Reynoldston Community Council

The Community Council is a body corporate with perpetual succession and is subject to legislative, administrative and judicial controls:

It must act within the powers granted to it. It is accountable for ensuring both that public business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards and that public money is safeguarded, properly accounted for and used economically, efficiently and effectively and it is subject to the rule of law and can sue and be sued in the courts.

Collectively, the 737 community and town councils across Wales engage some 8,000 individuals in voluntary service as councillors and are responsible for managing an aggregate annual budget in excess of ?25 million. Community Councils have a number of advantages that follow from their statutory foundation which include accountability to local people through elections, stability and continuity, tax-raising powers and the capacity to act as a catalyst for promoting participation in public service.

OR in the words of Sue Essex:

"Community councils are the tier of local government which is closest to local people and they have strong ties to locality and community. They provide a link between the local community and the county councils. And they play an important role in ensuring that the local voice is heard and in representing the local community."

Its responsibilities are many and varied and are in the process of being reviewed by the National Assembly but the most relevant to Reynoldston include:

	the power to provide and maintain bus shelters
	the right to appoint school governors
	the right to be notified of planning applications
	the power to contribute to traffic calming measures.

Members are elected to the Council usually in elections held every four years; if not all places are filled after an election or vacancies arise at a later date, then individuals can be co-opted on to the Council if no election is called.

Reynoldston Community Council meets in the Minor Hall on the second Tuesday of January, March, May (Annual Meeting), July, September, November. However, meeting dates may change due to exceptional circumstances.

The general public can raise issues by contacting their Community Councillors or the Clerk, prior to a meeting. At the beginning of every meeting of Reynoldston Community Council there is a public forum, lasting up to a maximum of 15 minutes, to allow the public to express any views or concerns they might wish to raise before the Council. Occasionally public meetings may be called by the Council if the need arises.

Minutes of the most recent meeting are available for the public to peruse at Community Council meetings once they have been approved.  Copies of these minutes will also be displayed on the Community Council's  notice boards at the Post Office and in the foyer of the Village Hall, and eventually on the Reynoldston web site. Members of the public may also view past minutes by arrangement with the Clerk. The agenda for forthcoming meetings will be displayed a week before the date of the meeting on the Council's notice boards (together with any other documentation relating to the Community Council), on the notice board on the Lower Green and again, hopefully, on the Reynoldston web site.

As stated previously members of the public can contact their Community Councillors or the Clerk. At this present time I will refrain from providing information relating to the Community Councillors but if people wish to contact Howard Evans, The Clerk to The Council, then they can by phone ? 01792 843452 or e-mail

howard@cefnparc1.freeserve.co.uk