- Giving views on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish
- Undertaking projects and schemes to benefit local residents
- Working in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for the parish
- Alerting relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that needs to be undertaken
- Helping other tiers of local government to keep in touch with their local communities
North Lodge Parish Council has the power to raise money through taxation, the precept. The precept demand goes to the billing authority (Durham County Council) which collects the tax for the Parish Council as a small part of the overall council tax. The Parish Council is made up of democratically elected Councillors, working on a voluntary basis. Contact with the Parish Council can also be made via the Parish Council Clerk. Annual Newsletters give a snapshot of the work carried out during the previous year, together with other important information.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE
At North Lodge Parish Council, we are proud of our high standards of financial management and governance.
We have responsibilities for looking after your money and spending it wisely, endeavouring to achieve the very best value. As a Parish, we receive an income of around £34,000 annually which is raised through the Council Tax precept.
We are committed to achieving best quality and high standards in everything we undertake and to providing something in which the whole community can take pride.
We value the role of our internal and external auditors who scrutinise our processes and financial accountability. We make all our audit reports available for inspection. You will find they confirm our financial management is robust and our procedures are sound and well established.
All Parish Councillors complete a Register of Interests form and all Councillors (apart from the Chairman who receives a small allowance to cover some of the costs of the additional work involved in that Office) have declined to receive any financial allowances they may be legally entitled to receive in order to carry out their duties.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS Durham County Council has the formal responsibility for deciding all planning applications made in the North Lodge Parish. It is responsible for consulting neighbouring residents and interested parties on planning applications and for taking into account all comments made about applications. Such views are some of the many considerations the County Council has to take into account when deciding on a planning application. Residents living near to a proposed development are usually consulted on applications by letter and by site notices posted near to the application site. We strongly encourage members of the public to make their views about planning applications directly to Durham County Council as it is the decision making body. Durham County Council employs professional planning staff to support it in its duty in determining planning applications. Each week, North Lodge Parish Council is informed of all planning applications made within the Parish. Those applications which are thought to be significant are formally considered by the Parish Council. The Parish Council will, where necessary, make representations on behalf of the community. The Parish Council will take account of any representations it receives from local residents but the Parish Council will not object to or support a planning application simply because it is asked to do so.