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Alvechurch Parish Council

serving Alvechurch, Bordesley, Forhill, Hopwood, Rowney Green and Weatheroak.

Members & Council Details/Responsibilities

Parish Councillors
PhotoCouncillorCommittee MembershipContact Details
Mrs Rachael BailesRachael Bailes
Rowney Green & Bordesley Ward

Family is everything to me, and I am lucky enough to have brought my children up in and around Alvechurch.

We have lived in Bordesley for 35 years, I love the area. By profession I am a Learning and Development Manager and I have worked with many interesting projects and companies; I am proud that some of the solutions I developed over the years establishing people forms the ethos at the centre of organisations. I advanced my skills through working for Marks and Spencer as a Regional Training Manager, with an NHS Trust and with a not-for-profit Housing Association; Sanctuary. I have run my own executive coaching business and I have loved this rewarding role.


When I joined Alvechurch Parish Council I was quite uncertain of what to expect, but I take pleasure in working with other councillors who are passionate about our area. My interests are supporting people and helping others to appreciate that everything we do always stems back to forging great relationships, understanding what is important to our residents and to try to do the right thing. That is not always easy, but it is required of a councillor.


Things that make me smile: Travelling, cycling, being with friends and entertaining, learning about people and different cultures.  Things that make me upset: Litter, and it is increasing, insensitive behaviour, poor drivers, Bromsgrove District Council not giving our village, our share.


Member’s Register of Interest  –
Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk

Finance & Scrutiny Committee 
H/R Committee (Committee Chair)
Youth, Sport & Recreation Committee

Working Groups:
Christmas Lights/Christmas Switch-On Event
Emergency Plan/Community Resilience
Address:
397 Birmingham Road
Bordesley B97 6RJ
Telephone:
Mobile Tel:  07811200743
Nigel CutressNigel Cutress
Alvechurch Village Ward

I have lived in the village for some four years. My career has been in education. I sandwiched my main career as an academic with the Open University, based in Birmingham for 23 years, with teaching in both private and state schools. Within the OU, where students are adults studying part time I specialised in developing support for disabled students, students in prison and with the MoD for service personnel (and their families) based outside the UK. I’m a chemist, (Global Warming was predicted by a Nobel prize winning chemist in 1896) and as a child of the 60s the books by Rachel Carson (The Silent Spring) and EE Schumacker ( Small is Beautiful) defined my personal philosophy of the need for a sustainable future. Excitingly chemistry will provide main of the solutions, and I hope as a scientist on the parish council to bring a positive perspective to the challenges we face in the village.

Member’s Register of Interest- 

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk


Finance & Scrutiny CommitteeAddress:  
12 Branden Road,
Alvechurch, B48 7PE
Telephone:
Mobile Tel:  07515355302
Paul EdwardsPaul Edwards
Hopwood Ward

I have been a resident in Hopwood for over 30 years and have enjoyed the benefits of bringing up my family / living within the local Alvechurch Parish community. I retired from the NHS after over 44 years service within which I held several senior executive roles in both Hospital Trusts and Health Authorities.  I am particularly interested in local traffic calming measures, enhancing our public transport infrastructure, given the drive to a more sustainable transport policy and to protect our green belt that defines our local community and habitat.  

I am currently Vice Chair of the Parish Council and Chair of the Finance & Scrutiny Committee.


Member’s Register of Interest –
Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk

Finance & Scrutiny Committee
(Committee Chair)


H/R Committee
Youth, Sport & Recreation Committee

Working Groups:
Christmas Lights/Christmas Switch-On Event
Emergency Plan/Community Resilience
Strategic/Yearly Action Plan

Outside Organisations:
WALC/CALC Executive 
Board
Address:
1 The Rise
Hopwood B48 7AP
Telephone:
Mobile Tel:  07973 503719

Peter Freeman Parish CouncillorsPeter Freeman
Alvechurch Village Ward

I have lived in Alvechurch for the past 8 years, before I retired, I was an electronics engineer.

I have been involved with The Lounge since its conception and I remain the Parish Council’s nominated representative, I am also a member of St Laurence’s Parochial Church Council.

I currently serve on both the Planning and Highways Committee and the Personnel Committee.


