Scarborough residents encouraged to take part in consultation on creation of new town council

The second consultation on the creation of Scarborough Town Council is part of a wider local government shake-up in North Yorkshire that will see a new unitary authority take over on April 1.

The new North Yorkshire Council will replace borough and district councils across the county with a plan for town and parish councils to take on greater responsibility if they want to.

In January, members of the NYCC executive committee voted in favour of progressing plans to create a new town council in Scarborough which would cover the town’s currently unparished areas.

Scarborough Town Council is set to be divided into five wards: Castle, Falsgrave and Stepney, Northstead, Weaponness and Ramshill, and Woodlands, and a total of 15 councillors would be elected.

The consultation, which is seeking detailed recommendations from residents, is now open and will run until Friday May 5.

Residents can take part at www.northyorks.gov.uk/CGR and can request a paper copy of the survey by calling 01609 536400 or emailing [email protected].

The town council 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.

Elections would then take place every four years from 2027.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for corporate services, Cllr David Chance, said: “The new North Yorkshire Council will cover a large, diverse geographical area and aims to be the most local authority in the country.

“We are committed to working with town and parish councils, and other partners, to support communities in driving local action and priorities.”

He added: “Having received strong support in the initial consultation for the creation of new parishes and councils to serve them, we are keen to hear views from as many residents as possible on the detailed proposals we are now putting forward.”

However, concerns have been raised that though 69 per cent of respondents to the first survey said they were in favour of the plans, only 2.5 per cent of locals responded to the questionnaire.

Current plans propose that in Scarborough the proposed new parish would exclude the following areas:

• 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.

• The three unparished properties at Osgodby, which are recommended to form part of Osgodby Parish Council.

Currently, the only parts of North Yorkshire which do not have a parish or town council are Scarborough and Harrogate.

The county council’s executive member for stronger communities, Cllr Greg White, said: “I urge people in Scarborough and Harrogate to seize the opportunity this consultation offers to have a say in shaping local empowerment where they live.”

However, if no parish council is created then the charter trustees – the councillors on North Yorkshire Council representing the electoral divisions in the unparished areas – will continue to carry out ceremonial duties and would only be dissolved should a town council be established."