Appendix 1 – Final Recommendations for Barden Parish Meeting
Contents
1.0 Current governance arrangements and history of the area
Current governance arrangements
2.0 Assessment of consultation responses for Barden Parish Meeting
3.0 Final assessment and final recommendations
Annex 1A – Consultation survey
Annex 1B – Summary of consultation responses
1.0 Current governance arrangements and history of the area
Current governance arrangements
1.1 Barden Parish Meeting is situated within the Wharfedale division and is part of the Skipton and Ripon parliamentary constituency.
1.2 Barden parish currently has 61 electors and 32 properties.
1.3
 |
Barden has 8 neighbouring parish areas as shown in the map below including Appletreewick, Bolton Abbey, Burnsall, Embsay with Eastby, Halton East, Hazlewood with Storiths, Rylstone and Thorpe.
1.4 Whilst the area of Barden is parished it does not have a parish council and is referred to as a parish meeting. This means it does not elect Councillors or hold parish council meetings. Parish meetings must assemble annually between 1 March and 1 June and on at least one other occasion during the year. These meetings are open to the public, but only registered electors of the parish can speak and vote.
1.5 Parish meetings can raise a precept to raise monies for spending for the benefit of the parish. Barden does not currently raise a precept. Appletreewick does raise a precept and claimed £3,000 for 2026/27.
1.6 Barden Parish Meeting initially requested to merge with a neighbouring parish, with Appletreewick Parish Council being the preferred option.
History of the area
1.7 Barden Parish Meeting contacted North Yorkshire Council in May 2025 to advise that the Chair and Clerk both resigned at their AGM on 17 March 2025.
1.8 Barden Parish Meeting expressed an interest to merge with a neighbouring parish, with Appletreewick being the most logical suggestion.
1.9 Initially there was no appetite from Appletreewick to merge as they felt they would also like to request a CGR.
1.10 Following a conversation with the clerk of Appletreewick Parish Council the suggestion of Barden Parish Meeting merging with Appletreewick Parish Council was discussed and suggested as a potential solution.
1.11 After consultation with Democratic Services, it was suggested that a CGR be carried out for Barden Parish Meeting. Following the Standards and Governance Committee on 20 June 2025, Full Council approved the terms of reference of the 2025/26 Community Governance Review, which included a defined list of parishes that would be reviewed on 16 July 2025.
1.12 Appletreewick Parish Council did provide a formal response via the consultation and agreed that Barden Parish meeting would be a good fit for Appletreewick Parish Council and increase the demographic pool for potential Councillors.
1.13 Appletreewick currently has 171 electors and 97 properties, and there are 5 Councillors on the Parish Council.
Five year electorate forecast
1.15 The electorate and 5-year electorate forecast for Barden parish and Appletreewick parish is as follows:
|
Parish |
Electorate (2025) |
Electorate prediction (2030)*
|
Predicted electorate increase |
|
Barden |
61 |
59 |
-2 |
|
Appletreewick |
171 |
176 |
+5 |
* based on 2024 electorate totals
2.0 Assessment of consultation responses for Barden Parish Meeting
2.1 The following table shows the number of households within the review area, with the number of consultation responses received, and response rate.
|
Consultation Stage |
Stage 1 |
Stage 2
|
|
Households in CGR area
|
1399 |
129 |
|
Consultation responses received
|
15 |
19 |
|
Response rate
|
1.1% |
14.7% |
2.2 During the Stage 1 consultation, consultation letters were sent to households in Barden and all of the surrounding areas mentioned in 1.3 above. This accounts for the figure of 1399 households in stage 1. Barden Parish Meeting is not functioning so therefore could not provide any comment.
2.3 During the Stage 2 consultation however, engagement was primarily conducted digitally via an online survey. However, residents were able to request a paper version of the survey if preferred. The stage 2 recommendation only effected the residents of Barden and Appletreewick. This accounts for the figure of 129 households in stage 2 which is the number of households of both Barden and Appletreewick parishes.
2.4 A copy of the Stage 2 consultation survey can be found at Annex 1A. A summary of consultation responses received can be found at Annex 1B.
2.5 The response rate in the table above was calculated by comparing the number of consultation responses with the number of households in the areas under review. The total number of Stage 2 responses for Barden Parish Meeting was 19.