Member’s Register of Interest- 

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk

 

Finance & Scrutiny Committee
H/R Committee 
Planning & Highways Committee

Outside Organisations:
Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)
The Lounge
Address:
2 Oaktree Close,
Alvechurch,
Birmingham
B48 7PY
Telephone:
01214 480664
Steve Hornsby Parish CouncillorSteve Hornsby
Rowney Green & Bordesley Ward

After teaching Religious Studies and moral philosophy for 35 years in Birmingham, my wife and I retired and moved to the Bordesley part of Alvechurch parish 7 years ago.

I have always had an interest in politics at both national and local level 
(I even briefly taught it at exam level) so the opportunity to serve as a Parish Councillor was one, I relished. 

I belong to several wildlife organisations so I am keen to preserve and enhance our environment.

I’ve always had a love of sport so I also want to improve our parks and recreational facilities.

Member’s Register of Interest  –
Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk
Finance & Scrutiny Committee 
H/R Committee
Planning & Highways Committee

Youth, Sports & Recreation Committee (Committee Chair)

Working Groups:
Emergency Plan/Community Resilience

Outside Organisations:
Alvechurch Educational Trust (AET)


Address:
324 Birmingham Road
Bordesley
B97 6RJ

Telephone:
01527 328806
Sue LambertSue Lambert
Alvechurch Village Ward

I have lived in the village since 2010, a ‘ blow in ‘ from Birmingham.

I retired in 2014 from being a Senior Sister in Accident & Emergency at the Alexandra Hospital where I had worked since 2000.

I was Parish Councillor for 10 years prior to lockdown; however,  when the meetings moved to remote access, I stood down.  I re-joined the Council again in June 2023.

I belong to various clubs and societies in the village including Aelfgythe Border Morris, I regularly attend St Laurence Church meeting and listening to a large cross section of our community.

Member’s Register of Interest  –
Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk
Youth, Sports & Recreation CommitteeAddress:
7 Cygnet Close,
Alvechurch, B48 7PX

Telephone:
07769110608
Samantha Lewis Parish CouncillorSamantha Lewis
Hopwood Ward

I became the councillor for Hopwood in June 2019. I have lived in Hopwood since 2007.

I live with my family of 3 generations in a very busy household. My children have grown up in Hopwood and went to the schools in Alvechurch. 

I love our Parish and enjoy spending time helping to improve it and walking around exploring it with my dogs. I am so lucky to live in such a wonderful location and within a fabulous community. 


Member’s Register of Interest  –

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk
H/R Committee
Youth Sport & Recreation Committee

Working Groups:
Christmas Lights/Christmas Switch-On Event
Emergency Plan/Community Resilience

Outside Organisations:
Alvechurch Village Society
Hopwood Village Hall
Bittell Reservoirs
Picnic in The Park
Address:
Greenfield
Redditch Road
Hopwood B48 7TL
Telephone:
Mobile No:  07792658661
Brett ShepherdBrett Shepherd
Alvechurch Village Ward

I moved to Alvechurch from Rednal with my wife and daughter in January 2021 and have immersed myself as much as possible into village life.  

I am a member of the Village Society, a member of the cricket club and am a regular at Alvechurch Football Club.  As a former Army Officer, I work closely with the Parish Council and St Laurence Church to organise the Remembrance Service on The Village Green.   

 
I intend for my young daughter to grow up here and so decided this summer to become a Member of the Parish Council, to take an even more proactive role in maintaining, if not improving, what makes Alvechurch the wonderful community it is. I was co-opted in July and am a Member of the Planning and Highways Committee.

Member’s Register of Interest –

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk



Planning & Highways Committee

Outside Organisations:
APC’s Police Liaison Member
Address:
37 Birmingham Road,
Alvechurch,
B48 7TB
Telephone:
07885 379856
Barry ThorntonBarry Thornton
Bordesley  and Rowney Green Ward

I have lived in the village of Wythall for 29 years and seen lots of changes.

My 34 years of working life was spent at Jaguar cars in Coventry, which moved to Castle Bromwich. When I left Jaguar I acquired a 10 acre field in Rowney Green, planted hedges and trees and the field is used for grazing horses. 

I was previously with Wythall parish council for 8 years and I am now a councillor for the Rowney Green Ward.  I am a member of the Planning and Highway Committee. 

