NALC announces Star Council Awards finalists – vote for your Council of the Year

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has today announced its Star Council Awards finalists.

The awards recognise the achievements of the local (parish and town) council sector and celebrate the positive impact that local councils, county associations, councillors and clerks in their communities. 

The judges were hugely impressed with the quality of entries, with another year of record entries. See what the judges had to say

Once again, the Council of the Year award will be decided by a public vote, an innovation that was introduced last year. Find out more about the finalists and cast your vote by 30 September 2019.

A further innovation this year, aimed at showcasing the brilliant work county associations do to support England’s 10,000 local councils and 100,000 councillors, is allowing county association to cast a vote along with the judges for the County Association Project of the Year award. The five finalists will be narrowed down once again, to a final three, to join NALC at the awards ceremony.

The winners will be announced at the Star Councils Awards and dinner, hosted by the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher at NALC’s Annual Conference on 28 October.

This year's finalists are:

Council of the year

• Feock Parish Council, Cornwall
• Salisbury City Council, Wiltshire
• Woughton Community Council, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes

Councillor of the year

• Cllr Sara Burrell, Plaistow and Ifold Parish Council, West Sussex
• Cllr Eartha Pond, Queens Park Community Council, London
• Cllr Sarah Williams, Bridport Town Council, Dorset

Young councillor of the year

• Cllr Gilly Reynolds, Oakengates Town Council, Shropshire
• Cllr Emily Benner, Croxley Green Parish Council, Hertfordshire
• Cllr Daniel Thomas, Much Wenlock Town Council, Shropshire

Clerk of the year

• Donna Ford, Midsomer Norton Town Council, Avon
• Steven Fletcher, Mablethorpe and Sutton Town Council, Lincolnshire
• Linda Larter, Sevenoaks Town Council, Kent

County association project of the year (longlist)

• Warwickshire and West Midlands Association of Local Councils
• Essex Association of Local Councils
• Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils 
• Suffolk Association of Local Councils
• Shropshire Association of Local Councils