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Local Government in Cambridge and Huntingdon

There are some 262 parish and town councils within the County of Cambridgeshire and these make up the first tier of local government and one which is closest to the local community. As part of a national reorganisation of local government in 1974, Cambridgeshire’s County Council was established to cover the whole of the Shire area of the County together with six district councils covering Cambridge City, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, Peterborough City and South Cambridgeshire. In 1998, Peterborough City Council became a new unitary authority assuming responsibility for most County and district functions within the Peterborough area.

Local government functions are allocated to the three tiers of local authorities (County, District and Parish) according to their ability to discharge such functions. Services which require large authorities in order to achieve economies of scale and to provide the necessary range of specialist services (e.g. education) or which need to be planned and delivered across large geographic areas (e.g. roads and traffic) are provided by the County Council. Services where economies of scale are less significant and which benefit from being administered more locally (e.g. refuse collection) are delivered by Huntingdonshire District Council. Huntingdon Town Council has a number of discretionary powers to provide a range of local amenities and services such as allotments & cemeteries.

The main areas of responsibility are as follows:

Cambridgeshire County Council

Address: Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge, CB3 0AP.
Telephone 01223 717111. Fax 01223 717201. Cambridgeshire Direct – 0845 045 5200. e-mail info@cambridgeshire.gov.uk. Website www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Huntingdonshire District Council

Address: Pathfinder House, St Mary’s Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3TN.
Telephone 01480 388388. Fax 01480 388099.
Emergency out of hours: 01480 434167.
e-mail mail@huntsdc.gov.uk.
Website www.huntsdc.gov.uk.

Huntingdon Town Council

Address: 1 Trinity Place; Hartford Road, Huntingdon, PE29 3QA.
Telephone 01480 388688. Fax 01480 388686.
e-mail town.council@huntingdontown.gov.uk. Website www.huntingdontown.gov.uk.

Huntingdon Town Council comprises 16 Councillors who are elected for four years to represent their electors in the three wards of Huntingdon North, East & West. The last local Council elections took place in May 2007.

The Chairman, or Mayor of the Council is elected from among the Councillors annually for a period of one year and Town Council Meetings take place approximately every six-eight weeks, usually in the Town Hall or Commemoration Hall. All the meetings of the Town Council are open to the public and are advertised on Community Noticeboards and the Council’s website at www.huntingdontown.gov.uk.