Parish Council Meetings

Our meetings are held every two months, January through to November. Every May, as with other Parish Councils we hold our annual meeting when the Chair and Vice Chair are elected and the various councillor roles are agreed for the coming year. In April we hold a meeting on behalf of residents of the parish where the Chair gives a report on the year gone by which is more of an informal social event. We have a good turn-out of residents at most meetings during the year but this gives an annual occasion for them to get together with members and to discuss issues.

The meetings are always held at St Mary’s Church, Woughton on the Green at 7.30pm and begin with a public open forum. Sometimes a guest speaker may give a presentation. Normal business of the meeting then follows covering Finance, Allotments, Environment, and Communications.

Finance – report on spending and income, with budget and precept setting in November and January.

Allotments – report on activities and take-up.

Environment – any environmental matters such as dog bins; currently Village Green applications; planning matters; and an issue of the constantly updated Environment Log of ongoing environmental issues such as blocked drains or landscaping (the responsibility of MK Council/Parks Trust).

Communications – newsletter, Friends, correspondence, website and other meetings attended.

Agendas – An agenda is published more or less a week before the upcoming meeting and papers are put together to cover specific topics in order to hasten discussion and decision-making.

Minutes – Draft minutes are circulated for comments about a week after the meeting and published as the final draft 10 days after that. They are officially approved at the next meeting.

In between meetings – various different groups get together in between meetings to discuss specific issues or projects, dubbed pow-wow’s, which can (though rarely) involve everyone such as for budget setting. The need for a pow-wow is usually suggested and agreed at a full meeting.