Local Democracy: Hailsham Residents Invited to Attend Town Council Meetings

As part of its commitment to listening to the views of the public and taking these into account in its decision-making processes, Hailsham Town Council is issuing information on public attendance at meetings.

Members of the public and the press are welcome to observe the Council’s meetings (including those of individual committees), with the exception of individual items of confidential business, meetings held to discuss matters of a confidential nature and informal workshops.

Attendance at public meetings…

• All meetings of the Council are open to the public and members of the public may come and go during the meeting as they wish (provided that this does not disrupt proceedings). On occasions, the public and the press may be asked to leave the meeting if matters of a commercially confidential or other sensitive nature are being considered.
• At all public meetings, members of the public are invited to address councillors during the 15 minutes set aside for this purpose at the start of each meeting. Although there is an allocated time for public questions, this may be extended by the Chairman at their discretion.
• Questions may be asked without notice prior to any meeting but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, the question should be delivered either in writing (Hailsham Town Council, Inglenook, Market Street, BN27 2AE) or by email no later than two clear working days before the meeting. Questions must give the name and address of the questioner.
• The option to ask an additional question will be at the Chairman’s discretion.
• No oral question will receive a guaranteed written response, unless the member responding indicates as such.
• Questions must be of relevance to the Council’s activities or, in the case of a committee, to the remit of that committee.

The Town Council’s public committees…

• Assets Management Committee (Town Council-maintained buildings and land)
• Communities Committee (Town revitalisation, markets, events and Hailsham Youth Service)
• Finance & governance Committee (Precept, budget, finance, policy and contracts)
• Planning & Development Committee (Commenting on planning/development related matters)
• Neighbourhood Planning Committee (Production of Plan guiding future development)

Details of meetings…

A full schedule of Committee meetings, in addition to bi-monthly meetings of Full Council, is available to view on the Town Council website.

A copy of the agenda for these meetings is displayed on the noticeboard outside the Town Council offices, as well as on the Council’s website.

Message from Corporate Services Manager Emily Hastings…

“Local government needs local people. The Town Council is determined to make Hailsham a great place to live, work and learn and residents can get involved by attending, observing, making an enquiry or raising an issue relating to Town Council services at our regular meetings.”

“Council meetings are a great way to learn first-hand how local decisions are made and the Town Council is committed to community engagement. So, if there is an issue you think is important or where you believe the Town Council can make improvements you may want to bring it to the attention of members, please do consider observing some of our meetings.”