Staveley & Copgrove Parish Council

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Welcome to our February 2021 newsletter.

The following News items have been posted on our website recently and we would like to bring them to your attention here:

Your Council Tax

It’s that time of year when the new Council Tax bills are about to be sent out by Harrogate Borough Council (HBC). Your council tax pays for about 750 local services in our community.

It’s HBCs job to collect the entire bill. They retain just over 12p in every £1 to cover the cost of the services they provide. 70p from each £1 of your council tax goes to North Yorkshire County Council, 14p pays for North Yorkshire Police and roughly 4p is for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service.

Your bill also includes a sum, or precept, paid directly to us, the Parish Council. This sum is our main source of income for the financial year and enables us to provide services such as grass cutting, maintaining the recreation field and children’s play area and looking after other community assets in the parish.  It also covers the cost of the day to day running of the Parish Council.

For the financial year 2021-2022 we have kept the parish precept the same as last year, at £6,355, and chosen to fund the excess of projected expenditure over income from our reserves. A summary of our budget and precept calculation for next year is shown below.

This precept amount is then divided by the number of properties in the parish that fall into council tax band D, in the same way as your HBC council tax is calculated. The resulting amount per household is then added to your Council Tax bill.

Further details of our budgets, reserves, income and expenditure are available in the Our Business > Our Finances section of our website.

Parish Clerk Appointment

New Estate Fencing

Those with good memories will recall that in 2019 we raised funds to replace the old estate fencing along the field on Wath Lane as you enter Staveley from Copgrove. We received a grant from the Allerton Park Landscape and Cultural Heritage Fund, which was then topped up by donations from residents and the estate landowner.

During that winter we were able to have the tree work completed as shown above. This work involved removing dead wood and overhanging branches plus planting 5 replacement oaks. The replacement trees were then protected from the sheep using tree guards donated by the late Lord Mowbray. These works gave us a good idea of how smart this entrance to the village would be and we were all set for the next stage.

You don’t need us to explain why the project has been on hold for a while! However, the good news is that we are now getting back on track. Government regulations permitting, we will be forming a working party at the end of May ideally or beginning of June if needs be. This working party is needed to remove the current fence and prepare the site for the installation of the new fencing which we are having made locally.

Tasks within the working party will be varied. We will need people who can dig out and generally manhandle the old fence, load the skip, supply tea/coffee, watch no one strays onto the road or forgets about social distancing. Not being experts in these matters there are bound to be all sorts of tasks we are currently unaware of too.

So everyone, please can you help? We need an idea now of how many people we can call upon so we can be sure we can get the job done. Please let us know if you can help.
Email us at enquiries@staveleyandcopgrovepc.org.uk.

You can see the location of the work on a map here.

Copgrove gets new signs

The long awaited signs to announce your arrival in Copgrove have now arrived and been installed. The signs are located on Wath Lane and Apron Lane.

Over 70s Covid-19 Vaccine

Motorway Service Station Planning Appeal

The Public Inquiry into Applegreen’s appeal against the refusal of planning permission to build a Motorway Service Area (MSA) at Kirby Hill began on 16th February 2021.

The inquiry is being broadcast live on YouTube. Visit the Kirby Hill website here for further information and the link to the Planning Inspectorate YouTube channel.

Digital Skills Update

Council Tax Scam Alert

Residents in the Harrogate area have reported that they’ve received an email or text message supposedly suggesting they are in line for a council tax rebate or general tax refund. As with most scams, the email/text includes a link which has to be clicked in order to “process the refund”.

These emails and text messages are not real.  They are an attempt to dupe you into handing over personal information which the criminals can use to potentially steal from you. Harrogate Borough Council (and no other public organisation) will ever ask for personal information such as account details, passwords, PINs, addresses or copies of driving licences/passports.

Census Day 2021: Sunday 21 March

Census day is almost here and letters telling you about the census should soon start to drop on doormats across the Parish.  An advance card will arrive first, explaining the census is taking place on Sunday 21 March. Every household will then be sent a letter with a digital access code.  The code will let you fill out the questionnaire online.

