If you wish to contact any of the councillors, you can use the contact form on this website or you can email clerk@barkstonashparishcouncil.gov.uk
The council is made up of seven councillors who are elected every four years. The Chair and Vice Chair are elected by the councillors. Current council members (May 2022 election):
Catherine has lived in Barkston Ash since 2002 together with her husband and two children. With many years of business management experience, she now works as a Partner in a Financial Services Company. She has been on the Parish Council for over 9 years and is also a member of the Village Hall committee. Much of her spare time revolves around family activities, socialising with friends and playing netball for a local team.
Phil retired from his role as a business consultant having spent six years at Sheffield College as a tutor following a successful career in Telecommunications and as Chief Executive of a major Timber company. Retirement has seen Phil become a familiar face around Barkston Ash as well as other local villages carrying out garden maintenance and garden projects. Phil’s down time is mainly spent with his family and doing long walks with the family dogs as well as sea fishing when he is not doing projects at home.
Gwyneth and her husband have lived in the village since 1972 and have two daughters and four grandchildren. Gwyneth is secretary to the Village Hall Committee and participates in all the organised activities, additionally Gwyneth is a church warden at Holy Trinity Church. She works as a bookkeeper at a local veterinary practice and her hobbies include cookery and exercising her Labrador.
John is a retired civil servant having worked for the Department of Health in Leeds and before that the Natural History Museum in London. John’s favourite pastimes are cycling and following Port Vale football club. John is particularly keen to follow up on resident’s concerns about the speed of traffic through the village through the 20’s Plenty campaign.
Sue has lived in the village for since 1985 with her husband and three children. Sue is a very active member of the village, she is the Chairperson of the Village Hall Committee, a representative of the church council as well as an owner of the thriving Nursery School that is run from the village Hall.
Sue’s interests mainly revolve around family activities and socialising with friends, but she also enjoys walking the family dogs and doing sea fishing. Sue is an active member of a local amateur dramatic group, treading the boards twice a year with the Hambleton Players. One of Sue’s greatest achievements was learning to fly helicopters.
Jeanette has lived in the village since 1997 and this is the second time she has served on the Parish Council. Jeanette previously worked in Information Technology within the engineering, retail, finance, and critical national infrastructure sectors.
Nick has lived in the village since 1997. Several years ago, Nick served as Chair of the Parish Council. Nick previously worked in IT and Data within the Retail and Finance sectors, leading teams across the UK and Europe, consulting with Government data compliance and fraud agencies.
Vacancy - we are looking for someone to join the Parish Council, if you are interested in serving your village please get in touch via clerk@barkstonashparishcouncil.gov.uk.
Our five neighbouring parishes are:
2026 meetings:
The council employs a Clerk who can be contacted at email clerk@barkstonashparishcouncil.gov.uk, by telephone 01937 557466, or by post:
A Parish Council is a statutory local authority established under the Local Government Act 1972. It operates in the area of a defined civil parish or group of parishes. A Town Council is a Parish Council which has resolved to call itself a Town Council. The term “Parish Council” is therefore used throughout this site to refer to both Parish and Town Councils.
The council is made up of councillors elected by the electors of the parish. Every year the council elects one councillor to be the Chairman of the council (The Mayor if a Town Council). The council has a paid officer who organises meetings and helps to carry out the council’s decisions – this officer is known as the Clerk.
Parish Councils have a wide range of powers, which essentially relate to local matters, such as looking after community buildings, open space, allotments, play areas, some street lighting, bus shelters, car parks and much more. They also have the power to raise money through the council tax.
The council is accountable to the electors of the parish. Elections to parish councils are held every four years. The council’s accounts are subject to scrutiny by the external auditor, but since the Standards Board for England was abolished, any alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct by individual councillors can be discussed initially with the Chairman of the Council to see if a resolution can be found, if not then the District or Borough Monitoring officers can be consulted.
Elections are held every four years and will usually coincide with a District Council election. A Public Notice of a forthcoming election will be placed on noticeboards and website.
There are occasions when the number of people who put their names forward for election is less than the required number of seats on the council. In these circumstances an election is not required and those who stood for election are deemed elected. In order to fill the vacancies, the council is required to co-opt other residents.
If a seat on the council becomes vacant between normal elections then a special procedure has to be followed which can lead to an election or, more usually, the co-option of a new councillor. It is good practice for a council to advertise widely in the parish if it is seeking to make a co-option.
You cannot speak whilst normal business (standing orders) is being conducted. However, nearly all councils allow some time at the meeting when standing orders are suspended, at which point the public are invited to address the council on an issue that concerns them.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2010 you may see and have a copy of the ‘recorded’ information held by the council (unless it is classed as exempt information in the Act). This includes reports, minutes, correspondence and emails. The information has to be provided within 20 working days. There may be a photocopying charge.
Keeping you up to date with local news in the village community.
Details of local Barkston Ash businesses and community interests.
Useful contacts to keep you informed of points of inteerst and contacts.
