Article Thursday 9th April 2009