ANYONE interested in standing as a councillor in the forthcoming elections for Cornwall Council and town and parish councils are now able to pick up their candidate information packs and nomination papers.

This year’s elections for the 123 new members of Cornwall Council are being held on Thursday, May 4. The elections for Cornwall’s town and parish councils are also being held on the same day. The count for both sets of elections will take place the following day on Friday, May 5.

Interested people can arrange to have information packs and nomination papers for both sets of elections delivered to their local One Stop Shop by calling 01209 614373 or emailing voter-registration@ cornwall.gov.uk

Anyone who is unable to collect a pack themselves or to arrange for someone else to collect them can request for it to be posted to them by phoning the elections team on 01209 614373. Please note however, that these packs will be sent out special delivery and so will need to be signed for.

The notice of election for both Cornwall Council and the town and parish council elections is due to be formally published on Monday, March 20.

Would-be candidates have until 4pm on Tuesday, April 4 to return their completed nomination papers to the council’s elections team. All nomination papers must be delivered by hand, either by the candidate themselves, or by someone acting on their behalf, so the papers can be formally accepted. To make it as easy as possible for people to return their nomination papers without travelling long distances, the council will be arranging for staff from the elections team to be available to accept forms on three separate days in a Cornwall Council building in a key town in each of the six parliamentary constituency areas.

For East Cornwall applicants, the staff will accept nomination papers at the South East Cornwall constituency office at Luxstowe House, Greenbank Road, Liskeard on Friday, March 24 between 9am and 1pm and 2pm and 6pm; Saturday, March 25 between 9am and 1pm and on Wednesday, March 29 between 9am and 1pm and 2pm and 6pm.

Only candidates for the electoral decisions in the specific parliamentary constituency area will be able to return their forms to that location.

Chairman of Cornwall Council Ann Kerridge said: ‘Putting yourself forward as a candidate for either Cornwall Council or your local town or parish council is a very important decision. Elected members have a number of different roles to juggle which involve balancing the needs of their local community and the council they represent. They will be involved in making decisions and monitoring a range of services as well as playing a key role in determining how these services are provided, funded and prioritised.

‘This is a very exciting time to be involved in local government — with more and more decisions being made in Cornwall rather than in Westminster and town and parish council having the opportunity to shape and deliver services to their residents. It is important, however, that our councils represent all sections of their communities and so we are encouraging people from all walks of life to consider standing as candidates.’

For more information on the elections, visit www.cornwall.gov.uk/elections