Council strategy, documents and calendar of meetings

The Town Council’s vision is to develop an inclusive community so that Abingdon is the place where everyone wants to live and where the wellbeing of residents is prioritised.  In developing this 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.

The Town Council consists of 19 Members 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 and Peachcroft.

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

The Town Council usually meets five times a year. However much of the work of the Council is delegated to committees to undertake. The Council has appointed the following committees: Amenities and Recreation; Community Services; County Hall Museum Management; Finance and General Purposes; Guildhall; and Planning, Highways and Consultations.

For details of committee membership please click here and for  appointments to outside bodies please click here.

There are also 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 they will be excluded when confidential matters have to be discussed. Provision is made for the public to address and ask questions of the council.

Meetings either take place in the Roysse Room at the Guildhall (accessed through the Bridge Street entrance) or the Roysse Court meeting room.

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.

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.

The Council’s annual calendar of meetings is attached at the bottom of this page. This is sometimes subject to change so you are advised to check ahead of the meeting on the monthly meetings notice and for the copies of agendas (see below).

Each month a notice of meetings for the month ahead is also published and appears at the bottom of this page.

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.

From 25^th 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 Councils Publication scheme below.