Council strategy, policies and calendar of meetings

Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council’s vision is to develop an inclusive community so that Abingdon is a place where everyone wants to live and where the wellbeing of residents is prioritised.  In developing our community, the town will be one which is environmentally sustainable, vibrant, resilient and safe.

The town council’s Strategy Document sets out the key strategic objectives for the period to 2024.

Councillors

The town council consists of 19 Councillors elected for a four year term.  The current council was elected in May 2019. 

The town is divided in to a number of wards each represented by one or more councillors, depending on the size of the ward.  The wards are as follows:

Abbey

Caldecott

Dunmore

Fitzharris Ock

Fitzharris Wildmoor

Northcourt

Peachcroft

In May each year the town council holds its Annual Meeting and Mayor-Making ceremony at which one of the councillors is elected to the position of Mayor and another to the position of Deputy Mayor.

Committees

The town council usually meets six times a year.  However, much of the work of the council is delegated to standing committees to undertake. The Council has appointed the following standing committees:

• Community
• Environment and Amenities
• Finance, Governance and Asset Management
• Town Infrastructure

There is also a planning panel which meets to consider any local planning applications which town councillors wish to review.

Details of committee membership can be found here and appointments to outside bodies can be found here.  The council appoints nominees and representatives to a number of local organisations as part of its commitment to supporting local voluntary efforts in the community.

There are a number of sub-committees and working parties of the main standing committees which deal with specific issues.

All meetings of the Town Council and its committees are open to the public but occasionally the public will be excluded when confidential matters have to be discussed. 

Provision is made for the public to address and ask questions of the council.

The annual calendar of meetings can be found here.  This is sometimes subject to change so you are advised to check ahead of the meeting.

Individual agendas of the standing committees are on this site ahead of the meeting and are found in the sections entitled Minutes & Agendas for each year. (Please see menu on the left hand side.)  Minutes of the meetings are also published in this section.

Your town council

Whilst the elected members determine the strategies and policies of the council, the day to day operation of the council’s activities is undertaken by a team of paid professional officers.  The Town Clerk is the council’s chief executive, head of the paid service and and the “Proper Officer” for various other legislative obligations.  The Council Treasurer acts as the Council’s Responsible Financial Officer under s.151 of the Local Government Act 1972.

GDPR

From 25 May 2018 the town council has been subject to the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.  In accordance with the regulations it has adopted the following documents and policies:

• Privacy policy;
• General privacy notice for residents and members of the public;
• General privacy notice for staff, councillors and role holders;
• Subject access requests policy.

These can all be found below.

You can also find the Council’s publication scheme below.