Council
Committees
Committees are the decision-making bodies of the town council.
Related Pages: Agenda & Minutes / Working Groups
Committee Meeting Dates – May 2022 – April 2023
Committee and Working Groups – Council Members 2022-2023
Committee’s meet in public. Any member of the public is entitled to attend but it’s important to note that they are not entitled to speak at these meetings. All Westbury Town Council committee meetings are proceeded by a Public Forum at which all members of public may speak on any subject; it should be noted that if the subject is not a subject on the agenda it will not be possible for councillors to make any decisions on that matter in the main meeting.
In practice, chairs commonly allow the public to speak within a meeting (by a special vote of the committee) but they are entitled do you stop people speaking through lack of time, or abusive and disruptive behaviour; in the event that someone continues to disrupt a committee meeting of the council after being warned by the chair to stop, the town clerk may ask the police to remove that person.
All decisions are voted and such votes are carried out in public unless the clerk rules that the item is confidential (e.g. staff conduct) at which the committee may vote to exclude the public and press. Such items are usually termed as being “under part 2 of the agenda)
Remote Meetings
For remote meetings, Westbury Town Council uses Office365 Teams, live events. This is secure, allows the council to invite guests and up to 20,000 members of the public could watch and hear the meeting live. It also has the ability to record meetings, share information (agendas, minutes and reports), chat and the public can choose to turn on captions.
You can use Teams on the following mobile platforms:
- Android phones and tablets
- iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Town Council Committee
The principle committee of the “Town Council” or “Full Town Council”. It is the only committee we must have by law and sits above any other committees.
All councillors are members of town council. This committee holds all the powers and rights available to the town council.
It is the only committee that can make a major spending decisions and binding policies.
Other Committees
The Town council has a number of committees which are formed under the authority of the full town council. These committees have delegated powers meaning they can carry out some of the functions of the town council but only as determined (delegated) by the town council. By law some decisions, particularly those affecting larger expenditure, can only be made at meetings of the full town council.
In principle, members of the public can be co-opted on to these committees.
Highways, Planning and Development (HP&D)
Which has delegated powers to deal with planning matters. This committee is often referred to as “H, P & D”. Westbury Town Council does not grant or refuse planning permission, but it is a statutory consultee meaning the local planning authority (Wiltshire Council) must ask for the town council’s opinion.
Committee:
Chair: Cllr M Sutton
Vice Chair: Cllr D Hamilton-Sheen
Members: Cllrs: S Kimmins, G King, J Russ, P Stallard, M Bailey, M Naxton, P Harcourt
Policy and Resources (P&R)
Which determines the council’s activity outside of planning and development.
Committee:
Chair:
Vice Chair:
Members: Cllrs: M Dean, S Kimmins, G King, J Russ, M Sutton, P Stallard, K Knight, P Harcourt
Financial & Strategic Planning
Which has an overview function of all council expenditure and helps to prepare budgets.
Committee:
Chair: Cllr D Hamilton-Sheen
Vice Chair: Cllr M Sutton
Members: Cllrs: S Kimmins, G King, K Knight, P Harcourt
These are all termed standing committees as they remain in effect.
Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
Is also a committee. It has responsibility for making decisions around the activities of the various neighbourhood planning interest groups. It has members who are not councillors.
Committee:
Chair:
Vice Chair:
Members: Cllrs: S Kimmins, G King, J Russ, M Sutton, M Naxton, K Knight, P Harcourt and members of the public
Climate Emergency
Committee:
Chair:
Vice Chair:
Members: Cllrs: S Kimmins, G King, J Russ, P Stallard, M Sutton, M Bailey, D Hamilton-Sheen
Vision for Westbury
Committee:
Chair:
Vice Chair:
Members: Cllrs: D Hamilton-Sheen, S Kimmins, G King, J Parker, J Russ, M Bailey, M Naxton, P Stallard, P Harcourt
Representatives of the Council on other bodies:
68 (Westbury) Sqn ATC – Cllr M Dean
Elbag Twinning – Cllr J Russ
French Twinning – Cllr M Bailey
Health and Wellbeing – Cllr S Kimmins
Leigh Park Community Campus Project – Cllr M Sutton
Local Highway & Footway Improvement Group (LHFIG) – Cllr M Sutton
Northacre – Hills Liaison Group – Cllrs J Russ
Northacre – Community Liaison Group – Cllr M Bailey
Rural Market Towns Group – Cllr M Sutton
University of the Third Age (U3A) – Cllr G King
WALPA – Cllr M Dean and Cllr G King, Deputy
Warminster CCTV – Cllr M Dean
Westbury Area Board – Cllr S Kimmins
Westbury District Twinning Association – Cllr M Sutton
Westbury Heritage Society – Cllr D Hamilton-Sheen
Westbury Welfare of the Elderly – Cllr P Stallard
Wiltshire Association of Local Councils – Cllr M Dean
Wiltshire Council Rights-of-Way – Cllr G King