Worthington Parish Council

The parish council uses Facebook as a means to quickly inform the parishioners about various activities, issues in the parish, changes to meetings etc. and basically anything we think might be of interest.

Historically the council only used its website and noticeboards so this is a significant change. We recognise that not everybody will make a conscious decision to go to the parish council website on a regular basis and with Facebook notifications dropping onto your devices it becomes effortless.

From time to time parishioners will make comments or ask questions. Our social media policy (you can find this on our website) states “Worthington Parish Council runs its social media pages so that it can pass information on to residents quickly. Social media accounts will not necessarily be checked daily and posts will not necessarily be responded to. Worthington Parish Council’s social media accounts are primarily a tool to pass information on.”

Not all parish councillors use Facebook, and with posts being shared to village groups it can happen that posts disappear quite quickly. We are always keen to hear residents’ views but we don’t want to engage in discussions / debates on an informal communication medium.

Of course if someone asks for example about a meeting date, and we capture the comment, then it will be responded to but residents should be aware that comments or messages on social media are not recognized as legal or official notification to the parish council.

To ensure your concern/query, whatever it might be, is formally logged and responded to, please contact the Clerk directly by email clerk@worthington-pc.gov.uk. Please also be aware that, as a small parish council, our clerk Callum Bryant works part-time so your query may not be responded to immediately but rest assured he will come back to you as quickly as possible.

During the past year, you will have seen Facebook posts and parish council minutes outlining our proposal to enhance the Church Street play area with the installation of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), designed to appeal to a wider age range of young people. We finalised designs and undertook an informal consultation in the village prior to applying for planning permission.

As a result of feedback from immediate residents, the MUGA project has been scaled back resulting in a smaller project which necessitated the return of much of the grant funding. We will be installing a couple of new pieces of play equipment for younger children, tidying up the basketball area and creating a hard surfaced path through the park.

We were planning to install CCTV which was primarily intended to protect the public investment in the MUGA; the decision now not to proceed on that scale means CCTV has not been prioritised in the budgeting and not included in the final plan.

Installation of new pieces of play equipment will commence on Wednesday 20th May. Other works will be communicated in due course.

We will be holding our Annual Parish Meeting and Annual Parish Council Meeting on Wednesday May the 13th at 6pm and 6:30 pm respectively at St. Matthew’s Church, Worthington. The agendas can be viewed here: APM | APCM.

The Annual Parish Meeting will start at 6pm, this is not to be confused with the Annual Parish Council Meeting, which will follow.

The Annual Parish Meeting is for all electors of the parish. It is not a meeting of the parish council. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting; however, only registered electors of the parish may speak and vote during the meeting. Local community groups are usually invited (they are not obliged to attend) and can give an overview of the previous year’s activities and what they are planning for the following year.

Any registered elector may ask a question of the council which will usually be answered by the Chair, the Clerk of the Council, or a designated Councillor. An elector may also make a suggestion and comment on anything pertinent to the residents of the parish. This will be welcomed and is the whole purpose of the meeting.

The Annual Parish Council Meeting is the first meeting of the Parish Council in the parish year: a Chair and Vice-Chair are elected. It must be held in May and is the formal foundation that allows the council to carry out its work for the rest of the year.