Annual Town Meeting

Under the Local Government Act 1972 s9 all parishes/towns in England must hold an Annual Parish/Town Meeting. This is an annual statutory public meeting of the Town’s electors and is therefore not used to address standard Council business.The Annual Town meeting is a review of the Council year and follows a legal requirement for town and parish councils to hold an electors meeting, once a year to raise an issue of their choice.

Section 9 of the Local Government Act 1972 states that “for every parish there shall be a parish meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs and exercising any functions conferred on such meetings by any enactment…”

Section 13 of the Act states that “the parish meeting of a parish shall consist of the local government electors for the parish”.

The 1972 Local Government Act therefore requires every town and parish council to host a meeting between March and June each year, to which all their electors are invited.

The meeting is open to the public and all residents who are on the electoral role of the parish are entitled to raise an issue of their choice at the meeting. The Annual Town Meeting is not a council meeting; it is a meeting of the town electors and often involves partners such as Police and District and County Councillors. 

The meeting is chaired by the Mayor of Woodbridge but Councillors have no more standing than other electors of Woodbridge.  The meeting is an open forum giving residents an opportunity to raise issues they feel are important to the town. This could be:

 - Suggesting ideas for the Town Council to investigate

 - Raising concerns about planned activities in the town

  - Asking questions to the Town Council

 - Raising general issues affecting the town

The annual meeting is an opportunity to debate important local issues and celebrate community achievements and awards. Local organisations who have benefited from council grants are invited to provide a report on their activities, however any local organisation wishing to address the meeting are welcome. The Mayor also produces an annual report. 

Full agenda

Report from the Mayor of Woodbridge, Cllr. Robin Sanders. 

Report from the Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP.

Report from the County Councillor for Woodbridge, Cllr. Ruth Leach.

Report from the District Councillor for Woodbridge, Cllr. Stephen Molyneux.