Hungerford in West berkshire - Town Council Activities

The Town Council is just one part of local government in Berkshire , but is the part closest to the people and represent residents at a local community level.

We try to work in partnership with West Berkshire Council and our District Councillors although we always maintain our independence from them and “fight our corner” if there are differences in our views and decisions. “West Berks” is mainly responsible for strategic services such as highways, education, planning, environmental health and refuse collection.

In Hungerford, our powers and duties cover many things that people take for granted in keeping things the way we feel is best – things such as the care and maintenance of many of our public areas, sport and recreation sites, rights of way and cemeteries and in taking care of the official Christmas decorations in the Town. . Importantly, Hungerford Town Council can “precept” – which is our demand for an amount to be included in your council tax each year to manage facilities and services for local people.

One of our most important roles though is to try and represent the views and concerns of all local residents in such things as planning applications and other things that might impact the community.

Town Council meetings are held in public – usually on the first Monday evening of each month. We are led by our Mayor and supported by the Town Clerk, whose role is to administer the Council's business and to ensure that our business is conducted within the law. The Clerk is often the first point of contact for the Council.

Councillors are elected for four years and in this time should be taking action on many things that affect the town and the community such as

• Advising on land which is suitable for industrial or residential development.

• Providing a liaison between other local authorities or official bodies – such as the Downlands Forum.

What you should also expect of us as your Council are imaginative agendas, encouragement of open debate, and constant efforts to find new ways of getting people involved.

Your councillors are a group of volunteers who work together to make decisions and produce plans for the greater community benefit. We are about listening to the views of others, getting broad agreement on the best way forward and being jointly responsible.

It is also about channelling our enthusiasm, skills and knowledge for the benefit of the whole community of Hungerford.

Holding our meetings in public and publishing the agendas for those meetings.
Having rules about our business and personal conduct.
Looking to the future and having effective forward planning proposals.
Working with other groups in the town.

Local democracy is a two way affair and we hope that you will take an interest in the things that matter most. Remember – we try to be your voice at higher levels of government and this is difficult if we don't get constructive public input and feedback.

We welcome the contribution of both public and community organisations and often being active in a local group and establishing a dialogue with the Council is a good way to put your views forward.

If you wish to become actively involved, you could consider being an elected Councillor – and joining the team.

Town Council elections take place every 4 years, although in between there may be elections to fill casual vacancies. No formal qualifications are needed but there are certain simple rules to satisfy if you wish to be considered.

The full Hungerford Town Council meets at least 10 times per year and sub-committees more frequently. Your time commitment would depend on how much participation you make in one or more of the four active sub committees and other working groups that we currently have.

Each one of the Councils operating committees have placed information on their specific activities in their own section of this web site .. so please visit their pages and learn some more of the detail behind their roles.

The Finance and General Purposes committee provides the financial control for the Town Council and ensures that our monetary resources are managed wisely, with the greatest benefit to all residents and within the financial rules governing Local Authorities.

F&GP, as it is known, meets on a monthly basis with extra meetings being held in April, October and December to discuss specific issues, such as the Councils annual monetary requirement. These projected requirements are presented to West Berkshire District Council as an annual demand – or Precept - for the coming financial year. This Precept will influence the level of Council Tax payable by each household within our Parish so a great deal of thought goes into setting the spending level each year.

Only one Precept may be issued in respect of each financial year although there are no limits on the total amount which may be required.

Throughout the year, F&GP's main activity is the co-ordination of the budgets of all other spending committees along with any proposed projects for the future that may have financial implications for the Council, and routine monitoring of the expenditure of the Council and discussing this expenditure at its meetings.

Accounts submitted for payment are considered, audited and approved at its monthly meeting and c heques for payment are signed and put to full Council on the same day for ratification.

The 7 person committee is made up of a Chairman, the Chairman and one other member of both the Highways and Transport and Recreation and War Memorials committees, The Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and the Chairman of the Environment and Planning committee.

All members of the Finance and General Purposes committee must be members of the Council.

The Chairman is usually a Town Councillor of at least two or three years experience as a Councillor and one who will have served on all other committees on Town Council.

Accounts are audited yearly by an external Auditor appointed by the Audit Commission and are available to the general public at the Annual Parish Meeting.

