Our Parish Council

What is a Parish Council?

Parish or Town Councils are an important tier of Government within the UK; a Parish/Town Council is the smallest and most localised tier of local government in the UK and is a properly constituted local authority.

The powers and duties, and the manner in which a Parish Council operates are laid out in local government statute and regulations; Parish Councils operate at a level below national government and also below district and borough councils. Parish & Town Councils are elected and can help on a number of local issues, like planning applications or running local sports grounds and community halls.

Government Definition

The Parish Council has legal responsibilities as an employer, and sometimes as an owner of public land and buildings.

Parish Councils are Statutory Bodies, having powers under a number of different Acts (the Local Government Act 1972, the Public Health Act 1936, etc.). Only a few Councils need to use all their available powers. It is up to each Council to choose what is appropriate for the community they serve.

The Council raises funds by the annual Precept is set in January of each year. The amount required is guided by the setting of the annual budget in the November preceding.

The Parish Council precept is added to the Council Tax bill and collected by Canterbury City Council (on behalf of the Parish Council).

The Council also raises funds through grants from other organisations.

Parish Council Remit

What are the benefits of a Parish Council?

A Parish Council is the most local level of government in England, our Council just represents Herne and Broomfield. Its main benefit is that it gives residents local decision-making power and funding for small community improvements that City and County Councils often don’t prioritise.

1. Local representation

Parish Councillors live in the community and represent residents’ concerns.

They do:

  • Speak on behalf of residents about planning applications
  • Raise issues with larger councils like Canterbury City Council
  • Influence local policies affecting the parish

Because Councillors are local, they often understand village-specific issues better than district or county authorities.

2. Funding for local improvements

Parish councils collect a precept (part of your council tax) and spend it directly in the community.

The Parish Council spend it on:

  • Parks and playground maintenance
  • Benches and noticeboards
  • Flower beds
  • Newsletters
  • Community events
  • Grants for local clubs and groups

Without a Parish Council, these smaller projects often would not get funded or would take much longer through larger councils.

3. Stronger community voice in planning

Parish Councils are consulted on planning applications in the area.

The Parish Council do:

  • Support or object to developments
  • Raise local concerns about traffic, infrastructure, or environmental impact
  • Help shape neighbourhood plans that guide development
  • Hold regular meetings with developers of Strode Farm which has prevented vehicle access onto Lower Herne Road as well as pushing for the early opening of the new link road.

While they don’t make the final decision, their opinion can carry weight.

4. Local problem-solving

We can act faster on smaller issues such as:

  • Community safety concerns
  • Small environmental projects
  • Instigating Lorry Watch scheme – where lorries are using Lower Herne Road and effecting residents.
  • Trying to set up a speed watch scheme
  • Holding multi agency meetings about parking in the Parish and how to alleviate issues
  • Supporting the call to reduce the charging for School Lane car park which is now reduced back to a Band 5 car park charged at £1.60 a day.

5. Community building

We also organise or fund:

  • Local events
  • Volunteer projects
  • Community newsletters

This helps strengthen community identity and participation.

A Parish Council exists so local people have a small local government that focuses purely on their Parish.

What does my annual precept pay for?

Herne and Broomfield Parish Council is the first tier of local government, it is responsible for things that only affect the Parish.

The precept goes towards:

Local facilities and upkeep

  • Broomfield Community Park
  • Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) at the Cherry Orchard
  • BMX Track
  • Noticeboards
  • Broomfield allotments
  • Benches
  • The Herne Centre

Community services

  • Local events – Community Groups Day, Remembrance Sunday free refreshments, free children’s Christmas Party, Santa float, thank you volunteer tea, etc.
  • Newsletters
  • Grants to community groups or charities
  • Monthly lunch club at a reduced cost to residents to help those who live alone.

Local improvements

  • Planters
  • Flower beds
  • Supporting local projects and regeneration

Administration

  • Parish staffing
  • Insurance, audits, and Council meetings

Parish Councils rely on the precept as their main source of funding to run local services and maintain amenities. In short: your precept pays for very local things in your parish (parks, community facilities, small projects, admin) rather than big services like schools, roads, or social care (those come from Kent County Council / Canterbury City Council).

We are a lot more accessible to residents than the larger Councils so are often used to signpost residents to the City Council or County Council for information or complaints.  We also report issues on the residents behalf to Kent County Council (such as pot holes) and Canterbury City Council (such as litterbins and dog fouling).

We have 13 councillors who are all volunteers.

Why has my precept increased?

For a Band D property in the Parish there has been a £19.03 increase per year.  This equates to £1.59 a month.

