What is the Annual Parish Meeting?
The Annual Parish Meeting can often be confused with the Annual Parish Council Meeting. In legal terms, these meetings are quite separate, and it is a meeting of the electors of the Parish and not the Council, though it is often the Council that hosts the meeting.
The Annual Parish Meeting is a legacy from the Middle Ages when the whole community made all local decisions. The meetings were held in the Church vestry.
Nowadays the purpose of the meeting is to give the Parish Council, and other local organisations a chance to let residents know what they have been doing over the last year but more importantly it is an opportunity for electors to have a say on anything they consider valuable about the Parish.
Who can attend the meeting?
The meeting is open to all resident electors who can speak and vote during the meeting. If you have a question then please ask it, usually it will be answered by the Chair or a designated Councillor. If you have a suggestion on anything pertinent to the residents of the Parish, then please speak up. This is the whole purpose of the meeting, and all comments will be welcomed.
Though the Annual Parish Meeting is only held yearly, having to take place between the 1st March and the 1st June, you are warmly welcomed to attend Full Parish Council Meetings where there is a Public Participation Session at the start of each meeting.
The Annual Parish Meeting is usually called by the Chairman but can be convened by any teo Councillors or six local electors of the Parish.
What happens at the meeting?
The Chairman of the Council will chair the meeting and all Parish Councillors will be invited to attend, enabling you to have the opportunity to put names to faces.
Councillors also can ask questions, but the purpose of the meeting is for electors to find out what is happening in your parish and have their say as to what they would like to happen.
Notes will be taken by the clerk and written up to produce the minutes that will be reviewed at the next Annual Parish Meeting. They are not Council minutes, and cannot be approved at the next Council Meeting. You may find a draft set are produced for the Council Meeting but that helps the Council progress with any matters that has arisen.
How long does the meeting last?
This will depend on how long the discussions last, that are raised from the electors' questions.
The agenda for the meetings is published seven clear days before the meeting and will be posted on the Parish Council noticeboard. A copy will also be posted on the Parish Council website and notes from the previous year's meeting can be found following the link below.
Agenda Parish Meeting 2023:The agenda and draft minutes can be found below.
Agenda 2023: annual-parish-meeting-2023-agenda (lincolnshire.gov.uk)
Draft Minutes of Meeting 2023:
Annual Parish Meeting 2022: The agenda and draft minutes can be found below.
Agenda 2022: annual-parish-meeting-2022 (lincolnshire.gov.uk)
Draft Minutes of Meeting 2022: draft-minutes-of-silk-willoughby-annual-parish-meeting-22 (lincolnshire.gov.uk)
Previous agendas and minutes:
Agenda 2019: 16-05-19-apm-agenda (lincolnshire.gov.uk)
Draft Minutes of Meeting 2019: apm-minutes-16-05-19 (lincolnshire.gov.uk) chairman-s-annual-report-16-5-19-docx (lincolnshire.gov.uk)