Westgate-on-Sea Town Council

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Westgate-on-Sea Town Council
Type
Type	Town Council
History
Founded	2015
Leadership
Chair	Cllr David Donaldson, Labour Party Town Councillor
Vice Chair	Cllr Clive Veck, Independent Town Councillor
Parish Clerk & RFO	Trish Hamilton
Structure
Seats	10 Councillors..
Independent	7 / 10
Labour	2 / 10
Thanet Independent Group (TIG)	1 / 10
Elections
Voting system	Multiple non transferable vote
Last election	4th May 2023
Last election	(also, subsequent by-election held on 14th March 2024)
Next election	6th May 2027
Meeting place
78 St. Mildreds Road Westgate-on-Sea Kent CT8 8RF 01843 836182
Website
westgateonsea.uk This is a temporary address and will revert to westgateonsea.gov.uk Westgate-on-Sea Town Council's current office

Since separating from Margate and becoming, politically, an Independent Town in 2015, the seaside area of Westgate-on-Sea (in the District of the Isle-of-Thanet, Kent) has had an elected Town Council. Westgate-on-Sea Town Council sits at Tier 1, directly below Thanet District Council, which is, in-turn, a level below Kent County Council. The MP for the Town is The Rt Hon Sir Roger Gale.

Westgate-on-Sea Town Council held their Inaugural Annual Statutory Meeting on 13^th May 2015, where it was democratically decided to refer to them as Westgate-on-Sea Town Council, as opposed to Westgate-on-Sea Parish Council.

Westgate-on-Sea Town Council (often abbreviated to WoSTC) was formed in 2015 and exists to actively support the people who live, work and visit the historic town of Westgate (in 1879, the first town to experiment with electric lighting on the seafront). The Council’s vision for Westgate-on-Sea is that of a vibrant, thriving and welcoming community, where people want to live, work and visit.

The full powers of Westgate-on-Sea Town Council can be viewed at the official Parish Council's webpage at https://www.parishcouncils.uk/parish-council/westgate-on-sea-parish-council/

The Town Council is a member of both the National Association of Local Councils and the Kent Association of Local Councils.

Council Elections

2015 - 2019
When the Town Council was first formed, there was no election, as only ten people put their names forward to become Town Councillors. Of these ten, four resigned during this, the first four-year, term of the Council. These were Graham Rickett,, Lynne (Ash) Ashbee, Richard Charlton and David Morrish

Results of the uncontested May 2015 Election for Councillors on Westgate-on-Sea Town Council

Candidate
Rickett, Graham	Resigned
Charlton, Richard	Resigned
Lynne, known as Ash, Ashbee	Resigned
Thomas, known as Tom, King	Did not stand in 2019
Ronald, known as Ron, Rolfe	Did not stand in 2019
Morrish, David	Resigned
Scott, Hannah Louise
Cornford, Joanna
Pennington, Martyn
Nightingale, Roy John

Results of 16^th February 2017 By- Election for two Councillors on Westgate-on-Sea Town Council

Candidate	Votes	%age
Page, Helen Marie	448	27.2%
Stewart, Sonia Yvonne	443	26.8%
Wallin, David	442	26.8%	Lost
Kenrick R, commonly know as Ray, Taylor	315	19.1%	Lost

Results of 12^th October 2017 By- Election on Westgate-on-Sea Town Council

Party (independent if not stated)	Candidate	Votes	%age
	Scott, Matthew Anthony Frederick	526	59%
Labour Party	Donaldson, David	362	41%	Lost

2019 - 2023
Eleven people put their names forward as candidates for the election, so there was an election and ten of these eleven were elected.
Of these, there were several who resigned during, or stood down at the end of, the term.

Results of 2^nd May 2019 Election for Councillors on Westgate-on-Sea Town Council

Party (independent if not stated)	Candidate	Votes	%age
	Scott, Hannah Louise	855	14%	Resigned
	Scott, Matthew Anthony Frederick	770	12%
	Wallin, David	647	10%
	Cornford, Joanna	627	10%
	Micallef, Robert Rozario	586	9%	Resigned 15th July 2019
	O'Conner, Pauline Lilian	547	9%
	Pennington, Martyn	509	8%
	Page, Helen Marie	443	7%
	Nightingale, Roy John	427	7%
Labour Party	Donaldson, David	417	7%
	Gray, James Walter	385	6%	Lost

2023 - 2027
For the election at the start of this, the current, four year term, only nine people put their names forward, and so all were deemed as 'Elected Unopposed'.

Since this election, there has been -

• the co-option of Charlotte Thomason on 7^th November 2023, to bring the number of Councillors up to ten, followed by
• the resignation of Cllr Tim Green in January 2024 bringing the number of Councillors down to nine again, and
• the 14^th March by-election, won by John Worrow

Results of 4^th May 2023 Election for Councillors on Westgate-on-Sea Town Council

Party (independent if not stated)	Candidate
	Scott, Matthew Anthony Frederick
	Wallin, David
	Veck, Clive Laurance
	Green, Tim	Resigned January 2024
	Fenning, Stephen
	Mulinya, Alice Doreen
	King, Thomas George
Labour Party	Donaldson, David
Labour Party	d'Abbro, Elysa Chiarina

Results of 14^th March 2024 By-Election for a Councillor on Westgate-on-Sea Town Council

Party	Candidate	Votes	%age
Thanet Independent Group (TIG)	Worrow, John	457	57%
The Green Party	Jarman, Sarah Joanna	351	43%%	Lost

Political Control

Westgate-on-Sea Town Council (WoSTC) has been under no overall control since creation in 2015, with the majority feeling that a Town or Parish Council should be devoid of any party commitments.

Facebook Groups

The Town Council has a Facebook Page, but Councillors also decided in 2017 to ask for the creation of a group called Westgate-on-Sea Town Council Discussion Group, to enable local residents to talk about Town Council matters in an open forum that they, the Council & the Councillors, had no control over.
WoSTC also has a strong connection with the Facebook Group of Westgate Matters

Town Magazine

Westgate-on-Sea Town Council produce a local magazine. As well as being delivered to all of the residents of the Town, this is also viewable online.

Premises

When first formed, WoSTC took offices in the building called the 'Town Hall Building', which hosts the Carlton Cinema and a number of other businesses.

As they grew, in 2017 the Council moved to 11 Ethelbert Square, before moving, in 2019, to their current location of 78 St. Mildred's Road.

Westgate-on-Sea Town Council's current office

WoSTC are now looking into the concept of being located in the Westgate-on-Sea Library Building.

Westgate Day and other Local Events

Westgate Day

On 21st July 2019, WoSTC hosted their first Westgate Day More information can be found out about this day by reading the 'Westgate Talk' magazine that the Town Council produce. This day was very busy and an outstanding success, bringing a large number of people to the Town. It was planned to be repeated, but Covid has stopped this.

Westgate Lights Christmas Festival

WoSTC does play a part in the 'Westgate Lights festival', which is arranged by local businesses and also brings a great number of visitors to the Town.

Pancake Races

The Council has taken over running the annual 'Pancake Races'. This is a historical event, both for local schoolkids and adults.

Green Spaces

In 2019, Westgate's Town Council gave a strong commitment to revamping their Green Spaces

References

This article "Westgate-on-Sea Town Council" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Westgate-on-Sea Town Council. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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