Parish council welcom

Parish Councils are responsible for areas known as civil parishes, and there are approximately 9,000 of them in England. East Dean and Friston is one of those Civil Parishes and includes the Downlands Estate and the hamlets of Crowlink and Birling Gap, as well as the old village. Parish Councils are the first tier of local government and have limited variable tax raising powers, The component part of the Council Tax, which comes to the Parish Council, is known as the Precept.

Parish Councils were first formed in England in 1894 to take over local oversight of civic duties in rural towns and villages. Before this date a variety of groups based around ecclesiastical (church) parishes had responsibility for these matters, in a system of local government that originated in the feudal system of the 8th century, The establishment of Parish Councils effectively separated church from state and today's councils are totally secular in nature and independent from the Parochial Church Councils that deal with the administration of the local Church of England places of worship,

Following the 1894 Act, both East Dean and Friston began Parish Meetings (not council meetings) and East Dean then formed its Parish Council in 1924, The Friston Parish Meeting merged with East Dean to form the East Dean and Friston Parish Council in 1948.

East Dean and Friston Parish Council consists of nine members, who are elected every four years, supported by the Parish Clerk, Council meetings are usually held on the first Thursday of each month (except September) in the Small Village Hall starting at 6,30pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend these meetings and can speak in the public session that precedes them,

Information from and about your Parish Council is available via:-

a) Our website at www.edfparishcouncil.org.uk (we can also be found by searching

for "east dean friston council" in any online search engine,)

b) Parish Magazine - we always have a summary of Council meetings in the monthly magazine as well as any important announcements that affect residents,

c) Our Noticeboards - you'll find these in Downlands Way near the shops, and adjacent to the Village Hall

d) Our email register - to join simply send an email to clerk@edfparishcouncil.org.uk

e) Telephone - call the Parish Clerk on 01323 811870

-All correspondence to be sent to the Parish Council Office: The Old Cottage, Lewes Road, Laughton, BN8 6BQ

Phone: 01323 811870; Email: clerk@edfparishcouncil.org.uk; Website: http://www.edfparishcouncil.org.uk/

VAT Number; 1914302 81