Your at-a-glance guide to what’s new in your council.

Get ready to vote

The election for the first York and North Yorkshire Mayor will take place on Thursday, 2 May. The York and North Yorkshire mayor will lead the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, with investment of £540 million to be spent over the next 30 years.

The mayor and the combined authority will have certain powers and responsibilities, devolved to them by the Government. This includes powers to improve the supply and quality of housing and funds to improve skills and training.

We will work alongside the mayor to bring more money into our region to invest in the things that matter to you. North Yorkshire Council will continue to deliver vital local services for you and the place you live.

You can find out more on the York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority website or on our York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority page.

Deadlines for voters

If you are not already registered to vote, you have until midnight on Tuesday, 16 April, to register to vote on the government website to vote in this election.

If you would like to vote by post or by postal proxy, you have until 5pm on Wednesday, 17 April, to apply for a new postal vote or change an existing postal vote.

If you are unable to vote in person or by post, you have until 5pm on Wednesday, 24 April, to apply for a proxy vote.

Your vote is important in deciding who the future mayor of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority will be.

Free access to 60 years of screen history 

A new streaming service showcasing six decades of rich film and television history is now on offer to library-goers across North Yorkshire.

The British Film Institute (BFI) Replay service is available to public libraries, showcasing about 100,000 digitised videos and television programmes.

The footage includes soap operas such as Coronation Street, Brookside and Crossroads, as well as Albion Market, General Hospital and Family Pride, the first British-Asian soap opera. The collection includes children’s TV with episodes of Metal Mickey and Animal Kwackers.

Filmmakers and actors explain their craft in a series of vintage interviews with the likes of Robin Williams and Ben Kingsley.

Ground-breaking multicultural TV from the 1970s onwards is explored through a number of magazine shows intended to address diverse audiences. This includes Central TV's Midlands multicultural arts review series Here and Now, featuring a young Benjamin Zephaniah, the renowned poet who died in December.

British Film Institute Replay also celebrates the heyday of regional television, including popular figures such as Richard Whiteley in Yorkshire TV’s Calendar People interviewing famous names from the region.

The clips cover screen history from the 1960s to the 2010s, offering a glimpse into Britain’s past, people and places. They record and reveal an era of rapid social, industrial, political and technological change.

Drawn from the collections of the British Film Institute National Archive and its partner, UK Regions and Nations Film Archives, they also include material from ITV and Channel 4, revealing a picture of public life in the video era.

Anybody who signs into a library computer using their library card can access the streaming service.

Have your say on the future of food 

Hundreds of thousands of residents across North Yorkshire are being urged to help to shape access to healthy foods and cut down on the amount of food that is wasted.

Responses from the ‘Let’s Talk Food’ survey will help to develop ideas to support people to plan healthy and affordable meals and will offer tips on how minimise the impact of food on the environment.

There are many initiatives supporting fair access to food across North Yorkshire. Local groups are already creating thriving food spaces for communities across the county and people are benefiting from social supermarkets, community fridges and food-growing projects. North Yorkshire has strong farming links that help to provide the nation’s food supplies. It is important to make sure the food produced continues to be affordable and nutritious.

The vice-chair for the Fix Our Food Commission, Jan Thornton MBE, said: “All communities across North Yorkshire, including our rural communities, must have access to healthy food choices and I am really looking forward to being part of this next step in our food transformation journey. It is vital that we keep the food conversation going and the Let’s Talk Food survey, is enabling us to achieve this.”

The local food plan will tie in closely with the priorities of the North Yorkshire climate change strategy from 2023 to 2030, the joint local health and wellbeing strategy, the economic growth strategy, and the Government’s own national food strategy.

Take part in Let’s Talk Food

The Let’s Talk Food survey closes on 1 April.

Harrogate’s royal pump room goes on display

A solid silver model of Harrogate’s Royal Pump Room, made in 1927 in Ogden of Harrogate jeweller’s workshop, is set to return to the shop for public display.

The historic piece has previously been hidden from view, stored as part of the council’s civic collection. 

The work is of historic significance for the spa town. It was commissioned by Captain Whitworth, who served as Harrogate Mayor between 1926 and 1928. 

Captain Whitworth presented the piece to Harrogate in 1927 for use at civic occasions, such as gracing the mayor’s table during great banquets. 

The model, also known as the Civic Salt, is inscribed with the words: “Let your speech be always with grace and seasoned with salt.” 

Founded by James R Ogden in 1893, Ogden of Harrogate is today managed by his great, great-grandsons, Robert and Ben Ogden. 

A jewellers for more than a century, Ogden of Harrogate has crafted and curated a collection of fine jewellery for their distinguished clients, which have included members of the Royal Family and public figures. 

This particular piece came to light after a chance encounter between the great-grandson of Captain Whitworth, Ben Whitworth, and Lynne Mee, a former mayor’s secretary for the former Harrogate Borough Council with a passion for preserving the civic collection.

Horticultural Nursery has treats for your garden

It’s the time of year when people’s thoughts start turning towards their garden.

After the winter months, we can look forward to some colour appearing back on our beloved horticultural patches.

With that in mind, spring bedding plants are now available at the Horticultural Nursery in Harrogate.

Located on Nursery Lane East, off Harlow Moor Road, Harrogate, there are plenty of primroses and polyanthus, or if you want something to flower year to year there is a range of perennials which will bloom between spring and summer.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, there are some beautiful plants and gifts available for loved ones or why not treat them to a gift voucher?

On 9 March, between 2pm and 3pm, there will be a hanging basket workshop when experts will guide you through the process of using a choice of our homegrown seasonal bedding plants. There is then the option to make one or two 12-inch round wicker hanging baskets.

The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 3.30pm. It is also open on weekends until Easter Monday, excluding Easter Sunday. 

For more information and to book your place for the workshop, visit the Horticultural Nursery website.