Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister Parish Report
Masham : January 26
Highways
I have not had a response re Theaksons Yard, I will continue to chase.
In light of the current cold spell, Highways are encouraging all of us to plan our journeys carefully and to view their weather cameras via: Road cameras and weather conditions | North Yorkshire Council alongside any weather warnings issued by the Met Office; for more information see: UK weather warnings – Met Office.
Community Partnership (Ripon)
The Transport & Connectivity Working Group meets this month and we will be reviewing all existing/underused bus routes and new routes to put forward for consideration for funding. We will also be reviewing CIL and s106 funding across the area, to identify what has been allocated and remains unspent or has not been delivered. The Infrastructure Business Plan for CIL was approved at the December Executive meeting, so this will be reviewed by the group.
Connectivity
I have written to Julian Smith MP to ask for support in terms of establishing where the mobile phone operators are planning on improving mobile connectivity. There are currently six villages in my division that are current “not-spots”:
• Low Ellington
• Ilton
• Healey
• Grewelthorpe
• Azerley
• Markington
Along with sparsely populated areas without signal.
There is a deadline to complete these improvements by ’27 and I am due to speak to mobileuk.org to gain a better understanding of what is planned and what areas might remain without coverage – bearing in mind that the Ox Close site at Healey has planning permission for a mast.
It remains the case that houses that have smart meters that cannot be connected can, via Julian Smith MP, be put in touch with DCC who are able to find alternate solutions – the radio signal is poor in this area, and where mobile signal is an option this can be arranged. Where neither are available, using the house’s broadband might be an option. Residents just need to contact me and I can put them in touch.
Tourism Tax
In light of proposals to introduce a tourism tax on visitors to the area, can I encourage all those that feel they might be impacted by this (positively or negatively) or have a view on how it should be administered (if at all) to contribute to the national consultation : https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/overnight-visitor-levy-in-england I have fed back comment from several hoteliers in the area to Visit North Yorkshire’s team at NYC and am happy to engage further in this way. It is important that this tax does not become a burden to administer, and that the funds raised remain available to be spent in the areas where they are raised – to mitigate the impact of tourism and provide funding where needed by local residents.
Bedale Football Club
I am pleased to report that at December’s Executive meeting it was agreed that funding previously ring fenced for a new pitch at Bedale FC would remain so – it had been under threat of being re-allocated.
Community Led Housing
I am continuing to work towards establishing a CLH Trust with a view to purchasing the Kell Bank school site, and then other redundant sites within Mashamshire, to convert into community owned housing that is genuinely affordable housing to local residents.
The project ensures that households have access to competitive deals through a hassle-free process. Suppliers compete for the opportunity to offer households the lowest energy tariff, and there is no need to compare different tariffs as everyone registered receives a personal offer.
Since 2012, the Big Community Switch has seen more than 2.1 million people register their interest in switching energy contracts.
Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister
Cllr.felicity.cunliffe-lister@northyorks.gov.uk
07592 114800
