Wickham Market Parish Council

Parish Council Office 

The office is at the rear of the Village Hall, the door nearest the Sports Club

Election Results May 2023

• Parish Council Elections
• District Council Elections

Please click on the Agenda's and Meeting Documents tab for the meeting documents of all recent and future meeings.

Members of the public and press are welcome to attend all council and committee meetings but once the open public forum session has ended they must remain silent for the duration of the meeting.  Please see Public Participation at Council Meetings 

There are currently vacancies on the Parish Council - If you wish to stand for your local council please do not hesitate to get in touch with Cllr Ivor French (Chair) at ivor.f@wickhammarketpc.com

A Parish Council is permitted to give grants to local village organisations with a view to enhancing the lives of all or some of its residents.  If your club, society or association would like to apply for a Parish Council grant, please review out Grant Awarding Policy and complete this Grant Application and e-mail to the Parish Clerk at clerk@wickhammarketpc.com 

Councillors Register of Interests: This is maintained by East Suffolk Council

Town and Parish Councils are Local Councils just for your immediate Village/Town.  They range in size from small rural parishes representing a hundred or so people, to larger Town Councils representing thousands of people.

These Councils:

• Are the most local level of government for an area
• Provide representation and, in some cases, provision of services to their immediate local area
• Perform a separate and distinctly different function to the District and County councils which operate at a much wider level
• Bring a unique set of benefits for the local area
• Town and Parish councils play a vital role in supporting and enhancing their community’s identity, services and quality of life.  They can do this because they are based locally, operating within their local community. This means they are best placed to understand the issues within their areas and can provide a more focused and tailored response as a result.

They can make a difference by:

• Attracting new funding for the area (for example for activities/play equipment/sports)
• Giving local residents a stronger voice
• Enabling more local decision-making
• Having control over local assets and service delivery
• Ensuring there is greater local representation
• Having greater influence over future development in the area (including development of a ‘Neighbourhood Plan’)
• As well as being able to deliver a range of key local services, town and parish councils are also able to support events and initiatives which promote community spirit and inclusiveness; award grants to community groups, sports clubs, charities or other voluntary sector organisations; invest in public spaces; recognise volunteers; and regularly ask the question “what else can we do for the local area?”

WICKHAM MARKET NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

The Neighbourhood Plan committee have a dedicated website where you will have access to up-to-date information about the development of the plan, the processes used and how you can get involved - www.wickhammarketnp.org.

The History of Parish Councils

Parish Councils have their origins in Saxon and Norman times. Villages were ruled by the Lord of the Manor and sometimes the villagers all met to make decisions which affected the whole community. Parish Priests and later Schoolmasters took on roles of leadership and by 1601 Church Vestry Meetings were given the responsibility of levying the poor rate. These were the first effective local taxes.

There have been 25 Acts of Parliament over the last two centuries conferring, directly or indirectly, various powers on Parish Councils including Gladstone's 1894 Local Government Act which established them in their modern form as the third tier of Local Government and the 1972 Local Government Act which revised their role substantially.

ABOUT WICKHAM MARKET PARISH COUNCIL

Parish Councils are the most local of all the various local government bodies.  The members of the Council are elected by the voters whose names appear on the electoral roll.

Wickham Market Parish Council exercises those powers that they believe are for the benefit of the village.

The main ones are:

• • Liaising with local authorities on behalf of the parish
  • Responding to planning applications
  • Maintaining the bus shelter
  • Organising the Annual Parish Meeting
  • Offering grants and donations to local groups and charities
  • Overseeing the website
  • Managing the Cemetery
  • Managing the Play Areas
  • Organising the markets

Wickham Market Parish Council are committed to actively engage with Parishioners to build a safe, vibrant and thriving community of which everyone can be proud.

We are a forward-looking, professional Council who will always seek to provide a framework to support improved facilities, communications and well-being of the Parish whilst delivering value for money.

The Parish Council has 11 Councillors & (2 vacancies), three Employees and a village maintenance contractor 

Parish Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer: Al Besly clerk@wickhammarketpc.com

Deputy Clerk: Alison Renshaw

Cemetery Clerk: Linda Merriam

Maintenance contractor: Richard Ellis

There are also the following Committees/Working Groups:-

Finance & General Purpose - meetings are held bi-monthly

Environment & Leisure - meetings are held bi-monthly 

Planning - meetings are held as applications are received and agendas are always placed on the noticeboard

Neigbourhood Plan - Meetings are held as required

Traffic & Parking Working Group - Meetings are held, as necessary.  Minutes of these meetings can be found under the Archive of Meetings tab