The Parish Council normally meets on the last Monday of each month (but not in December and August when we are granted time off).  Meetings, which usually start at 7.00pm, are held either in the WI Hall, The Green, Elwick. TS27 3EF or, three times each year, at the Wynyard Woods Residential Care Home, Wynyard Woods, Wynyard. TS22 5GJ. Meetings are not intended to last more than two hours, though at present they are often almost three!

NB: The venue for the meeting is identified on the Agenda.

Agendas and Minutes are published on the noticeboards in Elwick and Wynyard as well as on this web site.

Members of the public are encouraged to raise any issues with the Clerk or a Parish Councillor, well in advance of a meeting, in order that such matters may be put on the agenda.

Elwick Parish Councillors are, fortunately for the Clerk, a very friendly bunch, and manage to get through the, often considerable, business with good grace and humour. Disagreements about issues are never rancorous and common sense and pragmatism usually prevail. That being said, the Chairman does occasionally have to remind her colleagues there is further business to attend to - usually when something has diverted attention from the agenda and everyone is laughing!

The general public and media are welcome to attend any meeting, although they are officially not allowed to take part. Consequently, the council allows a 15-minute public forum at the start of a meeting at which members of the public can raise issues of concern. Please note, formal decisions cannot be made immediately on items brought up at a public forum, as not all members of the public would have been aware that the issue was being raised. An item requiring action from the Parish Council will have to be placed on the Agenda of the following meeting, in order that all members of the public may have their say on the issue before the Council makes any decision. 

The Clerk produces the agenda which always includes the following items, though not necessarily in this order:

• Public Forum
• Apologies for absence
• Approval of draft minutes of the previous meeting
• Matters arising from that meeting
• Reports on finance
• Reports from the Chairman, Ward Councillors and sub-committees
• Planning Applications received
• Correspondence
• Issues of Concern raised by Councillors
• Other items, as deemed necessary by the Clerk – such as the annual budget and precept charge, new policies, etc.

The agenda is sent to Parish and Ward Councillors via e-mail, before being published on the two parish notice boards and this website, at least four working days before the meeting. See Next Meeting Agenda.

Draft minutes are circulated in the same way as the agenda, usually within seven days of a meeting. Minutes, from mid-2011, are available on the web-site in reverse date order. Draft Minutes are identified in italics and do not become the formal minutes until approved by the full Parish Council at the following meeting. To see any of the minutes go to the Minutes page. The minutes from 1895 onwards are archived and preserved at Hartlepool Central Public Library and are available to the general public to examine, but may not be removed from the library.

The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council is normally held in May of each year, usually at a date later than that of the election of Parish Councillors (which occurs every four years). At this meeting the Chairman is elected, Sub-Committees appointed, Insurance cover agreed, the Receipts & Payments Account and Balance Sheet for the previous financial year and Internal Auditor’s report are received and approved, the Annual Governance and Accountability Report is agreed and the Auditors appointed.

The Annual Meeting often, though not always, precedes the ordinary monthly Parish Council meeting.