The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.
Being in places only 6 metres above sea level, the settlements of Kewstoke and Sand Bay are, and have been historically, susceptible to flooding. Following several incidents of flooding[6] a sea defence of combined dune system (sand was imported from the estuary to form this) and concrete walls are now in place along much of Beach Road. Whilst the sea defences have proved very effective for the last two decades, concerns about the long-term stability of the dunes, in particular, remain.
In the Severn Estuary Shoreline Management Plan, 2000, commissioned by the Severn Estuary Coastal Group and carried out by Gifford Associated Consultants, the importance of sea defence maintenance was highlighted. The report stated that leaving the defences unmaintained would increase the risk of a severe flood to the low-lying residential area of Kewstoke and an extensive area of agricultural land that are currently defended. The authors went on to discuss the importance in the shorter and longer term of ensuring that the current defence line is kept and said that monitoring and research of the coastal processes on the foreshore is recommended. The Sand Bay Management Committee is keeping a close eye on the conditions of both the salt marsh and the sand dunes.
The local primary school is Kewstoke Primary school, for children aged 4–11; it also has a preschool within the school for children aged 3–4. There used to be a pre-school at the village hall but it stopped because of a lack of children.
Religious sites
The local parish church, St Paul's, dates from the 12th century with the tower being built in 1395. The tower is in two stages, with rendered, diagonal buttresses with setbacks which rise through parapet as corner pinnacles. A polygonal stair turret at the south east corner rises to a pyramidal cap. The first stage has two 2-light perpendicular west window under a plain drip mould, and similar but smaller window with carved stops to the south. The second stage has one 2-light perpendicular window under a drip mould with carved stops on each side; all louvres except the west which is blank. A quatrefoil pierced parapet has gargoyles at the corner. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[7] In 1849 a reliquary was found in St Paul's Church that was believed to have come originally from the priory and to contain the blood of Thomas Becket. It is believed that it was moved to St Paul's for safe keeping at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries.
