11 May 2026 Annual Meeting

HAVERAH PARK WITH BECKWITHSHAW PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING HELD ON Monday 11 May 2026

Location: The Village Hall, Beckwithshaw

Present: Councillors – Cllr D Spence, Cllr A Ellis, Cllr J Parish and Cllr Mr S Swires.

Parish Clerk – Mrs J H Galloway

Commencing at 7.30pm the Annual Meeting was held with 2 members of the public present.

Apologies: Cllr M David and Cllr Mrs S Swires.

Election of Chairman :

Cllr D Spence was proposed by Cllr Parish and seconded by Cllr Mr S Swires.

All in favour.

Election of Vice Chairman :

There were no proposals for the position of Vice Chairman.

Therefore the post remains vacant.

Chairman’s Report :

Good evening and thank you for attending our annual meeting.

Over the past year your Parish Cllrs have met and worked together to consider and respond to the issues raised and to fulfil our legal obligations. I would like to thank them and the Parish Clerk for their work throughout the year.

We continue to engage a Contractor to cut the grassed areas for which we are responsible and in autumn to clear leaves from the roundabout area. As a team we have carried out maintenance work to the Copse and refurbished the bench at Beckwith Head. We hope that both will be enjoyed by all.

Under the leadership of Cllr David supported by our Parish Clerk we continue to develop our website to increase its interactive potential.

Our Defibrillators at the Smiths Arms and The Squinting Cat are monitored and kept ready for use.

As in previous years we report potholes, blocked drains, broken signs and overgrown verges etc. to NYC and monitor progress monthly.

This has been a busy year for responding to Planning Applications with four major applications falling within our Parish boundary. We have endeavoured to make considered responses which we hope reflect the concerns of Parishioners.

We have attended an initial meeting with Harrogate Town Council to explore the possibility of creating a Neighbourhood Plan. Such a plan would identify our thoughts on how and where future developments in our Parish would be acceptable and could help to preserve Beckwithshaw as an independent settlement. This work is very much in its infancy and would require many hours of work and a large amount of finance to finalise a completed plan.

We have successfully worked with NYC to retain the Harlow Grange development within our Parish boundary. However, this has resulted in our Parish being split into two wards (from 2027) but on the plus side provides us with access to two North Yorkshire Cllrs to represent our concerns at County level.

We are aware that under the current NYC ‘call for sites’ initiative, as updated in January 2026 that there are some sites within our Parish. To help maintain our current geographical separation from Harrogate we are planning to meet with Cllr Graham Dixon, Harlow Ward’s representative on Harrogate Town Council, to explore if there is any value in organising a co-ordinated response.

Our relationship with Chris Blackburn, NYC Highways Customer Communities officer to progress works on our Road Works Safety schedule continues although this is a disappointingly slow process. Currently we are exploring the possibility of erecting a ‘Village Gateway’ feature on the verge opposite the junction with Shaw Lane. The discussion revolves around obtaining a street furniture licence and obtaining quotes. The purpose of the ‘Gateway’ is to draw the attention of to the speed limit and that they are entering a village location.

An area of concern is the proposed provision of a new ‘full size’ roundabout to replace the existing mini version. We know that a planning application has been made(25/03390/RG3) but to date we have not been advised of any progress. We are aware that the Lady Lane/Whinney Lane development for 480 houses has had a ‘Grampian’ agreement attached to it preventing the construction of dwelling houses and employment units until a scheme of highway mitigation at Pot Bank roundabout has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority and the land necessary to construct the roundabout has been transferred to NYC.

Our work with the Liquidators of TWM, the providers of our existing VAS machine continues. Currently we have applied to the liquidators for a ‘Consideration’ towards the replacement and or repair costs whilst simultaneously reviewing costs for a possible replacement.

We have a statutory obligation to have in place an ‘Emergency Plan’ which provides basic information regarding infrastructure and contacts should a local disaster arise. Our plan is currently being updated.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all Parishioners that you are welcome to attend our monthly meetings to air your views and concerns.

Thank you for your attendance.

The Annual General Meeting closed at 7.40pm.