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CDALC

Delivering support to local councils in County Durham

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Aycliffe Nature Park

Aycliffe Nature Park

Near Traveller’s Green in Newton Aycliffe, this area houses several rare species. There is a pond, dipping platform and info about flora and fauna.

Town hall

Ferryhill Town Hall

Ferryhill Town Hall Headquarters of Ferryhill Town Council

Great Aycliffe Show

Great Aycliffe Show

Organized by Great Aycliffe Town Council this event has crafts, horticulture, competitions, trade stands, demonstrations, funfair and refreshments.

Great Aycliffe Show

Great Aycliffe Show

Great Aycliffe Town Council provides a superb family-friendly event during August Bank Holiday weekend, with free public entry for two days of fun.

Adult fitness trail

Adult Fitness Trail

Shildon Town Council is encouraging its adult population to get as fit as its children by installing adult fitness equipment in its park.

Town Park

Town Park

Located near to the centre of Newton Aycliffe, the Town Park features planted areas, play equipment, a skateboard area and a youth shelter.

Oakleaf Bowls

Oakleaf Sports Complex

Open 7 days a week to provide classes, coaching and wide range of facilities including football, squash, badminton, cricket and indoor bowling.

Councillors

Local Councils Charter

Local Councils and Durham County Council members at the official signing of the Local Councils Charter event.

Refurbished Play Area

Refurbished Park - Shildon

Shildon Town Council's Hackworth Park and it's newly refurbished play equipment

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Home / Parish Councils / Types of Meeting

Types of Meeting

Local councils in County Durham are split into two categories.

  • Parish and town councils and
  • Parish Meetings

Parish and Town Councils

Parish and town councils must, by law hold at least four meetings a year, one of which must be its Annual Meeting. Most hold ten and have a recess in the summer and at Christmas.

Parish and town councils must also hold an Annual Meeting of their parish sometime between the 1 March and 1 June each year. All representatives from Community Groups etc are invited to attend this meetings for example, community and resident associations, sporting clubs, scout and guide groups etc.

The Annual Parish meeting gives all community groups and, importantly, the parish council, the opportunity to inform their community as to what is available in their area and update residents of their activities for the previous and forthcoming year. This meeting is the ideal meeting for parish councils to disseminate details of their Annual Report.

During the month of May every parish and town council must meet for its Annual Meeting, this can be one of the four meetings required by law. It is at this meeting that parish councils choose their Chairman (or Mayor in the case of a town council) for the forthcoming year. Parish council representatives to other bodies are also selected at this meeting.

Committees

Some parish and town councils operate a Committee system, for example some create Planning, Finance, Personnel,committees etc. These committees normally consist of a selected number of councillors and operate under the auspices of the full council.

Depending on the councils determination these committees can either operate with full executive, decision making powers without reference back to the full council or the council can decide that the committee can meet, make decisions which then need reporting to full council for approval. This decision rests with the parish council and should be reflected in their Standing Orders.

Decisions such as ratifying the Councils Annual Budget and precept request cannot be ratified by a committee as full council approval is always required.

Parish Meetings

Parish meetings are slightly different to parish councils. The first difference is that the chairman of a parish meeting is not elected through an election process as is the case with parish councillors. They also have a vastly reduced number of powers compared to a parish council.

There are 22 parish meetings in County Durham and these are required to meet once between the 1 March and the 1 June inclusive. They must also must meet on one other occasion throughout the year.

Parish meetings are normally called by the Chairman of the meeting who is community representative selected from within their community to discuss matters of importance to their communities.

Parish meetings usually have very small electorates. The smallest in County Durham has ten electors.

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