2.6 For the avoidance of doubt, the free text comments received through the consultation process reflect the views of the individual respondents alone. These comments do not represent the views of North Yorkshire Council and should not be construed as being endorsed by the Council.
2.7 Of the 19 respondents, one reported that they lived in Barden, 16 lived in Appletreewick, one in a neighbouring parish and one respondent was the relevant Division Member.
|
Option
|
Number |
Percentage |
|
Yes, I support this recommendation
|
15 |
79% |
|
No, I do not support this recommendation
|
2 |
11% |
|
I am unsure
|
2 |
11% |
|
Total
|
19 |
100%* |
2.9 The majority of respondents agreed that the new parish boundary is detailed as shown on the map below. A summary of the responses can be found in the table below.
|
Option
|
Number |
Percentage |
|
Yes, I support this recommendation
|
15 |
79% |
|
No, I do not support this recommendation
|
2 |
11% |
|
I am unsure
|
2 |
11% |
|
Total
|
19 |
100%* |
2.10 The majority of respondents agreed that the new parish shall be known as Appletreewick with Barden, as detailed in the table below.
|
Option
|
Number |
Percentage |
|
Yes, I support this recommendation
|
15 |
79% |
|
No, I do not support this recommendation
|
2 |
11% |
|
I am unsure
|
2 |
11% |
|
Total
|
19 |
100%* |
2.11 The majority of respondents agreed that there should be a single parish council for the parish of Appletreewick with Barden, as detailed in the table below.
|
Option
|
Number |
Percentage |
|
Yes, I support this recommendation
|
15 |
79% |
|
No, I do not support this recommendation
|
2 |
11% |
|
I am unsure
|
2 |
11% |
|
Total
|
19 |
100%* |
* Rounding’s can affect the overall %
2.12 The majority of respondents agreed that the parish council should be named Appletreewick with Barden Parish Council, as detailed in the table below.
|
Option
|
Number |
Percentage |
|
Yes, I support this recommendation
|
14 |
78% |
|
No, I do not support this recommendation
|
2 |
11% |
|
I am unsure
|
2 |
11% |
|
Total
|
18 |
100% |
2.13 The majority of respondents agreed that five councillors should be elected to Appletreewick with Barden Parish Council, as detailed in the table below.
|
Option
|
Number |
Percentage |
|
Yes, I support this recommendation
|
14 |
78% |
|
No, I do not support this recommendation
|
2 |
11% |
|
I am unsure
|
2 |
11% |
|
Total
|
18 |
100% |
2.14 Appletreewick Parish Council submitted a consultation response outlining their support of a merger with Barden Parish Meeting.
2.15 Councillor Richard Foster, Division Member for Wharfedale submitted a consultation response and advised that he was in agreement with the proposal and felt that the merger made sense. He noted that Barden had been struggling for a few years to get residents to be part of the meetings and this solution should strengthen Appletreewick too. He also noted that whilst a large area, it's sparsely populated and having separate councils and meetings which are difficult to get people to attend and take part in makes no sense.
2.16 Additional consultation comments are included at Annex 1B.
3.0 Final assessment and final recommendations
3.1 The majority of responses (79%) indicated support for the final recommendations to amalgamate Appletreewick parish with Barden parish.
3.2 A list of final recommendations can be viewed below:
Recommendation 1 – the existing parish of Barden shall be amalgamated with the parish of Appletreewick.
Recommendation 2 – that the new parish boundary is as detailed in the below map.
Recommendation 3 – the new parish shall be known as Appletreewick with Barden.
Recommendation 4 – there shall be a parish council for the parish of Appletreewick with Barden.
Recommendation 5 – the parish council shall be named Appletreewick with Barden
Parish Council.
Recommendation 6 – that 5 Councillors are elected to Appletreewick with Barden
Parish Council.
Recommendation 7 – that the above take effect for administration purposes on 1 April 2027 with elections to the new Parish Council to be held on 6 May 2027 for a term of 4 years. Changes to the electoral register required for the above take effect on the revised publication ahead of that election (planned for December 2026).
3.3 The recommendations detailed above will conclude the CGR.