WEARDALE has three of their own inside County Hall after the recent local elections.
Anita Savory of Wolsingham and John Shuttleworth of Rookhope were both returned to County
Hall as Independents by the electorate with one of the highest turnouts of voters in the county.
Alongside them is Mark Rowney from Ireshopeburn who was elected into the Murton seat as a
Reform councillor.
After the reshuffle that occurs following an election, these three councillors have been allocated
to various committees. Cllr Rowney as part of the leading group, has been allocated the
Chairmanship of the Appeals and Complaints committee and is the Vice Chairman of the Pension
Fund Committee. He is also a member of the Standards Committee, the Environment and
Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny committee and the General Licensing and
Registration Committee.
John Shuttleworth is the Leader of the County’s Independents and a member of the Area Planning
Committee (Central and East) as well as a member of the following committees: Audit, Chief Officer
Appointments, Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington Appeals of which he is
currently shown as the Chairman, and the Pension Fund.
Anita Savory has been allocated membership of the following committees: Area Planning (South
and West), Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny, Corporate Parenting Panel, Police
and Crime Panel and the Standards Committee.
Other councillors elected include John Bailey (Reform) originally from Stanley, Crook and who has
represented Crook in the past as a Liberal Democrat and then Independent councillor. The news
came yesterday that he has become the second Reform councillor to resign from the authority. This
means that two by elections will now be held at the taxpayers expense.
Meanwhile, a former Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the now defunct Wear Valley District
Council, Chris Foote-Wood of Bishop Auckland, was elected to Durham County Council as a Labour
councillor.
All 98 councillors take part in the business of the Council. Council meetings are chaired by the
Chair of the Council, who is Cllr Robbie Rodiss from Crook. Members of the public can ask questions
at full council meetings.
Questions must be submitted in accordance with council procedure rules. If you wish to ask a
question, please contact the council with your question no later than 12 noon, three working days
before the day of the full council meeting (i.e. Noon on Friday for a meeting that take place on
Wednesday).
The councillors are there to help and if you need their assistance, you can contact them via the
details on the Durham County Council website at Contact details – – Durham County Council
