Questions about town and parish councils
Follow Councillor Q&A on BlueSky

Follow us on BlueSky

0 votes
Is it legal to hold a parish meeting to progress a vote to buy a church hall when not everyone can attend
Anyone who is disabled (needs a carer), single paren or with childcare commitmentst, care worker or on shifts cannot attend to vote

Surely this is indiscriminate discrimination
by (230 points)

2 Answers

0 votes

Whilst sympathectic short is answer Yes it is legal. As discussed on this forum recently though a Parish Meeting (Assembly) is not a legally binding on the Parish/Town/Community Council. They don't have to buy it. Indeed as Assembly could demand they buy something that is completely unaffordable (a premier league football ground) for arguments sake. Why not ask for paper ballots to complement the meeting (others have done that elsewhere) 

by (10.0k points)
0 votes
Even with GPOC I'd struggle with the legality of buying a church property even if the council were in favour to be honest and you can't force your parish council to buy or do anything.
by (21.9k points)
Yep, found that out, I am actually trying to stop them buying it
Why are there any legality issues in buying a church property?
There aren’t.

Well, there may be according to the specific circumstances but there aren’t purely on the basis that it is/was church property.
It’s just “property” regardless of the current owner

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

3,116 questions
6,162 answers
8,580 comments
10,863 users
Google Analytics Alternative