Why one council for North Yorkshire makes sense – Yorkshire Post Letters

THE debate about local government reorganisation and the appropriate size of a replacement unitary authority rather misses the point that we are not being offered a single tier of local government. 

Most of North Yorkshire – Harrogate town being a notable exception – is also served by a network of parish councils. This smallest unit of administration has been around since medieval times and has outlived many changes to the bigger authorities.

Parish councils have an important role in bringing a truly local flavour to government and can engage more directly with the populations they serve. The bigger ones, often called town councils and, in the case of Ripon, a city council, can be given the power to take on the management of assets such as allotments or parks.

That said, we must accept that the major local government responsibilities for education, highways and social services need to be delivered by authorities large enough to carry these out with economies of scale. These are often the counties, in our case, North Yorkshire. It’s all about choosing the right size of council to deliver each of the services.

The problem for Harrogate Borough Council is that it is neither small enough to be truly local (ask the people of Ripon and Knaresborough) nor big enough to provide many services efficiently. 

I will be backing the single North Yorkshire county option with the recommendation that the whole of the county is also covered by parish councils who will be encouraged to administer some local services truly locally.

From: David Rhodes, Ripley.

I FIND it most disturbing that various councillors want to split up North Yorkshire, a magnificent county with such a great history and tradition.

For almost 50 years NYCC has done a great job handling about 80 per cent of all local government issues. It now seems logical for the county to absorb the other 20 per cent that the districts have been managing.

At the same time, the historic market town parishes can take back some of the duties they had back before 1974, be they called a parish, town or in the case of Ripon, a city council.

A typical example would be for Knaresborough, as a castle market town, to once again manage its own market, castle, town hall and Conyngham Hall.

Harrogate and Scarborough can re-establish their historic town councils and concentrate on being a bespoke spa town and coastal resort.

The Minister for Local Government has already set up a York and North Yorkshire LEP and it seems logical for him to mirror that with York and North Yorkshire Unitary Authorities (perhaps Selby going in with York for geographical and numerical reasons). North Yorkshire is the largest county in England and it is important that the residents show appreciation for the excellent work NYCC has and will do. It is important to retain and be proud of our remarkable county history and amazing natural and built heritage.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson