Being a Parish Councillor by Cllr Chris Cooper – Chair of Botley Parish Council
I have been a Parish Councillor since 2021, and I have been privileged to be chair of Botley Parish Council for just over two years now. The chair role is varied and although being chair comes with some extra responsibilities, I am part of a great team.
Botley Parish Council is apolitical; our guiding principle is ‘what is best for Botley’. All council members are volunteers. We each give a couple of evenings of our time per month. For an insight into what being a Parish Council member and chairperson is all about, here is a bit of information as to what the role sometimes involves. This write up is an exemplar.
Mostly it is about having meetings to discuss parish projects or residents’ concerns. In any month the Parish Council holds 4 regular meetings. This is made up of the following:
- Full Council
- One Planning and Highways Committee
- One Recreation Committee
- One Policy and Resources Committee
As the Chair I have the honour of leading the Full Parish Council meeting. Otherwise, I attend the other meetings as a normal member. My stint as chair is limited to a maximum of 3 years in a four-year council term. Other Council members chair our respective committee meetings.
From a Botley Parish Council perspective we are all one team; which covers our fantastic staff in the office, the community centres, plus the estates team who take care of our Recreation Ground, Little Hatts, Botley Quay and part of the All Saints churchyard.
To some extent I am also a team leader as the figurehead in the council structure. I work closely with the Parish Clerk, making sure we have timely decisions being made by members either in full council or via one of our committees. Our prime role as council members is to make sure, we have enough funding to do what our community is asking for. The reality is we have more ideas and requirements than our resources allow. Therefore, we are in a constant prioritisation exercise. Balancing the here and now versus the future.
One of the key improvements I have personally driven is our new website. Which should make it easier to engage with us as a council. It is important that members own a particular theme or project they want to see succeed. Experience tells us that where you have a member leading and the team supporting you get a great result.
The other key part of my job as chair is communication. Making sure that our team and partners outside the Parish Council, such as Eastleigh Borough Council, are kept informed of progress or issues that we as a council want to raise with the next tier of local government. To help with this constant flow of information, I have a regular get-together with the Eastleigh officer responsible for Botley, plus we are lucky to have two Borough Councillors representing Botley on the Parish Council as well.
I typically have one external meeting where I am representing Botley Parish, for example at the Winchester Southern Parishes gathering. I enjoy these meetings as they are a chance to learn from others, plus we get to put forward the Botley viewpoint. Because we have discussed the topic already, I am ready armed with points to raise from members of the Botley Parish team.
Another aspect of being a Parish Council member is leading the organisation of our community events. We have already started planning for the ‘Carols in the Square’ event on 14th December. Plus, with 2026 in mind, the process of organising next year’s intended community event in Boorley Green and future ‘Revels on the Rec’ events as well. The adage of the “earlier you start, the less there is to do” is very true when it comes to organising these community events.
My final aim as chair of Botley Parish Council is to prepare for my replacement. To this end I see part of my role is to encourage and develop new Councillors to have the confidence and tools to be a future Botley Parish Council Chair.
Overall, serving our community and trying to make a difference is why we volunteer. However, we could not do all this without the help of a great team.
Thank you, Team Botley.
If you want to get involved as a volunteer and help your local community, please get in touch on 01489 787181, parish.clerk@botley-pc.gov.uk or any of the Councillors directly https://botley-pc.gov.uk/parish-councillors/
