West moors parish council functions
Welcome to the section of this site where you can find out all about the function and activities of your Parish Council. Use the links below to find the information you are looking for.
Council Meetings Environment Finance Flood Events Grass Cutting Newsletter Notices Planning Parish Council Paths Warden Planning Amenities Roads & Transport Trees
Parish Council Meetings
The Parish Council meets in the Pavilion on Fryers Field once a month. There is then a cycle of committee meetings within this interval. These committees are:- Planning, which meets monthly; Highways, Amenities and Finance & General Purposes. Please see the Council Schedule and Agendas for the next meetings. We have an Annual Parish Council meeting in May when Councillors re-allocate their personal Council responsibilities.
Our Annual Parish Meeting in April of each year is an open forum, where residents of the Parish are invited to attend and listen to reports of each committees' activities and put forward items for discussion. This is a commitment that the Parish Council is under no obligation to provide but which it does in order to make the Parish Council more open, responsive and receptive to residents' views. We would hope that any resident would feel welcome at a Parish Council meeting but would respect that the Council does have business to deal with during which time public debates are not permitted, however there is always a place on the agenda for public comment. All Parish Council meetings are open to members of the public and press.
All the Parish Councillors have signed up to the new Standards Board for England Model Code of Conduct, which covers most aspects of interests and responsibilities. For any questions relating to the Model Code of Conduct please contact the Parish Clerk and/or The Standards Board for England, PO Box 36656, London, SE1 OWN. Telephone: (0845) 788181 or E-mail: enquiries@standardsboard.co.uk.
Planning Consultative Committee
The Planning Committee meets in the Fryers Field Pavilion every month when there are planning applications to be considered. Plans for the committee review are usually available several days beforehand for public viewing in the Parish Office. The Planning Committee does not have any powers to decide on a planning application, they present a view point of local opinions to the East Dorset District Council Planning Committee who make the decisions, taking into account any further inputs from the public or other authorities.
Amenities Committee
This committee is responsible for the development, maintenance and use of the Fryer Playing Field situated in the North of the village. The facilities include two football pitches and a cricket square, the all-weather court, the children's play area , the Skatepark facility, the Pavilion and the car park. The Skatepark and BMX facility are administered by the Skatepark Challenge group. There is a second children's play area adjacent to the West Moors First School. The Council is also responsible for the booking, safety and security arrangements for many of these facilities. A part time groundsman is employed for maintenance of the Fryers Field facilities. The Council employs contractors to develop and renovate the facilities and equipment to attain acceptable safety and usage standards.
The West Moors Cemetery is located on Priory Road in the East of the village. The Parish Clerk maintains the records of burials and plots and receives requests for internments. These are mainly transacted between local funeral directors and the Clerk. The Cemetery rules and regulations are displayed in the cemetery. The grounds are maintained by a second part-time council employee. Administration rests with the Amenities Committee. The tariffs for the cemetery are available in the Parish Office.
Highways & Environment Committee
Any matters dealing with the road system in West Moors is of interest to this committee. This includes the pavements and what we call the road "furniture". For example, bench seating and some bus shelters are provided by the council through recommendations from the H&E Committee. They also review and represent public concerns on speeding and road safety; street lighting and parking issues. In many of these areas they require close co-operation with the County Council since they are responsible for road maintenance as well as cutting of grass verges. Also they liaise with the District Council on Parking and some paving matters.
The committee advises the County Council on footpaths and rights of way issues as they impact on the village. They study wider road schemes affecting the area and have an input at County and sometimes with the Highways Agency on plans for improvements to the A31, skirting the village and the West Moors By-pass. They represent concerns of the residents to the appropriate agencies on road closures and problems caused by the digging up of roads by utility companies.
Finally, they execute plans for the Christmas lights.
Finance & General Purposes Committee
The Council receives most of its finance from East Dorset District Council via the precept system. The task of the Finance Committee is to prepare the annual budget for the Parish Council from requests and recommendations made by the other committees and through Council decisions and submit these to the District Council for inclusion in the annual Community Tax bill paid by all residents. During the year it then monitors expenditure and revenues through accounts prepared for each meeting by the Parish Clerk. The committee develops financial aspects of the Council's contracts including payment of salaries and allowances to employed staff.
