What Is A Community Council?
Community council members are elected, unpaid and non-political. They must live in the council area.
The role of community councils is to facilitate two-way communication between local people and local government on issues of importance to the community. Therefore, the role of community councils overlaps that of the elected City Councillors, who also play a key role in representing grassroots opinion. Any person with a problem can therefore contact their local City Councillor and also their community council. In fact, the two systems reinforce each other because City Councillors are ex-officio members of their local community councils and play a valuable role in keeping community councillors aware of developments at the city level.
Community councils have statutory rights, the most important being that of consultation in relation to any planning developments in their areas. The city is obliged to notify community councils of relevant planning applications each week. In addition, community councils have played an important consultative role in the production of Local Plans and Structure Plans.
Aberdeen's community councils receive small annual grants from the City Council which is to be used for the direct benefit of the local community, providing that it is not a direct donation to a charity or organisation and is not spent on something that conflicts with City Council policy.
Links between community councils in Aberdeen have been strengthened by the creation of the city's Community Council Forum, which meets regularly to discuss issues of common interest. The creation of the new Department of Community Development indicates the importance attached by the City to community issues. We liaise with other local Community Councils where necessary - most regularly with Kingswells and Peterculter.