Community councils are the most local tier of statutory representation in Scotland. They bridge the gap between local authorities and communities, and help to make public bodies aware of the opinions and needs of the communities they represent.

There are around 1,200 active community councils in Scotland, 13 of them located here in West Dunbartonshire. They can deal with a wide range of issues that affect the lives, wellbeing and environment of the community. They have direct access to the council and other organisations.

To further inform and highlight the work of community councils, Silverton and Overtoun, along with our colleagues in Dumbarton East and Central, held an information event at St James’ Retail Park on Saturday, September 11 (left). The aims were to show the work that community councils do, find out the views of local residents on issues of concern to them, and explain how they can get involved, with an emphasis on trying to get young people enthused.

We had good conversations with members of the public, and the main areas of concern to residents were the condition of the town’s roads and pavements, pavement parking, and litter.

This leads on to our next event. We are having a litter pick on Saturday, October 16 and if you’d like to join us on the day please email us at soccdumbarton@gmail.com

As an effective community council, we play our part in considering planning issues of local concern and the effect such developments can have on the community. At our September meeting, we agreed to submit an objection to proposals for a residential site on land surrounding Craigend House on Cardross Road. The area which includes Havoc Hole/Wallace’s Cave is of significant historical, geological and biological interest.

We are also working on tackling unruly behaviour in the vicinity of Dumbarton New Cemetery, Upper Garshake Road and the old water works site (pictured above right). Having received a number of complaints about drug-taking, fire-raising and vandalism in the area, we took action to raise our concerns with the police and elected members of West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC).

As you may have read in the Reporter recently, WDC’s licensing committee is holding a public consultation on the licensing and regulation of sexual entertainment venues. Responses must be received no later than Friday, October 22, and details can be found on WDC’s website.

The next SOCC meeting will be on Thursday, October 14 at 7pm. We hold our meetings at St Augustine’s Church, Dumbarton and this month’s will be a hybrid meeting.