A little about Saltford Parish Council (SPC) – we’ve had a few questions recently (Sept 2025), so here’s a quick reminder about who we are – and how we’re different from B&NES Council!
SPC (Saltford Parish Council) is independent of B&NES Council.
SPC is made up of 11 Parish Councillors, all who live in the village and give their time for free to serve Saltford*. SPC has one part-time member of staff – the Parish Clerk. SPC’s responsibilities differ to B&NES Council’s, and Parish Councils are not permitted to act in areas that are the responsibility of other authorities.
B&NES Council is the next level up of local government.
Saltford is in B&NES Council’s ‘Saltford Ward’. Saltford Ward covers a larger area (including Saltford, Corston, Compton Dando, and Newton St Loe) and has two B&NES Saltford Ward Councillors. B&NES also employs over 2,000 staff across the district, and it’s responsible for services like Highways, Planning, Waste, Social Care, and more.
SPC looks to work positively with B&NES Council’s Officers and Saltford Ward’s two B&NES Ward Councillors, for the benefit of the village and its residents.
SPC is independent of – but also looks to engage with – other village organisations. SPC has Councillors who are ‘Link Members’ as contact points for, for example, Saltford Community Association (SCA), Saltford Business Network (SBN), Saltford Sports Club (SSC) and Saltford Environment Group (SEG).
What SPC does do?
SPC focuses is on its own business and responsibilities. To see what SPC is doing, simply view the 20+ agenda items on each set of minutes!
Further to this though, when resource allows, SPC also looks to share updates and raise awareness about wider matters that affect Saltford residents, even if they’re the responsibility of others e.g. B&NES Council. For instance, recently this has included the A4 Bath Road Curo roadworks and information about the B&NES Local Plan ‘Options’ for Saltford.
Saltford’s resident engagement matters!
SPC really appreciates it when residents engage directly with the appropriate authorities – especially for matters like planning, highways issues, consultations and reporting fixes via B&NES’s https://fix.bathnes.gov.uk/ . This helps make sure concerns are heard by the authorities who are actually responsible. Please see our ‘Report It‘ page.
SPC meetings
SPC’s Full Council usually meets once a month (except August), and our meetings are open to the public to attend – though they’re not ‘public meetings’. Residents are welcome to attend and can speak during public time if there’s an agenda item ‘to resolve’ that they’d like to comment on.
How is SPC funded?: Mainly through the precept – in 2025/26, SPC had the 7th lowest precept for a Band D property out of the 51 local councils in B&NES. The average parish precept in the B&NES Council area for 2025/26 is £59.11 p.a. Saltford’s precept in 2025/26 is £32.44 p.a. SPC works hard to deliver value with limited resources. SPC publishes financial information every month with its agenda.
As linked above in the article, SPC’s website has relevant information for residents, for instance:
If you’re unsure who to contact about an issue, please view our ‘Report It’ page: https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/report-it/
If you want to know more about SPC’s role in the planning process, visit our ‘How can members of the public make their views known?’ page: https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/…/commenting…/
For SPC’s meeting dates, decisions and actions, please view our our ‘Meetings – Agendas and Minutes’ page: https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/…/meetings…/
For news, whether its our own or information that we think Saltford residents may wish to be aware of, visit our ‘News’ page at https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/news/
For more about the precept, visit our ‘Finance’ page at https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/finance/#precept
Visit our website at https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/
*SPC Councillors can claim expenses, though none have been claimed during the current term (23/24, 24/25 and 25/26 to date). SPC’s Chair receives an honorarium of £75 per quarter, the current Chair looks to donate this to SCA. Please view our ‘Monthly Financial Reports’ at the end of each set of minutes for spend under ‘Chair’s Allowance’ and ‘Councillor’s expenses’ for up to date information).
