Call for town assembly meeting is 'invalid' says Whitby Town Council

Whitby residents are being invited to the town assembly to discuss a proposed 46% hike in the town council element of residents’ council tax bills, which has been proposed in the council’s draft budget for next year.

This would result in an annual council tax increase in the Band D equivalent of £25.68 if the draft budget is approved next month.

A post on the Whitby Town Council website states: "The town council is aware that a meeting, described as a 'Town Meeting/Assembly' is currently being advertised.

"The town council has sought advice on the notice which has been posted and it has been confirmed by the National Association of Local Council's legal team that:

“'The notice itself is evidence of the failure to provide the requisite number of clear days. The council should also do anything reasonably possible in the timescale to notify all electors that the meeting is not validly called and therefore anything done at the meeting is invalid'.”

The town council has said it is facing rising costs and could see its income reduced by almost 20 per cent.

In response, campaign group Whitby Community Network said residents had called the public meeting to allow people to have their say and suggest ways of making savings – and asked whether the proposed tax increase was “the last straw for the people of Whitby at a time of financial crisis.”

Previous Whitby Town Assemblies have called for restrictions on holiday and second homes, the resignation of Whitby Town Council en masse to facilitate a democratic election, and a petition to the Department for Levelling Up, Homes & Communities (DLUHC) to halt and re-examine levelling up projects for the benefit of Whitby residents.

But a recent town poll, which asked questions about the Whitby Town Deal projects and whether the town council should resign en masse, saw a turnout of just 3,000 – or 3% of eligible voters.

The town assembly is due to take place at 6pm tonight (Dec 19) at The Royal Hotel ballroom, the same time as the town council’s town development and improvement committee is due to meet at Pannett Art Gallery.