The Parish Council is constituted to have five elected members (the councillors), these five elect from amongst themselves a Chair and a Vice-Chair. The five councillors are elected by the registered electors of the Parish (broadly the residents) and serve for a four year term. The last elections were in May 2023.
They are supported by a Parish Clek and a Responsible Financial Officer, persons appointed by the Council.
In Swerford the councillors by tradition serve without any financial return. The officers also offer their time freely but may be recompensed for any evidenced out-of-pocket costs.
The Council meets for a minimum of three ordinary meetings and one AGM per year (the public being very welcome to attend and speak) and it also reports as a whole at the annual Parish Assembly – which usually takes place towards the end of April or in early May. Ad hoc meetings may also be held and requests for these should be channelled through the Parish Clerk.
This Council is responsible for, amongst other things:-
- The Playing Fields of which it is the owner of the land and of the playing equipment
- The Village Hall in that it is the owner of the hall and grounds
- The Village Greens in that it is the registered Custodian
- Formally responding to West Oxford District Council (WODC) with regard to any Planning Proposal concerning a property in the Parish
- Formally responding to WODC with regard to any changes proposed to the the Structure Plan
- Working with WODC with regard to waste collections/recycling
- Working with Oxford County Council (OCC) with regard to the gritting of roads in the winter
- Working with OCC with regard to any problems with registered footpaths and bridleways in the Parish
- Formally responding to OCC with regard to any road alterations
There are a large number of documents that must by law be published on the web by the Parish Council, including the agenda, time and place of any up-coming meeting, annual budgets etc. These may all be found on the subsequent pages of this website along with inputs from other village organisations.