Under General Purposes, amongst other items, requests for small grants by West Moors organisations are reviewed and decided upon.
The Council meeting comes at the end of the cycle of Committee meetings outlined above. It receives all recommendations from each committee and decides whether to support the proposals, modify, postpone or send them back to committees for further consideration. Generally this does not apply to the Planning Committee which works more directly with the District Council Planning Department and has clear guidelines and deadlines to meet in the planning application process.
It approves the final precept submission to the District Council and the allocation of funds for Council projects, such as the computer extension to the West Moors Library, the purchase of the Petwyn Village Green and establishment of the Parish Office in the library car park.
Each Councillor undertakes a representative or active role on behalf of the Council, be it looking after the Archives; a school governor or the Council rep. on the Memorial Hall Committee. These representatives report back at each Council Meeting. The Council also receives reports from our District and County Councillors on matters of interest to the village emanating from these forums.
Recruitment and conditions of service for Council employees including the Parish Clerk are finalised by the Council. Legal matters, leases on Council property, matters concerning policing, security as the impact on the village are normally handled by the Council. This requires close liaison with the Police authorities and the Defence Fuels Depot on the northern edge of the village.
All Parish Council meetings are open to the public and no notification of your attendance in advance is necessary. You will receive a warm welcome from the Chairman and Councillors and at a later stage of the meeting, be given a chance to address the Council on any issues relevant to Council business concerning you.
Any items of interest to residents, along with agendas and other documents for public display are displayed on the three Parish notice boards of the village. These are sited outside West Moors Library on Station Road; at the A31 end of Pinehurst Road on the grass verge in front of the shops and in Woolslope Road in the South of the village. Other community notices may be placed there at the Parish Clerk's discretion and assuming space is available. If you wish to display a notice for public viewing on these boards, please contact the Parish Clerk on 01202 861044 or e mail.
From 2001 to 2005, the Council produced an annual newsletter during the winter describing interesting happenings in the village over the past year and plans for the forthcoming year. It was distributed to all households. It was felt that this was inadequate for the village needs for information but the Council lacked resources to publish more frequently. During 2005, the West Moors Directory appeared, also distributed free village wide each alternate month. Agreement was reached with the publishers of the Directory that the Council would contribute a two-monthly supplement covering the ground of the Parish Newsletter but at more frequent intervals. The success of this arrangement is continually under review.
We receive many comments about grass cutting in the village. The Parish Council is not responsible for all the open areas of the village. Roadside verges are cut by a contractor employed by the County Council. It is usual for verges to be cut four or five times a year. While we appreciate that this can sometimes make visibility difficult at times, particularly during a wet summer, there is nothing we can do about the timing of these cuts.
Parish Paths Warden One active duties held by a parish councillor is that of the parish paths warden. He/She is responsible for liaising between the path network users and County Council who are responsible for the upkeep of the paths. West Moors parish paths warden is Ken Warren. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please get in touch with him on 01202 895124.
Tree Preservation Liaison Officer
Similar to the Parish paths warden, we have a Tree Preservation liaison officer on the Council who liaises between concerned residents and the District Council Tree Protection Section officers. He is Mike Shine. This Section is responsible for the administration of Tree Protection Orders (TPOs) for the East Dorset district. If you have any problems with TPOs on your property; believe certain trees merit protecting or consider some trees or branches represent a safety hazard to the public, you may wish to get in touch with him on 01202 892353.
The Parish Clerk acts as the Flood Warden for West Moors and is therefore issued with flood warnings by the Environment Agency. A plan has been issued to deal with such events and can be found on this website by clicking West Moors Flood Plan
Comments & Suggestions
If any West Moors resident has a contribution to make towards the running of the village, comments and suggestions are always welcomed by the Parish Clerk on 01202 861044/ e mail. or any of the elected Councillors.