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About Newton & Noss Parish Council
Newton and Noss Parish Council (NNPC) is the first of the three tiers of Local Government, the other two being the District Council and County Council. NNPC has twelve councillors who are elected every four years, the next election will be held in May 2027. Councillors are ‘elected’ representatives legally bound by duties who volunteer their time. The Clerk is paid for 26 hours per week and provides all of the administrative support.
The PC meets in the evening on the second Thursday of each month with the exception of August when there is no meeting. An agenda for each meeting is published on the website and noticeboards the week before the meeting and this sets out all the items to be discussed and those requiring decisions to be made. This also includes any current planning applications that the Parish Council is a statutory consultee on.
Have your say at Parish Council meetings
Every meeting starts with an Open Forum to give parishioners an opportunity to raise issues with the Council. Members of our community can each speak for up to three minutes and we encourage parishioners to attend to share their views.
Our County and District Councillors usually attend the meetings to report on matters of interest and they often liaise with their respective councils on our behalf.
The Annual Parish Meeting is held in March or April and is the occasion when the Chairman and the District and County Councillors report to parishioners. This is a meeting for the community and we encourage our community to attend to hear about the work of the Parish Council, hear from interesting speakers and share their views on any matters they wish to raise.
What does the Parish Council do?
The Parish Council is a statutory local authority in its own right, having a wide variety of powers and duties conferred by many statutes and as such undertakes a vital role within the local government system, the importance of which should not be under-estimated by the community. The Council works closely with our County and District Councils and other bodies to ensure the needs of the Parish and its residents are not overlooked.
Many parishioners are unaware of the broad range of statutory powers, duties and procedures which provide the legal framework for the Council’s business and conduct. Briefly the Council’s role can be described as follows:-
Executive:
The power of decision in accordance with statutory functions and duties.
Representation:
The PC expresses its views on a wide range of issues to a variety of bodies both local and national. Examples are; planning issues to the planning authority, consultation on documents to be expressed up the local authority hierarchy, representation on the Harbour Authority, WIC Hall and Village Hall committees and other relevant organisations, both locally and countywide.
Promotional:
Taking the lead on issues affecting the interests of the area, eg. highways, footpaths, general maintenance, trees, etc.
Financial:
The power to raise a precept from the local inhabitants and make financial decisions which will benefit the community. The precept is collected with the Council Tax by South Hams District Council.
The Council’s income and expenditure is very closely monitored and the Accounts are audited annually by independent Auditors.