A council tax bill for a Band D property is £2483.84 (26/27), this breaks down to:

  • £1758.60 (70.8%) – Kent County Council
  • £254.43 (10.24%) – Canterbury City Council
  • £285.15 (11.49%) – The Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent
  • £99.81 (4.02%) – Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority
  • £85.58 (3.45%) – Herne and Broomfield Parish Council

Most of the Parish budget goes into “other services”, which include things like staffing, administration, maintenance of assets, and community facilities.  There has been significant increases in costs such as minimum wage increases (which in turn affects NI contributions and pension payments), utility bill rises and business rates have more than doubled for the Herne Centre, as well as some unexpected repair costs.

We are currently going through Local Government Reorganisation. This will mean that Kent County Council and Canterbury City Council will no longer exist and there will be a unitary authority in its place. In the near future we could be asked to take over the running of certain assets currently owned and managed by the City Council and County Council.  This could include the Cherry Orchard, Curtis Wood Park, public toilets in Cherry Orchard, and the windmill.  These will all require planning and an associated cost.  Before taking on any assets we will consult with the Parish. We have to plan in advance for that.

This year we are also going to start our Neighbourhood Plan. This is a lot of work but will mean we will have more of a say on development in the Parish and it will open up more funding.

For large scale projects we try and apply for grants to help pay.  This means that we do not have to use as much money from Parish Council funds so there is less of a rise in the precept.  An example of this is the Multi Use Games Area refurbishment which saw a £15000 grant from the National Lottery and £17000 funded by the Parish funds.

Who is responsible for the pot holes, planning and litter bins?

These are three of the most asked questions of the Parish Office as we are often presumed to be responsible however:

Canterbury City Council are responsible for district wide services:

Litter and dog poo bins

Rubbish collection

Public toilets (including the one in Cherry Orchard)

Parks

Playparks

Some of the grass cutting

Street cleaning

Enforcement of rubbish dumping, littering, dog fouling, parking,

Housing

Council tax billing

Planning

Smell or noise issues

Double yellow lines

Kent County Council are responsible for County wide services:

Education – including transport to school

Social Services

Highways – including repairs such as pot holes and approving works, street lighting, public right of ways, road signs

Waste disposal – recycling centres and landfill

Public health and community support – trading standards, drug services, community safety

Even though the above are not issues that we are responsible for, as a Parish Council we do as much as we can:

  • We have litter pickers that go out every week litter picking in the Parish.
  • We organise community litter picks to clear areas that are particularly bad.
  • We report fly tipping to Canterbury City Council.
  • We have asked Canterbury City Council to ensure the football teams clear up Cherry Orchard after games at the weekends.
  • We have been involved with the latest bin survey by City Councillor Grace Paget, which has seen an additional 4 litter bins in the Parish as well as the replacement of others that have gone missing.
  • We ask people to not drop litter in the newsletter and clean up after their dogs.
  • We have been able to get more signs situated in the roads that have a lot of dog fouling.
  • We report dog fouling regularly to Canterbury City Council for it to be cleared.
  • We have managed to get the broken or missing dog poo bins replaced – this has sometimes been with litter bins as Canterbury Council do not have replacement dog poo bins but litter bins are suitable for dog waste.

As a Parish Council we do all we can for our residents.  The past year has seen the Parish Council:

  • Refurbish the multi use games area
  • Organise free football sessions for children at the Cherry Orchard
  • Order and site 2 new benches in the Cherry Orchard
  • Plan the refurbishment of Broomfield Community Park
  • Hold a monthly low cost lunch club to help the vulnerable in the Parish
  • Arrange a free D Day commemoration event
  • Two nights touring the Santa float for children to see Santa and free sweets handed out.
  • Pay for the allotment land at Broomfield
  • Run a free Remembrance Sunday refreshments event for attendees
  • Hosted a free children’s Christmas party which saw 60 children have food and entertainment as well
  • Hand delivered newsletters for every resident in the Parish
  • Numerous events at the Centre to involve residents, such as quiz nights, craft fairs, scarecrow trail
  • Free Community Groups Day

This is partially what we have achieved over the past year.  Unfortunately we cannot offer the Herne Centre for free, (although residents do get a reduced rate), as there are costs for utilities, maintenance and staffing.

Why have there been more houses built in the Parish but my precept has still gone up?

Some of the new properties have single occupancy, unoccupied or receive a reduced Council tax rate so even if you have more houses the money passed onto the Parish can be less.  The precept is not based on the total number of houses.

Why am I paying more than someone that lives in another area of Herne Bay?

Firstly check the Council tax band, for example a Band A property in Herne Bay is £799.33 cheaper than a Band D property.  The precept charges are extra to your other Council tax however this is charge is reflective to your tax band.  Someone in a Band A property will pay less than a Band D for their precept.