Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dadd, Duncan, Sladden and Annabel Wilkinson.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Resolved

That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Thirsk and Malton Area Committee held on 26 September 2025 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

In the interest of transparency Councillor Janet Sanderson declared an interest as a member of North Yorkshire Youth Limited Board of Trustees.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice and provided the text to Democratic Services Officer (details below) no later than midday on Monday, 1 December 2025, three working days before the day of the meeting. Each speaker should limit themselves to three minutes on any item. 

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct those taking a recording to cease whilst you speak.

From Andrew Jenkins

Tourism Tax.

Was North Yorkshire Council consulted regarding the idea of creating a new tourism tax for North Yorkshire by the Major, if not, why not, and will tourism bodies such at the Filey Tourism and Trade Association on the front line be consulted regarding its implementation or not before any sort of local tax like this is implemented?

Businesses in Hospitality are already dealing with excessive rises in costs by government Tax, food and energy and wages and they cannot afford additional price rises at this time. The situation may be different in international tourist hot spots like York, but areas that rely on domestic tourism such as coastal areas are very different.

Response by Tony Watson, Head of Tourism

The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire has publicly supported gaining the powers to apply a visitor levy. In the recent Budget, the Chancellor confirmed that these powers will be made available to mayoral authorities and announced that a national consultation on the proposal is now open.

If the Mayor decides to implement a visitor levy, it will be introduced and administered as an initiative by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA). North Yorkshire Council is now considering its position and will actively engage in both the national and regional consultations. We strongly encourage all interested groups and businesses to participate in these consultations and share their views.

We particularly encourage Filey TTA to respond with their expert local knowledge through the Mayor’s consultation via Policy Lab and through the national consultation process. In addition, Filey TTA is represented on the Visit North Yorkshire Advisory Group. The Visit North Yorkshire team is currently finalising plans for the next meeting, which will provide an opportunity for the Mayor and his team to hear feedback directly from stakeholders.

Mr Jenkins then gave the following response, which was passed to Head of Tourism for consideration

Some of that is very good to hear. I'm attending that tourism meeting group, so I will be participating in that. We've certainly had no indication and no inquiry from the mayor's office prior to these announcements being made, asking whether this would be a good idea in the first place.

I would also feedback to councillors that should such a thing be implemented, it needs to be very carefully constructed, so that the monies are not disappearing into a general pot. The monies raised in other areas of around the world, and I've travelled very extensively throughout Europe where tourist taxes are implemented, tends to be in the larger towns and cities, but even in smaller places the monies raised go back into the communities in which they are raised, not into a wider general pot.

For businesses, if this is introduced and we get into the nitty gritty of how something like this might be implemented, how that money is actually taken from the customer, how it is declared to the relevant body, where is the money?

Is it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton and Sir Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Wetherby and Easingwold.

Sir Alec Shelbrooke MP supplied a written update, which was circulated with the agenda.

Kevin Hollinrake MP attended the meeting in person. Key issues discussed included:

·       The proposed tourism tax

·       Solar farm developments on agricultural land – Members discussed the challenges of the balance between energy security and food security, the climate emergency and planning policy.

·       Dualling of A64 – The MP assured the committee of his continued support for dualling the A64

·       Home to school transport

·       Second homes premium - Mr Hollinrake commended the Council for ensuring that the monies raised were used for the provision of affordable homes.

·       Funding for the Filey town bus service - A proposed business case from the mayor’s office was imminent and a number of potential funding sources had been identified to provide a local bus service

·       Agricultural Property Relief

·       Small Business Saturday

In addition, Members raised concerns on recent planning decisions that were impacted by capacity issues in the wastewater systems.

Verbal introduction to and update on the work of Youth Councils.

James Koppert (Youth Voice Creative Engagement Officer) attended the Committee to advise Members on the current position and future development of youth councils across North Yorkshire.

James explained that a number had been set up around the county, some supported and run by the team, and others supported and run by volunteers and community organisations.

They were an opportunity for young people to get involved in democracy, promote the positive things that young people do, build their confidence and positively impact their CV as they go on to further education and the workplace.

They enabled the Council to engage and obtain opinion on Council services and check that we were doing things right for young people. They also fed into regional and national groups.

Barriers to participation include geography, demographics and a reliance on volunteers. Funding and sustainability were noted as key challenges.

If Members were interested in setting one up in their area, the team could offer support in setting up, promoting, training for volunteers and accessing regional and national groups.

Members expressed strong support for improving youth engagement.

Resolved

1. That the Committee supports the principle of developing youth councils and associated engagement activities across the Committee’s area.
2. That youth councils and youth engagement be added to the Committee’s work programme for further consideration, including potential funding options and partnership opportunities.

Briefing note from the agenda for 26 September 2025 recirculated for reference.

Lizzie Phippard, Infrastructure Investment Officer and Tracey Rathmell, Head of Delivery and Infrastructure gave a presentation which described the differences between Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy (S106 and CIL), the two types of developer contributions. This followed an information item circulated with the agenda for the meeting held on 26 September 2025, when Councillors asked for more details on the process. 

·       S106 – parks and open space contributions were managed by the Parks and grounds team. Parish and town councils received annual notifications of the funds available.

·       CIL – CIL income was spent on an approximately 80%-20% split between strategic and local infrastructure projects within the legacy district and borough areas.

The team followed an Infrastructure Business Plan, which outlined the process that would be followed when assessing each project and included how projects were categorised and assessed whether they contributed to the following four objectives:

·       Health and wellbeing

·       Supporting communities

·       Sustainable and active travel

·       Climate infrastructure

Members discussed a number of projects that were currently ongoing in the committee area and their concerns that parish and town councils did not know what funds may be available to them.

The officers confirmed that this information would be circulated to parish and town councils on an annual basis going forward and they were working on proactive engagement to provide support and guidance on applying for funding. This was an ongoing process.

Councillors were concerned that they were not included in correspondence, for example about available funds, to support parish and town councils in their funding applications etc.

Resolved

Where possible, that Division Members be included in any correspondence circulated to parish and town councils on available funds and other matters, to enable them to provide support to parish and town councils for their applications etc.

Members considered the Committee’s work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

Following discussion, Members agreed the following additions to the programme.

1. That youth engagement be added to the Committee’s work programme for further consideration, including potential funding options and partnership opportunities.
2. Items 9a, 9b and 9c were considered and Members requested that data on other GP surgeries within the Committee area were added to Item 9a.
3. That a representative of the Integrated Care Board be invited to a future meeting of the Committee.
4. That an officer from the Transport Planning team be invited to a future meeting of the Committee to advise on quiet lanes and work with Members to identify possible sites within the Committee area.
5. Further investigation on streetworks permits, road works/closures etc

Members also requested that the Mayor’s office be approached to request that a written update on the work of the office be provided to future meetings.

Members requested further information as recorded in Minute 8.

Any other items which the Chair agrees should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

There were no items of urgent business.

10am on Friday, 27 March 2026.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 27 March 2026.