Charlwood Parish Council, the first tier of local government, plays an important role in representing the interests of the community it serves and improving the quality of life and the local environment. It acts as an advisory agency for planning matters, road safety and other functions of local government. 

The Parish Council is a corporate body, consisting of nine elected Councillors under the chairmanship of Penny Shoubridge. It has been granted powers by Parliament including the important authority to raise money through taxation, called the precept. We are not political and are the closest official body to the community, working to pull all groups and organisations together in the communities of Charlwood, Hookwood and Norwood Hill.

The Councillors undertake their duties and responsibilities on a voluntary basis. They serve a four-year term before coming up for re-election. The Parish Council employs a Clerk (who combines his duties with that of the Responsible Finance Officer) and an Assistant Clerk but both posts are part-time and it may be that emails are not answered as quickly as the senders would like. 

The Council is currently in the throes of a very busy period with many projects to benefit the community just completed or in the process of being completed. Just this week (15th December) CCTV cameras have been installed around the Pavilion and covering the Recreation Ground. The biggest project that the Council has undertaken for a number of years is to provide a car park with 30 spaces in the Millennium Field. This will go some way to alleviating the problems of parking in Charlwood which have been a bugbear for residents for more years than they care to remember. Alongisde that initiative Councillors are working, with the help of a traffic consultant, to introduce traffic calming measures to prevent the scourge of speeding traffic through the two villages.