Potential changes to parishes and boundaries in Buckinghamshire

As a unitary council, we are responsible for reviewing how parish councils govern and oversee the local area.

This review is known as a Community Governance Review and investigates whether:

• parish-level governance continues to reflect the identity and interests of the local community
• parish arrangements are as convenient and effective as possible

We (Buckinghamshire Council) can initiate reviews or petitions can be made to us if the requestor has enough signatures from local residents.

In each case, we will:

• write out the 'Terms of Reference' for the review which states what the scope will be
• plan consultations and get in contact with the local community to understand their views on potential changes
• create a working group of councillors to make recommendations and review the consultation responses

A Community Governance Review could recommend:

• the creation of new parishes
• changing the boundaries of existing parishes
• renaming parishes
• grouping parishes under a common parish council, or 'de-grouping' them
• changing the electoral structure of the parish (for example, reviewing the number of councillors)
• changing the style of a new parish (for example, using the word ‘neighbourhood’ or ‘community’ instead of ‘parish’)

Current reviews are being carried out in:

High Wycombe currently does not have any parishes. On 24 August 2023, we decided to carry out a review to consider whether there would be any benefits to creating parish or town councils.

Find out more about the High Wycombe Community Governance Review.

Reviews have been requested for:

• Buckingham
• Burnham and Dorney
• Hazlemere
• Longwick-cum-Ilmer
• Newton Longville

Find out more about the Parish Community Governance Review.