Sherington Parish Council

Facilities

• Sherington Parish Council provides and maintains the following facilities.
   
• Perry Lane Sports and Recreation Ground and Pavilion - The land (east of a line along the rear of the garages) is leased from J W Cook & Son until 2040. The car park (west of that line, including the area in front of the garages) is leased from Milton Keynes Council Housing, and its maintenance is shared 50:50 with them. The garages are leased by MKC Housing to its tenants who have a right of way for access.
   
• Village Hall Play Area - This land is owned by the Parish Council, apart from that part of the car park nearest the Village Hall which belongs to the Village Hall.
   
• The Knoll - registered as Common Land
   
• Stonepits Copse - registered as Common Land
   
• Bus Shelters - at the Knoll and School Lane
   
• Dog Bins - 7 bins - Perry Lane, Church Road, Water Lane, High Street (South), High Street (North), Church, School Lane - emptied monthly by a contractor
   
• Shop Building - The current temporary shop building is owned and maintained by the Parish Council, having been transferred in 2015 from Shopco, which has been wound up. It is leased to the tenants who run the Shop/Post Office business. The Parish Council has no involvement in the business. Planning permission for the temporary building expires in July 2017.
   
• Churchyard Extension - The 1979 extension of the churchyard is owned by the Parish Council.
   

Parish Clerk

• The Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer is responsible for the administration and management of all the Council's facilities, services, accounts, staff and contractors.
   
• The Parish Clerk issues the Agenda for meetings and takes the Minutes.
   
• The Parish Clerk is the official point of contact for both incoming and outgoing communications.
   

Councillors

• There are 7 Councillors who are elected for a 4 year term of office - May 2015 to May 2019.
   
• The current Councillors are: Will Bush (Chairman), Anita Thatcher (Vice-Chairman), Edward Caldwell, Rebecca Constantine, Ann Hughes, Rob Johnstone and there is one vacancy.
   

Responsibilities

• The Parish Council has the following responsibilities:
   
• Planning Applications - Although planning applications are decided by Milton Keynes Council, they are required to notify and consult the Parish Council, who may comment if it wishes.
   
• Neighbourhood Plan - The Parish Council embarked on the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan in January 2015. Whilst it is the body responsible for the Plan's compilation, the adoption of the Plan is determined by the electorate in a referendum.
   

Meetings

• There are 11 regular Parish Council meetings per year, held on the first Tuesday of the month (except August).
   
• The Chairman may call extraordinary meetings as required.
   
• Meetings of the Council (and Committees) require 3 clear days notice and publication of the Agenda.
   
• All meetings are held in public, although the Council can vote to exclude the public whilst discussing matters of a confidential or sensitive nature. The public are observers, but there is an agenda item when the public may ask questions or make comments.
   
• At least 3 Councillors must be present for any decisions to be made.
   

Finance

• The Council's activities are funded through the Precept, grants and charges for specific purposes.
   
• The Precept for the year is determined by the Parish Council in January. In recent years it has been approximately £22k. Milton Keynes Council apportion this amongst all Council Taxpayers and collect this with their own Council Tax items on the Parish Council's behalf.
   
• Grants can be obtained from various sources and for various purposes, e.g. for the Neighbourhood Plan or for Perry Lane improvements.
   
• Charges are made for the hire of the function room in the Pavilion, together with the football pitch and the changing rooms at Perry Lane.
   

Parish Meetings

• Parish Meetings are different to meetings of the Parish Council. They are open to the entire electorate of the Parish.
   
• The Annual Parish Meeting is held in May of each year.
   
• Extraordinary Parish Meetings can be called at any time by the Parish Council Chairman, two Parish Councillors or six members of the electorate.
   
• The administrative arrangements are made by the Parish Council. The Parish Council Chairman, if present, chairs the meeting, and if not present, the meeting elects a chairman. Parish Councillors do not have any special rights other than as members of the electorate.
   
• Parish Polls on agenda items can be demanded by ten electors (or one third of the electors present, if less). The question to be asked in the Poll is then decided by a majority of the electorate present. The Parish Poll is run by Milton Keynes Council.
   
• Neither Parish Meetings nor Parish Polls are binding on the Parish Council.