Below is shown the text from a flyer distributed to all properties in Brafferton and Helperby from 11 January 2018.
Why Group (merge) the Parish Councils of Brafferton and Helperby?
Approach the village from the south and the road sign announces Helperby Brafferton, drive in from the east or north and this sign is marked Brafferton Helperby. This rather strange signage arises from the original two settlements, one Saxon (Brafferton) and the other Danish (Helperby). Each had its own identity and its own parish boundary; each today retains its own parish council.
To the visitor and, more importantly, to the village resident none of the separate ethnic origins remain, and the precise line of the common boundary is not clearly understood. The village is, or should be, one community sharing all its facilities equally — within Brafferton lies the church and school, while Helperby houses the village hall, sports ground, allotments, shops, garage, public houses, war memorial and common land. The historian may find the village history interesting and quaint but for many generations Brafferton and Helperby has simply been one community but represented at local government level by two parish councils
The current two parish councils each serve their own parishioner/electors but, increasingly, the issues coming before the councils are ones which affect the whole community. The two councils already jointly manage the urban grass cutting and have recently campaigned together to improve the bus service and in endeavours to provide affordable housing. With the councils meeting separately such projects can be disjointed and the process slow or ineffective — examples such as the arguably dangerous situation at Thornton Bridge following the recent works, and the parlous state of the main road through the two villages, not to mention the problems with the sewers (which typically affect Helperby, but are contributed to by Brafferton), spring to mind. However, were the councils to be grouped the village could speak with one stronger voice in a timely manner.
The current situation, with two separate parish councils, is inefficient — both parish councils carry public liability insurance; two parish clerks are employed; two web sites are maintained; and two sets of meetings are held (current legislation also implies that two Data Controllers will need to be appointed, making matters even more cumbersome). Money has to be passed backwards and forwards between the two councils to pay for the jointly managed services such as grass cutting, or two separate payments made where both councils support a community facility such as the village hall. It manages village-wide issues in a piecemeal manner — planning applications and development proposals for example — and lacks the means to provide one central point of contact for parishioners to raise local matters.
To summarise, the advantages which would follow grouping of the two parish councils are:
- Greater simplicity – one single point of contact for parishioners and one (louder) voice to speak for the whole community
- More effective management of community concerns
- Cost savings currently estimated at around £1,900 pa
There seem to be few reasons against grouping of the parish councils — only two readily come to mind, vis:
- Historical — it’s always been that way!
- Reduction in representation — currently ten Councillors represent the two parishes based on the number of properties in each parish, with a minimum of five Councillors per council: a single parish council would qualify for six Councillors
How would the grouping be effected?
Grouping can ONLY come about if sufficient electors in EACH parish indicate their wish to proceed. This is set out in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act, 2007, which makes provision for a Community Governance Review by the principal local authority (Hambleton District Council in this case) in response to a petition from electors. This Act has been modified by the Legislative Reform (Community Governance Reviews) Order 2015, to reduce the minimum number of electors required to trigger that review — in our case Brafferton would need 91 electors in favour, and Helperby 155 — and to impose a limit of 12 months on the principal authority to conclude their review, from the date of receipt of a valid petition. The intention is that this should be concluded prior to the end of the current Parish Council term which expires in May 2019, so that if successful, Councillors would be appointed to a new, single, Brafferton and Helperby parish council at that date. To achieve this, petitions from both Brafferton and Helperby would need to be received (by HDC) by the end of April this year.
Both parish councils have voted to pursue this matter. A flyer inviting electors to attend a public meeting to launch this proposal was distributed throughout both parish council areas at the beginning of December, and the meeting was held on Monday 11th December 2017 under the Chairmanship of Councillor Caroline Patmore, our Hambleton DC Ward Member. Two petitions to Hambleton District Council requesting a Community Governance Review on behalf of Brafferton and Helperby electors respectively were tabled. Electors were invited to sign the petition which requires them to provide their name and postcode to enable checking against the electoral role. A number of people signed the petitions at the meeting.
What happens next?
This newsletter, which will again be distributed throughout both parish council areas, published on both PC websites, and on the Helperby Facebook page, provides an update on the background to the proposals to group (merge) Brafferton and Helperby parish councils, and progress so far. This will be followed by door to door visits on behalf of both parish councils, to invite electors to sign the relevant petition. When (and if) sufficient signatures have been obtained on each petition, the petitions will be submitted to Hambleton District Council to take the matter forward.
Chris Owens Duncan Preen
Brafferton Parish Council Helperby Parish Council
10 January 2018
