All members of public and press are welcome to attend Parish Council meetings.

In fact by law members of the public must be admitted to all meetings of the full council and its committees. However, the law does not allow members of the public to take part in the debates.

This council, like many other parish and town councils in England and Wales, gives members of the public an opportunity to speak at some point during the meeting, for us this is under ‘Open Forum – for parishioners to raise questions on and/or make statements about matters of concern and to receive a report from the District Councillor and County Councillor’.

We do this by temporarily adjourning the meeting. This allows the public and our District and County Councillors an opportunity to speak. It is important for you to study the agenda so that when the opportunity occurs you can make the best use of your time.

If you wish to raise a point which does not relate to an item on that evening’s agenda you are free to do so. However, the council’s discussion of the point might have to be delayed until a subsequent meeting as the council is unable to make a decision binding in law(this is particularly relevant to financial decisions) unless a specific item is included on the agenda.

Members of the council are always willing to discuss topics put forward by the public. Our agenda is prepared about a week before the next monthly council meeting so you will need to inform the Clerk or Chairman at least ten days before the meeting. Although this might seem a long time in advance the council is required by law to publicise its agenda at least three clear days before each meeting, these days do not include the day of issue or the day of the meeting.

Recording of a Parish Council meeting is permitted, however you are advised to familiarise yourself with the Filming and Recording Guidelines if you do wish to record a meeting.

The Parish Clerk will usually have an audio recording of the meeting to facilitate production of meeting minutes.

We hope that you will find the meeting useful and if you have any queries please consult the Clerk.