Article 2: What do councillors do?
Last month we talked about what Bracebridge Heath Parish Council does. For this month’s article we’d like to focus on the individuals that make up a council. In Bracebridge Heath, there are 13 councillors, who together, form the corporate body - the council.
What do councillors do?
Councillors are elected to represent the local community. As such they must either live or work in the council area. Although unpaid, becoming a councillor is both a rewarding and privileged form of public service. You will be in a position to make a difference to the quality of other people’s daily lives and prospects.
Being an effective councillor requires both commitment and hard work and you will have to balance the needs and interests of residents alongside wider aims set by the council or other bodies.
Over recent years the role of parish councils has changed. There are now additional responsibilities, a focus on engaging better with communities, and working in partnership with different organisations.
A councillor’s role and responsibilities include:
- developing strategies and plans for the area
- serving the community – helping with problems and ideas
- representing the community
- working with others
- decision making and reviewing decisions as part of the collective body
- talking to the community about their needs and about what the council is doing
Councillors do this by:
- Attending formal council meetings.
- Talking to residents by phone, email, on social media and at local events.
- Working on specific council projects with other councillors and council officers.
- Representing the council on outside organisations such as charities and public bodies.
- Participating in community meetings and events, such as parish council meetings or meetings about community safety and policing. Whilst councillors don’t have to go to these meetings, it can be a helpful way to find out about what’s happening in the community and also telling the community about what’s happening in the council.
Read about Cllr Chris Barr’s experience of being involved with the council and his role in setting up the Wombling Group.
I have been a parish councillor since August 2019. After receiving some training and support from fellow councillors I started to understand my role a little better. It can be tricky, as a member of the public or a new councillor, to know what each of the tiers of local government provide and do in our village. This has been a particular learning curve for me.
The parish council is responsible for a lot of things but I am particularly proud of my involvement in establishing the Wombles of Bracebridge Heath. During the Covid pandemic, members of the public, including me, began to notice that there was a lot of litter around the village. With the support of local shops, as well as insurance cover and risk assessments from the parish council and some funding from Lincolnshire County Councillor Lindsey Cawrey we purchased some litter picking equipment and started to meet once a week to help keep the village clean.
The Wombling group has been really successful in helping to keep the village clean and tidy and a place that we can all be proud to live. Meeting once a week for over a year, the group have now scaled back the organised wombling meets to once per month. However, there are still individual wombles who continue to support the village in being litter free on a weekly basis.
Sometimes it can be frustrating as a councillor when projects take longer to materialise than you’d like but organising, planning and delivering something that has helped the village has made me one proud Parish Councillor. It has also given me a better handle on what areas we as a council can influence and improve.
