Rawcliffe is a residential area in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the A19, a couple of miles north-west of York centre, between Skelton and Clifton Without. Rawcliffe Parish Council has 8 councilors and a clerk, representing the local community. A parish council is a type of local authority found in England which is the lowest, or first, tier of l
ocal government. Parish councils are elected bodies and have the power to precept (tax) their residents to support their operations and to carry out local projects. Parish Councils have a number of formal powers. Many provide allotments, look after playing fields, play areas and village greens; maintain and look after things such as rights of way, bus shelters, public seats, and often provide village halls and meeting places. The Parish council can do these things by actually providing them itself, or by helping someone else (such as a charity or volunteers) financially to do so. Parish councils have the power to improve the quality of community life by spending sums of money on things which, in their opinion, are in the interests of the local community or it’s inhabitants. The parish council also has representative powers on things like planning applications in their areas, footpaths and bridleways (more generally, 'rights of way') surveys and intentions to make byelaws in relation to hackney carriages, music and dancing, and street naming. Parish councils also act as an interface between the parish, and local government agencies and service providers, especially the police, highways, water and environmental authorities.
