Penrith Town Council set to hold first meeting of new council since elections

Penrith Town council will hold its first meeting on Monday the 15th of May as the first meeting since last weeks elections.

The town council has 15 seats but Mondays meeting will have on 14 councillors attending as one seat remains vacant after the elections for Penrith East ward after only two candidates came forward for the three seats in the ward.

The annual general meeting will see councillors elect a new chair and vice chair for the council as well as the new town Mayor and Deputy Mayor from the town councillors.

The council meeting will also see allocations of committee membership to the councils finance, planning and communities committees and representatives on outside bodies.

The new council will also be asked to consider approving a motion put forward by Carleton ward town councillor Lawson to require questions asked at council meetings from the public to be submitted to the council in writing in advance so the questions can be reviewed and potentially refused under the reconditions set out in the motion.

The meeting will also be asked to consider an offer to build a village hall in Carleton by Persimmon homes that the council is asked to consider taking ownership once constructed.

The meeting will conclude with the new council considering two planning applications for Omega Proteins.

The first of the planning applications is for the formation of a roadway at the Greystoke road site. The second planning application the new council will consider is for a new Anaerobic digestion facility with gas to grid transmission pipeline.

The meeting could prove an early test for councillors on election campaign promises to voters in the run up to last weeks election.