The Parish Council

The Parish Council

Parish councils are the first (or lowest!) tier of local government. They exist to deal with parish issues which are probably too minor and too numerous to be dealt with by county councils. The parish council provides a local view to Wiltshire on all planning applications which are submitted to the local council. They also concern themselves over issues relating to traffic, pedestrians, footpaths, the Og, flooding, maintenance, structures (eg the church, war memorials bus shelters etc), access, rights of way, notice boards, signposts, nuisance (mud, litter, dog mess etc) and a host of other things which, at might seem trivial but nonetheless can be of vital importance to maintaining a pleasant and happy environment in which to live.

All parish councillors are unpaid volunteers who have been elected through a ballot which is held once every four years, in May. If you are interested in becoming a parish councillor, please contact our parish clerk,  (ogbourneparishclerk@yahoo.co.uk). The Chair of The Parish Council is elected by the councillors, at the Annual General Meeting of The Parish Council.

The clerk to the parish council has certain statutory duties (mainly to do with keeping of financial records etc.) and as such the post attracts a small stipend.

The parish council raises money from a small precept (currently £20.94 per household per annum – or 94 pence per week). There are some 190 households in the parish, yielding £4149.68 per annum. It is the responsibility of the council to spend this money responsibly. Recently it has been spent on such things as renovating the war memorial, contributing to the cost of the new white gates at the entrances to the village, speed restriction signs and repairing the bus stops, village maintenance and, of course, paying the clerk’s stipend.

The War Memorial

The parish council has focussed some effort in recent years on the problems associated with the heavy traffic on the A 346 which runs through the village.

This has resulted in a number of measures, including the reduction of the speed limit from 40 mph to 30mph, the introduction of white gates and coloured road markings at the entrances to the village, the introduction of Speed Indicator Signs at the entrances to the village and the imposition of a 20 mph zone on the village road through Ogbourne St Andrew.

If you would like to see recent Parish Council Meeting Minutes, click here.

If you would like to see a financial statement for the last year click here

To view further information about our Councillors, please click here.