The Parish Council is part of the structure of local democracy and plays an important role in acting on behalf of the community it represents as follows:
- Giving views on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish
- Undertaking projects and schemes to benefit local residents
- Working in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for the parish
- Alerting relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that needs to be undertaken
- Helping other tiers of local government to keep in touch with their local communities
The Parish Council has the power to raise money through taxation, the precept. The precept demand goes to the billing authority (Durham County Council) which collects the tax for the Parish Council as a small part of the overall council tax.
The Parish Council is made up of democratically elected Councillors, working on a voluntary basis. Contact with the Parish Council can also be made via the Parish Council Clerk.
Annual Newsletters give a snapshot of the work carried out during the previous year, together with other important information.