Dolton Parish Council

Welcome to the Dolton Parish Council web pages

The Parish Council is an elected body with limited, but increasing, responsibilities within Dolton Parish. Under central government's recent Transparency Code, small parish councils such as ours are required to publish certain information regarding the operation of the council, through a publicly accessible website.

We hope you enjoy reading and using these pages - use the menu above to navigate to the various sections. Apart from meeting the legal requirements, we hope also to improve communication between the Parish Council and the community, so we would welcome your comments by using the “contact” button above and sending an email, or calling the clerk.

For those not sure, what is a Parish Council?

Essentially, it is the most local level of government. In Dolton's case it consists of 9 eligible members of the local community, elected every four years, plus an appointed Clerk. In the 2022 election, there were fewer candidates than posts available, so all 7 of those standing were appointed without election, with two others being co-opted at the next meeting, voted in by the rest of the council. (See 'Your Councillors')
The Parish Council is very limited in its responsibilities and authority, but with central government's desire to pass more control down to a local level, the role of the PC is increasing. It is funded through a small proportion of the Council Tax, on average less than £40 a year per household.

… and what does the Parish Council do?

Whilst its powers are quite limited and its legal duties few, the PC does play an important part in representing the community on a diverse range of matters, including planning, highways, traffic, community safety, housing, street lighting, playing fields, rights of way, war memorials, seats & shelters and others. So, for example, the PC frequently gives its opinion on planning applications to Torridge District Council, but in order to be considered any objections have to be strictly on planning grounds and the decision to pass or fail an application rests with TDC, not Dolton Parish Council.

When does the Parish Council meet?

The PC meets monthly except August, usually on the first Monday of the month, in the village hall at 7.30pm.
The public are welcome to attend the meetings, and they may speak on relevant matters according to certain rules.

Agendas and Minutes of these meetings are available on this website, linked above, and the most recent agenda gives the date of the next meeting.