Folkestone Town Council

The official Folkestone Town Council web site is at www.folkestonetc.kentparishes.gov.uk

These pages were created by Folkestone Town Councillor Tim Prater, and are intended to be a useful resource of Folkestone Town Council related information, but are not an official resource, or under any Council control. Please report any errors or omissions to tim@shepwaylibdems.org.uk - thank you!

Folkestone Town Council came into being on 24 June 2004, following a referendum in 2003 in which over 70% of voters backed plans for the Council, and the approval of the Secretary of State.

Folkestone Town Council, as well as taking over the running of the Mayoralty and various civic events, also has the statutory duty to provide allotments within the town, and works to make Folkestone a better place to live: through specific improvement projects, grants to local organisations, offering opinions on Folkestone planning applications and working in partnership with other organisations including Shepway District Council, Kent County Council and many others.

• Folkestone Civic Events

Councillors and Elections

All Folkestone Town Councillors are re-elected every four years, with the last election being on 3 May 2007, and the next due on 5 May 2011. There are 18 Councillors, representing the Folkestone wards: Cheriton (3 Councillors), East (2), Foord (2), Harbour (2), Harvey Central (2), Harvey West (2), Morehall (2) and Park (3).

In the elections of May 2007, 11 Liberal Democrat Councillors were elected, 3 Conservative, 3 People First and one Independent. There are now [July 2008] 7 Liberal Democrats, 7 Conservatives, 3 People First and one Independent.

All Councillors are listed below, and councillors also sit on the Councils Committees and Working Groups. Details of those committees and Working Groups, what they do and who sits on them is given on the Committee and Working Group Pages.

• Folkestone Town Council - Committees

• Folkestone Town Council - Working Groups

Minutes, agendas and papers from Folkestone Town Council meetings are public information and are available at www.folkestonetc.kentparishes.gov.uk/Minutes/. Papers from May 2007 are also available from this site, separated into directories for ease of searching and finding.

• Minutes, agendas and papers from Folkestone Town Council meetings from May 2007 onwards

Folkestone Town Councillors

Liberal Democrats

Full contact details for all Liberal Democrat Councillors can be found at www.shepwaylibdems.org.uk/contact/

• Lynne Beaumont (Park)

• Gary Fuller (Harvey Central)

• Dhan Gurung (Cheriton)

• Tom McNeice (Morehall)

• Tim Prater (Cheriton): Liberal Democrat Group Leader

• Bev Rolfe (Park)

• Maggie Sheldrake (Park)

Conservatives

• George Bunting (Harvey West)

• Peter Gane (Cheriton)

• Martin Salmon (East)

• Emily Sanger (Harbour)

• Richard Theobold (Harvey Central)

• Sue Wallace (Harbour)

• Rodica Wheeler (Harvey West): Conservative Group Leader

People First

• Janet Andrews (East)

• Brian Copping (Foord): People First Group Leader

• Paul Marsh (Foord)

Independent

• Richard Wallace (Morehall)

Past Composition of Folkestone Town Council

The first elections to Folkestone Town Council were held in June 2004, with Councillors elected for just under 3 years until the next all-out elections which where set for May 2007. There were three by-elections (East, Harbour and Cheriton) in that time, with the last being in Cheriton in March 2006. The composition of the Council following those by-elections (therefore from April 2006 - May 2007) was:

Lib Dem (4): Peter Gane (Cheriton), Tim Prater (Cheriton), Hugh Robertson-Ritchie (Foord), Emily Sanger (Harbour). Conservative (5): George Bunting (Harvey West), Dan Hassett (Morehall), Margaret Newcombe (Park), Richard Theobold (Harvey Central), Rodica Wheeler (Harvey West). People First (2): Janet Andrews (East), Paul Marsh (Foord). Go Folkestone (7): Terry Begent (Harbour), Ann Berry (Park), Paul Fox (Harvey Central), Lynne Smith (Cheriton), Richard Wallace (Morehall), Pat West (East), Jonnick Wicken (Park).