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Dinnington St John’s Town Council

So what is a town council?  And where does it fit into the grand scheme of things?

A town council is the urban equivalent of a parish council and it’s the section of local government that is closest to the community, to everyone living in Dinnington.  Our council looks after a number of local amenities, such as the Lyric Theatre, Coronation Park, Silverdale Allotments and the Park Avenue Cemetery.  It’s job, in a nutshell, is to make Dinnington a great place to live and work.

Dinnington St John’s Town Council sits just below Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) which provides many of the larger scale services we use – things like rubbish collection, schools, social care and benefits, libraries etc etc.

Councillors, Committees and Meetings

Our council has fifteen members and holds meetings twelve times a year, though it doesn’t meet in August and some of the meetings are for special purposes – the Annual Meeting and the Precept Meeting for example.  All of the meetings are open to the public and meeting dates are published in advance.

There are two committees and one working group.

Where Does the Money Come From?

Much of the town council’s work is funded from the ‘precept’ collected by Rotherham MBC as part of your council tax.  In 2021 this amounts to slightly over £250,000 ( a rise of just 05% from 2020) and most of that is spent, directly and indirectly, on the upkeep of our council run amenities.  We also have some income from those amenities and from other sources.

There are various mechanisms by which both the Town Council and individuals can influence and challenge policy decisions by RMBC and other high-level bodies. The attached document outlines the various options here.