Community councils 'divorce' after just one year

27.01.2023 - 16:57 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Two communities who set up a joint council just over a year ago are to get "a divorce" in a bid to give residents 'better representation'.

Livingston's Carmondean neighbourhood will have its own community council once more after a break with neighbouring Deans was agreed.

West Lothian Council agreed to the reformation of an individual council for Carmondean along the same boundaries as existed before the councils joined as one a little over a year ago.

A former chair of the old Carmondean CC, Jill Parton spoke to a meeting of the full West Lothian Council which agreed the "divorce" this week.

Mrs Parton told the meeting: "This is in the best interests of the residents of Carmondean. Their views are paramount."

Mrs Parton said that by returning boundaries to where they had been Livingston North could have better representation from all areas at the Local Area Committees.

She said: "This is a matter for Carmondean and those who live in Carmondean. There is overwhelming support in Carmondean for a separate Carmondean council."

Members of the Carmondean and Deans Community council had opposed the division and when a public consultation was launched in October launched an online petition to retain the recently formed council.

Office bearers argued that approval of the proposal, which they had not been consulted about, would result in the loss of community council representation for Deans.

However the consultation also heard that "Community Councils are intended to represent small areas and this conjoined Council was as a direct result of years of no representation from Deans to form a Community Council. Now that Deans have achieved strong representation there is a strong case for each area to be represented by their own Community