Community councils are voluntary organisations which are established by local government legislation and made up of people who have an interest in the wellbeing of their community. They are volunteers, although democratically elected, and their main purpose is to represent the views of their local community to the local authority and other public bodies. In particular community councils have the right to be consulted on planning and licensing applications within their area.
Community Councils may carry out a number of activities which are in the general interest of the communities they represent. This includes safeguarding and improving the amenities and environment in their area. Community Councils can also act as a campaigning body in raising awareness of specific local issues.
Examples of activities which community councils may become involved with include:
Contact details for the Secretary and Chair of each active community council are available on the relevant community council's page. The list of Community Councils are available here.
No. Community Council meetings are generally open to all members of the public, although the public may only participate and speak at meetings if invited to do so.
Complaints should be raised in the first instance with the Chairperson, Secretary or Treasurer of the community council. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you can raise this with the community council. The Complaints Procedure is outlined at Appendix 5 to the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils in Fife (the Scheme).
Elections to community councils take place every 4 years. However, in between elections if 20 electors from within the community council boundary area submit a written application (petition) to have the community council established, Fife Council will make the necessary arrangements to hold an interim election for that area. This will involve public notices, seeking nominations to the community council and making arrangements for a ballot in the event that there are more candidates than places available on the community council.
In order to stand for election and to vote at Community Council elections you must:
In Fife the number of members on a Community Council is determined by the population of the area in question, subject to a minimum of 6 members serving on a community council. This increases to up to 20 members in areas where the population is 11,000 or more. Details of the specific membership of each community council is included in Appendix 2 to the Scheme of Establishment for Community Councils.
The Scheme of Establishment for community councils acts as the constitution for all community councils throughout Fife. However, should a community council wish to adopt its own constitution it can do this so long as it does not conflict with the Scheme and is approved by Fife Council. Model Standing Orders are detailed at Appendix 3
The Scheme along with Standing Orders must be adopted at the Inaugural meeting of the community council following an election.
Office bearers must be appointed for a minimum period of one year, however the community council can agree to appoint its office bearers until the next formal election is due to take place. It is not necessary, although often preferred by community councils, that office bearers are re-elected each year at their annual general meeting.
Community councils receive an annual grant from Fife Council. They can also apply for other grants to carry out special projects or activities in their area, as well as holding fund-raising events. See further information via this link: Community group support and funding
Co-opted members are those who are elected to the community council to fill vacancies between election periods. Co-opted members must be eligible for membership of the community council as detailed in Section 6.6 of the Scheme. They must be elected to the community council by a two-thirds majority of the elected community councillors present and voting. Co-opted members shall have full voting rights, (except voting on co-option of members at the meeting that they are co-opted onto the community council), and will serve until the next round of elections. Notice of any proposed co-option of members is required to be intimated to all community council’s members at least 14 days prior to the meeting when the matter will be decided.
Elected Members of Fife Council are entitled to be ex officio members of Community Councils within their Ward. This means they are entitled to participate fully in the meeting but have no voting rights. They provide an important link between Community Councils and Fife Council, and can help the Community Council develop projects and resolve local issues.
Community councils must hold at least quarterly meetings, one of which will be the annual general meeting. With a few exceptions, meetings of the community council will be open to the public and provision must be made for this both in terms of the meeting room space and layout and public notification being given for arrangements for community council meetings. This may be done by an advertisement in the local paper; notices on village or community notice boards, on community council’s own website or by inclusion in a newsletter or leaflet drop. Most community councils hold their meetings on a regular day of the month (e.g. first Monday of each month). Notices of meeting should be made public at least 10 days prior to the date of the meeting. Agendas should be made available at least 7 days prior to the meeting date.
It should be remembered that although the meeting is open to the public, it is not a public meeting and it will be for the chairperson to decide at which point it is appropriate for members of the public to contribute. The Community council may, as part of their Standing Orders, determine how they would wish the public to participate, for example by including an item on the agenda for public input or holding an informal open discussion prior to commencing the formal meeting or allowing the public to participate prior to the final decision being taken on each item on the agenda.
Community Councils must hold at least quarterly meetings, one of which will be the annual general meeting. With a few exceptions, meetings of the Community Council will be open to the public. Provision must be made for this both in terms of the meeting room space and layout and public notification being given for arrangements for Community Council meetings. This may be done by:
Most Community Councils hold their meetings on a regular day of the month (e.g. first Monday of each month) and agendas should be made available in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Community Council or model Standing Orders provided by the Council.
It should be remembered that although the meeting is open to the public, it is not a public meeting. It will be for the chairperson to decide at which points it is appropriate for members of the public to contribute. The Community Council may, as part of their Standing Orders, determine how they would wish the public to participate. This could be by:
If a community councillor has an interest in any matter to be considered at a community council meeting, they should declare an interest in this matter, however minor, at the start of the meeting and withdraw from the meeting while the matter is being discussed.
The community councillor should consider objectively if a member of the public who knew all the facts would think that the interest was likely to influence any decision. If the community councillor thinks the public would believe their interest would influence them, they should leave the meeting for that item. Declarations of interest should be recorded in the minutes
It is for the individual community councillor to determine whether or not they have an interest in a particular item which should be declared. If it has been suggested that a particular member should have declared an interest, it would be appropriate for the Chair to enquire as to whether or not the member intended to declare an interest. It is considered preferable that a member, if in any doubt whether or not to declare an interest, does so, for transparency, and leaves the meeting.
