Carnforth Town Council supports a national campaign encouraging residents to stand in the local (parish and town) council elections.
The Make A Change campaign by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) calls on people from all backgrounds and experiences who are passionate about their local area to put themselves forward.
Carnforth Town Council is urging enthusiastic and engaged members of the community who want to make a long-lasting change, have innovative ideas or have concerns about specific issues, to stand as councillors for the opportunity to make a real difference.
What does Carnforth Town Council do?
The work Carnforth Town Council does is exciting and rewarding. The Council is responsible for, or has a direct influence on, a range of services and activities.
These include:
- managing and safeguarding Carnforth Civic Hall and Crag Bank Village Hall;
- managing Highfield Allotments;
- maintaining public open spaces, footpaths, street furniture, flower beds and planters;
- running local events and projects such as the Queen’s Jubilee Weekend, King’s Coronation Weekend and the Great Big Green Week;
- speaking and acting on behalf of our local community;
- commenting on planning applications;
On January 26th 2023, the residents of Carnforth and Crag Bank voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Carnforth Neighbourhood Plan. This is very exciting and provides a long term blue-print for our town giving our community greater control over planning applications and local development and greater influence heritage and tourism, the local economy, green spaces and our environment and tackling the impact of climate change.
Being a local councillor
As a local councillor you can become a voice for your community and make a real change. Local councillors are the champions of their community who invest time in local projects and issues to the benefit of our residents and the area.
An integral part of a councillor’s role is engaging with local people, groups, and businesses to determine their needs; making decisions on the services and projects the council should take forward; collaborating with Lancaster City and Lancashire County Council’s and getting involved to ensure services meet the community’s needs.
Local councillors are people who put their own interests last and try to help other first. They are happy with open and public debate and getting along with others, understanding different views and being able to compromise are all attributes of a good councillor.
Being a councillor is not just about going to meetings. It is about people like you having an interest in what goes on around them and being prepared to put some time in to help the community.
Carnforth Town Council meets monthly (except August) and has three committees. Councillors will be asked to represent the council on other bodies or to attend meetings on particular subjects.
The amount of time councillors spend on their responsibilities really depends on the individual – if you enjoy the challenge you will naturally spend more time meeting it!
It is important that councillors are familiar with the way councils work, the role of councillors and the legal powers and duties that councils have and an understanding of the role of the Town Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer. Full training is available on all of these matters and more.
Who can stand for election?
To stand for election to the council you must be:
- A British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of any member state of the European Union;
- At least 18 years old and;
- Meet at least one of the following qualifications;
- An elector within the Carnforth boundary;
- Have, in the past 12 months occupied land or other premises in the local area (as owner or tenant)
- Work in the area the council serves (as your principal or only place of work);
- Live within three miles of the council boundary
You can find out more about the local elections and how to become a councillor at: https://www.nalc.gov.uk/makeachange
ENDS
Contact: Bob Bailey, Town Clerk, Carnforth Town Council, 46-48 Market Street, Carnforth, email: clerk@carnforthtowncouncil.org; mobile: 078282 54149