St. Paul Malmesbury Without Parish Council
The Parish of St. Paul Malmesbury Without consists of two wards: the Westport ward (to the south west of the town) and the St. Paul ward (to the East of town). It covers the settlements of Milbourne, Cowbridge Mills, Corston, the Foxley & Common Roads and Rodbourne, Buckley Barracks and Kings Heath to name but a few, in addition to a lot of rural areas.
Parish Councillors are voted into office in an election every 4 years. The councillors volunteer their time for free. The Parish clerk is a paid employee of the Parish Council. Parish Councils raise a "precept" which is a demand on local Council Tax payers. Wiltshire Council add it to the other precepts from Police, Fire etc.
The 'precept' money is then collected from all Council Tax payers and given to the Parish Council to spend on their areas of responsibility. Parish councils currently have a limited number of duties but they all impact directly on the community. St. Paul Malmesbury Without Parish Council manages the recreation grounds, Corston nature reserve, bus shelters, benches, notice boards and waste bins. It coordinates monthly jobs for the Parish Steward, a skilled highway operative who visits parishes and towns to a schedule. It is a statutory planning consultee, which local planning authorities are legally required to consult before reaching a decision on relevant planning applications. It can make grants to support groups, organisations and charities that benefit the local community. It has councillor representation on the Patient Participation Group for the Health Centre, Malmesbury Area Board, the Local Highways & Footpath Improvement Group and on the local joint Neighbourhood Plan.
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