Area Working

What does Area Working aim to do?

Area Working aims to strengthen the links between SSDC and local communities and provides community leadership and engagement at a local level.

Area Working helps us do this by: -

- enabling councillors to do their work more effectively and responding to local needs and issues

- getting things done in the community and helping communities help themselves

- engaging with citizens so that the right things are done

- supporting the local economy and helping to achieve well-balanced growth and development

- maximising the results and using feedback to ensure we learn together about what works

At the heart of the Area Working system are four Area Committees - North, South, East and West - made up of all the councillors elected from the wards within the area.

We also produce Area Development Plans and capital investment programmes for each area which informs the work programme of the Area Development service teams.

How do Area Committees make a difference?

We have four Area Committees to take decision-making closer to local communities.

Area Committees meet monthly in local community venues or at one of our our public offices across South Somerset and make decisions to help promote sustainable local communities and discuss issues of interest and concern.

The range of issues covered by the Area Committee (known as the 'Area Portfolio') includes local regeneration and community planning, community development, links with town and parish councils, area and community offices, markets, and community safety.

Each Area Committee has a limited amount of its own resources, allocated from the Council's main budget to help support investments into local prorities. The Area Committee will also seek to work with other public bodies such as Somerset County Council or town and parish councils to help make a difference at a local level.

Each year the Area Committee will establish key priorities for the year ahead, drawn from regular consultation with a range of local organisations, including community groups, businesses and town and parish councils, and residents.

The four Area Chairmen sit on the District Executive and also the Local Strategic Partnership (South Somerset Together) ensuring local influence on strategic priorities and supporting district-wide priorities to be owned and delivered at a local level.

How do I take part at an Area Committee?

Area Committee meetings are open to the public who are able to address the meeting on any agenda item, including planning items, or raise other issues under public question time. Meeting agendas are normally divided into two parts - planning applications and other business, with a short break in the middle.

Members of the public can request to speak during the Public Particpation item on the agenda. Each individual speaker shall be restricted to a total of three minutes. Generally speaking,  this part of the meeting is limited to 15 minutes except with the consent of the Chairman of the Committee. To take part, please complete a simple form on arrival at the meeting, and hand this to the Committee Administrator. 

Comments about planning applications will be dealt with at the time those applications are considered, rather than during the public question time session. There are further details about taking part when planning applications are being considered, which can be found at the front of the published agendas for each committee.

For further information on the work of the Area Committee in your area please contact us.