Campaigners are celebrating achieving the next step in their journey to set up a new council to represent their town.

The proposed authority could cost residents up to £80 extra per year in tax and some fear it could end up “very undemocratic”, but proponents say it will better serve Whitstable.

In a recent Canterbury City Council (CCC) committee meeting, councillors agreed to carry out the local governance review which could pave the way for a Whitstable Town Council to be established.

The CT5 People’s Forum has been campaigning to set up the new body for several years - creating a petition which attracted 1,797 signatures.

CCC’s general purposes committee met on December 13 when politicians hashed out the possibilities.

Bernadette Fisher, of the CT5 People’s Forum which is calling for the change, told councillors: “We feel that democracy in CT5 would be better served with a town council and have had the people, organisation and determination to get this far.

“We’ve been heartened by our dialogue with local people, over 95% of whom have supported the petition when approached.

“They’ve generally heard about our campaign and some even remember the old council with affection.”

From 1894 until the 1974 reorganisation of local government, Whitstable was run as the Whitstable Urban District, before it was integrated into Canterbury district.

A council officer explained to members that to have such a petition heard, it needs 7.5% of the electorate to sign a petition - 1,763 signatures in Whitstable’s case and therefore saw it pass the threshold.

Several years ago, a CCC-initiated community governance review garnered a “disappointing” response, Mrs Fisher added.

“I think the main thing is to find creative ways to get people to respond, it’s hard we know that,” she said.

Chris Stanley, spearheading the campaign, said a possible town council “will be able to bid for extra support and funding that CCC or Kent County Council can’t access”.

“We are really grateful for the support from the residents of Whitstable and the business community who have helped us reach this important milestone,” he added.

“It will also support the town’s economy, with local money spent locally, create civic pride, work with, and bring together, the different groups and interests in the town and better influence planning matters.

“Importantly, it will create a voice for Whitstable and will be run by residents for local residents.”

Most Kent towns, and all coastal Kent towns except Margate, have their own town councils, which have identical powers to parish councils.

Faversham’s town council recently initiated a £1m project to make it Kent’s first “walking town”, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported.

Town and parish councils get some money from government grants and from other larger authorities but also raise their money through an additional council tax precept.

Officers confirmed at the meeting that the authority could cost residents £60 to £80-a-year.

However, at the meeting, some raised concerns about how the authority would work.

“If only 7% have said they want it that’s possibly over 90% who don’t,” said Cllr Jeanette Stockley (Con).

“What do we do if there are insufficient people coming forward for this?

“Because that’s one of my big worries about a parish or a town council, is that we have the same people doing it and they're all mates together, maybe they're not very democratic I fear.”

Town and parish councils usually hold elections every four years, but if nobody stands to contest seats, they can simply not take place.

Cllr Ian Stockley (Con) added he once met a parish councillor of 30 years who had never stood for election.

“The governance that Jeanette has alluded to is very undemocratic at the moment,” he said.

The highest turnout in a Kent town council election in 2023 was Hythe, with 40.56% of those eligible actually voting.

Cllr Ian Stockley continued: “I stand a chance of upsetting a lot of parish councillors, but you know full well what percentage of our parish councils had an election the last time an election was called – it’s very small.

“So I am very concerned about the democratic process of town and parish councils and we have no say in this.”

Town and parish councils have to run and fund their own elections.

“You can wake up one day and find you’ve just bought a new village hall for £2.3m and that’s going to be on your precept for the next 20-odd years,” he added.

However, the committee voted unanimously to recommend the full council undertake a community governance review - which the full council will vote on in January.

If passed, it will go to a public consultation where residents will give their views - set to last from January until March.

A public meeting on the possible town council will be held by CCC at Seasalter Christian Centre on January 22 at 5pm.

Final proposals for the council’s structure will be expected by September next year, with campaigners hoping for the new authority to be elected in 2025 at the same time as the county council elections.