Member’s Register of Interest  –

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk
Finance & Scrutiny Committee
Planning & Highways Committee

Outside Organisations:
Rowney Green Association
Address:
9 Silvermead Court,
Silver Street,
Wythall B47 6LN
Telephone:
07811 0055 476
Cllr K WisemanKeith Wiseman
Alvechurch Ward

I moved to the Village almost 40 years ago and my 2 daughters grew up in the village and attended both the First and Middle Schools.

 I retired 3 years ago having worked in Special Education for 41 years where I worked with disadvantaged and disaffected children aged 4-16, becoming a specialist in the safeguarding and the Health and Safety of children. 

 I have always had a great interest in community relations and have supported many community groups throughout my working life. In the village I was a school governor for the Middle school at the time the school was re-located and I am now Chair of Governors at the First School.  I am currently a committee member at Alvechurch Community Larder where we are trying to reduce food waste as well as helping families who need support.

I have been a Parish Councillor for approximately a year now and I am enjoying the experience greatly and hope to continue to support various initiatives in the Parish.


Member’s Register of Interest  –

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk

 

Planning & Highways Committee
Youth, Sport & Recreation Committee

Working Groups:
Christmas Lights/Christmas Switch-On Event

Outside Organisations:
Alvechurch Community Larder
Alvechurch Station

Address:
81 Blythesway
Alvechurch B48 7NB
Telephone:
Mobile No:  07784363177
Tony WilliamsTony Williams
Alvechurch Village Ward

I have lived at Weatheroak Hill for thirty eight years, and I am very fond of this area.

I am a retired architect, originally co-opted onto the Planning & Highways Committee a couple of years ago, and latterly joined the main Parish Council.

I have been involved in Weatheroak Residents Association for at least thirty years, and currently occupy the Chairman’s role. 

My interests are principally those of Town Planning and the implications for Alvechurch, which I hope will continue to thrive.

Our village is a very pleasant place in which to live and we must look after it for the benefit of all sections of our community. 


Member’s Register of Interest  –

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk


 

Planning & Highways CommitteeAddress:
Hall Farm Cottage
Weatheroak Hill
Alvechurch B48 7EA
Telephone:
Mobile No:  07764663008
Marc Worrall Parish CouncillorMarc Worrall (Chairman)
Alvechurch Village Ward

I became a Parish Councillor in 2015 having lived in the Parish for over 30 years and bring to the PC my knowledge and experience gained over many years in all matters of procurement, project management, contracts and administration of capital projects mainly related to construction and property.

I’m also a Trustee of two local Charities, as well as a Trustee of a Multi Academy Trust.

I am the Parish Council’s representative at County Association of Local Councils’ local and executive meetings.

My knowledge of the planning process and legislation from having my own architectural consultancy is valuable when participating in Planning & Highways Committee debates.


On a personal level, I continue to enjoy playing racquetball and golf. I have a Private Pilots License and am a certified Scuba Diver. I’m also fluent in Spanish which helps with my other main interests of travelling and geopolitics.

It’s a privilege to be Chairman of the Parish Council and be supported by fellow committed and dedicated Councillors, all focused on helping to ensure our Parish remains a pleasurable place in which to live.


Member’s Register of Interest  –

Alvechurch – bromsgrove.gov.uk


 

Finance & Scrutiny Committee
Planning & Highways (Committee Chair)
Youth, Sport & Recreation Committee

Working Groups:
Strategic/Yearly Action Plan

Outside Organisations:
Alvechurch Almhouse Trust
Alvechurch Educational Trust (AET)
Alvechurch Station
WALC/CALC Executive Board


Address:
The Acorns
9 Oaktree Close
B48 7PY
Telephone:
Mobile No:  07434 640091
District Councillors
PhotoCouncillorEmail AddressContact Details
Cllr Alan BailesAlan Bailes
Alvechurch South Ward
a.bailes@bromsgrove.gov.ukAddress:
397 Birmingham Road
Bordesley B97 6RJ
Telephone:
Mobile No. 07803894686
Charles Hotham
Barnt Green & Hopwood Ward
c.hotham@bromsgrove.gov.ukAddress:
26 Blackwell Road
Barnt Green
Worcestershire
B45 8BU
Telehone:
0121 445 2930
Mrs Rachael BailesRachael Bailes
Alvechurch Village Ward
r.bailes@bromsgrove.gov.ukAddress:
397 Birmingham Road
Bordesley B97 6RJ
Telephone:
Mobile Tel:  07811200743
County Councillors
PhotoCouncillorEmail AddressContact Details
AledCCllr Aled LuckmanALuckman@worcestershire.gov.uk  Address: County Hall, Spetchly Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP

