Would you like to make an important contribution to the area you live in? Get involved in making decisions about the local community? Then this is the position for you!
It’s rewarding and enjoyable as you will be involved in making changes to help improve the lives of Arnside residents.
What’s Involved
Parish Councillors are unpaid volunteers who meet at least once a month. The purpose is to maintain and improve Arnside for all. You can support this by bringing your skills and knowledge to the Council, by proposing and getting involved in local projects while researching and engaging in conversations with parishioners and others.
Arnside Parish Council consists of eight councillors and three employees – the Parish Clerk, the Finance Officer and the Cemetery Officer. It is an effective team of like-minded people all wanting to make a positive difference.
The monthly meetings may last a couple of hours. You may also join committees, working groups and ad hoc meetings.
No special qualification is required to be a councillor. It is important that all sorts of people serve as councillors so that all parts of our community are represented. Training for new councillors is available to help you understand the responsibilities of the role.
What does the Parish Council Do?
Arnside Parish Council makes all kinds of decisions on issues that affect the local community. The most common topics that we get involved with are:
- Planning matters – the Parish Council is a consultee,
- Managing and maintaining the services and facilities we are responsible for,
- Helping local groups, and campaigning for and delivering better services and facilities.
It’s true to say that, on their own, parish councils have limited powers to make decisions – but they do have the ability to negotiate with, and the power to influence, those other organisations that do make the final decisions, such as Westmorland & Furness Council and the Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape amongst others.
In this respect, parish councils are quite powerful. The organisations that make the final decisions know that a parish council gives the best reflection of how a community feels about something, and its views will be taken seriously.
The parish council also has the power to raise money through taxation – the ‘precept’ (the parish council’s share of the council tax) – to help meet its spending requirements.
Am I eligible to be a Parish Councillor?
You must be: a British subject, or a citizen of the Commonwealth or the European Union and over 18 years of age.
Additionally, you have to be at least one of the following:
• A local government elector for the council area for which you want to stand.
• Have, during the whole of the 12 months, occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the council area or within 3 miles of it for the whole period/
• Have, during that same period, had your principal or only place of work in the council area or within 3 miles of it for the whole period.
• Have lived in the parish area or within three miles of it during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination.
You cannot stand for election if you:
• Are subject of a bankruptcy restriction order or interim order.
• Have, within five years before the day of the election, been convicted in the UK of any offence and have had a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of over three months without the option of a fine.
• You work for the council you want to become a councillor for (but you can work for other local authorities, including the principal authorities that represent the same area).
• Are subject to certain sexual offence legal orders under the Local Government Disqualification Act 2022 (which disqualifies individuals from standing for election or holding office in local authorities).
You don’t have to be connected to a political party. If you do become a parish councillor you will have to sign up to the Code of Conduct.
For more information, email the Parish Clerk at clerk@arnsideparishcouncil.gov.uk
