West Dean Parish Council, The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire
|
|
|
The Speech House The ancient Verderers Court and Administration Centre at the Centre of the Forest of Dean. Now a well known hotel.
|
Latest News - A pdf file copy of the Parish Council Newsletter is available from the News page. West Dean Parish is situated in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. Historically the Forest was a legal and administrative entity in its own right. For this reason it was extraparochial and there was no civil parish administrative structure until comparatively recently in the nineteenth century. Such a structure was briefly considered as early as 1835 but it was rejected, partly on the grounds that there might be difficulty in collecting the rates! Administratively, West Dean finally came into existence in 1842. It’s sole purpose was to administer the Poor Law. It was designated as a “Township” and was linked to the Monmouth Union workhouse. It’s sister township of East Dean was correspondingly served by the Westbury on Severn Union workhouse. As it subsequently acquired more administrative functions West Dean Township became West Dean Rural District in 1895. The Rural District structure came to an end in 1974 with the creation of the Forest of Dean District Council. Within the FODDC area and serving the local communities of the Dean there are now no fewer than 41 Civil Parishes. West Dean parish is the largest of these in respect of both its population and its geographical size. At the 2001 census there were 10,305 people living in West Dean Parish, more than in any of the Forest towns. The size of the Parish is a considerable 4686 hectares. It stretches from Berry Hill and Christchurch in the north to Bream in the south and from Sling in the west to Viney Hill in the east. It includes much traditional woodland, a significant number of well known beauty spots and places of interest and 13 separate village communities all of which contain numerable examples of vernacular Forest building structures. Every community is fiercely proud of its traditions and local character – and characters! West Dean Parish is divided electorally into 5 wards with a total of 15 councillors to represent electors as follows:
The Council meets on the last Wednesday of each month at The West Dean Centre (formerly Bream Community Centre) at 7pm. Every Council meeting begins with a Public Open Forum to enable electors to ask questions or comment on matters that affect the Parish. Traditionally West Dean Council has acted as the official advocate for residents within its area. It is consulted by all public service providers and has a statutory right to comment on all planning applications in West Dean. Latterly Council’s role has become more proactive. In 2000 it purchased and refurbished Bream Community Centre. It has since been extended and a Parish Office established there. Other areas Council have become involved in are provision of bus shelters, street cleaning, footpaths, play areas, environmental improvements and capital projects such as the restoration of Bream Cenotaph and works at Parkend Churchyard. Council is fully committed to representing and serving the people and communities of West Dean to the best of its ability.
|
Send mail to
admin@westdeanpc.org.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
|
