THE ROLE OF THE HOLY ISLAND PARISH COUNCIL

The Holy Island Parish Council is a group of five local people elected every four years as community leaders to represent the views, opinions and interests of residents living in the parish. It is the first tier of Local Government. The Chairman is elected annually by the councillors who work voluntarily, but the Clerk is paid for his work (usually between 10 and 20 hours per month) and provides all the administrative support required.
 
Council meetings, which the public may attend, are held four times a year and additional meetings are held as required. The County Councillor for the Norham and Islandshires ward usually attends the meetings to report on matters of interest and to liaise with the Northumberland County Council on our behalf.
 
The Parish Council is a statutory local authority in its own right having a wide variety of powers and duties conferred by many statutes. It undertakes a vital role within the local government system. The Parish Council works closely with the Northumberland County Council and other bodies to ensure the needs of the Parish and its residents are not overlooked.
 
Briefly the Council's role can be described as follows:

• The power of decision in accordance with statutory functions and duties.
• Expressing views about planning issues and consultation documents both locally and countywide.
• Taking the lead on issues affecting the interests of the area, eg. highways and parking, footpaths, general maintenance, trees, etc.
• The power to raise a precept from the local inhabitants and make financial decisions which will benefit the community. The precept is collected with the Council Tax by the County Council. The Council's income and expenditure is very closely monitored and the accounts are audited annually by independent auditors.

The Parish Council is represented on the various community groups: "The Holy Island of Lindisfarne Community Development Trust", "The Holy Island Village Hall Committee" and the "Holy Island 2050".
 

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