Birchwood Town Council

About Birchwood Town Council

Birchwood Town Council is the first tier of local government, and is therefore the closest to the local community, followed by Warrington Borough Council.

Parish and Town Councils were created in law, and they can only act within the law, by exercising their powers and functions which have been conferred on them by Statutes (i.e. Acts of Parliament). Town Councils have a number of powers available to them, but the ability to exercise any such powers may sometimes depend upon a number of other other factors, such as land ownership, financing, or planning approval.

There is some confusion as to what the difference is between a Parish and Town Council. The answer is simple, nothing, they are exactly the same. However, a Town Council can elect a Mayor to be Head of Council, instead of a Chairperson. Birchwood Town Council chooses to have a Chairperson, and in May of each year, a Chair is elected by the Council. Cllr David Ellis is the Chair of the Town Council for 2024-25, with Cllr Jacquie Sheridan as Vice Chair.

In order to support their activities, Parish/Town Councils need funds, and they are primarily funded from a small percentage of the Council Tax charge, made by Warrington Borough Council, to parishioners. This is known as the Precept. For the majority of Parish Councils the precept is a small portion of the whole Council Tax Bill, and is the main source of income. The level of this precept is at the discretion of the parish, based on the Council’s budget, and the number of Band D equivalent properties within the parish. Birchwood Town Council does not receive any Government funding, or income from business rates.

The Town Council campaigns on local issues, and lobbies other agencies (including land owners) to take action, or rectify defects, which are in the interests of the local community. It normally comprises of twelve Councillors, who are elected by the people of Birchwood. The twelve Councillors represent four wards within Birchwood; Chatfield (2), Gorse Covert (3), Locking Stumps (4) and Oakwood (3).

There are three Borough Councillors for the Birchwood Ward: Cllr Balbir Dhillon, Cllr Kuldeep Dhillon and Cllr Tim Price.

There are currently three part-time administrative staff based at Parkers Farm; The Clerk, the Responsible Finance Officer/Deputy Clerk and an Administration Assistant who, together with local Councillors, deal with matters of concern to local residents, on a daily basis.

Birchwood Town Council is quite unique, in that it has its own community maintenance resource, currently made up of a full-time Senior Maintenance Operative and five full-time Maintenance Operatives who tackle things such as litter picking, some landscape and horticulture maintenance, footpath gritting in winter, as well as many other jobs.

There are many things which the Town Council does on a daily basis; delivering and coordinating services, to meet local needs and striving to improve the quality of life in the parish.

All our staff are competent, and are equipped with the knowledge, support and equipment required to do their job.

The administrative offices are open to the public, Monday to Friday from 9.00 am until 3.00 pm, and the Maintenance Team is out and about from 8.00 am until 4.00 pm Monday to Friday.