Creeting St Peter: it's time for the Parish Meeting!

Time to catch up with life in Creeting St Peter, methinks. Whilst away in Cyprus, I missed out on the excitement.

We've got a new Parish Clerk, Rosemary Cochrane, and she's hit the ground running. No sooner has she taken up her post than there is a flurry of activity on the village noticeboard. Of most interest to me is the Parish Meeting, something I haven't experienced before - London doesn't have parishes.

Ros tells me that a Parish Meeting is an opportunity for the electors and any local media to hear a report from the Chairman of the Parish Council, as well as a financial report related to how the precept is spent. Electors may also ask questions related to issues of concern to them - planning is normally covered here. Effectively, this is democracy in action at the lowest electoral level.

Interestingly, the Parish Council are due to meet beforehand to consider a planning issue, so your correspondent will be present, partly as the press contingent (does one apply for a Press pass?), but mostly because I want to fill one of the two vacancies on the Parish Council, so a quick reconnaissance seems like a good idea.

The Parish Meeting kicks off with a report from Mid Suffolk District Council, an opportunity to see what our local Conservative-run council are doing. Not much, I guess, but it never does any harm to keep them on their toes...