What is the Annual Parish Meeting?

In 1894 the Local Government Act introduced elected Parish Councils. On 9 March 1896 Little Bealings held a Parish Meeting and elected five Parish Councillors.

An Annual Parish Meeting, arranged by the Parish Council, has been held every year since, between 1st March & 1st June and not beginning before 6pm, as required by law. The meeting is chaired by the Chairman of the Parish Council.

The Little Bealings Annual Parish Meeting is not a Parish Council Meeting and it is therefore not conducted in the same way. The Chairman gives a report on the Parish Council's activities over the last year and other local representatives and groups can report on their activities too. Parishioners can ask questions and make statements about local matters during the meeting and can pass resolutions - although they do not bind the Parish Council.

Since 1896 the minutes of the Annual Parish Meetings have been hand written into a Minute Book. The Minute Book covering the period 1896 to 2013 is now full and will shortly be deposited at the Suffolk Records Office.