Town Meetings

The Parish [Town] Meeting

The Local Government Act 1972 states that every parish in England must have an annual Parish [Town] Meeting, which must take place between 1st March and 1st June each year. In Crowborough we call this the ‘Town Conference’.

Parish [Town] Meetings are not to be confused with the Town Council meetings, or the Annual Statutory Meeting of the Council.

Parish [Town] Meetings – A Quick Summary

Any person on the electoral register of the parish is entitled to speak at a Parish Meeting – at a meeting of the Town Council members of the public may speak only at the Chairman’s discretion.
If present, the Chairman of the Town Council (in Crowborough this is the Mayor) must chair the Parish Meeting.
With the exception of the Chairman, councillors rank the same as other members of the electorate.
Agendas for Town Council meetings must be published three days ahead of the meeting – for Parish [Town] Meetings a skeleton agenda is usually published ahead of the meeting but further items are often included on the night of the meeting.
Only Councillors may request items to be placed on the agenda of a Town Council meeting whereas any member of the electorate may do so at a Parish Meeting.
Any matter pertinent to the parish [Town] may be discussed at a Parish Meeting, whereas at a Town Council meeting subjects for discussion should be limited to those matter on which the council has the power to act (conferred by various Acts of Parliament).
The press and general public have a right to attend Parish [Town] Meetings, but anyone not on the electoral register of the parish is ‘stranger’ and does not have the right to vote.

Finally – In essence…

A Parish Meeting is a meeting of the people of the parish [Town].

A Town Council meeting is a meeting of the Council [made up of the elected town councillors].