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About Tring Council

What is Tring Council?

Tring Town Council is the local authority at parish level for the town of Tring. There are twelve Councillors, who are elected every four years. The next election will be in May 2027.

 

When does the Council meet?

There is one full Council Meeting every month (except April and August). At the moment there are six other Standing Committees which meet regularly: Planning; Finance & Policy; Allotments & Environment; Buildings, Assets, and Infrastructure; Local Transport Plan; and Staffing and Employment. Committee meetings are held roughly quarterly on a rolling programme (except Planning, which is more frequent). In practice this means meetings of some sort are held every fortnight except during holiday periods, and at Christmas and Easter. All meetings of the Council and its Standing Committees are open to the public.

For more details, see the Meeting Calendar

 

Where are the meetings held?

Council and committee meetings are usually held in the Council Chamber at the Market House, which also houses the Clerk’s offices and the Council’s Information Centre.

How many staff does the Council employ?

The Council has 10 members of staff, mostly working part-time. The staff are: the Town Clerk, the Deputy Clerk, the Information Officer plus three assistants, the Clerk of the Youth Town Council, the Town Warden, the Outside Worker and the caretaker of The Market House.

What does Tring Town Council do?

The Council has two statutory responsibilities which it must carry out. They are:

  • to comment on planning applications
  • to run allotments

The Council holds meetings fortnightly to discuss planning applications. There is an opportunity for the public to participate at these meetings, if they wish.

There is one allotment site run by Tring Town Council: at Duckmore Lane.

The Council also owns several properties in the town, some of which is open space and some of which is let as commercial property. It administers these through its committees and an advantage of owning these properties is that the Council is able to control what happens at a number of significant sites.

How is the Council funded?

The Council charges a levy (the precept) which is collected with the Council Tax. This precept makes up approximately 60% of its annual income. In addition it generates a significant income from its commercial property.

What else does the Council do?

The Council also fosters the creation of new groups in the town and supports many existing organisations with small grants. The Council’s own recent projects include:

  • refurbishing the Old School Yard car park next to the Library
  • refurbishing the Pond Close play area
  • refurbishing the Old Cattle Market as Tring Market Place

The Council exchanges views and opinions with other local authorities and government bodies on a range of subjects – performance plans, health plans, policing, school issues – the list is endless.

How can you find out more about the current work of the Council?

You can contact your local Councillor, the Town Clerk or the Information Centre.