Adrian Abbs

A Greenham Parish Councillor is an elected member of the most local tier of government, serving the parish of Greenham, which stretches from Newbury Racecourse and Sandleford across to New Greenham Park and Greenham Common. The principal role is to take collective decisions on behalf of all residents rather than acting on personal opinion, which means staying well informed about the range of local views and consulting the community rather than assuming what people want. Although the position is unpaid, councillors are not volunteers in the legal sense: they are holders of a public office with statutory duties, elected for a four-year term and bound by the Code of Member Conduct.

In practice, this involves overseeing the local services and assets the council is responsible for, including community buildings, allotments, street lighting and open spaces, and setting the annual precept that funds them. A key duty is acting as a statutory consultee on planning, giving the community's views on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish, and helping to shape longer-term development policy. Alongside this, councillors work to identify the issues that matter most to residents, alert the relevant authorities to problems that arise, and pursue local improvements, acting as a link between the community and the principal authority, West Berkshire Council.

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