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21
Jul 2020
Councillors appointed onto parish council with just one member
The parish council was left with just one councillor, meaning it could not conduct its business properly.
Harrogate Borough Council offices.
Two borough councillors have been appointed onto Green Hammerton Parish Council after the authority was left with only one member and unable to conduct business.
Calls for four new parish councillors went out in April when the number of members shrunk to three.
Following the resignations of Councillor Jackson in June and Councillor Knight in July, membership was further reduced to one.
An election would normally have been held to fill the vacancies. However, the coronavirus pandemic has forced elections to be postponed until May 2021.
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This left the parish council with just one member and unable to conduct its business properly.
Harrogate Borough Council agreed yesterday to appoint district councillor Ann Myatt and county councillor Andrew Paraskos onto the council for a maximum of three months.
The authority will now be quorate, meaning it can co-opt new councillors to fill the remaining vacant seats and continue to operate.
Had they not been co-opted, HBC's alternative proposal was to dissolve the parish council, which has an electorate of 677 people,
A report before HBC's General Purposes Committee said there was interest in the remaining vacancies.
It said:
"The parish clerk has advised that there are currently several applicants that would like to be considered for co-option into the vacant seats. This can be actioned once Cllr Myatt and Cllr Paraskos are appointed to the council."
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