Community governance reviews

We can decide to hold a review ourselves, or they can be triggered by people submitting a petition to us.

The review can look at the whole district or just part of it, and can think about any of the following:

• Creating, merging, changing or getting rid of parishes or town councils.
• Naming, style and the electoral arrangements for parishes and town councils; including the year of election, number of council members and the wards.
• Grouping parishes together under a common parish council, or splitting up parishes.

We must make sure the governance under review reflects the identities and interests of the community in that area, as well as being effective and helpful.

Every review must take into account the size, population and boundaries of that community or parish, as well as the impact any changes might have.

The role of town and parish councils

Town and parish councils are the most local form of government. They collect money from council tax payers - known as a 'precept' - to invest in their area and improve services and facilities.

Examples of the services they might look after include:

• Allotments
• Maintaining parks and open spaces
• Bus shelters and community transport
• Community centres and leisure facilities
• Crime reduction and community safety
• Festivals, events and tourism
• Litter bins, street cleaning and street lights

They can be the voice of the community, and will work with other levels of local government and local organisations to coordinate and look after services and work to improve quality of life in their area.

Whitstable community governance review

We did a second round of consultation in May and June of this year (2024).

Concluding reports and decisions

The review ended in October 2024, with a decision to not go ahead with the adoption of a town council.

You can see the final decision and background documents in the Full Council agenda (24 October 2024) - you'll need to go to item 360b.

Westbere and Hersden boundary review

We consulted on a review to make a change to the Westbere parish boundary. 

The change was to include a piece of land called the Bread and Cheese Field within the boundary. 

A report on the feedback we got was submitted to the committee and council in July 2024. 

Concluding reports and decisions

We agreed to amend the boundary to include Bread and Cheese Field within the Westbere parish.

You can see the final decision and background documents in the Full Council agenda (24 October 2024) - you'll need to go to item 360a.