The Council

What is a Parish Council?

The Parish Council is a statutory body and are is the first tier of local government in England. We serve the small rural communities of Buckhorn Weston and Kington Magna. The Councillors are all are independently elected unpaid volunteers.

The Parish Council works towards improving community well being and providing better services at a local level. Our activities fall into three main categories: representing the local community; delivering services to meet local needs; striving to improve quality of life and community well being.

Through a range of discretionary powers the Parish Council provides and maintains a variety of important and visible local services including, bridleways, burial grounds, bus shelters, open spaces, community safety, footpaths, planning etc.

You can find out who is representing you on the Parish Councillors page.

The Parish Council employs a parish Clerk who is the Proper Officer of the council and is the focal point for communication as well as acting as the Parish Councils Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) who manages the councils finances. You can find contact details for the Parish Clerk on the Parish Clerk & RFO page.

The Parish Council has strong links with county council members and uses these links to promote items of interest and actions to Dorset Council. You can find out more about our county councillors on the Dorset Councillors page.

Members of the Parish Council are required to declare their personal and pecuniary interests, and any interests that might be seen as prejudicing their decision-making. As well as the elected councillors, this definition includes people who have been co-opted onto a Committee of the Council. You can find out more about our pecuniary interests on the Pecuniary Interest Forms page.

The Parish Council conducts its business in accordance with a set of published orders, regulations and procedures which can be found on the Orders, Regulations & Procedures page.