Whitby Town Council Says Call for Town Meeting is "Invalid"

Monday, 18 December 2023 15:34

By Matthew Pells

Whitby Town Council says a Town Meeting called for Tuesday night is invalid.

Posters announcing the "Town Meeting/Assembly" have appeared around the town and were sent to media outlets last week, it's not clear from the poster who is behind the call for the meeting and the Town Council say it is an "Invalid Meeting"

The local government act of 1972 makes provision for parishioners to call parish meetings and two similar meetings have been held in the town this year.

The 1972 act says

A parish meeting may be convened by -

    (a) the chairman of the parish council, or

    (b) any two parish councillors for the parish, or

    (c) where there is no parish council, the chairman of the parish meeting or any person representing the parish on the district council, or

    (d) any six local government electors for the parish.

It also says that

"Not less than seven clear days before a parish meeting, public notice of the meeting shall be given, specifying the time and place of the intended meeting and the business to be transacted at the meeting, and signed by the person or persons convening the meeting. "

Whitby Town Council says that despite the meeting notices being issued on December 11th and the meeting being scheduled for 6pm on December 19th, the requirement for seven clear days notice has not been met as the legal definition of "clear days" excludes Sundays.

It's also the case that neither the posters displayed around the town or the version sent to the media were signed by the people convening the meeting.

In a statement on it's website Whitby Town Council said:

"The town council is aware that a meeting, described as a 'Town Meeting/Assembly' is currently being advertised.

The town council has sought advice on the notice which has been posted and it has been confirmed by the National Association of Local Council's legal team that:

'The notice itself is evidence of the failure to provide the requisite number of clear days'.

'The council should also do anything reasonably possible in the timescale to notify all electors that the meeting is not validly called and therefore anything done at the meeting is invalid'.

The poster announcing the meeting included an agenda to discuss proposed council tax increases in the town, the Whitby Town Deal Projects and the new Whitby Secondary School.

Whitby Community Network issued a press release last week drawing attention to the town assembly meeting and including a copy of the meeting notice, but the organisation says it isn't behind the meeting.

The Town Council would be responsible for paying for venue hire for official town meetings but says as this meeting is "invalid" it has no involvement in the event.