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About Us

Who is on the Parish Council?

The Parish Council is made up of 7 councillors, one of which is the overall Chair , and the Clerk.
Councillors have a legally defined role with responsibilities and are entirely unpaid with only minimal expenses being paid.
Councillors are elected about every 4 years, usually at the same time as local government elections. The next election will take place in May 2025.

The Clerk

The Clerk’s role is to ensure that the Parish Council as a whole, conducts its business properly and in accordance with the laws on how parish councils should operate. The Clerk also provides independent, objective and professional advice and support.
The Clerk to the Parish Council is defined in legislation as the Proper Officer of the Council and has a statutory duty to carry out all the functions, and in particular to serve or issue all the notifications required by law of a Parish Council’s Proper Officer.
The Clerk is expected to advise the Parish Council on and assist in forming the Parish Council’s policies regarding its activities. The Clerk is responsible for producing all the information required for making effective decisions and to implement constructively all decisions made by the Parish Council.
The Clerk looks after how the Parish Council operates as a council – its overall governance, the policies/procedures, terms of reference etc.
The Councillors sitting as the full Parish Council, or on any committees that the Parish Council may have authorised vote on resolutions. These are in effect what the Parish Council wishes to do. The Clerk is totally responsible for ensuring that the instructions of the Parish Council acting as a Local Authority are carried out.
The Clerk is also usually the Responsible Financial Officer (this role is defined in legislation) and is responsible for all financial records of the Parish Council and the careful administration of its finances.

Our Clerk is Catherine Mullen
You can contact the Clerk 
by phone on 07432025488
By email at clerk@barnburghandharlingtonpc.org
By post at Barnburgh Village Hall, Chapel Hill, Barnburgh Lane, Barnburgh, Doncaster DN5 7HN

What Does the Chair of the Parish Council Do?

The Chair is responsible for ensuring that effective and lawful decisions are taken at meetings of the Parish Council and, assisted by the Clerk, guides activities by managing the Parish Council’s meetings.
The Chair is responsible for involving all councillors in discussion and ensuring that Councillors keep to the point and do not deviate from the Agenda.
The Chair summarises the debate and facilitates the making of clear resolutions and is responsible for keeping discussions moving so that the meeting is not too long.

Unlike other Councillors, the Chair potentially has 2 votes on each issue. The first vote is a personal vote as a member of the Parish Council. If there is a tied vote, the Chair can have a second, casting vote.

The Chair of the Parish Council

  • holds a statutory post defined in law
  • is a member of the Council and is elected annually
  • has the authority at meetings and must be obeyed when issuing lawful direction or direction in line with the Standing Orders of the Parish Council
  • is the interface between the public and Parish Council
  • the one to welcome speakers and make them ‘feel at home’
  • is to make sure the decision is clear for the Clerk to act upon.
The Chair on their own has no power to make decisions without the Resolution of the Parish Council.
The Chair should not involve themselves in the day to day administration of the Parish Council, but can be a point of reference for officers if this has been agreed by the Parish Council.
The Chair will often be the public face of the Parish Council and will represent the Parish Council at official events. They may be asked to speak on behalf of the Parish Council. When this happens, the Chair should only express the agreed views of the Parish Council and not their personal views.
The Chair cannot legally make a decision on behalf of the Parish Council.

Our Chair

Our Chair is Councillor Tim Freebury.
You can contact Councillor Freebury through the Clerk.

Parish Councillors

Below are details of your Parish Councillors and their completed Register of Interests as required by the Localism Act 2011.
Sophie Dearns

Councillor

Read more
Lynette Robinson

Councillor

Read more
Jackie Sigsworth

Councillor

Biography  to follow.

Read more
Tim Freebury

Chair

Tim joined the Parish Council in September 2021. He lives in Harlington with a young family…
Read more
Carl Hopper

Councillor

Carl was born in Mexborough and moved to Barnburgh in 2016 from Bolton upon Dearne. He became a Parish Councillor in 2019.
Read more
David Leah

Vice Chair

David moved to Barnburgh in 2014 being imported by his wife Pat who is Barnburgh born and bred.
Read more
Glenn Bluff

Councillor

Glenn was a member of City of Doncaster Council for  Sprotborough Ward

Read more

Our Ward Councillors

Barnburgh and Harlington is part of Sprotborough Ward which has 2 councillors on Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. These are:
Oliver Bloor

Councillor

Phone: 
Cynthia Ransome

Councillor​

Can I be a Parish Councillor?

To stand for election on a parish council, you must:
  • be a UK or commonwealth citizen, or;
  • be a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, or;
  • be a least 18 years old.
To be eligible to stand for an election for a particular parish, you must:
  • be an elector of the parish, or;
  • for the whole of the previous 12 months have occupied (as owner or tenant) land or other premises in the parish, or;
  • during the previous 12 months have worked in the parish (as your principal or only place of work), or;
  • for the whole of the previous 12 months lived in the parish or within three miles of the parish boundary.
Vacancies

Casual Vacancies

Sometimes casual vacancies occur during the four year cycle and these can be filled, either by election or by co-option.
Co-option is used when an election is not called – you submit your name with other applicants to the Parish Council; they vote for their choice to fill the vacancy.

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