As you probably know, the current government has recently decided to reorganise local government to eliminate the three-layered structure (county + district + parish) that we have now.  On the 1st April 2020 the new Buckinghamshire Council was formed, representing a merger of Bucks County Council and Chiltern & South Bucks, Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe District Councils.

How this will impact upon the role of parish councils still seems very much in the air. There is certainly talk of devolution – that is, moving management of some local activities and management to a more local level i.e. to parish councils. There have already been offers to parish councils in Buckinghamshire to take over some carefully defined activities like grass and hedge cutting/ keeping sides of roads clear etc. Your Parish Council gave this careful thought and declined for several reasons.

For what your Parish Council can and does do, see our page on  Parish Council Responsibilities.

We are often asked by parishioners to assist with matters like parking, yellow lines, road layouts and traffic around schools. It is important to realise that such matters are primarily in the hands of Buckinghamshire Council and Transport for Bucks.  We can and do make representations on your behalf, often not without effect but we neither hold the purse strings nor have the final say.

We believe we have achieved much in minimising the disruption that the works to build HS2 are going to cause for us all, and in getting compensatory benefits (mitigation) from them. However, we are not the only player in this, Buckinghamshire Council naturally has a major role.