Parish Council Meetings
The next Parish Council Meeting will be held on: Thursday 22 March 2012 in the Audrey Allen room of the Challock Memorial Hall at 7.30pm.

Meeting dates for 2012 are as follows: 
Thursday 19th January
Thursday 22nd March
Thursday 24th May
Thursday 26th July
Thursday 20th September
Thursday 29th November

Parish Council meetings are open for the public to attend and you will be very welcome. The public should not speak during the meeting, unless invited by the Chairman. However, you are welcome to discuss issues with the Council during the public session. If you wish to raise an issue to be discussed by the Council at a meeting, please contact the Parish Clerk (see below). Items must be received at least one week before the meeting.

Councillors
Mr Roger Spicer 
Mr John Ramsden
Mr Stephen Brandon
Mr Nicholas Fox
Ms Diane Ashworth

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Profiles
This section will be completed over the coming months

John Ramsden
John resides at the Challock Post Office on The Lees and has lived in Challock for 15 years. He has been a member of the Parish Council for 12 years. 

John worked as an Electrial Engineer with Southern Water Services Ltd but has recently retired.

John’s special interests on the Council are: Footpaths, The Lees, and informing villagers what is going on in the parish.

John enjoys clay shooting, target rifle shooting, 10 pin bowling and playing cards. He likes to travel the world and visit national Trust Properties.

Roger Spicer
Roger resides at Portulacea Gardens at High Snoad Wood and has lived in Challock for 7 years. He has served on the Parish Council for 5 years, serving as Vice Chair for the past 4 years. Roger is now the Chairman wef 30th March 2010. He is married with four young children and works in insurance in The City. 

Roger’s work on the Parish Council to date has included project managing the development of the children’s play area (adjacent to the village hall) and initiating and managing the Trafalgar celebrations in 2005. This event was such a success that Roger organised a fireworks display and bonfire on the Lees in November 2007, 2009 and again in November 2011. Roger is also on the Goose Fair committee.

Roger says he follows rugby closely and plays golf badly!

Steve Brandon
Steve and his family are relative ‘newcomers’ to the village having moved to Clevedon Court in November 2002. He is married to Alison and has two boys, both attending the Primary school.

He is glad of the opportunity to stand on the Parish Council and relishes the chance to represent such a close community.

Steve became the Vice Chairman wef 30th March 2010. 

Work sees him travelling to Allington near Maidstone where he is a partner in a long-established family business that designs and fits kitchens and bedrooms.

Steve is a qualified Hypno-Psychotherapist and is keen to get back on his mountain bike now that the boys are a bit older! 

Nicholas Fox
Nicholas moved to Challock from the Netherlands in 1996; having previously lived in Sheffield, Birmingham and several other places. In fact this is the longest he has lived in one place since he left home to go to university which must say something about Challock! 

Nicholas joined the Parish Council on the basis that by joining in the democratic process he could perhaps help shape how the Village develops to make sure it is what we want – rather than having change imposed on us by others. The recent Local Development Workshop being one example of how villages are beginning to regain more control over their own destiny.

Many villagers will also know his wife Kay and daughter, Emma (currently studying back in the Netherlands). If you would like Nicholas to represent your views at the Parish Council do let him know via the Parish Clerk’s office.

Becoming a Parish Councillor

Elections
Elections for the Parish Council are held every four years. The next election will be May 2015. People interested in joining the Council should contact Ashford Borough Council Electoral Registration Officer or Challock Parish Clerk, for a nomination form, in March 2015. If Ashford Borough Council receives an equal number of nomination forms to places on the Council, you will automatically become a Councillor. If there are more nomination forms received than places on the Council, there will be an election.

Co-option
Occasionally, a Parish Councillor leaves before the end of their four year term, or insufficient nominations forms are received at election time. Usually such vacancies are filled by co-option. The Parish Council interview people interested in becoming a Parish Councillor and select the candidate whose skills best match the requirement on the Council at that time. Please contact the Parish Clerk if you are interested in being co-opted.

The role of a Parish Councillor
The role of a Parish Councillor has a number of basic responsibilities which essentially fall within three main categories: representing the whole electorate within the parish; delivering services to meet local needs; and striving to improve quality of life in the parish. Parish Councils can "precept" - raising a sum collected with the Council Tax each year to improve facilities and services for local people. 

Individual powers include the provision and maintenance of community transport schemes, traffic calming measures, local youth projects, tourism activities, leisure facilities, car parks, village greens, litter bins, street lighting, street cleaning, burial grounds, allotments, bus shelters, commons, opens spaces, footpaths, bridleways, and crime reduction measures. They can also comment on planning applications. 

Councillors have three main components to their work. 
1. Decision making - Through meetings and attending committees with other elected members, Councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered and what policies should be im plemented.

2. Monitoring - Councillors make sure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services by keeping an eye on how well things are working.

3. Getting involved locally - As local representatives, Councillors have responsibilities towards their constituents and local organisations.

The Parish Clerk
The Parish Clerk for Challock is Mrs Kirstie Wooltorton. The Assistant Parish Clerk is Mrs Dianne Sandy.

You can contact the Parish Clerk or Assistant Parish Clerk on 01233 740351 (If we are not in the office,please leave a message on the answerphone and we will phone you back) or e-mail  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it