Households would have to pay ‘between £40 and £60’ a year for a Harrogate town council

North Yorkshire County Council has launched a second public consultation on whether a town council should be created and it’s said how much residents in band D properties are likely to pay to cover services.

It follows an initial consultation held over the summer where 75 per cent of respondents backed setting a new council up — but questions were raised over its low turnout rate and how much the new council would cost tax payers in Harrogate.

Annual budget

North Yorkshire County Council said the town council’s council tax precept would allow for an annual budget in the range of £1m to £1.6m.

The budget would be spent on accommodation, employment costs, office and IT equipment, insurance, professional fees, the mayor and delivering services.

It anticipates there would be a surplus in the first year of the town council, which would go to reserves for use in future years and “enable the parish to begin on a secure financial footing”.

The precept would be lower than Ripon City Council which charges £70.77 for band D properties but higher than Knaresborough Town Council which charges £25.27.

2024 elections

Harrogate and Scarborough are currently the only two areas in North Yorkshire without a parish or town council and consultation documents also include more details about how councillors to a town council would be elected.

If created, Harrogate Town Council would come into effect from April 1 2024, which will be a year and one day after Harrogate Borough Council has been abolished.

An electorate of 54,496 Harrogate residents would elect 19 councillors on May 2 2024 for a term of three years.

After 2027, elections would take place every four years.

The ward names for the parish would be the same as the divisions for the new North Yorkshire Council.

However, as part of Oatlands and Pannal division and the Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate divisions are in unparished areas these wards would be called Oatlands and Saltergate.

What powers would the town council have?

This is still undecided but typically parish and town councils have responsibility for things like parks and bins.

However, a key argument for local government reorganisation in North Yorkshrire was that parish or town councils could be handed more powers under what has been called “double-devolution”.

A future Harrogate Town Council could, if it wanted to, make bids to run assets such as the Royal Hall or the Stray but those decisions are still a long way off.

Ripon City Council and Knaresborough Town Council have indicated they would eventually like to take control of assets currently held by Harrogate Borough Council such as Ripon’s Town Hall and Knaresborough Market.

The consultation runs until May 5 and can be viewed by visiting https://online1.snapsurveys.com/interview/8cc57ae2-1b76-436e-b43b-4fb1e04530d6