Local issue put before area council, finally (7)
I believe the answer is:
topical
'local' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'issue put before area council finally' is the wordplay.
'issue' becomes 'topic' ('topic' can be a synonym of 'issue'**).
'put before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'finally' says to take the final letters.
The last letters of 'area council' are 'al'.
'topic'+'al'='TOPICAL'
(Other definitions for topical that I've seen before include "Applied externally" , "Current - local - up-to-date" , "Some skin lotions are" , "like this newspaper" , "Dealing with current affairs" .)