Casual vacancies

A Parish Council vacancy may arise for a number of reasons. This could be that a Councillor has resigned/died, that they have failed to attend any meetings for 6 months, or no longer meet the criteria. All resignations must be made in writing to the Chairperson of the Parish Council. Once received that resignation cannot be withdrawn.

When a vacancy occurs the Parish Clerk must notify the Proper Officer in Herefordshire with all the details of which Councillor has caused the vacancy who will supply them with the necessary forms.

The vacancy must then be advertised in the Parish for a period of 14 working days exclude dies-non (i.e. Bank Holidays); during this time an election can be requested by 10 electors from the Parish signing the Request for An Election form. These forms can be downloaded from the links below.

Once the 14 days have passed and the Proper Officer has received no request for an election by the last date (which is shown on the Notice of Vacancy) the Parish Council will be informed that they can co-opt in writing.

If you are interested in becoming a Parish Councillor and you meet the criteria below, please contact your Parish Clerk to inform them of your interest should a vacancy become available.

A candidate for a Parish or Town Council is qualified if, when nominated -

(a) he or she is a British citizen, Commonwealth citizen, citizen of the Irish Republic or a citizen of another European Union State.
(b) is 18 years of age, and
(c) is either in the list of electors for that Parish or Town or has during the whole
of the preceding twelve months
(i) occupied land as owner or tenant in it, or
(ii) had a principal place of work there, or
(iii) resided in or within three miles of it.