Great Finborough Parish Council

The current members of the parish council are:

Mrs Cathy Croome

Mid Suffolk District Councillor: Mr John Matthissen. Tel. (01449) 771742

About the parish council

The present Parish Council took office in May 1998, to serve for four years . There are seven members, five elected by popular vote and two co-opted. The council meets six times a year; in January, March, July, September and November. The annual council meeting is held in May, when the officers are elected for the ensuing year and the accounts for the preceding year are presented for approval. In addition, the statutory parish meeting is held annually in May. This is a general meeting of parishioners, at which reports from village organisations are received and discussed and relevant matters referred to the parish council and other agencies.

Local planning applications are received from Mid Suffolk District Council from time to time. These are examined in detail and the parish council's comments, including a recommendation to accept, reject or amend, are referred back to the District Council as planning authority. This work is delegated to a standing sub-committee of the parish council, including the chairman or vice-chairman. The parish council is represented upon the bodies responsible for the management of Pettiward Hall and the Great Finborough United Charities. It is a member of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) and of Suffolk Action for the Community in Rural England (ACRE).

The council is responsible for five village greens within the parish, registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965. With one exception ('The Green'), these are small grassed areas too fragmented to be of great recreational value. The Green itself is a triangular area at the northern end of the village surrounding a mature chestnut tree. A substantial piece of land east of the village has been given to the council by Mid Suffolk District Council for recreational use, while further parcels of land intended for car parking and amenity use are being sought from the same source.

The council owns the village hall, which was bought from the Pettiward Estate in 1936. It meets the cost of street lighting along the main road, pays for litter collection and the purchase and siting of bins, supervises the provision and maintenance of footpaths within the parish, oversees the private and local authority management of the treescape and the rural environment generally, finances and distributes to every household a monthly newsletter and supports by grant a number of village clubs and societies, including those based outside the parish but beneficial to it.

Great Finborough is now included in the Mid Suffolk West area, therefore for policing arrangements please refer to www.onesuffolk.co.uk/safersuffolk/MidSuffolkWest for more information.

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