Letter: We Should Thank Parish Councillors

Published on: 26 Jul, 2025
Updated on: 25 Jul, 2025

From Gavin Morgan

In response to: What Do Parish Councils Do?

There’s nothing wrong with a healthy discussion about the pros and cons of any branch of government – so long as it’s informed. So, I was slightly annoyed to read Brian Creese’s letter.

I’m surprised the former chair of the Guildford Labour doesn’t know more about local government. And given Labour’s local track record in Guildford, I’d be wary of calling other bodies “powerless talking shops”.

I hope others come forward to fill out the picture, but I’ll do my best. Parish councils are the lowest tier of local government, and given Labour’s plans to abolish the middle tier of district councils, their role might become even more important. Certainly, not enough people come forward to serve on them, but we should be encouraging participation – not put down the efforts of those who do.

It’s easy for some of us to sit at home wondering why we pay so much council tax. The truth is, most of it goes to the county councils, which the government is strengthening. Only a tiny proportion goes to borough and district councils, and a minute amount to parish councils. Parish councillors don’t usually get allowances.

They are people who don’t moan—they get off their backsides and do something. They’re not perfect, and it’s easy to criticise their makeup, motives, or actions. But you could say that about all forms of government.

My mother was in her thirties when she started on the parish council. Jan Messenger never struck me as an “elderly, white, man” and what’s wrong with those who are if they do a good job for everyone?

Mr Creese says there are no party labels. Why should there be. In my mother’s day, Worplesdon parish councillors left their party politics at the door and I believe they still do. Parish councils need people who put local issues before politics—not the other way round.

Do our village greens really need to be battlegrounds for political parties? Do we really need to argue over which national party is best at fixing a bus shelter?

It’s true that parish councils have limited powers, but to summarise them as just “benches, grass verges, bus shelters and bins” is misleading. One important role is scrutinising planning applications. They provide a local perspective, are close to those affected, and feed back information that is often taken into account at the borough level.

Perhaps the key role of a parish council is to provide a link between local government and the people. Borough councillors do this too, but they’re much more stretched—and soon they’ll be extinct.

Parish councillors often get involved in small details that may seem beyond their remit. Our phone never stopped ringing, and as a child I often remember my mother going out on her bicycle to look at some problem.

One day she was dealing with the water company, who had blocked a road for a week with no one apparently on site. Another day she was on the phone to a council department to clear out a stream to prevent flooding and on another she was talking to the police about cars speeding near a local school.

Parish councillors are on the ground, able to deal with the details and help make sure the local community works. Without these unpaid volunteers, we’d undoubtedly have to pay a civil servant to do some of their work—and other important bits would simply never happen.

The people who moan about “pointless” parish councils would then just moan about a whole raft of unresolved local issues. So, for once, let’s give a cheer to those people – however imperfect – who get off their backsides not to serve a political party, but to serve their local community.

Share This Post