Published on:
27
May 2026
The Council has opened a public consultation on the operating arrangements of community councils.
This review aims to ensure that community councils remain legitimate and relevant to their communities and that standards of democracy remain high and within resources available.
The first stage of the consultation process is open now. It asks the public to comment on the geographic definition of their community and on how many members their community council should have to provide adequate representation.
Provost, Councillor Donald Balsillie sees this consultation as an opportunity to generate discussion on how community councils can best represent grass-roots issues.
He said: “This review of the framework within which community councils operate will give residents a say in how their community council will look in the future.
“Unfortunately, not enough people came forward at the last community council elections to allow two of our nine community councils to form.
“We are asking our citizens if this happened because of their boundaries, their membership criteria or another reason, and also what helps motivate people to join and stay on a community council. Our aspiration is that the framework has flexibility to allow community councils to sustain numbers over the course of a term of office to allow them to maintain the important role they play in their communities.
“The seven active community councils will also be asked for their views so people can feedback through their community council if they prefer.”
There will be an online questionnaire on the Council’s website plus a ‘drop-in’ opportunity to leave comments face to face at Alloa’s Speirs Centre on Monday, 22 June. The deadline for comment on boundaries and membership is 22 July.
The second phase will address how community council can ensure they operate in the 21st century, taking into account modern lifestyles, interests and attitudes. It will start in autumn once the findings from the first stage have been presented to a meeting of the Council.
The framework of governance is set out by the Council is the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils. This can be viewed on the Council’s website where there is more detail also about the consultation and general information on community councils.