Hello from Harrogate Borough Council

Our garden waste subscription service is available right across the Harrogate district and provides a simple, cost-effective, way to dispose of your garden waste without having to take it to a household waste recycling centre.

A licence costs £43.50 for fortnightly garden waste collections from mid-March until the end of November (great value for 19 collections).

The quickest way to is to apply for a licence online. Simply log into your MyAccount and complete our subscription form.

Alternatively, contact our customer service team on 01423 500600 between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Thursday or between 8.30am and 4.30pm on Fridays (please have your debit/credit card details ready).

Once you have subscribed, your licence pack will be delivered to you approximately 14 days after subscribing.

Your garden waste collection day will be confirmed in your licence pack. The first collections will start in the weeks commencing 13 March or 20 March. You can also check your collection dates on our website.

If you have not used the service before, we will deliver a 240-litre wheelie bin (or an equivalent number of reusable sacks if there is restricted access to your property). If you wish to have additional bins (or sacks) you will need to pay for additional licences for each.

For more information, visit our garden waste website page.

The second phase of Let's Talk – the biggest countywide conversation North Yorkshire has ever seen – has launched with Let's Talk Climate.

Let's Talk Climate is an eight-week consultation to gather your views and feedback on the draft climate change strategy. Your feedback will help the new authority – North Yorkshire Council – create a final strategy and action plan.

You can share your views online where you can also find out more about the strategy.

Events will also be organised in the coming weeks, giving you the opportunity to talk about whether you think the council is doing enough to meet their net-zero target. Further information will be available in the coming weeks.

If you're an avid reader of Residents' News you'll no doubt know that Harrogate Borough Council will no longer exist come 1 April.

We – along with the other six district and borough authorities and the county council – are being replaced by a single unitary organisation for North Yorkshire, geographically the largest council in England.

All eight councils have been working together to ensure North Yorkshire Council can continue to provide the best service possible and be the most local, large council in the country.

Joining-up services will allow the council to maximise spending power, meaning there are potential savings of between £30 million and £70 million which will then become annual savings. This money can be used to protect some of the most important local services at a critical time when everyone and every organisation is feeling the pressure.

There will be one phone number and one website, making sure access to support and services will be easier while ending the current confusion that exists over which council does what.

Staff who currently serve residents will continue to provide the services that they deliver now. And an office will be retained in each former district area that will be supported in time by a further 30 local customer access points in places people go.

We'll have further news in the next edition of Residents' News but for now, you can find out more about North Yorkshire Council on the county council's website.

This amazing event – which showcases the city of Ripon – returns on Saturday 18 March from 11am to 2pm.

Now in its 11th year, Sights and Sounds of Ripon is a great chance to explore the city and find out more about the amazing range of opportunities to get active, the fantastic local charities and groups in the city, support from local voluntary and community organisations, as well as the venues on offer.

There's something for everyone and families are especially welcome. And, best of all, it's completely free.

Ripon Cathedral, the city's museums and the library are all hosting events and entertainment will be provided by local choirs, as well as Ripon City Morris Dancers and Betty Lupton's Ladle Lakers.

You can find out more about what's on offer by visiting the Harrogate and District Community Action website.

Photo courtesy of Ripon Cathedral

We are currently consulting on the Protecting Dark Skies in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The draft SPD supports the Harrogate District Local Plan and provides guidance for projects in the Nidderdale AONB with lighting.

It contains information on dark skies and light pollution and provides practical advice about the design of lighting schemes and the choice of appropriate lighting technology so that everyone can play a part in reducing light pollution and protecting the AONB's dark skies.

The consultation is open until Monday 20 March and is available on our website.

We've made some changes to our customer services opening times.

To ensure all eight authorities across North Yorkshire are consistent, ahead of becoming North Yorkshire Council from 1 April, our offices are now open between 9am and 4.30pm (9.30am on Wednesdays) if you need to visit us in person.

If you need to speak to us on the phone or via Live Chat, we’re here to help between 9am and 5pm Monday to Thursday (9.30am on Wednesdays) and between 9am and 4.30pm on Fridays.

You can also get in touch with us online.

Opening with Bizet's Carmen (1 March) performed by Ukrainian National Opera and ending with Billy Ocean (31 March), the month of March will see music lovers spoilt for choice.

From traditional concerts such as HCS: Gounod – St. Cecilia Mass & Puccini – Messa Di Gloria (11 March) and HSO Spring 2023 (25 March), to more diverse sounds including Levellers – Acoustic Tour (15 March), Paul Young – Behind the Lens (30 March), Tubular Bells – 50th Anniversary Live Concert (29 March), One Night in Dublin (23 March) and Menopause the Musical 2 (16 March), there is something for everyone.

Enjoy an evening of sing-along anthems while supporting your community at Marie Curie Daffodil Proms (12 March) featuring the world-famous Grimethorpe Colliery Brass band, The Rural Schools' Charity Concert (24 March) benefiting Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity, and Kids Aloud 2023: The Last Dragon (1-2 April) presented by Harrogate Brigantes Rotary Club.

AireCon Analog Gaming Festival (9-12 March) packs a load of buzz and excitement for gamers and their friends and families, offering everything from tournaments, RPGs, demos, giant games to family zone, quiet gaming, Bring-n-Buy, and a huge library of over 500 games by Travel Man.

Catch a night of side-splitting comedy at Frankie Boyle: Lap of Shame (5 March), Tom Allen – Completely (19 March) or Dave Gorman – PowerPoint to the People (4 April).

For details on more upcoming events at Harrogate Convention Centre and Royal Hall please visit the venue's website.

Harrogate Carshare, provided by Liftshare the UK's leading journey-sharing platform, connects people travelling in the same direction so you can share the costs, while reducing congestion and pollution at the same time.

If you haven't done so before, why not visit our local markets and enjoy the feeling of shopping outdoors, chatting with friendly market traders and soaking up the historic marketplace settings?

Each week, we have an amazing range of traders with a wonderful mix of high-quality products and expert advice. So get ready to fill your bags with bread, fresh fruit and veg, sweet treats, handy household items, fashion accessories and clothes.

Knaresborough market takes place every Wednesday between 7.30am and 3pm, while Ripon is every Thursday between the same times. Ripon also hosts a smaller Saturday morning market between 7.30am and 2pm.

Come and trade at our local markets

Fancy joining the traders in Knaresborough on Wednesdays and Ripon?

Stalls are surrounded by independent shops and stunning scenery which attracts a high number of local and day visitors throughout the year.

All new traders benefit from a discounted starter rate of £10.50 per pitch per day (the starter rate applies to the self-assembly of traders' own stalls for the first four weeks of trading). Thereafter a permanent trader (with their own stall) pays just £19.50 in summer and £16.40 in winter per pitch per day (casual traders pay £22 per pitch per day).

Be part of something special in our local community. You can find out more on our website, by calling 01423 500600 or emailing: commercialservices@harrogate.gov.uk

As you would have read earlier – and may know already – Harrogate Borough Council will come to an end on 31 March as we join our colleagues across the county and become North Yorkshire Council.

As part of preparations for the arrival of a single unitary council for the whole of North Yorkshire, we’ve changed the way we recruit people.

Job vacancies available in our borough – and elsewhere across the county – are now being advertised via the county council website.

To find out more about working for North Yorkshire Council, and all the latest opportunities, visit the jobs page.