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15
Jun
Knaresborough Town Council to hold vote of no confidence in North Yorkshire Council tonight
Knaresborough councillors are to hold a vote of no confidence tonight (Jue 15) in Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council’s ability to take care of the town’s assets and services.
The motion, which will be considered at a meeting of Liberal Democrat-controlled Knaresborough Town Council, has been proposed by Cllr Matt Walker – who also represents the Knaresborough West division on North Yorkshire Council – and seconded by Cllr Hannah Gostlow.
It demands an “immediate and substantial capital investment package [...] to address urgent repairs, upgrades, and improvements at Knaresborough House, Knaresborough Castle, Viaduct Terrace, public toilets, the Bebra Gardens paddling pool, town-centre cobbled areas, and town-centre signage and visitor infrastructure”.
It also calls for immediate negotiations on a comprehensive devolution deal.
The move comes three years after governance of Knaresborough passed from Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished, to the new North Yorkshire Council, which is based 30 miles away in Northallerton.
'Persistent, systematic neglect'
The motion states that the council "notes with grave concern":
The persistent, systemic neglect of Knaresborough's historic assets, public amenities, and essential infrastructure by the unitary authority, North Yorkshire Council.
For too long, decisions and budgets have been managed from a distance in Northallerton, leaving Knaresborough's community heritage to decay.
It continues:
...we cannot sit idly by while our town's treasures and basic facilities crumble due to bureaucratic apathy and a total lack of local accountability.
'Chronic failure'
The motion also lists some of the councillors’ main areas of concern, such as: the state of disrepair of Knaresborough Castle and Knaresborough House; the “protracted neglect” of Viaduct Terrace, which has led to structural failure; the condition of Waterside public toilets, which “pose a direct risk of environmental harm to the River Nidd”; the state of the paddling pool in Bebra Gardens, which is currently out of use due to unresolved drainage issues; the absence of tourist information services in the town; poor town-centre signage; and a “chronic failure” to tackle town-centre parking.
The motion is the last item on the agenda for this evening’s council meeting, which will also include discussion of Knaresborough House and rough sleeping in Knaresborough.
The session will start at 7pm with two minutes’ silence in honour of Eileen Ferguson, former councillor and three-time mayor of Knaresborough, who died recently.
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