Scarborough and Harrogate Town Council plans win overwhelming support

Scarborough and Harrogate are the only parts of North Yorkshire which do not have a parish or town council, and the proposals are now due to be considered by senior councillors.

More than two thirds of residents who responded to recent public consultations in the two towns were in favour to the idea of creating the new councils.

On April 1 next year, North Yorkshire County Council, Scarborough Borough Council and Harrogate Borough Council, along with the county’s five other district authorities, will be replaced by a new North Yorkshire Council that will deliver all local services.

A central pledge in the case for this change was that town and parish councils would be enabled to take on greater responsibilities if they want to and can make a successful business case.

As centres of population without parish councils, residents of unparished parts of Scarborough and Harrogate were invited in summer to give their views on whether they wanted to create a council.

In Harrogate, 74.7 per cent of respondents were in favour of creating a parish council, with 14.5 per cent against, while in Scarborough the figures were 69.9 per cent and 18 per cent.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for corporate services, Cllr David Chance, said: “Parish and town councils have a vital role in representing their communities.

"That local voice is essential in understanding the issues facing a community at a local level and the needs of the people within that community.

"Therefore, I am pleased that such a strong majority of respondents in both the Harrogate and Scarborough areas recognise the benefits of seizing this opportunity.”

The recommendation for Harrogate is that a new parish be established for the unparished area of the town, and that the new authority be called Harrogate Town Council, with a total of 19 members.

The parish would be divided into divisions, based largely on those that will apply to the new North Yorkshire Council after April 1.

In Scarborough the recommendation is for a new parish to be established for the unparished area, and for a new authority called Scarborough Town Council to be created to serve the area.

The parish would be divided into wards and 10 councillors would be elected.

In Scarborough, the proposed new parish would exclude the unparished part of Eastfield Ward, which is recommended to form part of Eastfield Town Council; the unparished part of Charles Williams Apartments, which are recommended to form part of Newby and Scalby Town Council; and the three unparished properties at Osgodby, which are recommended to form part of Osgodby Parish Council.

Subject to approval by the executive, there will be a further consultation on the draft recommendations between February and April to allow final recommendations to be presented to North Yorkshire Council in the summer.

The town councils would be formed for administrative purposes from April 2024, and the first elections would be on May 2, 2024, when councillors would be elected for a reduced term of three years.