Barry Town Council

Barry Town Council is an elected town council serving Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the largest towns in Wales.

Barry Town Council

Cyngor Tref Y Barri
Type
Type
Leadership
Mayor
Janice Charles (2018/19)
Seats22
Meeting place
Council Chamber, Gladstone Road
Website
www.barrytowncouncil.gov.uk
Electoral wards in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan

Functions

The town council describes itself as the only elected body dedicated solely to the interests of Barry residents. Its councillors provide a channel to pass on opinions to other organisations and public bodies. Councillors are members of various local governing bodies and organisations. The council's opinion is sought on a variety of local issues, for example planning applications, street names and licensing issues.[1] The town council has direct ownership and control of Merthyr Dyfan Burial Ground and acts as agent to run Porthkerry Cemetery. It manages and staffs the Pioneer Hall and Memorial Hall.[1] The council also provides grant aid for many local organisations.[1]

The town council's offices are next to the Memorial Hall on Gladstone Road.[1][2]

Representation

Barry Town Council is the largest town council in Wales.[3] Twenty two councillors are elected from the eight electoral wards in the town, namely: Baruc (3), Buttrills (3), Cadoc (3), Castleland (2), Court (3), Dyfan (2), Gibbonsdown (3) and Illtyd (3).[4] These wards also elect county councillors to the Vale of Glamorgan Council

Only the mayor and deputy mayor receive any form of financial allowances. The issue was debated following the 2017 elections and the council agreed not to introduce wider remuneration to the rest of the council, which it was claimed would cost an additional £100,000.[5]

Mayor

The council elects a town mayor annually. The first mayor of Barry was Councillor Frederick Cook (1912–2008), who was also Chairman of South Glamorgan County Council and an officer of the GMB trade union.[6][7] There was controversy in 2008 when the Labour controlled council chose two completely inexperienced councillors for the mayoral positions, rather than an opposition councillor with 25 years service.[7] On 15 May 2017 Councillor Nic Hodges was elected as the first Plaid Cymru mayor of Barry.[8] The current mayor (2018/19) is Janice Charles, a Conservative, who represents Illtyd ward.

Council composition

In April 2019, a by-election was held in the wake of the resignation of the independent candidate, Richard Bertin, who represented Court ward. The successful candidate was Dennis Clarke of Plaid Cymru, thus increasing Plaid's presence on the Council from six to seven.

Following the election on 4 May 2017 Labour were the largest party, though with no overall majority. Plaid Cymru became the official opposition.[9]

May 2017 election
Affiliation Members
Welsh Labour 10
Plaid Cymru 6
Welsh Conservative Party 5
Independent 1

Following the election on 3 May 2012 Labour had a strong majority.[10] In July 2016 a Gibbonsdown (Labour) councillor resigned his position after he had been charged with common assault on a 17-year-old woman.[11] A by-election on 3 November elected Welsh Labour councillors to fill the resulting vacancies on the town council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council.[12]

May 2012 to April 2017
Affiliation Members
Welsh Labour 18
Plaid Cymru 3
Independent 1
gollark: Well, it has to be decryptable by payment terminals, so that's useless.
gollark: Anyway, pretty much the only secure way to do this magcard thing would be... having payment terminals bother a central server, and even that would have problems.
gollark: (that's probably a metaphor for life somehow)
gollark: I'm not sure tying your currency to Krist is a good idea. Krist has really weird wealth distribution because mining was fifty times more profitable before.
gollark: It probably works on OS caches anyway.

References
  1. "Barry Town Council – Cyngor Tref y Barri (newsletter)". The Cowbridge GEM. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  2. "Where We Are". Barry Town Council. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  3. "Community Profile - Barry" (PDF). Vale of Glamorgan Council. p. 15. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  4. Local Councillors Archived 2018-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, Barry Town Council. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  5. "Barry Town councillors vote against giving themselves 'allowances'". The Barry GEM. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  6. "A man of dignity and great strength: Former chairman of South Glamorgan County Council and Mayor of Barry Frederick Cook has died at the age of 96". Wales Online. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  7. "New Barry Town Mayor". Barry & District News. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  8. Sharon Harris (16 May 2017). "Barry Town council elects first Plaid Cymru mayor". Barry & District News. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  9. "Plaid Cymru is now the official opposition on Barry Town Council". The Llantwit Major GEM. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  10. "Barry Town Council elects new mayor". Barry & District News. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  11. "Vale Council Initiates By-Election To Replace Disgraced Labour Councillor". Penarth Daily News. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  12. Sharon Harris (4 November 2016). "Welsh Labour retains Gibbonsdown councillor seats in by-election". Barry & District News. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
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