Questions about town and parish councils
Follow Councillor Q&A on X/Twitter

Follow us on X/Twitter

0 votes
Parish council insist they own the building not the community. However the community pay all the bills.

 Plus  if volunteers want to use the rooms to help the community we are charged the same rent as outsiders.  We have had covid and a financial crisis and the Parish council have done nothing for the community. Is it right we should pay twice to use our "community rooms"?

Surely if the Parish council are representatives of the community the community own the rooms?
by (160 points)

3 Answers

0 votes
If the Community is unhappy then they need to take  the Parish Council back into Community ownership by replacing the current Councillors
Only a minority of Parish Councillors are elected so complacency builds up
by (11.5k points)
0 votes

Is it right we should pay twice to use our "community rooms"?

How much do you pay in the precept for the parish council?  I would suggest quite a small amount and probably not enough to cover the costs of running and maintaining the hall as well as the playgrounds, recreations grounds, benches, litter picking, grounds maintenance etc etc that parish councils also pay for.

In my instance, I had a resident complain that as a tax payer she had a right to a particular service.  When I delicately advised her that her parish council tax contribution was about 30p a day, she saw that her demands that £000s of tree works to improve her view were a little excessive.

In your question, the parish council is probably right in that it owns the asset on behalf of the community and they are responsible for running it effectively so that it doesn't become a financial burden for the whole parish.  Therefore to charge hall hire fees for those who are actually using the facility is equitable.  Those who don't use the facility are therefore not burdened with the true running costs and only contribute through their council tax.

by (24.0k points)
0 votes
Pankhurst    Just to confirm as noted, the council owns the building as it is a legal entity and can do so.   Then, there is no sich thing as a free meal, so come costs have to be incurred by users.  Many councils change less to villagers than non villagers.
by (2.5k points)

Welcome to Town & Parish Councillor Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community. All genuine questions and answers are welcome. Follow us on Twitter to see the latest questions as they are asked - click on the image button above or follow @TownCouncilQA. Posts from new members may be delayed as we are unfortunately obliged to check each one for spam. Spammers will be blacklisted.

You may find the following links useful:

We have a privacy policy and a cookie policy.

Clares Cushions logo Peacock cushion

Clare's Cushions creates beautiful hand made cushions and home accessories from gorgeous comtemporary fabrics. We have a fantastic selection of prints including Sophie Allport and Orla Kiely designs and most covers can be ordered either alone or with a cushion inner. Buying new cushions is an affordable and effective way to update your home interior, they're also a great gift idea. Visit our site now

2,896 questions
5,618 answers
7,949 comments
10,028 users
Google Analytics Alternative