LINKS

Internal links
Constitution & Standing Orders
2021 Minutes of Meetings
2020 Minutes of Meetings
Community Council Handbook

 External links
The Scottish Government
Midlothian Council
The Association of Scottish Community Councils
Undiscovered Scotland - Loanhead entry

Community links
Loanhead Community Development Association
Loanhead Gala Day
Loanhead Parish Church
Loanhead After School Club

The Role of the Community Council

Formal, and less formal, descriptions of the role of community councils can be found elsewhere (see for example the Wikipedia description here), but a simple explanation is set out below.

Loanhead and District Community Council is a statutory body, and has been set up to provide an easily accessible forum whereby members of the community can:-

• raise issues of concern with the Scottish government, Midlothian Council, the Police, the Health Board, the utility (gas, water, electricity, telecommunications) companies etc.,
• raise, or be made aware of, local and national planning issues,
• find out about, and make responses to, local and national consultation exercises.

This is not an exclusive list, merely an indication of the scope of the Community Council's remit.

Past issues of concern locally have included; the possible creation of a football stadium at Straiton; the dualling (or otherwise) of the A701; the building of a women's refuge in the town centre; the  development of a homelessness unit at Kilbreck/St Ronans, the demolition of Loanhead Town Hall by Midlothian Council.

The Community Council has no executive powers, so it cannot directly "get things done". However, it most certainly can give your Midlothian Councillors a good idea of local opinion, where and when to apply pressure to other bodies. It can only do this with community engagement.

Loanhead and District Community Council is non-political, non-sectarian and all elected members are unpaid volunteers.