Public Participation
Chard Town Council welcome the attendance of members of the public and press at Full Council meetings, as well as the below committees:
- Planning & Highways Committee
- Amenities & Events Committee
- Finance and Audit. Committee.
- HR Committee
Dates of future meetings can be found on the Council Meetings page.
Council Committee meetings are formal events and as such require a set of working parameters such as Terms of Reference to include delegated authorities.
Full details can be found here: www.chard.gov.uk/your council/strategic – documents/standing orders
Chard Town Council’s standing orders are in accordance with the National Association of Local Councils (nalc) an excerpt relating to Public Participation can be found here:
nalc extract from Legal Topic Note (LTN) 5E Public participationopens PDF file
The main points to know in respect to Public Participation are:
- Members of the public can speak on items that appear on the agenda.
- They can make representations, answer questions, and give evidence on the agenda item they wish to speak on.
- A 3-minute time slot is allotted for each member of the public who wishes to speak.
- A member of the public who speaks at a committee meeting is required to direct their comments to the Chairman.
- The Chairman may direct that a written or oral response be given.
- All committee meetings are now audio recorded and available on the website.
The Town Council ask all meeting attendees to behave in a respectable, polite constructive manner.
Minutes and information for each meeting can be found below.