What does the Parish Council do? How can I get involved?

On this page we attempt to answer your questions about being a Parish Councillor.

What does the Parish Council do?

The Parish Council is the lowest tier of local government – and represents the communities across both Severn Stoke Parish and Croome d'Abitot Parish. This includes parts of Defford, Kinnersley, Croome, High Green, Clifton, Birch Green and Severn Stoke. The council has little power but a reasonable amount of influence. A prime example of this is planning applications. The planning authority is Malvern Hills District Council, but they give details of every planning application within the Parish to the Parish Council for review and will take into account the Councillors’ comments when coming to a decision.

Similarly Worcestershire County Council is the highway authority, but it consults the Parish when it’s considering any road scheme or activities such as mineral extraction.

Services that parish councils can provide include community safety, street lighting, playing fields, rights of way, allotments, cemeteries, litter, war memorials, seats and bus shelters.

The services currently undertaken here at this Parish Council include: (no particular order)

  • Lengthsman scheme (delegated by the County Council)
  • Coordinate volunteers who assist with monitoring and maintaining rights of way and public footpaths.
  • Footway lighting at Stonnall Close and Knights Hill
  • Voluntary maintenance of grass verges within Severn Stoke along A38 in order to preserve footpath at that location
  • Use, care and maintenance of four notice boards (High Green, Clifton, Kinnersley and Severn Stoke villages)
  • Provision of highways bench seating at Kinnersley and Severn Stoke
  • Bus shelter provision and maintenance at Clifton and Severn Stoke
  • Provision of vehicle activated speed signs. 4 related to speed and 1 related to a dangerous bend
  • Litter bin provision along the A38 lay-bys and 1 at the entrance to a right of way at Croome.
  • Management of the community flood alert scheme (voluntary)
  • Monthly news article in parish magazine
  • Maintenance of parish council website
  • Liaison with community service officers
  • Provision of grant funding where relevant to the parish, including provision of the defibrillator at the Rose and Crown pub.
  • Comment on notified planning applications and local development
  • Liaison with community stakeholders

What is involved in being a Parish Councillor?

As a minimum you would be expected to attend most of the full Council meetings which are held on the last Wednesday of every other month at 7:30pm in the SOQ meeting room at Croome National Trust Visitor Centre. Other committees or working parties meet throughout the year as necessary.

You may also get approached by villagers asking you to help them with their problems, especially in things like planning matters, but this does not happen very often and the parish clerk will be available to assist you in dealing with these as they arise.

What sort of people become Parish Councillors?

All sorts. They have a broad spread of ages with a wide variety of backgrounds and occupations.

Am I eligible?

In order to be a Parish Councillor you must be aged 18 years or over and be a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of an EU member state and you must qualify to be a Parish Councillor for Severn Stoke and Croome d'Abitot in one or more of the following ways:

  • be a local government elector in the Parish (ie on the electoral roll)
  • owned or rented land within the Parish for the last twelve months
  • lived in the Parish or within 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) of it for the last twelve months
  • worked in the Parish for the last twelve months

Many people qualify on more than one of the above grounds.

Do I have to join a political party?

No. Nor do you have to say if you are a member of a party if you are (although some parties may request that you do).

I am interested – what do I do now?

The full council is elected every four years, however Councillors sometime resign in mid-term so there are occasional “casual” vacancies that are usually filled by co-opting someone. The way this works is that the Parish council finds one or more people who might be suitable and then votes to select one. It is rare that there is more than one candidate.

So if you are interested in being co-opted the next time there is a vacancy make yourself known to the Parish Clerk Lisa Stevens, the Chair Richard Hill or any of member of council. Use the contact us form on this website, top right hand corner.

Published: 06/10/2025 Published by: Severn Stoke & Croome d'Abitot Parish Council

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