Parham Parish Council

Parish, Town and Community Councils are the most direct form of democracy in England and Wales, being the first tier of local government.  The Parish Council plays an important role in providing local services and Parham Parish Council responds to planning applications, manages the village greens and pond bio-diversity and deals with many other local matters.

The Council is an elected body with seven seats filled by Parham residents whose primary function is to ensure that the Parish is efficiently and economically run using a proportion of the annual Council Tax income ('the Precept'). 

We welcome new ideas or suggestions and parishioners are welcome to raise items for inclusion at our bi-monthly meetings. 

Parham Parish Council meets 6 times a year, normally on the second Tuesday of every other month, commencing in January. A public forum is held near the start  of the meeting to allow parishioners to talk about any issue. The Planning Committee (at least 3 members of the Parish Council who don't have a disclosable pecuniary  interest in the planning application) meet as and when required and other Working Groups also meet throughout the year. The Annual General Meeting is held in May, when the officers are elected for the ensuing year and the accounts for the preceding year are presented for approval.  

In addition, the statutory Annual Parish Meeting is held between April & June. This is a general meeting of parishioners, at which reports from village organisations are received and discussed, and relevant matters are referred to the Parish Council and other agencies. It is often held on the same evening as the Parish Council's  Annual General Meeting.  

All notices from the Parish Council are displayed on the Village Noticeboards including notices of elections, Council Meeting dates and agendas and Minutes from their meetings. 

Representation on other organisations

Parham Parish Council is a member of SALC (Suffolk Association of Local Councils).

It is represented on Parham Village Hall Management Committee, Parham Wildlife Group, and Framlingham Volunteer Centre.

It also appoints a Tree Warden, Mr Adam Paul, in charge of hedges and trees in the parish and a Footpath Officer, Jason Wood, who keeps an eye on Rights of Way in the village and reports problems to SCC.