Roles and Responsibilities
Alvanley Parish Council
Your local, first tier of government
What is Alvanley Parish Council?
Alvanley Parish Council is the first and most local tier of statutory local government. We are a properly constituted local authority, established to represent the interests of the residents of Alvanley and to act on behalf of our community.
Parish Councils are sometimes misunderstood as being part of the borough council. We are separate local authorities, with our own legal powers, responsibilities, budget and elected Parish Councillors.
Our Councillors are local residents who volunteer their time to serve the community. Parish Councillors are not paid a salary or wage for carrying out their role. The Council does employ a Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer to undertake the professional administration and financial management required by law.
Alvanley Parish Council currently has eight seats, with Councillors elected or formally co-opted to serve the parish.
What does the Parish Council actually do?
Our role is to represent Alvanley and its residents, identify local priorities and use the powers available to us to improve the parish.
Our work includes:
🌳 Looking after our local environment
We can undertake and support environmental improvements within the parish, including:
- Tree and bulb planting
- Maintaining and improving Parish Council-owned assets
- Improvements to village appearance
- Supporting community litter-picking initiatives
- Exploring improvements to stiles, kissing gates and local access
- Responding to environmental issues raised by residents
🚗 Road safety and traffic concerns
We listen to residents about road safety and work with Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cheshire Police and other relevant authorities where issues fall outside the Parish Council’s powers.
Alvanley Parish Council owns and operates a Vehicle Activated Sign (VAS) to monitor vehicle speeds and support efforts to address speeding concerns.
🏡 Planning and development
Planning is an important part of our work.
The Parish Council is consulted on planning matters affecting Alvanley and provides the local community’s elected parish-level response.
We consider matters such as:
- The impact of proposed development on Alvanley
- Traffic and access
- Highways and road safety
- Character and appearance of the village
- Landscape and countryside
- Infrastructure and services
- The cumulative impact of development
- Matters of particular concern to local residents
We can make representations and raise local issues, but Alvanley Parish Council does not determine planning applications.
🗺️ The Local Plan
We also have an important role in the preparation and consultation of the Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan.
The Local Plan establishes planning policies and helps determine how land can be used and where development may take place.
Alvanley Parish Council can make formal representations during Local Plan consultations so that the views and interests of our parish are placed on the public record.
Who actually makes planning decisions?
This is an important distinction.
ALVANLEY PARISH COUNCIL
We are consulted.
We:
- Consider planning applications
- Listen to local concerns
- Discuss applications at Parish Council meetings where appropriate
- Submit representations to the planning authority
- Contribute local knowledge and evidence
- Participate in consultations on planning policy and the Local Plan
CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER COUNCIL
They are the Local Planning Authority and make the planning decisions.
Cheshire West and Chester Council determines planning applications in accordance with planning legislation, national planning policy and the development plan, taking into account representations received, including those from the Parish Council.
The Parish Council therefore does not grant or refuse planning permission.
Our role is to make sure that Alvanley’s local voice is heard as part of the planning process.
What are our statutory responsibilities?
As a statutory local authority, the Parish Council must operate within legislation and proper governance requirements.
Among our key responsibilities are:
📋 Proper governance and administration
We must conduct Council business lawfully and in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations, standing orders and our adopted policies.
💷 Financial management
We must:
- Prepare and approve an annual budget
- Set an annual Precept
- Manage public money responsibly
- Keep proper financial records
- Comply with relevant accounting and audit requirements
- Publish required financial and governance information
The Parish Council’s Precept is collected through Council Tax by Cheshire West and Chester Council and is used to fund Parish Council activities.
🏛️ Meetings and transparency
We must hold the meetings required by law, publish appropriate agendas and minutes, and conduct our business openly and transparently.
Residents have rights to attend Parish Council meetings and to access information about the Council’s decisions and finances.
⚖️ Legal and ethical responsibilities
Councillors must comply with the relevant legal framework, including the Council’s Code of Conduct and requirements concerning declarations of interests.
🔍 Audit and accountability
The Council is subject to statutory accounting and audit arrangements. We publish relevant financial information and governance documents so that residents can see how public money is managed.
🛡️ Community safety
The Parish Council also has responsibilities under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of its functions and decisions on crime and disorder and to take reasonable steps within its powers to help prevent and reduce it.
What don’t we do?
It is just as important to understand what the Parish Council doesn’t control.
The Parish Council does not have overall responsibility for:
- Planning decisions
- Major highways works
- Roads and pavements generally
- Waste collection
- Social services
- Education
- Council housing
- Most environmental health matters
- Police services
- Major strategic development
These responsibilities sit with other public authorities, particularly Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cheshire Police and other statutory bodies, depending on the issue.
Where an issue is outside our powers, we can raise it with the responsible authority, represent residents’ concerns, seek information, lobby for action and work with the relevant organisation.
Why does the Parish Council matter?
Because we are the closest tier of government to the community.
We live here. We represent this parish. We hear directly from residents about the issues that affect Alvanley.
Our role is to:
LISTEN → REPRESENT → CONSULT → CHALLENGE → WORK WITH OTHERS → ACT WHERE WE HAVE THE POWER TO DO SO
We cannot make every decision affecting Alvanley, but we can make sure that Alvanley’s voice is heard by those who can.
Your Parish Council
Alvanley Parish Council is committed to:
Representing our residents • Protecting our community’s interests • Supporting our village • Listening to local concerns • Working with other authorities • Being open and transparent
If you have an issue affecting Alvanley, please contact the Parish Council.
🌐 alvanleyparishcouncil.gov.uk✉️ clerk@alvanleyparishcouncil.gov.uk
Working together for our community
