County Councillors Meeting

​On Wednesday 9 November, a meeting took place between a panel of North Yorkshire County Council representatives and a number of Civic Society members. This was arranged as a briefing session on the impending local government reorganisation (LGR) and an opportunity for the Civic Society to seek some clarity about the future working relationships.

Vesting day, when the seven district councils and the county council are replaced by a single unitary council, will be on 1 April 2023.

While many of the arrangements are still to be worked out, the panel insisted that the transition would not be abrupt and most residents would not notice many changes. Offices and depots, such as those in Harrogate, would continue to be used and waste collections and other services would continue much as before.

Harrogate and Scarborough are the only two areas of North Yorkshire which are currently ‘unparished’ and there was a lively discussion on the merits of creating a town council for Harrogate - how this would be done and what functions it would be expected to do.

As a society, we will continue to discuss the issues which arise from LGR, including whether to support the idea of a town council or not.

Image : Left to right: Assistant Director, Neil Irving, County Council leader Carl Les and Executive member Cllr Michael Harrison.