The Youth Service. working with the police, has done much work to reduce youth nuisance in the town.

However, the youth worker has gone on maternity leave and been told that there no replacement planned for the summer holiday.

County Councillor Caroline Seymour, who represents Stokesley and the surrounding villages, raised the issue with the Conservative portfolio holder for the Youth Service at today’s meeting of the Council. Cllr Seymour was told that action was being taken to provide cover but that it was “unlikely” to be in place for the summer.

Cllr Seymour commented:

“This is not an unexpected staff absence. The Council should have been able to make alternative arrangements in time for the summer holidays, the very time when this service is most needed.”

Cllr Seymour added:

“This poor level of service is even more upsetting to people in Stokesley in view of the Council’s £115,000 underspend by the Youth Service, and the £8.3 million underspend last year by the Council as a whole.”

At today’s meeting of the Council, Councillor Richard Hall (Lib Dem, Knaresborough), asked the Conservative portfolio holder if she could give any hope to the relief of the Stonefall site on Wetherby Road.

Conservative Councillor Clare Wood said that she was “hopeful that successful negotiations will be concluded for a new site soon.”

The Council was also reassured that money is still available for the comprehensive redevelopment of the Stonefall site when the new site is open.

Cllr Richard Hall commented:

“This is a welcome development, and not before time.”

“Stonefall is the largest Household Waste Recycling Centre in Yorkshire, taking in excess of 22,000 tons of waste per year. Use of the site is causing huge traffic problems on the A661 Wetherby Road in Harrogate. Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for a new HWRC for our area, to take the pressure off Stonefall, for some years.”

“I will believe it when I see it, but at last the Tories seem to be treating this as a priority.”

At today’s meeting of the Council, Councillor Wheeler sought assurances from the Conservative Chair of the Police Authority that the station on Wheatlands Lane will not be closed.

However, no such assurance was given for Crosshills, or Ripon, Knaresborough or Settle.

Cllr Wheeler (Lib Dem, Airedale) commented:

“It seems our community is about to take another hit. First a reduction in our bus service, then post offices, and now our police stations may go the same way. Surely enough is enough.”

“Rural areas deserve as much of a police service as urban areas. Crime, whatever the perceived level of severity, has a long lasting affect on the victim.”

“Our area has a higher than average proportion of elderly people, for whom fear of crime is a real concern. Without their local police station they will be less confident that any crime can be dealt with quickly.”

We believe that they would:

1. Destroy the economic viability of our town centres

2. Put small shops out of business

3. Cost jobs

4. Displace parking into residential areas

Stokesley County Councillor Caroline Seymour said:
“The Conservatives who run the Hambleton District Council are responsible for creating the financial difficulties that have led to these charging proposals.
I am disappointed that the Tory bosses at the County Council have made no objection to the charges.
In addition, Labour Government policies have made it difficult for councils to raise the money needed to maintain services.”

There will be a peaceful march from Northallerton Town Hall to Hambleton Forum to protest against the charges on Tuesday 24 June at 12:30pm.

Anyone who wants to add their name to the thousands of signatures already collected can sign the petition at many of the shops in the town centres.

A report to the Council’s Standards Committee shows that the number of complaints rocketed from 532 in 2006-07 to 847 in 2007-08. This is an increase of nearly 60%. There was little change in the number of complaints in the year before that.

The bulk of the increase appears to be in Adult & Community Services, which covers social care and libraries.

Cllr John Marshall, Lib Dem spokesperson, commented:

“Alarm bells should be ringing at County Hall. A 60% rise in complaints should be a cause for concern for any organisation. Most worrying is the rise in complaints about adult & community services, which have more than doubled.”

Cllr Marshall, from Harrogate, added:

“When the Standards Committee meets next week I will be asking what has gone wrong and what is to be done about it. The Conservative bosses at County Hall really need to give this their full attention.”

On 25 March the Tory leaders agreed to have a full consultation with local members and carers. This has not happened.

Then on 25 April there were headlines in the Craven Herald confirming that this rebuild would not go ahead.

