The Annual Parish Meeting is quite different from other council meetings with an opportunity to share the community’s successes, to consider its challenges and includes short presentations from local representatives.
The meeting enables the Parish Council to explain what it has been doing over the last year and provides an opportunity for the electors to have their say on anything they consider is important to the people of the Parish.
Although it is hosted by the parish council, it is not a council meeting.
It is generally held in April and it is hoped that our County and District Councillors and representatives from community organisations based in the parish will take part.
The Annual Parish Meeting is a meeting of all the local government electors for the Parish, which the public are entitled to attend and participate in.
All meetings are open to the public but only electors may vote.
All Parish Town Councils throughout England are required by law to hold an Annual Parish Meeting, which must take place between 1st March and the 1st June (inclusive). Meetings should not commence before 6.00 pm.
Any registered elector may ask questions of the Council, which will usually be answered by the Chair, the Clerk to the Council, or a designated Councillor.
An elector may also make suggestions and comment on anything relevant to the residents of Bilbrook.
The Chairman of the Parish Council will chair the meeting or in his/her absence the Vice-Chairman.
The purpose of the meeting is to enable the ordinary electors to have their say. Councillors will listen with interest and as electors themselves, also have the opportunity to raise questions and make comments if they wish.
A written record of the meeting will be taken and presented at the next Annual Parish meeting for approval.
There can be, and often is, confusion between the Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council. The Annual Parish Meeting is not a Council meeting.