I HAVE been a parish councillor for 11 years, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to serve a local community. We start projects from scratch with just a bucket load of passion, then after years of campaigning together, recreation grounds are revamped, benches installed and community spaces born.

The latest county council’s ‘One’ plan proposes to use parish councils to deliver frontline services across Oxford.

The county council has an incredibly poor track record in delivering frontline services.

Examples including, obliterating children centre’s across the city, mortally wounding the NHS, cutting school funding resulting in a drop in attainment, and cutting all together the homeless budget will eventually push vulnerable people onto the streets of Oxford.

The county council plans to deliver the ‘one council’ vision via a network of parish councils.

Parish councillors have a unique and valued role in our communities, and serve on the front-line with an average budget of around £50,000 a year, funded by the taxpayer via an annual precept. This money typically funds the following projects and activities: p Upkeep of recreation grounds; parish greens p Publishing community newspapers p Funding small grants for local groups p Organising events p Tree and maintenance such as grass cutting.

Parish councillors meet approximately once a month, and also form sub-groups in planning, IT, grants and transport, meeting in a cold village church hall, with no computers, phones or office space.

The suggestion that parish councils will be able to deliver complex key frontline services such as health care, social care, housing, planning, policing, development, transport, education, the NHS, produce policies, maintain community centres, manage the arts and associated events, and manage waste to name but a few of the responsibilities, is ludicrous and naive.

As volunteers we receive little training, and rely heavily on life experiences and local knowledge to guide us. We have a capacity 16 elected members and one clerk (who is also the financial administrator) who works part-time on a range of local issues.

I believe, like many, that frontline services can best be achieved by the district councils. They have the experience, expertise and logistical know how, in delivering frontline services. Cutting out the middleman (county council) would be a much better solution for Oxford. The fat cat needs to go.

Hands off Oxford City.

DAVID HENWOOD Oxford City Councillor, Cowley Ward Littlemore Parish Councillor