Thorrington Parish Council

Thorrington Parish Council represents the residents of the village of Thorrington, Essex

Save the Date: Annual Meeting of the Parish: 8th May at 7pm: You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the Parish - Come along and listen to what the Parish has been up to this past year & let us know if you would like the Parish to consider any Wishes for your local community. 

4 Parish Councillor Vacancies: CAN YOU SPARE A FEW HOURS, PLEASE, TO HELP YOUR VILLAGE?

CAN YOU SPARE A FEW HOURS, PLEASE, TO HELP YOUR VILLAGE? Hello residents of Thorrington! Hopefully this message finds you well.    Thorrington Parish Council is in desperate need of community-spirited people, to help keep our lovely village in good order, and the way we should all wish it to be.  We have vacancies for 4 Councillors, and as such are running very thin on the ground.    A Parish Councillor: … there really is not too much time needed to commit (one meeting per month), and a few emails here and there. Currently each Councillor reports if there is anything amiss or causing issues in the village.  The Parish Council: … in addition to maintaining the village in good order, the councillors try to build community links, secure grants etc, to give residents what they’d like within their local community. All we need from you is a commitment, as much as possible, to attend the monthly council meetings.  However, councillors are entitled to miss meetings should work, holiday, illness etc get in the way.  IF we were to lose the Council because of insufficient numbers, ALL decisions concerning Thorrington would be made by Tendring District Council.  WE WOULD LOSE THE MONEY (THE PRECEPT) GIVEN ANNUALLY TO THORRINGTON COUNCIL TO SPEND ON THE VILLAGE. Do we really want that? Any questions please do contact Lynsey, the Parish Clerk on thorringtonpc@yahoo.com or any of the Parish Councillors.

 

Parish Councils are often confused with Church parishes, but are in fact the first tier of local government for a civil parish.  Before they existed local decisions were made by local people of standing, for example landowners, noble men and religious leaders.  Today almost any resident, young or old, rich or poor, can stand to be fairly elected in order to take part in the decision making in their area.  Funded by the 'precept', an amount charged to properties through their Council Tax, Parish Councils work for and answer to the residents who pay for them.

Each seat on the Council can only be filled by local residents and this provides a voice to the small details that are so often overlooked by larger authoritative bodies.  The Council has its own property to make direct decisions for but they also hold the district and county councils to account, making sure that the village is getting treated fairly.

In Thorrington, the Council meets generally once a month.  What they will discuss can be found on the agenda and what happens is reported in the minutes.  Members of the public are welcome to observe the meeting and can address the Chairman during the public questions item.  

The Council operates as one body made up of many people, anything within its remit must be put to all the members at a meeting and a decision arrived at by a majority vote.   Unlike in a private business with line management, in local government each Councillor has the opportunity to consider the issue and vote with equal weight.  The system can be slow and seem old fashioned but it is democracy at work.  

Thorrington Parish Council represent the occupants of around 500 households in and around the village.  They own the Chapel Lane Playing Field, the allotments, the tennis court, a number of street lights and bus shelters.  They also maintain many of the verges on behalf of the County Council.  

For more details about the Parish Council please have a look through the pages on this website or check out our new facebook page.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Clerk to the Council or any members of the Council.

For more information about Thorrington village and the surrounding area, please see our Parish page.  To see what is happening in and around the village and for links to our local community partners please check out our Digital Noticeboard.

The higher tiers of local government for Thorrington are Tendring District Council for waste collection, housing and planning and Essex County Council for roads, schools, libraries and bus services.  Please click on the images below for links to their respective websites.

Want to know when these Councils meet?

Check out the links below to their YouTube channels for livestreams and recordings of their meetings!

Tendring District Council - https://www.youtube.com/@tendringdc001/streams

Essex County Council - https://www.youtube.com/@eccdemocracy3400/streams

 

↓ Don't forget ↓

 Parish.uk Network

Please note that Parish.uk Network is not affiliated with the Parish Council.

Thorrington Parish Council would not ask businesses for money for advertising.

If you have been contacted by this site and have any concerns please contact us.

 

Local democracy needs you!

 The Parish Council has 3 empty seats!  Want to improve local issues?

We need residents of all ages and backgrounds to add their voice to the decisions that are made locally.  Not only does the Parish Council oversee a number of local provisions but they are also consulted on all sorts of issues like planning and transport.

Become a Councillor to get a vote and to keep the larger organisations working for Thorrington!

 

Like the National Association of Local Councils and Jackie Weaver we are looking for The Unusual Suspects.