Hereford City Council is a parish council, allowed to use the name “City Council” with permission of the Queen granted when a new city charter was issued. Parish Councils have powers granted to them by Parliament, some quite new and others dating back to Victorian times. The main powers we use are the right to make grants to local voluntary organisations that benefit the people of the City in many different ways, the right to spend to improve the collection of litter and protection of the environment and the right to be consulted about, and to speak for the people of the City on, proposals from Herefordshire Council and developers. We are consulted about planning and licensing applications and proposals to modify roads and we use our local ward members and our committees to decide what our respose should be.
The people of the City can, in a parish meeting, pass a resolution requiring that their parish council provides allotments. This is not necessary in Hereford as the City Council already works with the Hereford Allotments and Leisure Gardens Society to provide plots on several sites around the City. We are also trying to increase this provision by acquiring some additional land next to the existing Drybridge allotment site.