The procedure for dealing with complaints is laid out in Appendix 5 to the Scheme of Establishment.
This covers acknowledging receipt of the complaint; investigating the complaint and reporting back to the community council; advising the complainant of the outcome of an investigation and providing advice on Stage 2 in the event that the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome. All of the above actions have a timescale attached. There is no right of appeal against a frontline resolution response or an Investigating Panel’s decision
After all debts have been paid, the remaining funds and any assets transfer back to Fife Council who will hold these for the benefit of a future community council, if established.
Any requests to amend boundaries of existing community councils, including merging adjoining community councils or subdividing existing community council areas, should be submitted in writing to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, Finance and Corporate Services. The request should demonstrate local support for the proposal such as confirmation that the matter has been discussed at a community council meeting, held in public, at which support was expressed; or the inclusion of a petition with local signatures, for example. Any Community councils adjoining or otherwise affected by the proposal must also be in agreement. See Section 4.0 of the Scheme.
Each community council will be awarded an annual administrative grant on submission and approval of a grant application. The principal purpose of the administrative grant is to assist with the operating costs of the community council. See section 13.12 of the Scheme. Community councils may occasionally wish to support local charitable or community activities through small donations. However, the administrative grant provided by the Council is intended solely to support the operating costs of the community council. As such, it should not be used for donations or discretionary contributions. Community councils are encouraged to use alternative funding sources, such as fundraising activities and external grant applications, to support such initiatives.
Fife Council is unable to provide generic email addresses for Community Councils due to data security and system access restrictions.
Community Councils are, however, free to set up their own generic email accounts using widely available services such as Outlook, Gmail, or other free providers. These options are commonly used by community groups and are suitable for managing correspondence in a secure and accessible way.
Fife Voluntary Action: Supporting volunteers, voluntary organisations and social enterprises in Fife
Fife Voluntary Action (FVA) has confirmed that they can offer guidance and support to Community Councils that require help setting up a generic email account.
Some Community Councils have chosen to purchase their own domain name and email hosting, funded through their annual grant. This is entirely optional and not a requirement. Community Councils may select whichever option best suits their needs and resources.
It is a requirement of data protection legislation that any organisation which collects or uses personal data to fulfil its function be registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller, unless it falls within one of the limited categories of exemption set out in legislation. Community Councils do not fall within any of the exemptions; therefore, they must register with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller. Registration requires renewal on an annual basis, and an annual registration fee is payable, which Fife Council will reimburse through the annual grant application process. Failure to register is a breach of the law and can lead to organisations being fined.
Further guidance on this is available from the Information Commissioner's Office.
Community Councils are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer, but best practice would be to have someone nominated within the community council to take responsibility for this area. This would include registration with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), records management and ensuring the community council displays a privacy statement.
Guidance on retention periods can be found in the guidance section of the website Training and Resources.
Community councils are required to document attendees from their list of membership in minutes, but attendees' names do not have to be written in full.
The limit is £85,000 turnover before registration for VAT. It is unlikely that any Community Council would reach this limit and be VAT registered, therefore Community Councils are not eligible for VAT relief. This means that VAT can’t be reclaimed on expenditure incurred by the Community Council. For example, for a purchase of an item at £1,000, the cost to the Community Council will be £1,200 (inclusive of VAT).
No, unless the turnover of the Community Council exceeds the £85,000 limit.
The weekly list which is accessible from the URL below. If there are any issues relating to not receiving the list, please email development.central@fife.gov.uk.
If you would like an email address added to the circulation list, please email development central. Online weekly list: Weekly Update of Applications
Yes - The LDP covers all of Fife and can be viewed here: Local development plan (FIFEplan)
Full details of permitted development rights are set out within the legislation here: The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 (legislation.gov.uk).
If you have any queries about permitted development rights, please send these to development.central@fife.gov.uk
Conservation Area Consent (CAC) is only required when demolishing a building within a Conservation Area (CA). Works to a building, such as new windows and solar panels, etc., would require Planning permission and potentially Listed Building(LB) Consent.
In some cases where a property is not within a CA and is not a LB this type of work if it meets the criteria of the PD Regs can be carried out without consent, the PD regs normally restrict this when it is within a CA or is a LB. The Scottish government is currently reviewing the Permitted Development Rights and Phase 3 of this review focuses on renewable energy equipment, replacement windows and so on.
More information can be found at the following URL’s:
DPEA is the planning and environment appeals division of the Scottish Government
There is some information on preparing Local Place Plans on the website: Local place plans
We are not aware of any funds available to communities/others for coastal resilience. The following links may be of interest.
A railway line is a major application where the length of railway exceeds 8 kilometres.
If a major application crosses multiple community council boundaries, all community councils that cover the area of the application will be consulted.
Please contact development.central@fife.gov.uk, and we will investigate.
A person or group who have submitted representations will be notified in advance of a pre-determination hearing.
FIFEplan Policy 13 Natural Environment and Access supports developments where they protect or enhance natural heritage and access assets, including green networks and green spaces.
This will form part of the assessment of planning applications. Further to this, it could partly depend on the status of the path, e.g. is it a core path, a defined right of way, etc. However, generally, we would look to protect paths. It might be that paths may be diverted if a development is planned and goes through the middle of a proposed development site, and we take advice from Fife Council's Access Officer when it comes to development which may affect a right of way, core path, etc.
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