FENLAND Council chief executive Tim Pilsbury has presented the chairman of Wisbech St Mary Parish Council, Councillor Cliff Edwards and parish clerk Caroline Jobson, with the first Fenland Quality Council Award, sponsored by the National Association of Lo

FENLAND Council chief executive Tim Pilsbury has presented the chairman of Wisbech St Mary Parish Council, Councillor Cliff Edwards and parish clerk Caroline Jobson, with the first Fenland Quality Council Award, sponsored by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).

Wisbech St Mary Parish, made up of three villages and two hamlets, is the first council in Fenland to qualify for the prestigious award.

There are thousands of parish councils across the country and Wisbech St Mary is one of the first 400 authority's to qualify.

To be given the award, the council had to provide a portfolio of all minutes for the last year as well as demonstrate how it provides the public with information on council services.

The parish council produces a newsletter for residents four times a year. The parish also had to show that the council had a clerk who had achieved the qualification to do the job. The parish also had to demonstrate how it works with other agencies to make the area a better place to live, work and play.

NALC judged the award submission and Mr Pilsbury presented the authority with its well-deserved certificate.

Cllr Edwards, who is also a Fenland District Councillor, said: "We are very proud to be the first parish council in Fenland to have achieved this award. It took us a year of hard work to achieve it. I am sure other parish councils in Fenland will be following in our footsteps.