The Parish  is nearly the lowest level of local government formed at a time when there was little difference, to the local people, between the Church and the State. A parish like South Petherwin usually formed around a village or other small community and used to be centred around the Parish Church. Today Church and State have separated but the same area is now represented as a local authority by the South Petherwin Parish Council and the Church of England by the Parochial Church Council. The Parish Councils have few major rights and/or obligations and are responsible to the higher authorities above them. They do however manage local amenities and have a watching brief on local issues and their opinion is noted by those higher authorities in matters concerning them such as local planning issues. South Petherwin Parish Council meet the first Wednesday of each month in the Village Hall at 07:30 pm. Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted on the respective Notice Boards within the Parish by the Post Office and at Daws House. All are welcome to the meetings.

 

 

 

The Parish Councillors are:

 

Philip Parsons          Chairman

Michael Screech       Vice Chairman

Lavinia Archer

Maggie Wharton

Caroline Davies

Deborah Adams

Andrew Hosking

Ian Searle

Peter Vernon

Terry Goodman

 

Clerk to the Council is Fran Dennison 01566 782277.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was decided that because of previous poor attendance of The Public Parish Meet,  as low as  one,  that invitations should be sent out to the various organisations within the parish to present a report on what they did, how their year had gone and what their needs were.  Over a half a dozen  organisations presented reports.  Parish Council  chairman, Phil Parsons started the meeting by  welcoming all the various organisations and thanked  a number of parishioners including John Edwards for the maintenance of the village Pump, Owen Goodman and Charlie Wonnacott  for the parish work and extend his thanks to any one  their parish work unseen. He also welcomed  the two new parish councillors  Mr Peter Vernon and Mr Terry Goodman  and  extended his thanks, on behalf of the parish council to retired parish councillor Roger Parsons, who was not able to attend.   Reports were then given by the following parish groups.  Tony Smith on behalf of  South Petherwin Methodist Chapel, who had recently  won a certificate of merit for architecture, for the new extension.  Peter Vernon , St Paternus Church of England report, they were fund raising for a new boiler. Sue Vernon Village Hall, encouraged by new use and looked forward to roof being painted. Helen Masters and Joe Wills, school  been achieved well in SATS and  glad to be involved with village life. Derek Pitman, South Petherwin Wildlife Group newly formed with over 20 attending and enjoyed a sunrise wildlife walk. The school expressed an interest in connecting with the group. Sharon Chinn the new Community Beat Officer, introduced herself and offered to help with a speed camera  parish partnership. County Councillor Neil Burden reported on the day and life of a councillor, including a discussion  on the ,' Unitary Authority' bid by Cornwall County Council. Sarah Hart from South Petherwin Post Office/shop gave a heart felt report on the potential future of the post office, with a threat of closure if not used.  Mrs Hart was encouraged to publicises the issues and inform the parishioners of the slogan, 'use it or lose it'.. Finally South Petherwin Parish Council Chairman, Phil Parsons  gave a brief overview of the council achievement over the past year, including the new traffic calming signs and markings, of which he admitted had little effect. However, hopefully an enforcement strategy with the help of the Police can be another step in  trying to deal with the issue of speed. Fellow councillor Andrew Hoskin suggested that if each person attending the meeting  that drove kept to the  speed limit this would be a start.  The Chairman  concluded the meeting by thanking all those who took part and attended . The meeting finished at 9.00pm