Community council and Scottish Borders Councillors

Community Council – get involved!
In general, the Parish of Stow Community Council is composed of twelve elected members, ten representing Stow and two representing Fountainhall.

The current members are:

Charlotte Hendry (co-chair)
Jenny Mushlin (secretary) Tel 01578 760297
Alan McNeilly (treasurer)
Jacki Cooper
Helen Corcoran
Amanda Jones
Niome Lucjan
Thomas Miller
David Montgomerie
Graham Nisbet

If you would like to get involved with the work of the Community Council, or have an issue or concern you would like to raise, please get in touch.

Community Council meetings are usually held on the first Monday of every month. Two meetings per year are usually held in Fountainhall Village Hall with the remaining ten meetings being held in Stow Town Hall or online since the Covid-19 outbreak began. All meetings commence at 7.30pm and everyone is welcome to attend. If you wish to attend an online meeting, please contact the Community Council in advance to arrange access.

Although council meetings are open to the public, the public may not contribute to the discussions unless they are specifically asked to do so by the Chair. However, it is customary for the public who have attended a meeting to be asked if they have any points they wish to air with the committee.

The Community Council is non-party political and carries out a number of important functions within the Parish. The main functions are:

To express the views of the community to the local authority and other public authorities.
To inform the community of information received from the local authority and other public bodies

Over the years, the Community Council have been involved in many important issues which have had a direct influence on our community. None more so than the proposed reintroduction of the Waverley Railway Line. In the original proposals there was to be no station at Stow. However, the Scottish Parliament was persuaded by the Community Council along with the action group that a station at Stow was essential.

Planning applications – The Community Council is consulted on most planning applications within the Parish giving a good opportunity for members to express the thoughts of the community on what can sometimes be a very emotive subject. Scottish Borders Council now operates a service within their own website which gives public access to all planning applications.

You can contact the Community Council directly by emailing StowCommunityCouncil@gmail.com

On a monthly basis, the Community Council registers many issues of concern with the local authority. We are ably assisted in our tasks by our local elected Scottish Borders Council councillors whose ex officio membership of the Community Council allows them to advise often on important issues. They are a great help and support.

Our local Scottish Borders Council councillors are: