Beccles Town Council - Councillors
HOW TO BECOME A LOCAL COUNCILLOR AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN BECCLES
In May 2011, all of the sixteen Beccles Town Council seats will be up for re-election. This is an important time for the town of Beccles as it gives residents the chance to represent the local community, deliver services to meet local needs and strive to improve the quality of life in the local area.
What do local councils do?
As a councillor you are in a great position to help identify the needs of your community and to deliver projects and initiatives that will help to make your local area a better place to live. Local councils are best placed to identify the needs of the local community and show great imagination in developing ideas to tackle the issues most relevant to their local area. Initiatives across the country vary in size and scope but they all have one thing in common, the well-being of local people.
Local councillors have three main areas of work:
Decision-making - through attending meetings and committees with other elected members, councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered and what policies should be implemented. Monitoring - Councillors make sure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services by keeping an eye on how well things are working. Getting involved locally - As local representatives, councillors have responsibilities towards their constituents and local organisations. This often depends on what the councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available.
Activities are varied and may include
- Going to meetings of bodies that affect the wider community, such as the police, the Highways Authority, schools and colleges
- Taking up issues on behalf of members of the public, such as making representations to the district or borough council
- Holding a surgery for residents to bring up issues
- Meeting with individual residents in their own homes
How can I become a Councillor?
Around the end of March 2011 a Notice of Election will be published. This will appear on the Waveney District Council website (www.waveney.gov.uk) and copies will be sent out to Beccles Town Council for them to display around the area.
The Town Clerk will be given Nomination Papers which can be collected from her at the Town Hall, The Walk, Beccles NR34 9AJ, telephone 01502 712109, or alternatively contact Sharon Shand at Waveney District Council, Town Hall, High Street, Lowestoft NR32 1HS, telephone 01502 562111 and these can be posted to you.
A Nomination paper has to be signed by a proposer and a seconder and these people must be registered electors in the area for which you wish to stand. Beccles is divided into electoral parish wards known as Beccles Centre, Beccles Darby, Beccles Common and Beccles Rigbourne. Each area is treated as a separate election and each area has four seats, so when grouped together the 16 seats form the Beccles Town Council. So depending on which area you chose this may be uncontested or contested.
To stand as a Councillor you must meet the following criteria:-
-
You must be 18 years of age
- Own property or land within the area you wish to stand OR
- Work in the area that you wish to stand OR
- Live within 3 miles (as the crow flies!) of the Parish Ward
The Nomination Pack contains all of the legal requirements and the election timetable that must be followed and advises what happens and when.