Parish Councillors sitting at a horseshoe arrangement of desks

Join the Parish Council

Every 4 years every Councillor must step down and be re-elected by the community.  All seats are currently filled, but new elections will take place in 2027.

The role of a Parish Council is to improve the quality of community life for their parish and its inhabitants.  They can:

  • Give views on behalf of their community on consultations, planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish;
  • Undertake projects and schemes that benefit local residents;
  • Work in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for the parish or alert them to problems or work that needs to be undertaken;

You can become a Parish Councillor if you are a citizen of the UK, EU or the Commonwealth, are over the age of 18 and if you are an elector in, work in, live in or live within 3 miles of the area of the local council. However, you may not become a Parish Councillor if you hold a paid office, or other place of profit in the gift of the council; have been declared bankrupt in the past 5 years and have not repaid the debt; or have been convicted of a criminal offence in the past 5 years.

If you think this might be for you and would like to find out more, please get in touch with our Clerk by email at clerk@fownhopeparishcouncil.gov.uk or follow the links here: Herefordshire Council: About Parish Councils; National Association of Local Councils; Local Government Be a Councillor Campaign.