The hope is that most people will do this.  You will be able to complete the questionnaire on your tablet, smartphone or computer.  This shouldn’t be difficult, and everything has been made as straightforward as possible.

However, the census does realise that some people are not confident online or may not have access to a computer.  If this is the case, don’t worry.  You can request to have a paper copy and fill the census in as you always have done in the past.

You can complete the questionnaire before, on or after 21 March but it is the law that you do complete the census.  Failure to do so risks a fine of £1,000.  Further help will be available by phoning the helplines going live soon and by visiting the census website.

Government consultation into the future of North Yorkshire’s councils

The government has launched a consultation into the future of local government in the city of York and the county of North Yorkshire.  It wants to replace the current two-tier structure with unitary authorities to provide all local services.

Harrogate, jointly with the councils of the Craven, Richmondshire, Ryedale and Selby districts and the borough of Scarborough – have submitted proposals for an ‘east and west’ model of two, balanced, unitary organisations.

Find out more about the east and west model on the Get Change Right website. Please make sure your views on the future of local government are captured by taking part in the consultation. The closing date is 19th April 2021.

Harrogate Station ‘Gateway’ Plans

Major changes are being proposed for the area adjacent to Harrogate train and bus station.  Harrogate Borough Council are working jointly with North Yorkshire County Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority on a project to improve the station ‘gateway’.

Your views on the proposals are needed, so a consultation has been launched. Two ‘live’ virtual events have also been arranged to explain the project, what it is intended to achieve and so you can ask any questions. They take place next Wednesday 3rd March at 6pm and then again on Wednesday 10th March, also at 6pm.

In the meantime, you can read more about the proposals or take part in the consultation.  It’s open for your views until 24th March 2021.

Planning Applications

The following planning applications within the Parish have recently been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council:

None.

The following planning applications within the Parish have recently been decided by Harrogate Borough Council:

20/04737/FUL White Horse Barn, Little Acres, Bedlam Lane, Staveley, HG5 9JU. Demolition of agricultural building and erection of single storey extension to existing dwelling: extension of domestic curtilage. Refused. 1st February 2021.

20/04972/FUL 3 Home Farm Cottages, Copgrove Hall, Copgrove, HG3 3SZ. Erection of single storey extension. Permitted 2nd February 2021.

20/03115/FUL Tanner Beck House Main Street Staveley HG5 9LD. Erection of single storey rear extension infill and replacement windows in existing extension. Permitted. 4th February 2021.

20/03116/LB Tanner Beck House Main Street Staveley HG5 9LD. Erection of single storey rear extension infill and replacement windows in existing extension. Permitted. 4th February 2021.

20/03602/FUL East View Barn Bedlam Lane Staveley. Erection of conservatory. Permitted. 8th February 2021.

The following planning applications within the Parish are awaiting a decision by Harrogate Borough Council:

20/05185/FUL Jubilee Court, Abacus House, Wath Lane, Copgrove HG3 3TB. Erection of extension following approval of application 19/02749/FULMAJ.

20/04663/DISCON Suite 1 Abacus House, Jubilee Court, Wath Lane, Copgrove, HG3 3TB. Drawing 3705/1 Detailed Landscape Proposals.

You can track all planning applications within the Parish from 2018 onwards, including any Parish Council comments, on our website here.

Parish Council Meetings

All Parish Council meetings will continue to be held online as per Covid-19 guidelines, until further notice. You are welcome to join the meetings. Details of the meeting access are available on the meeting agenda document and in the Events listing here.

The next meeting of the Parish Council is on Tuesday 4th May 2021 at 7pm.

You can read all of our past newsletters here and receive any of the news items as they are published on our website via our RSS feed. Further information on the feed is available here.

You can also sign up to the Harrogate Borough Council monthly email newsletter here, which often has items concerning our parish, and the Harrogate & District Community Action (H&DCA) email newsletter here.