Phone number is 07562905848

Member of Parliament
PhotoCouncillorEmail AddressContact Details
Mr Sajid Javidsajid.javid.mp@parliament.ukAddress:
Bromsgrove Conservative Association
37 Worcester Road
Bromsgrove
Worcestershire
B61 7DN
Telephone:
01527 872135

View Notice of Dispensation

Notice of Dispensation & Policy
Item 1
Notice of Dispensation – July 23 onwards

View Alvechurch Parish Council’s Staffing Structure

Staffing Structure
Item 1
Alvechurch Parish Council’s Staffing Structure
Scheme of Delegation

The Role of the (Proper Officer to the Council) Clerk/Responsible Financial Officer
(Taken from section 112 of the Local Government Act (LGA) 1972, section 101 of the 1972 and section 151 of the LGA 1972.

Under the section 112 of the Local Government Act (LGA) 1972, a parish or town (local) council shall appoint such officers as necessary for the proper discharge of their functions. In short, it shall appoint a “proper officer”. The proper officer is very often referred to as “the clerk (to the council)” but can be known by other terms, such as Chief Executive.

Duties are set out in a job description and the role is covered by a contract of employment. These should be in place for all local council clerks. There may have been a bygone era where a clerk to a parish council was seen as carrying out a service to the community in the way a councillor might by putting themselves forward for election. This is no longer the case. The clerk is the professional, independent officer to a statutory body which spends public money and the role should be treated as such and paid accordingly. There are salary scale recommendations for local council clerks with a National Agreement between the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) to help councils calculate the correct salary for their clerk.

The clerk is adviser to the council. Part of their role is to provide information and guidance as to the law to aid council members in the decision-making process. The clerk carries out the actions arising from council meetings and implements decisions. They are the point of contact and both send out and receive correspondence. The clerk is the independent officer, s/he puts forward the view of the council and writes and responds to all correspondence with this in mind.

Their role is to advise on the practical, legal and procedural nature of the discussion and decision, and the issues that may arise.

Legally councils can delegate decisions to clerks because they are trusted professional officers, whose objectivity allows them to act for them.

The clerk is not a secretary, or the personal assistant of the chairman or any individual council members. The Clerk is the Proper Officer to the Council in law. The clerk is employed by, and therefore answerable to, the council as a whole only not to individuals and is instructed to carry out actions by full council or by committees with delegated powers.

The agenda is the clerk’s responsibility; s/he must sign the agenda and send it to members. S/he is also responsible for writing the minutes of full council and committee meetings (sometimes done by committee clerks in larger councils). Minutes are intended to be an unbiased, legal record of the decisions taken at a meeting. They are done by the clerk to ensure this independence although they are agreed as a true record by the council (or committee and signed by the Chairman).

Under section 101 of the LGA 1972, a local council may delegate its functions to the clerk. It is common practice for councils to do this under certain circumstances.

A few examples are:

* Making a decision in an emergency

* Making decisions relating to health and safety – for example, if something is reported as damaged in a play area, it should not be left until a council to agree to get this fixed

* Being allocated an agreed sum of money to spend on items to assist them in their work, this may include computer sundries, stationery and other office supplies

* Responding to planning applications which meet certain criteria – there can often be too many planning applications for a council to deal with in the time allotted by the principal authority, delegating the unambiguous applications which are not likely to raise controversy may be a way of expediting the process.

The clerk is often an expert in many fields. Each issue that arises in a council, whether that focuses on planning, land, leases, contracts or any number of the possible functions of a council, can bring its own issues, questions and pitfalls.

Correspondence and research can take up a large amount of time as well as attendance at outside meetings and training. A clerk should not be expected to work in their own time or with their own funds. Under s151 of the LGA 1972, a local council must appoint:

An officer to administer their finances and ensure all legislation to meet the Transparency and Accountability regulations. This officer is known as either the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) or in some cases the “151 officer” (in reference to the section of the Act). In many councils the RFO is the clerk. The RFO compiles budgets and precept requests and ensures that proper practices are undertaken in financial administration.

Annual Process & Civic Events Listing

Annual Process & Civic Events Listing
Item 1
COUNCIL CIVIC EVENTS LIST