Before
1894 there were no Parish or District Councils.
On March 5th 1894 the Local Government (England & Wales) Act
became law. Under it Parish
Councils and Rural District Councils replaced the Parish Vestries and the
Sanitary Authorities. The
last meeting of the Cranborne Vestry responsible for Cranborne and
Verwood was held on March 29th 1894 and the first elections for the
newly formed Verwood Parish Council were held on Thursday December 17th
1894. We know because the
Verwood National School Log Book (held in the County Archives in
Dorchester) records the school as being closed for that purpose on that
day.
Kelly's Dorsetshire
Directory for 1895 records the 1891 population of Verwood at 1,190. The 1931 Census gives it as 1,605. By 1987 the population had grown to 9,856 and the Parish
Council passed the necessary resolution to become a Town Council under
provisions made in the 1972 Local Government Act.
By a second resolution it decided the Chairman should be entitled
"Town Mayor" and later that year purchased a relatively modest
chain of office to be worn by all subsequent Town Mayors.
Early in 1994, Centenary year, the then Town Mayor was delighted
to accept on behalf of the Town Council a complete set of Mayoral Robes,
a gift of Mr. Frank Pearson -Sellors one time Mayor of the London
Borough of Bexley and by then living in Verwood.
In 1992 the Town Council set up a working party to lead its
Centenary celebrations, which were held during the Summer months of 1994
and supported by most of the Town's organisations, including the schools
and churches. The formal opening of the Centenary events was held in the
Council Chamber, acquired three years earlier when a local bank moved
out into new offices, and performed by the Lord Digby, Her Majesty's
Lord Lieutenant for Dorset, on Saturday April 16th.
Due
to the increasing population estimated to be over 11,000 in 1995,
Verwood, previously having been split into two wards for Parish
purposes, was fully warded in 1995.
With three Councillors continuing to represent Three Legged Cross
and with Verwood itself being split into three wards of five Councillors
each the full Town Council now consists of 18 Councillors.
The
Town Council administers the Cemetery and is responsible as Trustee for
the upkeep of the Recreation Ground.
It owns Ferret Green and also the open space
land known as Champtoceaux Green and Liederbach Green opposite.
It maintains them and makes Grant aid to Verwood Community
Association, the Memorial Hall, and the Village Hall, Three Legged Cross
and to many charitable bodies. As
a "Third Tier" Authority it performs a consistent role in
taking up questions with the two higher Authorities, the District and
County Council on behalf of the local electorate.
It makes recommendations on all Planning Applications from the
local knowledge of its Councillors and made a considerable contribution
to the Local Plan.
The
Town Council holds all its meetings in its Chamber in Vicarage Road with
the exception of three Full Council Meetings still held in Three Legged
Cross Village Hall for the convenience of inhabitants in that part of
the Civil Parish. The Clerk
is available in the office every weekday between 9.30am and 12.30 and
noon on Friday. The public are welcome to attend any meeting of the Council,
most of which begin at 7.30pm. The
exception is the quarterly duo of Cemetery Committee, which starts at 7.30pm and the Recreation and Open Spaces Committee, which meets at 8pm
on the same night. Notices
of all these meetings are posted on the Council's Notice Boards outside
both Post Offices and outside the Council's office. Also a calendar of
Meetings is now held on this web site along with the Agenda and
subsequent Minutes. Once a
year, usually in April, the Council holds a Town Meeting where the Mayor
and Committee Chairmen give a resume of the year's work.
Any elector of the Civil Parish is entitled to attend and ask
questions.
