About Community Councils
What are Community Councils?
Community councils are the most local tier of statutory representation in Scotland. They bridge the gap between local authorities and communities, and help to make public bodies aware of the opinions and needs of the communities they represent.
Their primary purpose is to ascertain and express the views of the community to the local authority and other public bodies. Many community councils also involve themselves in a wide range of other activities including fundraising, organising community events, undertaking environmental and educational projects and much more.
There are currently around 1200 community councils in Scotland, all composed of elected volunteers from the community.
Community Council legislation
Community councils were created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Act required local authorities to introduce community council schemes for their area outlining various arrangements including elections, meetings, boundaries, and finance. Local authorities have the freedom to tailor schemes to the particular circumstances of their area.
Local authorities and other bodies consult with community councils on issues affecting the community. These issues depend to a large extent on what is important to each community, however local authorities are required to consult community councils on planning applications and involve them in the Community Planning process.
Community councils are the most local tier of statutory representation in Scotland. They bridge the gap between local authorities and communities, and help to make public bodies aware of the opinions and needs of the communities they represent.
Their primary purpose is to ascertain and express the views of the community to the local authority and other public bodies. Many community councils also involve themselves in a wide range of other activities including fundraising, organising community events, undertaking environmental and educational projects and much more.
There are currently around 1200 community councils in Scotland, all composed of elected volunteers from the community.
Community Council legislation
Community councils were created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Act required local authorities to introduce community council schemes for their area outlining various arrangements including elections, meetings, boundaries, and finance. Local authorities have the freedom to tailor schemes to the particular circumstances of their area.
Local authorities and other bodies consult with community councils on issues affecting the community. These issues depend to a large extent on what is important to each community, however local authorities are required to consult community councils on planning applications and involve them in the Community Planning process.
Our Village, Our Community - Balerno Community Plan
Balerno Community Council published a consultation draft of its Community Plan on 11 March (available below). The Plan, which follows on from the Council’s discussion document of June 2016 - A Vision for Our Community - aims both to describe the community of Balerno and to offer suggestions for how the community might wish it to be in the future. Publication of the Plan as a draft allows for the community to feedback further comments, and we would encourage that.
The Council would like comments by 31 July, at which point it will review the Plan in the light of any further comments and publish a final version of the Plan in the later summer. Please submit comments using the contact form or email address here.
The Council also acknowledges the assistance of all those who have been involved in the process of developing the plan to date, and is particularly grateful to Balerno Village Trust for allowing us to quote from their report, 'A Better Balerno', of October 2016.
In writing the plan the Council started on the basis that people want Balerno to be a cohesive community, where there is a shared vision and a sense of belonging for everybody. There are areas and activities which do not feature in the Plan; the Council aim to rectify that as the Plan is developed further over the next few months and at future revision stages.
We look forward to hearing your responses and developing towards a final, publish Plan.
VIEW THE CONSULTATION DRAFT HERE.
The Council would like comments by 31 July, at which point it will review the Plan in the light of any further comments and publish a final version of the Plan in the later summer. Please submit comments using the contact form or email address here.
The Council also acknowledges the assistance of all those who have been involved in the process of developing the plan to date, and is particularly grateful to Balerno Village Trust for allowing us to quote from their report, 'A Better Balerno', of October 2016.
In writing the plan the Council started on the basis that people want Balerno to be a cohesive community, where there is a shared vision and a sense of belonging for everybody. There are areas and activities which do not feature in the Plan; the Council aim to rectify that as the Plan is developed further over the next few months and at future revision stages.
We look forward to hearing your responses and developing towards a final, publish Plan.
VIEW THE CONSULTATION DRAFT HERE.
MeetingsThe Community Council meets generally on the first Thursday of every month at 7:30pm in Balerno High School. Please consult the list of confirmed dates shown below. We meet in the "Learning Resource Centre" on the first floor.
Members of the public are very welcome at all meetings and will be given an opportunity to raise relevant matters during "Public Question Time". Members of the public can choose to stay with us for the whole meeting, or leave after Public Question Time. Future Meetings: Thursday 7th June (AGM) |
Recent Minutes
For archived minutes, please click here.
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Correspondence
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