Birchanger Parish Council
The Parish Council is not, as many people think, something to do with the Church. It is in fact the lowest level of local government and is the rural equivalent of a town council. Like all levels of government the powers and responsibilities of a parish council are tightly controlled by law.
Birchanger Parish Council performs the following:
- Expresses an opinion on planning matters to Uttlesford District Council
- Provides street lights in Birchanger Lane and Bradley Common
- Maintains the recreation ground and allotments
- Provides limited emergency planning for the village
- Oversees the creation of the parish plan
- Represents the village on several local bodies
- Holds an annual village meeting for all residents
- Publishes an annual newsletter
To contact the Parish Council, telephone the Parish Clerk on 01279 503912 or email her.
Parish Resolution
The Parish Council fights to protect the interests of Birchanger against threats to our way of life such as a second runway at Stansted Airport or the hundreds of thousands of new homes for the region proposed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Parish Council does this under the authority of a resolution renewed annually by the village meeting.
The 2007 version of the resolution is reproduced below.
’This meeting rejects any expansion to Stansted Airport and proposals in any form relating to a second runway. It also rejects any further coalescence with neighbouring towns and villages, and will endeavour to protect the remaining green belt surrounding the village."
For more information about the Parish Council and its stance on Stansted Airport click here.
Parish Plan
After a lot of hard work by the steering committee, the Parish Plan was released on 3rd November 2006 at a launch party in the Church Hall attended by almost 50 villagers. Read on on-line copy here.
Quality Council
Birchanger Parish Council has achieved Quality Council status. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs defines a Quality Parish Council (here) as follows:
2.1 A Quality Parish Council:
- is representative of, and actively engages, all parts of its community, providing vision, identity and a sense of belonging;
- is effectively and properly managed;
- articulates the needs and wishes of its community;
- upholds high standards of conduct;
- is committed to work in partnership with principal local authorities and other public service agencies;
- in proportion to its size and skills, delivers local services on behalf of principal local authorities when this represents the best deal for the local community;
- works closely with voluntary groups in its community;
- provides leadership to the community through its work on parish plans; and
- working with its partners, acts as an information point for local services
The benefits of holding quality council status include having greater freedom to provide services to the community, as well as having more weight when representing the parish.
Members of the Parish Council
The Parish Councillors are elected every four years. If there are insufficient candidates then the elected councillors are empowered to fill vacancies by co-option. The members of the Parish Council are:
The Parish Clerk The Parish Clerk is a part-time paid official who, apart from performing Parish Council administrative duties, acts as the legal representative of the Parish Council.
Our hard-working clerk is Mrs. Julia Peachey (01279 503912; email her).
If you want to talk to the council please contact the Parish Clerk or approach a member directly.
SubcommitteesMuch of the day-to-day work of the Parish Council is conducted by subcommittees. The Parish Council delegates some of its powers to these subcommittees, which are empowered to act within their own areas of competence without the need to refer matters back to the full council.
Planning
The Planning Subcommittee reviews planning applications within the Parish and expresses its opinion to the planning authority, Uttlesford District Council.
Members of the planning subcommittee are: P. Hoy (chair); T. Bishop; G.Driscoll; E. Godwin; K. Wheatley.
Finance Finance subcommittee prepares the Council's budget and provides advice to the full Council about the precept requirements.
Members: G. Driscoll; E. Godwin; K. Wheatley; A. Kent; T. Bishop; P. Hoy.
Public SafetyThe Public Safety Subcommittee generally tries to ensure the well-being of residents. Members participate in external bodies to do with areas such as road safety and crime avoidance. Another task is the maintenance of the parish emergency plan.
Members: G. Driscoll; E. Godwin; K. Wheatley; A. Kent; T. Bishop; P. Hoy.
Village RecorderThis subcommittee ensures that a village archive is kept, particularly by working with the Village Recorder, Eddie Gilbey (email him).
Members: A. Kent; K. Wheatley.
Parish Council Meetings and Annual Village Meeting
Notice of Parish Council Meetings and the agenda are posted on the notice boards in Birchanger Lane several days before the meeting, and on this site as soon as they are published. Meetings are normally held on the first Tuesday of every month at 1945 in the Church Hall.
The press and public are invited, but the Parish Clerk would welcome advance notice.
- For the agenda of the next Parish Council meeting see here.
- For the minutes of the last Parish Council meeting see here.
Previous agenda and minutes can be found here.
The Parish Council also arrange an annual village meeting. This is a less formal affair and provides an opportunity for villagers to discuss matters relating to Birchanger.
The 2008 village meeting will be held on Wednesday April 16th at 2000 in the Church Hall. An agenda will be posted when published. Light refreshments will be served after the meeting.
News and Activities
Freedom of Information Act 2000
This legislation is now in force, requiring public bodies to make known most information that they hold upon request.
Birchanger Parish Council has very little information that falls under this act. All council and subcommittee minutes are in any case in the public domain, and in many cases can be found on this site. If you believe that the Parish council holds any information that you wish to see under this legislation then contact the Parish Clerk. A reasonable fee may be made for the supply of such information.
Street Lighting
The Parish Council is only responsible for the lighting in Birchanger Lane and Bradley Common. However these few lamp-posts are a considerable drain on village resources. This is made worse by the fact that many, perhaps most, light failures are caused by vandalism.
Please continue to report failed street lights in Birchanger Lane to the Parish Council, but don't expect them to be repaired immediately. There is a call-out charge so, by waiting until several lamps need attention, we can reduce repair costs.
The cost of these lights is now under constant review. We do not have a statutory duty to provide this lighting. If they continue to attract as much vandalism as they do now, the Council will be forced to leave them dark.
Other tiers of Government
The Parish Council is the most local element of a hierarchy of local, national and European government. The other agencies affecting Birchanger, in order of increasing (geographical?) remoteness, are Uttlesford District Council, Essex County Council, Parliament and the European Parliament.
Learn how Birchanger is represented here.
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