Editor's Pick of the Week: Town council elections, affordable housing cuts and business awards

The ball is finally rolling for the Harrogate Town Council elections as the first political party showed its hand this week.

The Conservatives were the first to reveal their candidates for polling day on May 1. Some standing will be familiar to those with an interest in local politics, while others were new even to this chief reporter.

Publishing a list of candidates for the election brings home just how close we are to election day — a little over six weeks away.

And If you’re not into politics and elections, then I’m afraid that you’ve got much, much more of this to come.

Perhaps one of the more contentious stories this week was the news that councillors had voted to cut the number of affordable homes at three sites in Harrogate.

Normally, niche planning application stories tend to float under the radar. But with the government’s agenda to shake up the planning system and build 1.5 million homes over the next five-years, this one did not.

The matter attracted concern from readers as the schemes take up a prominent spot in the west of Harrogate. One suspects this will not be the last housing story which attracts interest this year.

Finally, away from politicians and housing, we had our third annual business awards on Thursday night.

More than 300 sharply-dressed guests at the Pavilions of Harrogate for a night of celebration and a late night DJ.

The awards were presented by BBC Look North newsreader Clare Frisby, who called them a "showcase of everything that’s good about Harrogate”. You can find all the winners from the night here.

Congratulations to those who picked up an award.

John Plummer is away