Community Councils

Community councils play an important role in our communities, delivering improvements to the local area and organising events. Joining your local community council can be very rewarding and can make a big difference for the benefit of others.

There are different ways to get involved in your local Community Council:

• become a Community Council member
• attend your Community Council's regular public meetings
• visit the Community Council’s social media/website, if they have one
• contact your local Community Council direct

Examples of the type of activities community councils get involved in:

• Helping our communities, e.g., fundraising, responding to local emergency incidents
• Arts Festivals – Pittenweem CC runs one with many artists in venues throughout Pittenweem, providing a unique opportunity to purchase great art and see how the local community lives
• Protecting the environment, eg, litter picking; campaigning for safer walking routes to schools; pedestrian improvements; contributing to the repair of local landmarks
• Organising events such as craft fayres; galas, Christmas light switch on; participating in Fife in Bloom
• Commenting on local planning applications and the development of the Local and Structure Plan
• Campaigning on local issues e.g. traffic, leisure facilities
• Taking part in consultations on a range of issues by the Council and other public bodies e.g. the future of waste management
• Publishing newsletters; and
• Creating and developing their websites

To become a member of an established Community Council, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• be 16 years of age or over;
• be included on the electoral roll within the Community Council area;
• be resident within the Community Council area; and
• not be an elected member of Fife Council.

To make enquiries about becoming a member, contact your local Community Council directly.

What are the Main Roles of a Community Council?

There are various ways in which you can play your part in your Community Council. Each community council must have a Chairperson, a Treasurer and a Secretary, who are the office bearers. Further information on the roles of Office Bearers can be found here - Guidance for Community Councils.

You do not, however, have to take on a specific role to be involved in your community council.  All members play an important part by thinking creatively about what you can do together to improve the lives of local citizens.

If a Community Council is not established at an ordinary election, and there is no active community council in your area, you can submit a written Community Council petition template It must be signed by 20 electors, ie, individuals 16 years of age and over, who live in the Community Council boundary and who are registered to vote in Fife.

Fife Council will make the necessary arrangements to re-establish the Community Council, if appropriate.

To properly re-establish a community council, the number of candidates expressing an interest in becoming a community councillor should be at least half of the total maximum permitted membership for the community council. Please see Schedule 1 – Boundaries, population and number of elected members for more information.

Our Schedule 6 – Election Rules document may also be useful to you.

The minimum membership of Community Councils in Fife is 8 and the maximum membership is 20 members.

Further information about Community Councils can be found via the following links:

• Community Councils Scotland
• Scottish Improvement Service - Community Councils
• The Scheme for the Establishment for Community Councils (2021) describes how Community Councils in Fife are formed; the conditions under which they operate; and the minimum standards to be met for recognition as a Community Council.
• Guidance for Community Councils
• Frequently Asked Questions