Parish and Town councils occupy the lowest level in the British governmental structure and represent the interests of local communities. Although the parish once performed both civil and ecclesiastical functions, these functions were split in 1894, and church parishes are now quite separate.<\/p>\n
Civil parish councils can exercise a range of local powers, over matters such as the provision of allotments, cemeteries, bus shelters, traffic signs, and they perform a variety of local maintenance functions. A full list of their powers can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n Currently within Eaton the development of housing and the proposed Congleton link road are occupying a considerable amount of the Council’s time.<\/p>\n The Parish Council is responsible for setting an amount each year (Precept) to cover the\u00a0expenses for the forthcoming year, and instruct the Borough council to collect the amount from\u00a0each of the households within the parish.<\/p>\n This money is raised to pay for things such as the Clerk’s Salary, Insurances, Maintenance of\u00a0Council Assets including bus shelters etc. and for providing improvements to the village that are\u00a0seen as an overall benefit to the community.<\/p>\n Early records show that the Precept in 1932\/33 was set at \u00a36 10 shillings of which the Clerks Salary\u00a0was \u00a35.00. The precept remained at this figure for the next 25 Years and it was not until the early\u00a060s that it was increased on a regular basis, with the precept being set at \u00a370 in 1967. During the\u00a070s the precept fluctuated between \u00a3187 and \u00a3387 however, due to rising cost the precept had\u00a0passed the \u00a31000 mark by the start of the 80s. With the odd exception the precept has grown over\u00a0the past few years and is currently set at just over\u00a0\u00a35000.<\/p>\n Other duties of the Parish Council include the maintenance and upkeep of the millennium park. This\u00a0is carried out the generous help of Tarmac Lafarge who carry out the cutting of the main field and\u00a0the surrounding hedges on our behalf at no cost to the village.<\/p>\n The Parish Council also exists to help parishioners with local issues by taking up their problems\u00a0with Cheshire East Council, or if required the Member of Parliament. It can also take up issues with\u00a0the local policing authority or other agencies such as environment or highways.<\/p>\n The council are constantly commenting and acting on planning issues and\u00a0are pro-active on issues such as flooding, litter, and crime within the village.<\/p>\n This is just a brief insight into the history and workings of our Parish council, and if anyone would\u00a0like to get involved or attend any of our regular Council meetings, which are held Bi-Monthly on\u00a0the first\u00a0Tuesday of the month we will be happy to welcome you. Details of the latest meeting can be found on the Village Notice Board or by emailing:\u00a0EatonMaccClerk@aol.com
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