Community funds system under fire from Harrogate Town Council as town struggles to capitalise on housing developments
Harrogate Town Council has criticised the handling of community funds from new housing developments in the area and is calling on North Yorkshire Council to do more.
The council, which came into existence for the first time in April 2025 following the creation of the larger unitary North Yorkshire Council which handles major services like refuse and highways, says the latter has “failed to inform local people” when funds are available.
Section 106 (S106) funding, often called developer contributions, is cash provided by housing or commercial developers to local authorities as part of a legal requirement to offset the impact of a new development on the local community.
On paper, this then helps ensures local services and infrastructure can handle the expansion.
But the Lib Dem-run Harrogate Town Council is calling on North Yorkshire Council, as part if its review of the Local Plan, to review the rules for community funding.
Councillors argue that North Yorkshire Council has failed to inform local people when those funds are available.
Coun Mark Warr, Lib Dem vice-chair of Harrogate Town Council’s Finance and General Purposes Committee, said “Too often, these contributions to our area are reclaimed by developers simply because the Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council has such a cumbersome application process for the funding.
"We are calling on North Yorkshire to make sure that, whenever a new development is built, the community gets the investment it deserves.”
At the moment, Harrogate Town Council has been picking up the slack, writing to community groups to inform them of any money that’s available to them, and how to apply.
Now they are appealing to North Yorkshire Council to provide clear criteria for how applications for Section 106 funding are assessed, including by making the decision process more transparent, and giving clear feedback to unsuccessful applicants.
The Town Council is also called for clear instructions to be provided to help community groups apply for this funding, as well as executive summaries of what funding is available where.
Harrogate Town Council was set up with the role of providing grassroots governance for the unparished areas of Harrogate.