Harrogate council slams 'nightmare vision' of North Yorkshire super council

The comments were made in the wake of the emergence of competing proposals for council re-organisation in York and North Yorkshire amid a Government-sponsored push for regional devolution in England.

In an interview in last week's Harrogate Advertiser looking at their proposal for a single council for North Yorkshire based in Northallerton, county council leader Carl Les and chief executive Richard Flinton were quoted as saying that Harrogate might be allowed to run some smaller services like the Stray, litter picking or looking after the town’s toilets.

But Harrogate Borough Council leader, Coun Richard Cooper argues such an idea would mean "relegation" for Harrogate and its interests.

Coun Cooper said: “Harrogate would be the biggest urban centre in their nightmare vision of a North Yorkshire super-council.

"To be relegated to the status of a parish of a Northallerton-centred super-council responsible for cleaning the loos is just the attitude people have come to expect from a remote and unresponsive county council."

“There are many good things the county council does but these could be delivered even better by a more locally-based council delivering all our services and that is what I support.

"The thought of Northallerton taking over grants for charities like Harrogate International Festival, Harrogate Homeless Project and the Theatre, being responsible for our award-winning parks and gardens and running the conference centre fills me with despair.

“And their attitude to what local democracy should look like for us in Harrogate under a Northallerton-centre super-council is clear – we can clean the loos.

"Fortunately we will have the option to choose a smaller council closer to the people it serves and over the next month alongside other district and borough council leaders in North Yorkshire, I will be unveiling proposals which will think big while keeping it local.

"It will be a refreshing change from what the county council want to serve up to us.”

The Harrogate council leaders' remarks bolster a new campaign by the political leaders of North Yorkshire’s seven district and borough councils, including Harrogate's, to launch “Working together to get change right” – a campaign to create a people-centred proposal for local government reorganisation in York and North Yorkshire.

In a letter sent to The Times this week, the council leaders called for “good old-fashioned Yorkshire common-sense” to prevail on local government reorganisation, which they say should be centred on workable geographies and an understanding of local communities and economies.

Speaking on behalf of the council leaders’ group, Coun Cooper said: “We were in discussions with the minister earlier this month, and it is clear that the government is open to granting devolved powers and potentially billions in investment to our area, but only if local government is reorganised first.

"It’s really not a question of “if” reorganisation will happen. It’s more a question of “how”.

"But a mega council, covering the entire North Yorkshire area – the biggest county area in the whole country - has been mooted. But we don’t believe that’s workable, or in the best interests of our people, places and economy. Our citizens deserve better, which is why we’re campaigning to create an alternative bid that gets reorganisation right.”

The Government has made it clear to local councils in North Yorkshire and York that they must reorganise local government in order to secure an overall devolution deal for the region.

District and borough council leaders are currently working together to put forward the right proposals for reorganisation, which will maintain close links to communities and ensure residents and businesses still have a voice.

Coun Cooper said: “Reorganising local government will affect the lives of 800,000 people, so we’ve got to get it right.

"Over the next few weeks we will be reaching out to communities, businesses, councillors, parish councils and other local organisations, to find out how we can build on what we already do well, and where things could improve.

“We’ll be doing a lot of listening. We want any bid that goes before Government to have local support, and we hope that government will respect that grass roots approach.”

Harrogate Theatre faces major job cuts and closure until 2021​

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