West Linton Community Council

Welcome to the web page for our Community Council. We hope that you find it useful in explaining what the Community Council does and how you can contact us if you need our help or support.

Downloads

Download details of how to view the North Slipperfield Planning Application or download this Word document with links to the North Slipperfield planning applications. The North Slipperfield planning applications turned out to be very contentious with a lot of discussion within the community council and from residents. The community council considered the comments from all parties to formulate its response which it submitted to Scottish Borders Council. It is reproduced here for convenience.

If you are interested in the planning application from Manor Kingdom in association with the DeVere Group that has gone in for a luxury 5-Star Spa Resort Hotel at Rutherford you can view it on the Scottish Borders Council website.

Robinsland Planning Brief - Scottish Borders Council have removed the planned link roads between Robinsland Drive and St Andrews Close!

Download the Scottish Borders Council General Household Survey 2008. "All completed questionnaires are returned to our consultants, who carry out the distribution and analysis on our behalf. This means the SBC are unable to attribute responses to an individual. "We also use the Household Survey as a means to recruit new members to the People's Panel. The Panel currently consists of approximately 1,900 local residents who are contacted with surveys/questionnaires 4-5 times a year by SBC Departments and our Community Planning Partners."

Download a poster about Borders Women's Aid (Word)

Download the Agenda for the next meeting, 11 August 2008

Archive by year: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

What is the Community Council?

West Linton Community Council is, like other Community Councils in Scotland, a voluntary organisation set up by statute, made up of people who give time to, and have a genuine interest in, the well-being of the West Linton community. The Community Council members are residents of the area who act on behalf of local people to try and preserve those aspects of the community that they believe are worth retaining, while also encouraging developments which will benefit the community and ensure that it will continue to thrive.

These documents are provided for advice in Acrobat pdf format:

• Anti-Social Behaviour
• Benefits Advice (0ver 60)
• Home Visiting Advice (over 60)

Our primary role is representative - to consult the local community and to make known to public bodies, Scottish Borders Council in particular, the views of local people on all matters affecting them. These public bodies have a duty to consult the Community Council on how local services are delivered and on other issues affecting our area. Community Councils have the statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. We monitor all such applications and, where appropriate, amendments are suggested or written objections are submitted. We are also kept informed about other issues such as licensing applications.

Community Councils were introduced through the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Act states that:

The role of a Community Council is to ascertain, co-ordinate and express to the relevant authority the views of the community to which it represents and to take such action in the interests of the community as appears it to be expedient and practicable.

West Linton Community Council was created in 1974 and consists of 9 elected members together with various ex-officio and co-opted members, including our local Councillor.

Unlike Councillors, MSP's etc, Community Councillors are elected for their three-year term of office as individuals, without the support of any political party. Party politics plays no part in Community Councils.

Meetings and Members

We meet once a month, on the second Monday at 7.30pm in the Village Visitor Centre. These meetings are open to all local residents and a period is set aside for members of the public to raise matters of concern and to question the Community Council on any topic that they have asked to be included on the agenda. This is one of the ways you can "have your say" on any decision or question which affects the public life of the area. Our typical agenda includes discussion on environmental issues, greens and public areas, roads and footpaths and transport matters.

You can contact any member of the Community Council to discuss relevant issues or ask for a matter to be raised at our meetings. Download an Acrobat PDF of the current membership of the Community Council here.

The meetings are attended by a member of Lothian and Borders Police and by other officials as necessary.

Other Community Council Activities

The Community Council has a role in providing a number of amenities in the village, for example:

• Christmas lights;
• Litter bins; and
• Seats and benches.

The Community Council also has a role in supporting:

The Alice Hamilton Trust, which manages a fund from which monies can be drawn to be spent on projects that benefit the whole of the community. Recently, the Trust has funded the cost of a new bridge over the Lyne and the cost of a new public address system for the Whipman; and

The Betty Aikman Fund, which disburses funds to school leavers to assist in the cost of moving on into higher or further education. Click here to download a pdf with further details.

You can contact the Community Council for more details.