Harrogate residents will soon again be asked for their views about creating a Harrogate Town Council.
Harrogate Town Council: Key questions answered Harrogate residents will soon again be asked for their views about creating a Harrogate Town Council. They’d be forgiven for feeling a sense of deja-vu as it will be third time documents have been dropped in letterboxes with information and questions about how it should be formed. For some, creating another layer of local democracy so soon after the demise of Harrogate Borough Council is an unpalatable thought. But Harrogate, along with Scarborough, are the only two areas in the county without a town or parish council and proponents say the council will give the town a voice and help hold North Yorkshire Council to account. How much will it cost? Perhaps the most pertinent question for residents during a cost-of-living crisis is how much the new council will cost them. If it’s created then an annual sum, called a precept, will be added to every council tax bill to help pay for services. NYC has said that households would initially be asked to pay between £40 and £60 to allow for an annual budget in the range of £1m to £1.6m. The budget would be spent on accommodation, employment costs, office and IT equipment, insurance, professional fees, the mayor and delivering services. The precept would be lower than Ripon City Council, which charges £70.77 for band D properties, but higher than Knaresborough Town Council, which charges £25.27. However, another cost that has alarmed councillors is the combined cost of the three public consultations. It was revealed at a recent meeting that the bill for these is likely to come to £140,000. What powers will it have? The council would be a statutory consultee on planning applications in Harrogate, which would give it a voice if it felt strongly about a particular application. But it would not have power to make decisions as applications would still in the hands of North Yorkshire Council. When the new unitary council was formed, it pledged to hand back some powers to parish or town councils through a project it has called double-devolution. It could mean Harrogate Town Council is much more powerful than it would have been without this pledge. It could bid to run services in the town such as looking after its parks or the Stray, operating car parks or managing the Royal Hall. But this will only be decided once the council has formed and councillors have been elected. How many councillors will there be? There are set to be 19 councillors on the council and they will represent wards based around the former Harrogate Borough Council boundaries. These are not used by North Yorkshire Council, which decided to use larger divisions. Councillors considered having two councillors per ward after it was backed in the previous consultation but the Conservatives said accountability to residents would be better served with single councillor wards. Councillors who already sit on NYC are able to stand in town council elections. In most parish councils, councillors sit as independent members, however, they can also stand for political parties. When will elections take place? If the residents approve the proposals laid out in the next consultation, the council would likely form in April 2025 with elections taking place in May, although this has not been confirmed yet. This is a year later than originally planned but it’s been put back in order for the third consultation to take place. By Thomas Barrett, Local Democracy Reporter Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here.
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