About the Parish

The aim of the Parish Council is to help ensure Little Lumley and the immediate area remain a pleasant and safe place to live, work and visit. The Parish Council helps provide the facilities you want to see in the area and, where possible, deals with local problems as they arise in partnership with local community organisations other public bodies, and other neighbouring parish councils.

Parishes are the smallest areas of civil administration in England and Town and Parish Councils provide the statutory tier of local government closest to the community. (Civil parishes should not be confused with Church of England ecclesiastical parishes and their Parochial Church Councils.) Parish Councils are independent from County Councils.

Town and Parish Councils are an essential part of the structure of local democracy and have a vital role in acting on behalf of the communities they represent.

They:             

• give views, on behalf of the community, on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish
• undertake projects and schemes that benefit local residents
• work in partnership with other local organisations and public bodies to achieve benefits for the parish
• alert relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that needs to be undertaken
•  help the other tiers of local government keep in touch with their local communities.

Town and Parish Councils have a wide range of legal duties and powers, such as the maintenance of community buildings and land and much more. They have the power to raise money through the local council tax.

Little Lumley Parish Council also manages and maintains a number of local facilities including:

• manages and maintains Play Areas
• maintains the seats, footpaths and gardens of the Parish
•  makes awards of grants that benefit residents of the Parish.

The work of the Parish Council is funded by a precept or charge on the council tax of residents in the parish. We have recently purchased a number of planters and plants which will be planted seasonally (including Xmas trees) to brighten up our local community.

The Parish Council meets every month (every second Thursday) in the Woodstone Village Community Centre (committee room) and members of the public are welcome to attend meetings. Agendas and minutes of meetings are published on this website. 

The website is maintained by the Parish Council and seeks to provide information on local social activities, essential services and other matters of interest to the community. This aspect will develop over time and the Parish Council welcomes any suggestions to make this site more useful to residents and visitors to the area.

How your Parish Council is Managed?

Parish Councils work to a national standards and are required to adopt a number of key policies and procedures. This includes the GDPR, whereby anyone passing on their contact details for example as a tenant for garages on our parish land gives their consent that their data can be used for this use only. This information is held securely on a computer, with password – and when you decide to leave as a tenant, your data will be destroyed securely by the parish clerk.

Parish Council Services

Little Lumley Parish Council operates a number of services for the benefit of local people:

A number of allotments, gardens and garage plots are available across 3 Parish sites.

How to Become Involved?

Your Parish Council is there to represent local people and is always keen to involve local people and encourage them to put forward their views.  There are a number of ways you can support our work:

• Attend parish council meetings
• Consider standing to become a parish councillor at the next elections
• Contact us with any issues of importance to our community
• Get involved with developing our parish plan.

We currently have a vacancy for a councillor. If you live local to the Parish and are interested in being a councillor, please notify and send a CV and/or personal statement to littlelumleyparishclerk@gmail.com by Friday 22nd March 2024. This application process has now closed. 

A bit of Local History

A commemorative memorial is located on the main road from Woodstone to Fencehouses which is dedicated to those who served and died in the Great War and all later conflicts. The colliery institute within the Parish which was built soon after the war is now used as a Community Centre for the Fencehouses.

Population

Approximately 1230 people

Local Facilities

Woodlea Primary School, Fencehouses Community Centre, Woodstone Playpark, Billy Forth Playpark