A LACK of public interest means Blackbird Leys may soon have fewer parish councillors than ever before.

The Blackbird Leys Parish Council meets every month on the estate and has powers over recreation grounds, allotments, bus shelters and a host of other issues.

There should be 16 councillors – eight each for both Greater and Blackbird Leys – but now the council has applied to reduce this to 14.

Chairman Gordon Roper said years of uncontested elections and a dwindling number of councillors meant the move was necessary.

“We had a full compliment of councillors at one time, but not anymore,” he said. “I just can’t understand it. People here all want things done on the estate but they won’t do anything themselves.

“And if you keep leaving everything to a couple of people, all of a sudden they might just say ‘enough is enough’.”

There are currently nine councillors serving on the parish, with a budget of £35,000 to spend on the estate each year.

But councillors would like to reach a position where there was competition for seats and elections to raise awareness of the work they do.

There are also concerns that during busy holiday periods the council does not have the necessary number of councillors to make a decision.

Mr Roper said: “We have got all this money to spend on the estate each year and we try to leave it for good causes that people want. If the parish council was to go because we didn’t have enough councillors, that money would just go to the city council.”

He added: “We’d love to have an election, but we are struggling to get people and something has to be done.”

There are 234 parish councils in Oxfordshire, including Littlemore and Old Marston, and Risinghurst and Sandhills in Oxford city.

The Blackbird Leys Parish Council has recently paid for signs for a new crossing and led calls for a new crossing on Grenoble Road.

It also gave out thousands of pounds in grants to local organisations at the most recent meeting in January.

Fellow parish councillor Brian Lester, who left the city council in 2007 because of “apathy” on the estate, said: “We are a body to help the community stand up and stand together, but we need more members.”

The proposals will be discussed by Oxford City Council at a meeting of the full council on February 20.

Councillors have been recommended to approve the plans, which could come into effect as early as August.

The parish council meet on the final Tuesday of each month at the Blackbird Leys Community Centre. All members of the public are welcome to join.

* What do you think? Why don’t more people serve on the parish council? Write to Letters to the Editor, Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0EJ or email letters@oxfordmail.co.uk