There is no town council for Hitchin, so we depend on North Herts District Council listening to and responding to the residents and business community of the town.
Hitchin Councillors are as follows:-
Hitchin Bearton : Judi Billing (Lab/ Co-op), Lisa Courts (Lib Dem), Deborah Segalini (Lab/ Co-op)
Hitchin Highbury : Paul Clark (Lib Dem), David Leal-Bennett (Con), Lawrence Oliver (Lib Dem)
Hitchin Oughton : David Billing (Lab/ Co-op), Joan Kirby (Lab/Co-op)
Hitchin Priory : Allison Ashley (Con), Richard Thake (Con)
Hitchin Walsworth : Bernard Lovewell (Con), Alan Millard (Con), Ray Shakespeare-Smith (Con)
Click here for full NHDC member and committee information
They all sit on the Hitchin Committee, which meets 2 monthly on a Tuesday evening. Each meeting is preceded by a ‘Town Talk’ where members of the public, by prior arrangement, can raise a relevant issue. The Committee has no powers over planning applications. There is a District Committee which deals with such matters – deliberately distanced, it seems, from the local elected members so that those who know the area best will not unduly influence the decisions.
Council decisions on any subject are mostly taken by the ‘Cabinet’, a body of 8 Conservative Councillors, with Bernard Lovewell as the only Hitchin member. Some decisions are referred to the Full Council of 49 members, of whom 34 are Conservative, who seem to rubber stamp Cabinet decisions.
Hertfordshire County Councillors:-
Hitchin South : Derrick Ashley (Con)
Hitchin North : Ray Shakespeare-Smith (Con)
Hitchin Rural : Nigel Brook (Con)
Member of Parliament
Hitchin and Harpenden : Peter Lilley (Con)
