There are many ways you can have your say and get involved in local decisions.  Some of these are listed below.

You can go to most Council, Cabinet and committee meetings unless sensitive or confidential information is being discussed.

Papers for the meetings are available on this website before the meetings - see Search - Agendas, Minutes & Reports.

To find out more about meetings, check out our leaflet on attending council meetings (see Related Documents).

Are you concerned about a Council service or an issue that affects local people?  You can organise a petition and hand it to the Council to get your message across.  You can also speak and present your petition to the Mayor and all the councillors at a Council meeting.

There are certain things you need to do to send in a petition.  To find out how to send in a petition look at our guide on petitions (see Related Documents).

Public question time sessions are held at Council and Cabinet meetings.  You can ask a question or make a statement on Council services (except planning or licensing applications).

You need to send us your question or statement 11 working days before the meeting.  At the meeting you will have three minutes to outline your question/statement.  To find out how to submit a question or statement read our guide to public question time (see Related Documents).

If you are in support of or against a planning application, you can speak at meetings where the application will be decided (usually the Development Control Committee).  Find out how you can make a representation and speak at meetings on planning applications on the Planning Guidance webpages.

You can speak on licence applications or pavement café permits.  Find out more on the Licensing FAQs webpage.

Have your say on issues that are under scrutiny or become a member of our community pool.  Find out more on our Overview and Scrutiny pages.

You can find out what decisions are going to be made and when by looking at our agendas and the Mayor’s Forward Plan.

Community Partnerships are voluntary groups of people based on each ward in Torbay.  They are for people who live or work in the area to discuss issues of local concern.  Through the partnerships, you can understand and influence the way in which services are provided in your area.  Find out more on our Community Partnerships pages.

There are people who are elected to represent you in government locally (Mayor and Councillors), nationally (Members of Parliament) and in Europe (Members of European Parliament). To find out more, visit the Your Representatives page.

Have you ever thought about becoming a councillor? To find out more, visit our Electoral Services webpages.

Related Documents

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