New Harrogate Town Council hopes to deliver ‘louder voice’ ahead of first meeting under Liberal Democrats

The authority will hold its first meeting on tomorrow (Wednesday, May 14) following last week’s vote.

The Liberal Democrats are set to control the council after winning 15 of the 19 wards.

Two Conservatives, one Reform and one independent candidate were also elected.

It is understood the Lib Dems have already held discussions to decide who will be the new mayor and deputy mayor, although the positions will not be filled until members of the authority cast their vote at the first meeting.

Councillor Chris Aldred, who was elected to serve the High Harrogate ward, is chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats and also a North Yorkshire councillor.

Councillor Aldred was also chosen as the charter mayor for Harrogate ahead of the formation of the new authority, which will meet, initially at least, at Harrogate Civic Centre.

He said: “The first meeting won’t be very exciting other than electing the new mayor and deputy.

“We need to set in place some of the legal requirements and things like the standing orders.”

The councillor hopes the new authority can start to deliver improvements for the people of Harrogate in the future, but said change would not happen immediately.

“The precept is remarkably low – it’s less than £13 for a Band D household.

“That doesn’t give you a lot of resources in year one and most of that money has already been allocated.”

One way the council could boost its coffers is by trying to claim the annual £170,000 levy for the use of the ‘Harrogate’ name by Harrogate Spring Water, which is currently paid to North Yorkshire Council.

Councillor Aldred confirmed the authority would be lobbying for this money to be retained in the town as soon as possible.

How that money could be spent is not yet clear though.

While some town and parish councils around the county are responsible for a wide range of services, Harrogate Town Council will initially have little more than allotments to take charge of.

It also starts life with just one member of staff — the town clerk.

But in the future, the Liberal Democrats would like to see as much devolution of services as possible, with parks and gardens, cemeteries and street scene among the areas it could look to take on.

A new weekly market for the town has also been discussed.

Councillor Aldred admits he is not a big fan of North Yorkshire Council, which he describes as “too mammoth”.

But he says the council will work in partnership with whoever it needs to.

“North Yorkshire Council has always said they want to work in partnership with town and parish councils to deliver some of the things which can be run more locally, but it’s actually failed miserably at that.

“The election has given Harrogate a louder voice to put its issues before North Yorkshire Council.

"We’ve got a clear mandate to push North Yorkshire on several things.”

The election took place following the launch of the unitary North Yorkshire Council and the abolition of the county’s town and borough councils in 2023.

This left only Harrogate and Scarborough without a second tier of local government, with town and parish councils already established elsewhere in the county.