Community governance review

We are currently undertaking a review of community governance arrangements (i.e. arrangements at the parish level) throughout the district.

View the full terms of reference of the review.

The initial consultation period closed on 25 April 2022.

We will now:

• Consider the consultations responses
• Publish draft proposals in July/August
• Consult on the draft proposals

About community governance reviews

A community governance review is usually undertaken every 10 to 15 years and provides an opportunity to review parishes and make changes to local arrangements.

Good community governance arrangements contribute to improved local democracy, greater community engagement and better local service delivery.

Key issues

When undertaking the review, we will take into account:

• the identities and interests of the community in an area
• effective governance
• community cohesion
• whether the size, population and boundaries make sense and contribute to the above

What a community governance review can do

A community governance review can consider:

• creating, merging, altering or abolishing parishes
• naming of parishes and determining the style of new parishes
• electoral arrangements for parishes e.g. the year of election, council size (the number of councillors) and parish warding
• grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes
• other types of local arrangements, including parish meetings

Parishes included in the review

Parish councils are the first level of local government. They provide communities with a democratic voice and a structure for taking community action. Meetings are open to the public and decisions are implemented by a clerk who provides administrative support and advice to the council.

The parishes included in the review are:

• Alrewas
• Armitage with Handsacre
• Burntwood Town Council
• Clifton Campville
• Colton
• Curborough Elmhurst Farewell and Chorley
• Drayton Bassett
• Edingale
• Elford Parish Council
• Fazeley
• Fradley and Streethay
• Hammerwich
• Hamstall Ridware
• Harlaston
• Hints and Canwell
• Kings Bromley
• Lichfield City Council
• Longdon
• Mavesyn Ridware
• Shenstone
• Swinfen and Packington
• Wall
• Weeford
• Whittington and Fisherwick
• Wigginton and Hopwas

Why there needs to be a review

We are expected to conduct a community governance review every 10 to 15 years. It is now deemed appropriate to undertake a review of all parishes within Lichfield District to put in place strong, clearly defined boundaries, and remove any parish boundaries anomalies that may exist.

How long a community governance review takes

Legislation requires the review to be completed within 12 months of the terms of reference being published. We will publish the terms of reference in January 2022.

Start date for the consultation

The first consultation period commenced on 1 February 2022 and closed on 25 April 2022. A second consultation will begin in July/August 2022.

Deciding the outcomes

We will decide the outcome following consultation with local people and interested parties.  

Express a view about existing parish councils

As part of the review we invite people to share their opinions on existing arrangements.

Council tax impacts

It is possible that a boundary changes could impact council tax since different parishes set different precepts.

Have your say

We are considering the initial consultation responses. Draft proposals will be published in July/August. Residents and interested parties will then be invited to comment on these proposals.

Please email us if you have any questions about this process.