Parish Councillors

 

Name/email address	Date of election/ Co-opted	Ward	Address	Telephone (01235)
David Munyemweri	May 2019	Harwell	Dellands, Didcot Road
Jeremy Hawthorne (Vice-chair)	May 2019	Harwell	33 Orchard Way
Syed Aly	May 2019	Harwell	10 Cottongrass Road
Sarah Soames	May 2019	Harwell	2 Tyrrells Close	07849 533808
Debbie Turner (Chair)	May 2019	Harwell	46 Orchard Way	07530 053776
Martin Ricketts	May 2019	Harwell	16 The Park	835628
David Roberts	May 2019	Harwell	22 The Croft
Dee Boughton-Waite	June 2019	Harwell	7 Hengest Gate
Neil Paterson	June 2019	Campus	Winnates, Barrow Lane
Ian Fearon	September 2020	Campus	The Crispin, Burr Street

The Parish Clerk is Mrs Stephanie Taylor. See the contact page for details of how to contact her.

Parish Councillors are elected for four years. The last elections were in May 2019. No councillors stood for the Campus Ward and VWHDC advised the council could co-opt to fill the vacancies at the June meeting, when Cllr Paterson was co-opted; there were no other candidates and the council will remain at 10 members rather than a possible maximum of 11 until the next elections. The Chair and Vice Chair are elected by the councillors annually at their May meeting.

***UPDATE February 2020 –

The Vale has now advised that the remaining vacancy following the 2019 elections may be filled by co-option. Once appointed, the new member of the council will serve for the remaining term, until May 2023. Please see the news page for more information.

UPDATE September 2020 – this vacancy has now been filled.

****UPDATE November 2020 –

CASUAL VACANCY
Due to resignation of a councillor, there is currently a vacancy on the parish council.

If you are interested in becoming a councillor or learning more about the role, please contact the clerk.

The vacancy may be filled by co-option if no election is requested.

QUALIFICATIONS TO BE A COUNCILLOR
A person is qualified to be a councillor if they are a British, Commonwealth, Irish or European Union citizen and they are 18 or over. In addition, the person must meet at least one of the following criteria:
(1) They are on the electoral register for the parish, or
(2) During the whole of the twelve months before the day of an election or co-option they have owned or tenanted land or premises in the parish, or
(3) During the whole of the twelve months before that day their principal or only place of work has been in the parish, or
(4) During the whole of the twelve months before that day they have resided in the parish or within three miles of it. Except for qualification (1), these qualifications then continue for the full term of office, until the next ordinary elections.
Certain people are disqualified from standing, and these include paid officers (including the clerks) of the council, bankrupts and those subject to recent sentences of imprisonment.

*******

Details of the Councillors’ registers of interest can be found on the Vale website.

Here is a brief outline of the Parish Council’s role and duties:

• Harwell Parish Council consists of up to 11 members working together to serve the community, bringing local issues to the Council’s attention, and making decisions on behalf of the local community.
• The Council is a corporate body, and its decisions are the responsibility of the whole body. It is granted powers by Parliament to set the “precept” – the Parish Council’s share of the council tax.
• Issues that concern parish councils are planning, highways, traffic, community safety, housing, street lighting, allotments, cemeteries, litter, war memorials, seats and shelters, and rights of way.
• Parish Councils are only FULLY RESPONSIBLE for the lands belonging to the parish; in Harwell, that is the recreation ground, allotments & cemetery. Freeman Orchard belongs to the council but is managed under a lease. The council maintains St. Matthew’s churchyard.
• The full Council meets 11 times a year, at present, on the second Tuesday of each month except August. These are meetings held in public, but are not public meetings.
• At the first meeting of the new Council, elected councillors sign a formal Declaration of Acceptance of Office, and sign an agreement to abide by the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council.
• The Annual Parish Meeting is a meeting for parish residents, usually in April or May. Any resident can suggest agenda items, speak at the meeting, and vote if necessary. It is not a council meeting but is chaired by the parish council chairman, if present.

Membership of each committee and representation on external bodies is confirmed at the annual meeting of the Council, each May.

Committees

Established under Standing Orders paragraph 4e.  See the Meetings and Minutes page for details of the meetings – dates, times, agendas and minutes.

Terms of reference for each committee, and Standing Orders,  can be found on the policies page.

Lands Committee

Chair: Jeremy Hawthorne
Debbie Turner, Jeremy Hawthorne, Martin Ricketts, David Roberts

Planning Committee – established October 2019

All councillors are members. Chair: Neil Paterson

Staffing Committee (established August 2016)

Debbie Turner, Jeremy Hawthorne, Sarah Soames, Syed Aly

Representations on, or work with external bodies, and other councillor roles, alphabetical order.

Organisation or Role	Councillor
Allotment User Group Liaison	Martin Ricketts
Annual Footpaths Walk organiser	Sarah Medley (not parish councillor)
Bank signatories	Jeremy Hawthorn,Debbie Turner, Sarah Soames, Dee Boughton-Waite
Didcot Community Forum  and Great Western Park Liaison Committee	David Roberts
Harwell Campus meetings with Joint Venture Partnership regarding future plans at Harwell campus, including North Drive	Martin Ricketts
Harwell News Editor	Alison Fautley
Harwell News, Parish Council summary	summary written by Martin Ricketts, final checks done by Chair of PC
Harwell Stakeholders Group: Statutory liaison meetings (quarterly)	Dee Boughton-Waite. Meetings are open to the public
Keep Harwell Rural	n/a
Milton Park Liaison Meeting	tbd
OALC	No formal rep, councillors attend as available
OCC Public Transport Representative	Mike Fox-Davies (as OCC Councillor)
OCC Rights of Way Liaison	Clerk
Ramblers Parish Path Warden	voluntary role – no parish council representative
Sports Club Liaison	Clerk and Tennis Club – J Hawthorne Bowls Club – J Hawthorne Harwellian – S Soames Scouts – J Hawthorne Football – D Roberts
Webmaster for PC website	Clerk David Marsh (not on parish council) provides technical help

Last updated  March 2020