North Yorkshire Council Parish Update

Here is your North Yorkshire Council Parish Update for October 2025. This month’s edition includes, amongst other things, information about the Community Governance Review taking place across North Yorkshire, an update on the BT ‘Connected Together’ campaign and details of how you can suggest an on-street location for an electrical vehicle charging point in your area.

In this month’s issue:

1)      Community Governance Reviews 2025/2026

2)      BT’s ‘Connected Together’ Campaign Phase 2

3)      North Yorkshire Council: Keeping North Yorkshire Tidy

4)      Community Litter Picking: We Can Help

5)      Yorkshire in Bloom: Town and Parish Council Success

6)      Electrical Vehicle Charging Points: Suggest an On-Street Location

7)      North Yorkshire Council Consultations

8)      North Yorkshire Council News

1. Community Governance Reviews 2025/2026

North Yorkshire Council is reviewing the governance arrangements of several parishes across the county via a process known as a Community Governance Review (CGR). CGRs may involve merging parishes that are no longer functioning as they should be, dissolving parish councils and creating a parish meeting, changing the size of a parish council, or amending the external or internal parish boundaries.

There are 19 parishes under review which are:

1. Barden Parish Meeting
2. Bolton on Swale Parish Meeting
3. Dunsforths Parish Meeting
4. Rand Grange Parish Meeting
5. Spennithorne Parish Meeting
6. Thornthwaite with Padside Parish Meeting
7. Kirby Hill and District Parish Council
8. Lillings Ambo Parish Council
9. Newall with Clifton Parish Council
10. Thorpe Willoughby Parish Council
11. Welburn Parish Council
12. Potto Parish Council
13. Constable Burton and Finghall Parish Council
14. Hudswell and District Parish Council
15. Kirklington with Sutton Howgrave Parish Council
16. Thornton-le-Beans with Crosby and Cotcliffe Parish Council
17. Staintondale Parish Council
18. Escrick Parish Council
19. Sherburn Parish Council

A 12-week public consultation is currently live until Monday 22 December giving residents, parish councils and other community organisations the opportunity to have their say on revised governance arrangements via an online survey.

You can respond to a survey by clicking on the relevant parish under review as listed above or on our dedicated CGR webpage

If you are a neighbouring parish of one of the 19 areas under review you may also wish to respond to a survey. You can find a list of the affected neighbouring parishes in our Terms of Reference

2. BT’s ‘Connected Together’ Campaign Phase 2

BT has launched the second phase of its ‘Connected Together’ campaign.  The objective of the campaign is to reach, educate, and inform customers to build confidence in, and support migrations to digital landlines. A particular focus is on reaching elderly and vulnerable customers who may find this transition more challenging and empower residents to take action.  

Communities are being signposted to BT’s Connected Together website, where customers, families, support networks and organisations can access all the guidance, resources and support they need in one place: www.bt.com/connected-together

3. North Yorkshire Council: Keeping North Yorkshire Tidy

• Keeping Britain Tidy Chewing Gum Grant

The grant was established in 2021 by DEFRA, co-ordinated by Keeping Britain Tidy and funded by major chewing gum manufacturers. The grant funds the purchase and facilitation of chewing gum cleansing which is currently not tackled by the street cleansing service. Chewing Gum is the second most littered item in the country and has a negative effect on our environment. The gum also aims to tackle behaviour to stop the littering, tackling both cause and effect. The grant also helps us to achieve our priorities set out in the Council Plan by protecting our built and natural environment. Last year North Yorkshire Council received funding to cover the former Ryedale and Scarborough districts, this year it received funding for the Central Area (Northallerton and Selby), and next year will be applying for funding for the West Area (Harrogate and Skipton.)

• ‘Clean Up’ Events

As part of the ‘Sprucing-Up Scarborough’ project conducted earlier this year North Yorkshire Council helped coordinate a clean-up event in Scarborough working with local volunteer groups, businesses, and charities. The event was very well received, and a brief has now been drafted to secure funding to roll out similar events across the county. This will involve working with the same groups of people along with local Parish and Town Councils and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs.)

              For further information about future ‘Clean Up’ events please contact cleanupevents@northyorks.gov.uk

4. Community Litter Picking: We Can Help

North Yorkshire Council can help community groups across North Yorkshire undertake voluntary clean-ups by providing advice and key equipment including hi-vis vests, litter pickers and bags for organised litter picking events. In most case the Council can also arrange for the clearance of any litter collected. 

              For further information and advice about how to undertake community litter picking events in your area please contact:

• • • Harrogate: Contact us – North Yorkshire Council Customer Portal
    • Ryedale: litterpicks.rye@northyorks.gov.uk
    • Northallerton: wasteandstreetsceneham@northyorks.gov.uk
    • Richmond: recycling.ric@northyorks.gov.uk
    • Scarborough: Cleansing.sca@northyorks.gov.uk
    • Selby: contractmanagementteam@northyorks.gov.uk
    • Skipton: wastemanagement.cra@northyorks.gov.uk

5. Yorkshire in Bloom: Town and Parish Council Success

A number of Town and Parish Councils across North Yorkshire have been successful in the ‘Yorkshire Rose’ category in this year’s Yorkshire in Bloom competition.

Yorkshire in Bloom is the regional body representing the Britain in Bloom campaign that is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society. Yorkshire in Bloom organises the annual competition to encourage communities of all sizes to make a positive and lasting improvement to their local environment. It’s not just about planting flowers and hanging baskets, it also encourages and develops community spirit and civic pride whilst promoting responsibility for planting, cleanliness and maintenance. This can boost the local economy through increased tourism, stimulates voluntary work and cooperation between community groups, and helps to address issues such as sustainability, recycling, minimising waste and energy conservation.

The winners in the in the ‘Yorkshire Rose’ category were:

• Easingwold Town Council – 5 Yorkshire Roses and North Yorkshire Golden Rose award winner
• Malton Town Council – 5 Yorkshire Roses and North Yorkshire class winner
• Muston Parish Council – 5 Yorkshire Roses
• Darley Parish Council – 5 Yorkshire Roses
• Thirsk Town Council – 5 Yorkshire Roses

For further information about the Awards please visit the Yorkshire in Bloom website here

6. Electrical Vehicle Charging Points: Suggest an On-Street Location

North Yorkshire Council is committed to tackling climate change and improving air quality. As part of its Local Transport Plan,  the Council is supporting greener travel options, including making it easier to switch to electric vehicles.

If you know of a good spot for an on-street electric vehicle charger the Council wants to hear from you.

You can submit your suggestion here and North Yorkshire Council will consider it when planning future installations.

7. North Yorkshire Council Consultations

For details of current North Yorkshire Council Consultations, and to have your say on a range of issues, please visit the current consultations page on our website.

8. North Yorkshire Council News

For details of current North Yorkshire Council news and updates, please visit the news section of our website