Bar Hill Parish Council

What is a Parish Council?

Parish councils are the third tier of local government in England. A parish council is responsible for a parish, a small area normally enclosing one community. If the community is sufficiently large the council may be called a town council, rather than a parish council but its responsibilities and powers are identical.

The next tier above parish councils is the district council, which covers a much wider area, and above that comes the county council.

A parish council gets money from its residents in the form of a "precept", which is added to the figures requested by the county council, the police authority and the district council and is then collected by the district council in the council tax.

Where does Bar Hill Parish Council fit?

Bar Hill Parish Council is responsible for the village of Bar Hill. There are 3,173 people on the register of electors and there are 2,788 residences. The Parish Council meets in the Parish Council Office which is next to the Octagon. There are thirteen councillors plus three paid employees: the Clerk, the Assistant Clerk and a playground inspector.

The district council for the area is South Cambridgeshire District Council. This covers the southern quarter of the county, excluding the city of Cambridge itself. The council offices are located in Cambourne. The county council is Cambridgeshire County Council and its offices are at Shire Hall on Castle Hill in Cambridge.

What Does the Parish Council do?

The Parish Council does not have a great deal of power, but does have many duties. The planning authority is South Cambridgeshire District Council, but they give details of every planning application within the parish to the Parish Council for review and should take into account the Councillors' comments when coming to a decision.

Similarly the Cambridgeshire County Council is the highway authority, but it consults the parish when it's considering any road scheme.

The Parish Council is directly responsible for providing the following services to the village:

play areas throughout the village - including the provision, regular inspection and maintenance of play equipment
allotments
bus shelters
care of trees/bushes/vegetation on Council land
the stream
many small bits of land around the village including the village green
managing facilities for youth, including the Youth Club
commenting on all planning applications
taking a lead in getting things done in the village

To help the Council fulfil its responsibilities it has written policies, all of which can be viewed in the Parish Council Office, and some of which are on this web site click here.

When Does the Council Meet?

The Parish Council meets on the third Thursday every month in the Parish Council Office (except in August). The Planning Committee meets on the second and fourth Thursday of every month, if there is any planning business to consider. The Environment Committee meets on the first Wednesday of every month.

The agenda for the monthly meeting will be in the Office window and also here.

All meetings are open to the general public although members of the public are not allowed to speak unless asked to do so by the Chair. In practice, members of the public who attend a meeting are asked if they have come to observe or if they wish to speak on any topic. The meeting is then stopped while the member of public addresses the Councillors. When the meeting resumes, members of the public may not participate in the debate.

Minutes of past meetings can be found in the Library and the latest minutes will be in the Office window and also on this web site click here.

How Do I Get in Touch with the Parish Council?

The Clerk can be contacted by telephone 01954 780456, or E-mail The address of the Parish Council Office is Hanover Close, Bar Hill, Cambridge, CB3 8SE.