Long Ashton Parish Council is one of over 10,000 local councils in England. Parish and town councils make up the first tier of local government in most parts of the country. Long Ashton Parish Council was first established in 1894 and exists to represent the people of Long Ashton and Leigh Woods and give local people a voice.

The council is run by a number of local councillors, who are local people elected every four years. Councillors are not paid and give up their time freely to serve the local community.

The Parish Council raises issues of local concern with North Somerset Council and other government bodies.

Long Ashton Parish Council is separate from North Somerset Council, which sits above the parish and town councils and provides public services in the area, such as social care, education, planning and transport and waste collection and disposal. See the A-Z of Services.

We regularly examine and comment on planning applications and other planning matters affecting the local area.

The council has been recognised by the National Association of Local Councils as a well run council and was give a foundation level award in 2016.

The Parish Council is committed to improving the environment in Long Ashton and Leigh Woods. We want everyone to live in a sustainable community, where the natural environment is protected for future generations.

We recognise the threat posed by global warming and we want to work with local people, businesses and other bodies to help tackle the causes of the climate emergency.

We help to provide and maintain local parks and open spaces. We carry out small environmental improvements, such as tree planting and maintaining small areas of open space. We employ two village orderlies to clear litter from our streets in the village and Leigh Woods.

We are providing a series of environmental improvements throughout Long Ashton to slow down traffic and make the centre of the village safer for our children and all other users.

Many of these ideas are set out in the Long Ashton Neighbourhood Development Plan which was agreed in 2015 as part of North Somerset Council's planning policy for the area. As well as promoting sustainable development, the plans seeks to protect Long Ashton and Leigh Woods from inappropriate development over the plan period, which runs to 2033.

The Parish Council raises money for local services through an additional charge on the council tax (called the precept). This enables the provision of a number of local services, such as:

• Play parks throughout the village
• Peel Park
• 13 benches throughout Long Ashton and Leigh Woods
• 2 defibrillators
• 8 noticeboards
• Regular newsletter
• Theynes Croft public car park
• 4 bus shelters
• Traffic calming measures
• 2 vehicle activated speed signs
• 35 grit bins
• Litter picking
• 21 litter bins
• 34 doo poo bins
• Maintenance of the All Saints burial churchyard
• Burial ground

Want to see what we do and what North Somerset Council does? Visit the A-Z of Services.

The Parish Council wants to be at the heart of a strong, inclusive, healthy, safe and thriving local community. We have a number of ways of helping to support the community.

We work closely with LACA (the Long Ashton Community Association) and the council gives them an annual grant to help maintain and run the community centre and the other recreational facilities on the Keedwell Hill site. LACA also manages Peel Park on behalf of the Parish Council.

We also give an annual grant to the Long Ashton Youth Club, along with smaller grants to a number of other local community organisations.

We give financial support for the Christmas lights each year. We also work with a wide range of organisations to deliver our services and to act in the best interests of all our local residents.

The Parish Council strives to be representative of local people and to act on their wishes for the future of the area. We produce regular newsletters and use social media and noticeboards to help keep you informed.

We hold an Annual Parish Meeting open to all residents. All the meetings of the council are open to local residents to attend - anyone can address the council at the start of every meetings to raise any points they want to be considered during the meeting.

The Parish Council also has a number of working groups that local people can join to help make things happen in the area, such as the village enhancement scheme and biodiversity.

We want to know what you think about the issues that matter to you in Long Ashton and Leigh Woods. If you have any views on what the Parish Council should be doing, or how we spend our money, or what you think we could do differently, please let us know.