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Town Vote In Favour Of Having Council
THE people of Nelson have voted overwhelmingly in favour of setting up a town council.
A public consultation carried out by Pendle Council has shown that residents are in favour of a Nelson Town Council by a two-to-one majority.
Of 12,108 letters sent out, 2,455 were returned with 1,647 replies in favour of the new council – 67.08 per cent – with 805 against and three listed as "other responses."
The new council would comprise 30 members, six each for the Bradley, Cloverhill and Southfield wards, and four each for the Marsden, Walverden and Whitefield wards.
A similar town council with 22 members is proposed for Colne.
The matter was due to be discussed at the full Pendle Council meeting last night, where members were presented with a report from the council's Scrutiny Management Team and Parish Review Scrutiny Panel.
Chairman Coun. Tonia Barton was to recommend the council to begin consultations with Lancashire County Council and town and parish councils before submitting recommendations to the Secretary of State and the Electoral Commission.
Pendle Council Leader Coun. Alan Davies said it was an "excellent" result.
"Anything that brings democracy as close as possible to the people is something to be applauded," he said.
"It also fits in nicely with what we expect to be in the Government White Paper on local government, deferring more powers to parish and town councils."
Nelson and Colne are currently the only unparished areas in Pendle.
If the town councils come into being, it could mean residents in the two towns paying precepts on their council tax bills on top of the basic figures, in the same way that those living in parished areas across Pendle have done for some years. If things go according to plan, the new councils will come into effect in 2008.
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Weather for Pendle
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
