Firth and Stenness community council reminder - meeting soon to elect new members

Community members in Firth and Stenness are being reminded there will be a meeting on Tuesday (2 July 2024) to elect new members onto the community council.

Community councils play a vital role in conveying the unique needs and ambitions of Orkney’s communities to decision makers, including Orkney Islands Council. They generally meet four times per year to feed back on consultations from a wide range of organisations, arrange services for their community, and consider or develop funding requests in relation to their local area.

Firth and Stenness Community Council currently has four members – with the public meeting on 2 July in the Firth Community Centre, at 7pm, providing opportunity elect up to four additional members.

Winifred Dunnet is Chair of Firth and Stenness Community Council:

“We aren’t looking for folk with degrees, you only need to be interested in how things are done. We would like a broad range so everyone is represented. A sense of humour is very welcome! If you live in Firth or Stenness and have an interest in our community please come along to the meeting - we look forward to seeing you!”

Rachael King is one of four Councillors for the West Mainland and attends all of the Community Council meetings in the ward: “Orkney's Community Councils are the envy of councils across Scotland in terms of the engagement and contributions which benefit the communities they represent.

“Issues where this local input is vital for Firth and Stenness includes representation during the lifetime of the SSEN project for the substation at Finstown and cabling to Stromness - which will link through Stenness - and health and social care planning for the area.

“While Firth and Stenness Community Council has stoically continued over recent times with the minimum of members required I am sure they would welcome the support that a greater number of representatives would provide.

“The strength of any Community Council which spans different parishes is the balance of members in that forum. Stenness is currently under-represented with three of the four current members hailing from Firth. It would therefore be fantastic to see some potential members from Stenness come forward.

“Personally I am keen to offer support to anyone who is willing to consider joining the Firth and Stenness community council - and look forward to meeting potential new members at the public meeting on 2 July.”

Karen Greaves is OIC Corporate Director, Strategy, Performance and Business Solutions:

“Being a community councillor is a great way to champion your community. It’s an interesting but very rewarding role. Having more on the Firth and Stenness community council would help spread the load, provide wider representation, and increase resilience by boosting the number of people who can attend and meet the numbers needed for meetings to go ahead.

“I’d again urge people in Firth and Stenness with a passion for improving their community to put their names forward.”

Locals interested in serving on the community council can either attend the meeting in person, or, if they’re unable to attend in person they can put in writing their willingness to stand to Orkney Islands Council, addressed to the Community Councils team.

If more than four people nominate themselves (either in writing or in person) to stand as Community Councillors on 2 July, a voting process will be triggered at the meeting, with the new members elected on the night and announced by Orkney Islands Council via its website the following day.

Only individuals entered on the current Register of Electors for the Firth and Stenness Community Council area can stand as a candidate and can propose, second and vote for a candidate. Anyone interested in standing but unsure of their status on the electoral roll should contact the Orkney Electoral Registration Office at 8 Broad Street, Kirkwall - phone 01856876222 or send an email to ero@orkney.gov.uk

For more information, contact the Council’s Democratic Services team on 01856 873535 ext 2264 or email communitycouncils@orkney.gov.uk