WHAT WE DO & HOW WE DO IT

The aim or mission of Hawkwell Parish Council is to: ‘To develop and sustain a sense of community within the parish of Hawkwell by addressing environmental, economic and social issues and delivering quality services to our Parishioners’.

Hawkwell Parish Council (HPC) has responsibility for a range of areas and duties within the parish of Hawkwell, including but not limited to:

• the management of parks and public open spaces: Magnolia Park and Magnolia Nature Reserve; Spencers Park and Glencroft Open Space
• the management and maintenance of playgrounds and an Adult Gym: Magnolia Park Playground , Elizabeth Close Playground and Magnolia Park Adult Gym.
• street lighting (where the County Council has not provided a service)
• the maintenance of bus shelters
• improvements to the parish street scene including the maintenance of planters at Main Road, Hawkwell
• a range of different community initiatives such as: the annual Remembrance Garden at Hawkwell Common; the Christmas Parcels initiative for the elderly; Christmas lights at Main Road and Golden Cross. 
• working in partnership with other Local Authorities and organisations.
• provision of private security to patrol the Hawkwell parish, dealing with low level crime such as Anti-Social Behaviour (ABS)

Decisions are made officially as a collective by Members of the Council. Currently, HPC has seats for 17 Councillors. Council makes these decisions at its official meetings. The Council itself, referred to as ‘Full Council’, meet every month, except for August and December when Council is in recess. These meetings are open to the public and are official meetings where Council conducts its business. Public participation is always welcomed and there is an opportunity for the public to speak at every meeting at a certain point on the agenda. Please see the agendas under Council meetings.

Additionally, Council has Committees and this is where a large part of the work is carried out and recommendations are made, which are then, in turn, passed to Full Council for final decision. Currently, Council has five official Committees: Finance, General Purposes, Planning, Parks and Personnel. 

The office staff, or ‘Officers’ are responsible for carrying out work decided by Council and are employed to provide professional advice and to ensure Council operations are run efficiently and within strict legal frameworks. Currently, the office is made up of the Clerk of Council and Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) and the Deputy Clerk. 

Hawkwell Parish Council is funded almost entirely from the ‘precept’. A precept is a portion of Council Tax and this is collected by Rochford District Council on behalf of the Parish. (You will see this segmented out on your Council Tax bills.)