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07
Nov 2021
Harrogate council to recommend creation of town council
Harrogate Borough Council looks set to recommend that a town council is set up after the authority is abolished.
Senior councillors will discuss plans to write to the unitary authority, which is set to replace the council, to ask to consider the proposal as part of a review of governance in the town.
The borough council is set to be scrapped in April 2023 to make way for a single county-wide authority as North Yorkshire's two-tier system is abolished.
However, along with Scarborough, Harrogate has no town council and will be left with no lower-tier authority.
Following a motion passed in July, the borough council looks set to write to unitary bosses recommending that a governance review is carried out to form a town council.
The motion said:
In July, Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said the creation of such an authority was “inevitable”.
He told a full council meeting that he had previously offered assurances that a Harrogate Town Council would most likely be created and that a review of services would be carried at “the correct time, in the correct way and by the correct people".
Read more:
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However, Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, proposed the motion in order to ensure that the town would not be “woefully underrepresented”.
Council officials will recommend to senior councillors on Wednesday that the council writes to the unitary authority in accordance with the agreed motion.
What would a town council do?
Town and parish councils run services such as community centres and play areas, as well as maintaining bus shelters. Councillors are elected to serve on them.
The councils can also charge a precept as part of council tax bills to fund the services provided.
Under its plans for a new county-wide council, North Yorkshire County Council promised further powers for towns and parishes in a move it describes as ‘double devolution’.
It would see the councils able to run services and take on additional responsibilities.
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