What We Do

What We Do

Fawkham Parish Council was created in 1935 as the parish authority and is the third tier of local government after Kent County Council and Sevenoaks District Council.

Fawkham Parish Council has five councillors, which makes us one of the smallest Parish Councils in Kent. Councillors are elected every four years, unless a vacancy arises in the interim. The next elections will be in May 2027.

Your Parish Council is a corporate body, a legal entity separate from that of its members. Its decisions are the responsibility of the whole body. The council has been granted powers by Parliament including the authority to raise money through taxation (the precept) and a range of powers to spend public money. The Parish Council provides local services, supports local organisations and gives a voice for local people.

In particular we:

  • Manage the village green, common land and are responsible for the war memorial
  • Comment on all planning applications within the Parish and represent the Parish in the Local Plan process. See further information on our role in the Planning process
  • Liaise with relevant authorities regarding the local plan/infrastructure /policing/community issues to represent your views and get the best advantage for the local area
  • Help to build a sense of community through our schemes and actions, within the confines of our budget
  • Fawkham Parish Council is also the sole trustee of the Fawkham Village Hall charity
  • We are governed by a Code of Conduct.

We employ a Clerk, who is paid for eight hours a week. The clerk provides advice and administrative support, receives official correspondence, issues correspondence on the instructions of the Council, and takes action to implement council decisions. The clerk is the Proper Officer of the council in law, and also acts as the Responsible Financial Officer, undertaking financial monitoring and reporting. The Clerk also prepares agendas for meetings of the Council, gives notice of these to the Council members and the public, and records and publishes the minutes of these meetings. She is the formal point of contact with the public.

Kent County Council and Sevenoaks District Council

  • The two higher level tiers of local government to which we are subject are the district council, Sevenoaks (or SDC) and the county council, Kent (or KCC). The division of responsibilities between the two is not always obvious. For example, on waste management, SDC is responsible for the door to door collection of waste and recycled materials, and for fly-tipping, but KCC runs the centres (‘tips’) to which residents can take more substantial items (our nearest ones are at Pepperhill, Gravesend and Swanley). The chart below summarises the responsibilities of both the county and district councils:

chart showing which council provides which service

Both councils have good websites which enable residents to determine which organisation they should approach on a particular issue:

Sevenoaks District Council website

Kent County Council website

  • Fawkham is part of the Fawkham and West Kingsdown Ward for Sevenoaks District Council and elects three District Councillors:

Sean Malone: Cllr.Malone@sevenoaks.gov.uk

Lynda Harrison: cllr.harrison@sevenoaks.gov.uk

Emily Bulford: cllr.bulford@sevenoaks.gov.uk