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QUALITY PARISH
COUNCIL STATUS
Grundisburgh & Culpho Parish
Council have been awarded Quality Parish
Council status - the first village in Suffolk to receive
this award. It had to show in a demanding series of tests
that it is representative of the whole community, communicates with
its residents and is properly managed and responsible - indeed
in some elements the council exceeded the requirements. Quality
status brings real benefits, not only for the Quality Council but
also for the people who work with it, and more importantly the
people it serves |
There are some 8,350
parish councils in England. Most
parish councils were established in 1894 by an Act of
Parliament. This created the civil parish, separating it
from the church after a long history of delivering local
services such as care for the poor, maintenance of roads and
collecting taxes.
A typical parish council serves around 1700 people but some have
much larger populations and some only a handful. The
diversity of parish councils is their strength. Each can make
a unique response to the needs of their community with a
sensitivity that is more difficult for principle authorities
such as District and County Councils to achieve.
Our council is a typical council with councillors possessing a wide
range of skills including nursing, teaching, telecommunications,
computer technology, and farming. The Clerk
provides advice and administrative support and takes action to
implement council decisions.
The job of the council is to represent the interests of the whole
community Discovering the needs of
different groups in the community, such as young and elderly,
is an important part of councillor’s work and making decisions in
an open and reasoned way is something that parish councils need to
do well. The
Parish Plan has
provided a valuable opportunity for local people to “have their
say”.
A glimpse through the minutes of a
Grundisburgh
& Culpho parish council meeting gives a good indication of
the many and varied activities and issues the council involves
itself in. Items that regularly appear on the agenda
include Affordable Housing, Allotments, Bus Shelters, Village
Greens, Highways, Conservation, Footpaths, Planning and
Transport.
The parish council has the power to award grants to village
organisations for capital projects. These have
included; equipment for the Netball Club, repointing St.Mary’s
Church wall, the purchase of computer equipment and a digital
camera for the Grundisburgh & District News, the refurbishing
of Grundisburgh's tennis courts and new signs for the Village
Show and Neighbourhood Watch. Most recently
with the help of a £4,777 grant from the Quality Parishes
Investment Fund the Village Hall has had a new gas boiler and
cooker installed plus new chairs and tables.
2008/9 Annual Report
Summary of Accounts 31st March 2009
Freedom of Information Act Publication Scheme
For more information about the Grundisburgh & Culpho Parish
Council please contact the Parish Clerk:
John Ager, 8 Post Mill Close, Grundisburgh, Woodbridge, Suffolk
IP13 6UU
Telephone 01473-735541
Click here to contact by
Email