Parish Council

The Speldhurst Parish Council area incorporates the villages of Ashurst, Old Groombridge, Langton Green and Speldhurst and has been in existence since 1894 when, following the Local Government Act of that year, it became one of the Parishes of the Tonbridge Rural District. Following the Local Government Act of 1972 the Parish Council was brought under the revised Tunbridge Wells Borough Council area.

The Parish Council is the first tier of local government. It sits below the District and Borough Councils (in our case Tunbridge Wells Borough Council) and is analogous with a Town Council except that Parish Councils tend to be in more rural areas and its leader is a Chairman rather than a Mayor, in all other respects it is the same.

As in other areas of public life the councillors are elected by the general public and are re-elected at regular intervals. As the role is unpaid it is not unusual for there to be an uncontested election (ie when there are the same number, or less, candidates standing than there are vacancies, there will not be a formal election in order to avoid undue expense). However, the full procedure of Nomination and Registration with the local Returning Officer is still carried out, and if there are more candidates than vacancies then a formal Poll of the Electors is undertaken.

Speldhurst Parish Council is non political as all members seek only to serve the local community without the unnecessary posturing and polemic which party politics brings.

Parish Councils have a statutory right to raise funds by means of an annual precept which is collected by the District or Borough Council as part of the ‘Council Tax Bill’. The Parish Council has a Finance and General Purposes Committee who review all requests for Grants and General Expenditure and set a Budget annually which is presented to the whole parish council and voted on after scrutiny and debate.

The Precept for Speldhurst Parish Council is £29.70 for a Band D property in 2007 -2008 and provides the funds for the Parish Council’s statutory and charitable payments. In the last financial year 2006 -2007 the following payments were made:

The Parish council has four sub committees, namely Planning, Finance and General Purposes, Footpaths and Recreation Ground; it is also a member of the Kent Association of Parish Councils. In all matters affecting our represented communities, the Council would liase with the various department of the Borough Council.

All Parish Council Meetings are open to members of the public who are most welcome. Detailed Planning Applications are discussed in the Planning Sub Committee and reviewed at the monthly Full Council Meeting. The Parish Council also holds monthly surgeries; details can be found in the coming events.  If there is an issue in your Village that you think the Parish Council should be aware of or if you have something that you would like to discuss with us or just want to find out more about what we do, please come along and join us.

The Parish Council is a statutory consultee on all new Planning Applications and is also requested to contribute on all major changes in Local Government.

Full details of Parish Councillors, Dates of Forthcoming Meetings, and the Minutes of Past Meetings can be found on the Parish Council Website www.speldhurstpc.kentparishes.gov.uk