North Yorkshire Council voted to hand control of the town hall, market square, public toilets and The Wakeman’s House to Ripon's city council.
'Historic day' for Ripon as council confirms it will hand city fresh powers The leader of Ripon City Council says it’s a “historic day” for the city as North Yorkshire Council voted to hand control of the town hall, market square, some public toilets and The Wakeman’s House to the city council. North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative executive met in Northallerton this morning to confirm the winners and losers of the 12 “double devolution” bids that were submitted by parish councils earlier this year. A central pledge in the case for local government reorganisation, which saw the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council (HBC), was that parish councils would be handed the control of assets in their areas if they could make a successful business case. Ripon council leader Andrew Williams, who is also Conservatives & Independent councillor on North Yorkshire Council, said the decision by NYC to offer assets to Ripon heralded a “much more constructive relationship” than the “fractured” one it had with HBC. [caption id="attachment_83119" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Ripon Council Leader Andrew Williams.[/caption] Before it was abolished on April 1, HBC controlled civic assets in Ripon but Cllr Williams told the executive that HBC had neglected them. He said the Wakeman’s House had not been improved in a decade and the town hall last had maintenance work done almost 20 years ago. He also said the market place has “more grass growing on it than the centre court of Wimbledon” and criticised the former council for closing public toilets in the evening during important civic events such as the hornblowing ceremony. Cllr Williams said that Ripon is “currently underachieving its potential”. He added:
“We firmly believe the Ripon people know Ripon better than anyone else.”City councillor and Liberal Democrat NYC councillor for Ripon Ure Bank & Spa, Barbara Brodigan, also gave her backing to the double devolution bid. She said:
“I fully endorse what Cllr Williams has said. The people of Ripon are best served by its elected members.”It’s hoped that Ripon could take control of the assets by as early as April next year and Conservative council leader Carl Les pledged that North Yorkshire Council will “motor on” with preparations for double devolution. By Thomas Barrett, Local Democracy Reporter Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here.
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