The Parish Council sets a ‘Precept’ each year, which is part of the Council Tax, to pay for various items within the village. These include all repairs, maintenance and replacement of equipment on the Recreation Ground, maintenance and replacement of trees, all verge mowing, repair and maintenance of ‘village furniture’, such as the bus shelter, benches, and bins.
A Parish Council is the most local level of government, with more of an advisory role to the District Council rather than the ability to act alone. Thus the district council is required to ask for, and take into account, our opinion, and to ask the opinion of neighbours, whenever a planning application is put in, but we do not have the final decision on whether or not it is accepted. Equally we can put forward the wishes of villagers for, for example, traffic calming, and if our case is demonstrated it may be accepted, but we do not have the right to put measures in ourselves without approval.
In order to carry out our role of putting forward the views and wishes of the Villagers we need you to keep us informed of what those wishes are, so do come along to the Public Forum before the Parish Council meeting (usually every third Monday of the month) at 7.45pm, and talk to your councillors about your concerns so that we can take them up.
This link will open a PDF of a full list of parish council Powers and Duties.
Sub-Committees
Grantchester Parish Council has just one sub-committee – Grantchester Climate Change Action Committee (GCCAC). The committee is a mix of parish councillors and volunteer members of the community.
Parish Councillor Josh Newman is the current Chair of the GCCAC. Parish Councillor Camice Revier is also a member, as is Lesley Sherratt, Chair of the Parish Council.
The purpose of this sub-committee is threefold:
a) To provide a forum to stimulate discussion and action relating to climate change and to be a focal point for collecting and reviewing the environmental impact of the many infrastructure and environmentally impactful schemes that come to the Parish Council.
(b) To identify those schemes particularly relevant to the village of Grantchester and where the Parish Council participation can make a difference.
(c) To support more informally organised village groups and projects concerning the environment by offering the use of the legal and financial infrastructure of the Parish Council.
This is a link to a full set of the Terms of Reference for the GCCAC.
This is a link to the published agendas and minutes of this sub-committee.
(updated 12 12 2025)