Gurnard parish council

Gurnard parish council was officially formed in 1985, with the first meeting held on Thursday 18th April.

There are nine serving council members who usually serve for four year terms, or multiples thereof, many of the members represent the parish council, and therefore the Village, on various other public bodies such as the IW Association of Local councils (IWALC) .

All Gurnard parish councillors give up much of their spare time to serve the village; it is worth noting that they are unpaid volunteers.

There is one council employee, the clerk, who is also the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) and the main contact point for the council.

Full council meetings are usually held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month except in August and planning and facilities committee meetings are held, as necessary, on the last Wednesday of the month.

The parish council cannot approve plans, they can only make comments and raise objections, and the Isle of Wight Council can overrule such objections but has to take consideration of them.

Scrutinizing planning applications and providing a local voice is an important function for the parish council and it is usually a contentious application which draws most public participation at council meetings.