Hathersage in the Peak District

2025-26 Hathersage Parish Councillor co-option application form

Hathersage Parish Council has some casual vacancies for Parish Councillors, to be filled by co-option. The Council has not set an application deadline but is aiming to fill these vacancies by early autumn. It is strongly suggested anyone interested attends and observes a Parish Council meeting first; full Council meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month – upcoming meetings are Tuesday 5 August; Tuesday 2 September – meetings are held in St Michael’s School, School Lane and start at 7.30pm. Contact the Clerk (clerk@hathersageparishcouncil.gov.uk; 07494 815 324) about meeting attendance. You can also talk to any of the current Councillors, or the Clerk, about what becoming a Councillor entails.

What does a Parish Council – and Parish Councillors – do? Broadly, Parish Councils represent their local community; deliver services to meet local needs; and strive to improve the quality of life in the parish. Councillors represent the Council to the community, and the community to the Council; represent the interests of the parish to representatives of other authorities and organisations; fufill and enact any statutory requirements of an elected member of the Council; actively and constructively contribute to good governance.

Hathersage Parish Council is responsible for management of village amenities including Hathersage Swimming Pool, and King George’s Field. The Council liaises and works with the District and County Councils and, being located in the Peak District National Park, also liaises and works with the PDNPA.

Time commitment – attendance at monthly full Council meetings (first Tuesday evening of the month). The Council also has some committees which meet monthly (though some don’t meet in August or December) – Leisure, Facilities and Amenities; Transport; Swimming Pool; these meetings are also held on a Tuesday evening, on the second and third Tuesdays of the month. Some committees meet as and when needed e.g. the Planning Committee. Councillors are encouraged to join at least one committee.

Eligibility – to become a Councillor you must be a British citizen or citizen of the commonwealth or the European Union and aged 18 years or older at the time of your application.

 For the whole of the 12 months prior to your application you must have been an elector of the Parish and either occupied or owned/rented premises in the Parish; or resided within 3 miles of the boundary of the Parish; or have your principal or only place of work in that area.

You cannot become a Councillor if you:

• are subject to bankruptcy order or interim order;
• have, within five years before the day of application, been convicted in the United Kingdom of any offence and have had a prison sentence for a period of over three months;
• work for the Parish Council.

Applying to become a Parish Councillor – complete the 2025-26 Hathersage Parish Councillor co-option application form; or request details from the Clerk (clerk@hathersageparishcouncil.gov.uk; 07494 815 324).

Investigations into a Hathersage Residents’ Parking Scheme

Following requests from residents about provision of a Residents’ Parking Scheme in Hathersage the Parish Council contacted Derbyshire County  Council (DCC) for further information – the following response was received:

Several conditions have to be met before a scheme is considered for approval/implementation. A scheme would not be implemented on individual streets but instead done on an area-wide basis requiring all the streets in the area to form a parking zone – this is to avoid just moving the problem from one street to the next.

Any residents’ parking scheme must be self-financing and it is important the majority of residents are supportive for the scheme to be successful. Currently, the cost of  an annual parking permit is £35 for the first vehicle and £50 for any additional vehicle. Sufficient revenue needs to be generated to cover the necessary management and enforcement costs for a scheme to work. From experience elsewhere, this means around 200-300 permit sales are generally required; again, the authority [DCC] would only usually give consideration to a scheme where the majority of the residents (no less than 70%) support it. Hathersage has a mix of properties – some with access to off-street parking; some without; it is far less likely those with access to off-street parking would be supportive of a permit scheme which does not benefit them directly.

A permit enables the holder to park within the restricted area; it does not provide a dedicated space for each permit holder. Under the scheme, there is no guarantee a resident would be able to park outside their property or even on their street. DCC notes outcomes of the Hathersage Parish Council residents’ parking scheme survey undertaken a few years ago: while 70% of residents expressed interest only 32% were interested where permits had to be purchased and even fewer if there was no guarantee of a parking space. DCC notes that based on outcomes of this survey they [DCC] would take the matter no further as numbers of residents in favour of a paid scheme would fall well below the 70% that has to be met; this would be the case in any further survey where fewer than 70% of residents were in favour of a residents’ parking scheme in line with current DCC scheme criteria. 

Hathersage Parish Council continues to investigate all options to improve parking in and around the village.

The Parish Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday 7 January had to be cancelled – weather-related, and the usual meeting venue was closed. This meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday 14 January – 7.30pm, at St Michael’s School, School Lane.