Cromarty & District Community Council (C&DCC)
Community Councils across Scotland were established by law in 1973. Although Community Councils have statutory duties in terms of licensing and planning, they are essentially voluntary bodies.
The key roles of Community Councils (as described by the Highland Council) are:
- To represent the views of the community to The Highland Council and other public bodies operating in their area
- To act to further the interests of their communities
- To be consulted on planning applications within their area
- To consider exercising their powers to object to the granting, renewal or transfer of liquor licences.
The present Cromarty & District Community Council was elected in November 2019 for a term of four years. It represents the area of not just Cromarty but also the surrounding district broadly up to the edge of Jemimaville. This is the current map showing the boundaries.
The Community Council consists of up to a maximum of seven elected (or co-opted) Members and a maximum of two appointed Youth Members (aged 16-18). From the elected members the Council elects three office-bearers annually at the AGM. There are currently five Elected Members, one Youth Member (Youth Members have full voting rights but are not allowed to appoint other Youth Members or elect Co-opted Members) and one Co-opted Member (Co-opted Members have full voting rights but are not allowed to appoint Youth Members or elect other Co-opted Members). C&DCC meetings require a quorom of at least four Members (Elected, Co-opted and/or Youth) present.
The office-bearers are elected for one year at a time and currently they are as follows:
- Chairman: Paige Shepherd
- Secretary: Peter Ratcliffe
- Treasurer: Alan Plampton
Other Elected Members (Non office-bearers): Kari Magee and Nigel Shapcott
Youth Member: Tilly Grist
Co-opted Member: Andy Thurgood
The Minute Secretary from February 2021 is Claire Fraser (a non-elected member of the Council and not entitled to vote). Portfolios were updated in February 2020 and are listed here.
C&DCC Youth representative: Vacant but covered by Youth Members
Meetings
The Community Council normally meets online usually on the last Monday of the month (apart from July and December) at 7.30pm, and all members of the community are welcome to attend. The agenda is posted on Cromarty Live, on the Cromarty Post Office noticeboard and on the Cromarty Council Notice board (opposite the Cromarty Post Office) a week before the meeting date. We welcome attendance at our meetings and are always available if residents have any concerns. The C&DCC Members' names and contact details can be found on the Cromarty Live Members page.
Portfolios
Community Council Members undertake responsibility for certain community activities and duties. Members can be supported by non-C&DCC Members with a particular expertise and/or knowledge. The current full list of Portfolio responsibilities can be found here.
Minutes
Minutes of each meeting are taken and approved at the next community council meeting. They are then
made available on Cromarty Live. To find them on Cromarty Live, go to the Document Library and look at the bottom of the list for the folder of the year's minutes you require (for example: 2018_cdcc_minutes). Open the folder, and then click on the particular month's minutes you wish to read.
