Not that long ago East Lothian Council launched its own online consultation hub. The idea is to encourage those living in the county to engage with issues affecting them.
A number of consultations can be found on the East Lothian Citizen Space website.Here are a selection of current consultations which may be relevant to you.
For example, does it matter to you whether schools in East Lothian adopt the same term timetable as the City of Edinburgh or the term timetable used by Midlothian Council?
There are more citizen surveys on a range of topics which can be found on the website.
2014/15 School Term Dates Consultation – presents two possible options (one based on Edinburgh’s term dates and one of Midlothian’s) – closes 6th September 2013.
After the recent elections of Community councillors across East Lothian Pencaitland gained two new faces — Alison Glencorse and Robin Sinclair.
Alison GlencorseAlison Glencorse lives in Pencaitland with her husband Alan and their daughter Charlotte, having moved to the village from the south coast of England in 1994 and having twice moved house since then within Pencaitland.
She works two days a week as a credit manager for the Royal Bank of Scotland plc, and since having her daughter has been involved in local committees and organisations. These include the Mothers and Toddlers group, Playgroup, Junior Scottish Country Dancing group, 1st Brownie Pack, the Parent Council at Pencaitland Primary School, as well as for the National Childbirth Trust, East Lothian branch. She is interested in local issues and looks forward to serving as a Community Councillor.
Robin SinclairMeanwhile new community councillor Robin Sinclair and his wife Fiona moved to Pencaitland in 2006 with their twins Malcolm and Evie, who both attend the local Primary school. Robin commutes daily by bus to Edinburgh where he works in IT for an investment firm. He’s a keen golfer and enjoys spending his spare time out on the fairways. He is keen to help the community council continue to serve the village and surrounding area and help represent the wider views of villagers on local matters.
Office Bearers
In addition to the new faces joining your Community Council, the most recent meeting was also an opportunity to elect office bearers. In all there are four elected positions — Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Press Secretary and Treasurer.
Ralph Averbuch remains as Community Council Chairman and also takes on the role of Press Secretary. Phil Summerfield becomes the Vice-Chairman and Jean McCormack was re-elected as Treasurer. Additionally Fiona Tennick has taken on the temporary role of community council secretary until we can find a person willing to take up the post.
A full list of community councillors, ELC councillors and the local community police officer can be found here.
Wider Representation
This now means that Pencaitland Community Council has twelve sitting councillors. According to the constitution it is possible to have a maximum of fifteen, which gives us the opportunity to fill these three remaining unoccupied seats.
The local ward covers more than just the village of Pencaitland, extending to New Winton in the north, Wolfstar Farm to the west, Boggs Holdings, Nisbet and Spilmersford Mains to the east and lastly Peaston, Glenkinchie, Templehall, Huntlaw, Fountainhall and Dodgeridge Farm Cottages to the south.
That’s why the Community Council is keen to hear from people not just from Pencaitland but also these other parts of the ward, or anywhere in-between. We want to have voices from the whole of the ward in order to ensure that, as best we can, all the interests of locals are effectively represented on your local community council.
Could that be you? If you would like to discuss this further why not contact the current chair via email or call Ralph on 01875 340 641.
A letter in the Courier laments lack of locals stepping up. Click to read.Nominations recently closed for the twenty community councils within East Lothian. Most will return with no need for elections.
This has been the picture in the Pencaitland Community Council area for many years, with no elections ever having taken place for seats in this ward.
In all there are fifteen seats on Pencaitland’s Community Council with twelve taken up for the next session. Sadly, this means that we are under-represented.
We really want local representation for other parts of this ward including Peastonbank/Glenkinchie, New Winton, Boggs Holdings, Fountainhall and everywhere in-between. Equally, for a rural area we have no-one from the farming community nor anyone in their teens or 20s. Did you know you can be 16 and sit on the Community Council?
We are searching for new blood to join the team. We need more voices on issues which directly affect you and your local environment. If you care about local matters then take the next step – come along to your local community council and see if you’d like to become a co-opted member.
Interested? Next Steps
Want to know more? Contact the current Community Council Chair, Ralph Averbuch, on 01875 340 641 or 07920 094 923 to discuss how you can get involved. Or you can email chair@pencaitland.org.
This is your chance to represent your local community and directly affect the way it develops in the future. Come along and be part of the team.
Since moving to our new home on 