Another important function of F&GP is to distribute Schedule 137 funds. This is an amount of money outside of the precept, allocated to local Councils by the Government based on the number of households within the Councils Parish, and is given by way of grants, in response to application, to deserving causes within the Councils catchment area.

The applications for grants are considered by the committee in December and are paid to successful applicants in the following April. Any organisation or individual is eligible to apply for a grant and there is no specified criteria for selection except that grants must be of benefit to the people of Hungerford.

Further details of these grants and information on how community organizations can apply for funds can be obtained from the Town Clerk.

Hungerford Town Council's Environment and Planning Committee meets on alternate Mondays at the Corn Exchange building in Hungerford commencing at 7.00 p.m.

It meets to discuss planning applications submitted to West Berkshire Council for building, structures, alterations and for other planning amendments that need the approval of the Downlands Planning Committee which covers a wide area of West Berkshire.

The West Berks planning department send on these applications for our consideration and members of Hungerford Town Council E&P committee consider these submissions in the context of what it feels is in the best interests of Hungerford, its residents and within the tradition of the Town. There are Government and local authority guidelines to help us in these considerations. Our aim is also to deliberate on the possible effects of any application that may impact the local environment, being in an area of A.O.N.B., and may oppose any proposal that may be of detriment to the beauty and the well-being of the town.

In many cases, we will also do our best to protect against over-development in tightly enclosed areas and monitor any changes requested to the many listed buildings throughout Hungerford.

It is particularly anxious that advertising, i.e. shop sign illuminations are kept to the minimum and, where it is essential, is in keeping with its surrounding area.

Occasionally a major developer may purchase building land and a presentation will be expected to indicate density and design of the proposed development. Hungerford T.C. is extremely protective of its environment and would need to be convinced that the need for any larger development would outweigh the abandonment of a parcel of land on the outskirts of the Town.

The Planning Committee decide on approximately 6 submitted plans per meeting and its deliberation and our decisions are sent to the Downlands Planning Committee in Newbury who are included in the decision making process at meetings which are held approximately once per month.

All plans are available for perusal at the Magistrates Room in Hungerford Corn Exchange each Wednesday and any individual can make written comments to the Chairman of Planning. Any proposer or objector can request to speak at an Area Planning Committee Meeting.

Although we do try and represent the interests of the broader Hungerford community, both residential and commercial, our recommendations are just that – recommendations - and the final authority ultimately rests with WBC.

The public highways are owned by West Berkshire Council as the Highway Authority. If you have concerns about road maintenance you should call Streetcare on 01635 519080. The website is westberks.gov.uk or email to streetcare@westberks.gov.uk.

Christmas Lights This is one of the main expenses under the control of this Committee. There has been much discussion this year about the lights which were extended in coverage and costs reduced.

Litter on the Streets A litter day was recently set up to clean up Hungerford. If you notice litter let us or Streetcare know and we will try and get it cleared up. There has also been much concern about dog fouling along footpaths and the Triangle Field. The Council members have been placing additional signs on paths warning of the maximum penalty of £1000. Mike Meddings has carried out a review of monitoring the street cleaning process and has made major progress in working with West Berkshire and getting our streets cleaner.

Footpaths These are monitored and a survey of all paths and pathfinder arrows carried out. Much of this was done by David Long and he has assisted in completing the way finder markings.

Public Seats A survey of the condition of each seat has just been carried out by Mike Meddings. Options are being considered as to how best repair and maintain these seats.

The Use of SID (Speed Indicator Device) Councillors Mansil Morgan and Mike Meddings have been on a course on the use of the speed indicator devices. This helps to identify locations of speeding traffic. The benefits of this compared to the proposed permanent speed warning signs on the approaches to Hungerford has been debated;

Taxi Ranks Hungerford does not have a taxi rank. Consideration of alternative locations for a taxi rank has taken place. A debate is underway about the appropriateness of a rank on the High Street outside Inklings as proposed by West Berkshire;

Traffic Calming Working Group This has recently been set up in response to concerns about traffic speeds and the members of this group are Richard Hudson, Michael Meddings & Elizabeth Cardwell.

Reducing vehicle speeds reduces accidents and reduces the severity of accidents. The group are looking at 6 main issues: