The job of Alconbury Parish Council is to represent the interests of the community. We aim to improve the quality of life and the local environment for everybody. We do this best by being aware of the needs of different groups in the community and our most important sources of information are those who live in the village! Our Parish Councillors come from all walks of life, are of different ages and reflect different interests in the village – from the needs of parents with teenagers to the needs of the retired and anybody in-between!

Most Parish Councils were established in 1894 by an Act of Parliament and though we have fewer duties than District and County Councils we do have various legal powers and importantly – greater freedom to choose what action we may wish to take. We can also aim to influence other decision makers and can deliver services to meet local needs. There are very few actions that the Parish Council cannot take – as long we have a legal power for those actions.

Over the years Alconbury Parish Council has had an excellent record of supporting major village initiatives, which have been of great benefit to many parishioners. A few examples - in the space of 100 years we supported the building of 2 village halls; the provision of a weekly meeting place and lunch club for the elderly - the Thursday Club held in the Sports and Social Club; we also supported the purchase of the playing fields used by footballers and cricketers of all ages. We continue to support local groups with donations to help their activities and encourage all village groups to seek funds for their work.

Alconbury Parish Council meets most months of the year. Meetings are nearly always held on the last Tuesday of the month in the Memorial Hall on School Lane at 7.45 p.m. The agenda for each meeting is published in advance on the Parish Council notice board outside the Post Office. Meetings are open to the public and public participation is actively encouraged. At the start of each meeting there is an open forum during which members of the public can bring any issue of concern to them to our attention. If a topic arises during the meeting on which a member of the public wishes to speak a process known as putting down standing orders is invoked and they will be allowed to express their views.

There is also an annual Parish meeting where we report on the previous year and publish the accounts of the relevant year. These tell you how we spent the money provided to us, by you, through the Council Tax. These accounts are also available for any member of the public to see and further details about this are provided on the Parish Council notice board at the appropriate time of year.

What happens at all our meetings are also published in the Minutes, which are posted on our notice board, normally within a week of each meeting.

We occasionally also hold extra public meetings on topics that we consider of interest to and of benefit to the wider community and in these cases we aim to pop a letter through every door in the village advising you of the subject matter, date, venue and time.

The Parish Council can be contacted at any time by various other means:

- By contacting our Parish Clerk, Sue Lancey at 19 Chapel Street, Alconbury on 01480 890888 or via e-mail

- Any Councillor at any time, either by phone, letter, e-mail or by buttonholing any one of us on the street!