Communicating with the Council
Participation at Meetings
Members of the public and press have a right to attend meetings of Sandy Town Council and its committees and we welcome them to all these meetings. Members of the public will only be excluded from all or part of a meeting if publication of an item of business would be prejudicial to the public interest because of its confidential nature or other special reason. If this becomes necessary the Chairman of the meeting will explain the procedure to members of the public present. The Chairman of the meeting will manage proceedings and all questions or statements should be addressed to the Council through the Chairman.
Members of the public are invited to sit at the back of the Council Chamber and are asked to arrive 5 - 10 minutes before the meeting so they can complete a notification form if they wish to speak at the meeting. (The reason for this is to allow the Chairman to regulate the meeting effectively.) Once you have completed the form hand it to the clerk or to a councillor. At each meeting there will usually be two opportunities to address the Council:
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Public Participation Session / Questions - during this session members of the public who have completed a notification form will be allowed to ask questions of the meeting on any relevant topic.
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Specific Items - members of the public who have completed a notification form may address the council on a specific item of business which is on the agenda of the meeting. They will be called to speak (for a maximum of 3 minutes only) immediately before the item is discussed.
Please be aware that councillors and members of the public are not permitted to enter into debate or discussions during these sessions. All questions will be answered by the council in due course but you should not expect them to be answered during the meeting. Personal details of those members of the public who ask questions (ie name and address) will not be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
The main purpose of council meetings is decision making by councillors and therefore meetings are not always the best platform for communicating with the council.
Other ways of communicating with us
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Contact a councillor - Councillor contact details are published locally and on our website and our councillors are keen to talk to anyone who lives or works in Sandy about local issues.
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Electronic communication - you can email us at [email protected] or contact us via our website.
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Contact the clerk or other officers - our office is open to the public Mondays and Wednesdays 9am -4pm and Fridays from 9am - 2pm. Appointments may be made at other times by arrangement. Our contact details are: Sandy Town Council, 10 Cambridge Road, Sandy, SG19 1JE. 01767 681491.
Please tell us if there are other ways you would like us to communicate with you.