In response to our Town Council petition, Canterbury City Council’s General Purposes Committee (GPC) has agreed to set up a new Task and Finish Advisory Group to carry out a Community Governance Review (CGR). They will finish the review by October next year which could mean elections to a new town council in May 2025.
Details of the plan are set out here on pages 6 to 22 - https://democracy.canterbury.gov.uk/documents/g13588/Public%20reports%20pack%2013th-Dec-2023%2019.00%20General%20Purposes%20Committee.pdf?T=10
One of our group, Bernadette Fisher, spoke to the meeting before the debate. Her speech is here.
“I’m a member of the town council group of Ct5 People’s Forum, the group behind the petition.
Thank you for agreeing to carry out this CGR. We feel democracy in Ct5 would be better served with a town council and have had the people, organisation and determination to reach this point. That’s our main purpose. The work you can see on our website and our success show that.
We’ve been heartened by our dialogue with local people, over 95% of whom have supported the petition when approached. They’ve generally heard about our campaign and some even remember the old Whitstable council with fondness. Social media has been helpful but we’ve found that most people of all ages prefer to sign a piece of paper.
We are asking that you approach this process with enthusiasm and determination even though we can see how much you have to do as a new council. We will help by getting the word out both directly and via the many local groups we have been working with, and by organising gatherings and debate.
I, and others in this room, know that the last CGR was carried out with care and dedication by officers and councillors, though the response numbers were disappointing. But the biggest disappointment is how its conclusions (creating the more informal and two-way local Forums) were overturned by this council two years later. Please don’t allow that to happen again. Create something that exists in itself and cannot be undone by you or your successors.
A bit of detail re the CGR itself, we’ve raised the lack of clarity in the report re the position of the non-parished areas of Chestfield and we’ve also raised the timescale for this CGR. I’ll focus on the latter. I don’t think the last one felt rushed and it was avowedly flexible. It took a year.
I know you haven’t got that long and we’ve asked you for elections in 2025. We don’t want to undermine that, but please be flexible, especially when it comes to finding creative ways to encourage participation across Ct5.
And finally, if you wonder about town councils, visit Louise Bareham the town clerk in Faversham. See how her small team have helped their council make brilliant plans to improve the town, its balance between people walking, cycling and driving and then gradually set out to fund and realise them, accessing external funds that this council, CCC, cannot access.
We know that many of you have similar visions for your towns. So did I as a CCC councillor. A town council will work with you to achieve coherent local level plans. Please help make this happen. Our town deserves it. Ct5 wants it.”
Committee members then debated the report. Bob Pullen gives our responses here -
Question - Why is threshold for instigating a Community Governance Review (CGR) only 7.5% of registered electors for the area?
Response – 7.5% threshold is set in legislation, but it is not in itself a measure of strength of opinion on whether an area should have a town council or not. That is a matter for the CGR.
Q. How is the response to consultation measured?
R. Consultation response is not solely about numbers commenting. The comments themselves are a valuable indication of public opinion which is why it will be important for the advisory group to consider these carefully once the CGR is under way.
Q. What is the reasoning for holding public engagement events in Seasalter and Swalecliffe?
R. Need to hold meetings in locations where council can receive views for a mixed range of demographics. Also important to enable people to attend meetings as close to where they live as possible.
Q. Is there data on which areas of CT5 signed the petition calling for the CGR?
R. No and anyway a more accurate measure of where responses will come from is likely to occur during the consultation stages of the CGR rather than just 7.5% of electors of the area.
Q. Yorkletts is part of Seasalter ward, but can it be considered to be naturally part of the town council area?
R. Up to the people of Yorkletts to make their views known during the CGR, but there are other forms of community governance available to areas in addition to the creation of town councils.
Q. Are the non-parished areas of Chestfield ward due to be part of the CGR?
R. We always intended they should be.
Q. What measures will the council take to try to ensure a comprehensive response to the consultation stages?
R. Extensive use of social media will assist outreach. Also, previous CGR was not instigated by a petition organised by a group campaigning for a town council. This CGR is focussed on CT5 and not the whole district.
Q. What would a town council for CT5 cost?
R. Somewhere between £60 and £80 per household for a typical Band D property.
Q. Could use All Saints Church for a public meeting?
R. We would welcome a meeting on the eastern side of town.
Q. What is mechanism for assessing how effective a town council is if one were to be established? How could it be got rid of if that’s what local people wanted?
R. The mechanism for creating and abolishing town and parish councils is a CGR, either instigated by the council (CCC) or by a petition.
Q. Who regulates the operation of parish and town councils?
R. Unlike other tiers of local government, parish and town councils do not provide statutory services. The services they do provide are discretionary. They have to have their accounts audited annually and the councillors are bound by a similar code of conduct that city councillors are which CCC’s Monitoring Officer is responsible for upholding.
Q. Who pays for parish and town council elections?
R. Canterbury City Council administer the elections, but the parish and town councils themselves pay for them.
Q. What is the state of play regarding a possible unitary council for East Kent?
R. Unaware of any specific plans for the creation of a unitary council in East Kent, but they are being created in other areas of England. The case for a town council in a unitary area is compelling, it would mean the abolition of the county council and district councils and the creation of a larger enterprise, sized somewhere between the two existing tiers.
Q. Parish councils quite often find it difficult to attract sufficient people to put themselves forward to stand for election. Is the position for town councils similar?
R. We feel that this would not be a significant issue for a town council for Whitstable. For example, Faversham Town Council regularly experiences a range of political and non-political candidates standing at their elections every four years and whenever a by-election is called.
Q. Parish and town councils are able to charge households a precept and receive funds from eg. the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Is it democratic if the councillors are serving on their councils as a result of uncontested elections?
R. As above, we believe that town council elections are overwhelmingly contested so this should not be an issue. The whole point of creating a town council for Whitstable is to give the area a voice, particularly over how resources should be allocated within the area.
Q. Will council reach out to less well-off areas and people during the CGR consultation? Should council reach out via schools?
R. We support this. The cost implications for creating a town council may have the biggest impact on those less able to afford it and it is important those voices are heard. Contacting parents through schools might be one important way of achieving this.
This GPC decision will go before Full Council on Thursday January 4th 2024 at 7pm. The meeting will be in public at the Guildhall. Please come along to show your support.
We look forward to working with the City Council on the Community Governance Review over the first nine months of next year. This seems like a long process but it’s vital that it’s as inclusive as possible so that everyone in Ct5 has their say. It’s a big deal for the town to create its own council and will bring many benefits. We hope it’ll last as long as Faversham’s which has been around since the 13th century. So if you think you might be interested in being a town councillor or would like to help stimulate debate on the subject in 2024, please get in touch.
Bernadette Fisher and Bob Pullen for the Town Council group.
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