Craven District Council have been working in partnership with the County Council for 19 months to ensure the rebuild went ahead. But they have only just been advised that NYCC has pulled the plug on the venture after spending £1200 in officer time.

Cllr English said:

“I feel ashamed to be a member of North Yorkshire County Council, which rides roughshod over its local members, partner councils and most importantly, the most vulnerable people, the adults with learning difficulties in our area.”

Conservative Councillor Clare Wood said in response that they are still in negotiation with landowners.

Cllr Charlton commented:

“This is what we were told 12 months ago. So much for it being a priority.”

Cllr Hall added:

“There is still no assurance that Stonefall will be redeveloped even though we were assured four years ago that funding was ring-fenced.”

Yet again the Tories have let the people of Harrogate and Knaresborough down.

At the group’s Annual General Meeting in Harrogate last Saturday, Liberal Democrats from across the county unanimously elected Bill, from Knaresborough, to lead them for another year.

Bill has led the group since 2006. The 19-strong Liberal Democrats are the main opposition to the ruling Conservatives at County Hall.

Airedale Councillor Mark Wheeler will again be Bill’s deputy, whilst Ripon’s Bernard Bateman is group Chairman.

Cllr Hoult said afterwards:

“I am delighted that the group has put its trust in me again. I look forward to the challenges of the next year. With Council Tax rocketing and services being cut, it is more important than ever to hold the Tories to account.”

“Whilst the Labour group argue amongst themselves, and vote with the Tories more often than not, the crucial job of providing an effective opposition at County Hall is left to the Liberal Democrats.”

However, the glowing plaudits are based on a superficial reading of results. Scratching beneath the surface reveals a rather less favourable story for them.

Even after eleven years of a very unpopular Labour government, the Tories have failed to have a single councillor elected in Liverpool, Newcastle, Gateshead or Durham City. They have very few in Manchester or Hull. And there’s more: this month they lost their remaining presence on Sheffield Council.

Much has been made about the Conservatives winning control of Bury (though they will rely on the Mayor’s casting vote to do so). But Bury is far from typical of northern Labour heartlands – it had two Tory MPs until 1997 and contains affluent Manchester commuter areas. It is certainly not Salford or Easington.

There is a reason for this. People in the north remember how bad it was under a Tory Government. Even a decade of Labour’s nannying, corruption, authoritarianism and general ineptitude has not persuaded the north to back the Tories again.

By contrast, the Liberal Democrats run councils in Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Sheffield, Stockport, Burnley and Durham, and are the biggest party in Warrington and York. It is clearly us who are the main opposition in the north.

The report by Bruton Knowles was commissioned to review the Council’s policy on the sale of tenant farms implemented 10 years ago in 1998.

The failures may be summarised under two headings: Repairs & Maintenance and Diversification

Repairs & Maintenance

“There seems to have been some shortfall in attention to both repairs and maintenance and improvements driven by budgetary constraints.” Later the consultants highlight the fact that tenants have had to serve formal notices to get repairs done, normally a device of “last resort”.In some instances buildings previously suitable for conversion to residential use are so dilapidated that they are no longer thought capable of getting planning permission.

“The Council wishes to encourage the rural economy which is increasingly predicated on diversification or pluri-activity on farms but it may be concerned that an unduly successful diversification may add to compensation costs at termination. Elsewhere some landlords have adopted a more creative approach…”

Sale policy

The report concludes (section 5.3.11) that the policy of progressive disposal of the estate would be difficult to reverse as:- “The fragmentation of the Estate through the sales programme has exacerbated the difficulties of management and the limitations on productive amalgamations so that rationalising the policy to a long term, sustainable state is no longer a realistic opportunity.”

Cllr Hoult adds:

“Much is made on the income that the current sale policy has produced (£30m), but we must remember that the £18m value of the estate ten years ago was never tested and was likely to be much more on the open market. Also if sold outright for say £20m, that money invested at 5% in 1998 would have earned a further £11m in interest by now. To that we need to add all the management costs of the estate which have not been clearly identified.”