Town and Parish Councils

In Somerset, there are three tiers of local government: county council, district councils and town/parish councils.

Town and parish councils are an essential to local democracy and have an important role in shaping the communities they represent by:
• giving views, on behalf of the community, on planning applications and other proposals
• undertaking projects and schemes to benefit local residents
• working in partnership with other bodies to benefit residents
• alerting relevant authorities to problems that arise
• and helping the other tiers of local government keep in touch with their local communities.

Town and parish councils have a wide range of powers which essentially relate to local matters, such as looking after community buildings, open space, allotments, play areas, street lighting, bus shelters, car parks and much more. They also have the power to raise money through taxation, known as the 'precept'. The precept is the parish council's share of the council tax. The precept demand goes to the billing authority, the district council, which collects the tax for the parish council.

Contacting your local town/parish council?