The Council

With Southend being such a large Borough (now a City), back in 1996, a group of Leigh residents, worked hard to form a first tier of local government to have an overall responsibility for the well-being of the Leigh-on-Sea community, the result, Leigh-on-Sea Town Council. The Council was set up as non-political in that there were no political party groupings and no political party with overall control. Councillors could belong to a political party but no councillor would be pressured to vote on party political lines. To this day, Councillors make their decisions on what is best for Leigh and the residents.

Southend-on-Sea City Council is your primary authority and responsible for matters such as waste collection, maintenance of the roads and pavements, looking after the parks, providing street lighting and many other services which your council tax pays for.

Our work falls into three main categories:

Representing the Leigh-on-Sea community
Delivering services to meet local needs
Striving to improve the quality of life in the Town

How do we do this?

Leigh-on-Sea Town Council has a committee structure with different responsibilities. Each committee meets regularly and anyone is welcome to attend. Below is just a sample of some of the work we do:

Manage and market the Community Centre
Administer two allotment sites over 20 acres
Organise events for the Town including a childrens' holiday programme and Farmers' market
As a statutory consultee, review every single planning application in the Town and make a recommendation to the Planning Authority for their consideration
Produce a bi-annual magazine to update residents and promote the needs of the Town
Run a volunteer programme
Improve facilities within the Town using Community Infrastructure Levy receipts e.g. equipment in parks, skate park improvements, street art wall
Installed and manage the Skate Park
Redeveloped and manage Strand Wharf as a community space
Organise the Christmas lights and hanging baskets displayed throughout the Town
As a statutory consultee, review all licensing applications in the Town, listening to representations from residents, and make a recommendation to the Licensing Authority for their consideration
Fund a school crossing patrol and First Aid Post at Bell Wharf beach
Run a community transport trips scheme for the over 60’s living within the Town boundary
Run the Over 60's Social lunch club twice a month
Liaise and develop relationships with the unitary authority (Southend City Council), to ensure that the needs of the residents of Leigh-on-Sea are considered fully when decisions affecting them need to be made.

How do we pay for it all?

It does cost a little extra to live within the boundary of Leigh-on-Sea Town Council but having been recognised in the past as one of the happiest place to live in Britain, we hope you think it is worth it! All the extras we provide towards improving the community are collected through your council tax. This is a sum of money called a ‘precept’ and is calculated by us based on what it costs to provide the facilities and services for our residents.

Who makes the decisions?

The Council is made up of 16 elected councillors representing the 8 wards of Leigh-on-Sea Town Council. They are responsible to the residents they represent and can be contacted directly on any matter. They are not paid but have a passion to be involved in the community. Councillors have three main areas of work:

Decision-making through attending meetings and committees
Monitoring, making sure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services
Getting involved locally depending on what the councillor wants to achieve and how much time they have available

Elections

Elections to be a councillor take place every four years (unless a casual vacancy arises during this time. The next elections are May 2023.

Details of current councillor vacancies and what makes a good councillor along with details of the democratic process can be found at our Councillor vacancies page which can also be accessed by clicking the link here