Northumberland County Council’s Labour Group has given a cautious welcome to the return of local area councils.

The county’s five local area councils, designed to give local people a say in how the council is run and to participate in local planning decisions, were closed down when the pandemic hit.

They have be reintroduced on-line, allowing elected members and local people to meet virtually and have their say once more.

However the Labour Group has criticised the time change for the meeting.

Deputy leader of the Labour Group Scott Dickinson said: “It’s vital in any council that local people have the opportunity to have their say about how the council is run and the decisions it makes on behalf of its residents.

“It’s disappointing that the time has been changed from 4pm to 2pm. This time change will make it difficult to for councillors, working people and those who need to collect children from school to attend.

“As far as we can see there really is no excuse to change the time. We will see what happens when the meetings take place and we will be pressing the leader for a return to evening meetings if the new time makes it difficult for people to attend.”

You can find out more about local area councils at https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/NorthumberlandCountyCouncil/media/Councillors-and-Democracy/LOCAL-AREA-COUNCILS.pdf

You can find out when Northumberland county Council holds its meetings at http://committee.northumberland.gov.uk/Meetings.aspx

At present all the council’s meetings are being held on line, due to Covid-19.