There are just a couple of days until Harrogate Borough Council come to an end, so this is the final newsletter from us.

From 1 April, North Yorkshire Council will provide all your council services. And at the same time, Residents' News will become Your North Yorkshire.

However, it will still bring you the information you need about council services, and will celebrate the people and places that make our county the great place it is to live, learn, work and visit. There will also be regular chances to win prizes that showcase North Yorkshire attractions and businesses.

As a subscriber of Residents' News, you will automatically receive Your North Yorkshire. But if you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of this email.

You can also opt-out of Your North Yorkshire at any point in the future as there will be an unsubscribe link with every edition.

From 1 April, a new website for North Yorkshire Council will also be launched.

We need your views on proposals for a new town council for Harrogate.

Currently, parts of Harrogate (and Scarborough) do not have a parish or town council. To ensure Harrogate residents have a strong say in decision-making at a local level, they are being asked their views on the creation of a town council, known as a community governance review.

An initial consultation was carried out last summer and almost 75 per cent of respondents said they were in favour of creating one. The feedback received has been used to develop a set of draft recommendations on what the potential new town council could look like.

You now have a chance to add your views to this second phase of the consultation which is formally referred to as a community governance review.

The deadline for comments is 5 May.

Five signature artworks by Turner Prize winner, Martin Creed, one of the most influential and exciting artists, will be shown in North Yorkshire for the first time at Harrogate's Mercer Art Gallery.

The free exhibition will feature sculptures, neon works, paintings and videos, presenting highlights from his thirty-year career, between 1 April and 2 July.

Born in Yorkshire in 1968, and raised in Glasgow, Creed came to prominence in 2001 when he won the Turner prize, exhibiting an empty room in which the lights switch on and off at five-second intervals.
Creed has been recognised internationally for his distinctive approach to art – playful, thought-provoking, and deeply ambiguous.  

Karen Southworth, a curator at Mercer Art Gallery, said: "We are thrilled to be showing work by such a well-known and influential artist, thanks to the support of ARTIST ROOMS. Since this is the first time Creed's work has been shown in North Yorkshire we are hoping to attract a new cohort of visitors to the Gallery, keen to learn more about contemporary and conceptual art."

Mercer Art Gallery can be found on Swan Road, Harrogate HG1 2SA and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am until 4pm.

To celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, a three day party-in-the-park will take place in Valley Gardens, Harrogate from 6 to 8 May.

Families and friends can gather to mark this momentous event over the bank holiday weekend with a live stream of the Coronation ceremony on a big screen.

Along with a family-friendly entertainment, free fairground rides and an artisan market from Little Bird Made.

So bring your picnic blanket and settle in for the weekend of celebrations.

Find out more on the Visit Harrogate website.

Why not celebrate Easter this year by giving something back to your local community?

For the price of a chocolate egg you could support a local good cause from your local community who provides a wide range of activities, groups and services. In return you could win prizes of £25,000, £2,000, £250, £25 or three free tickets.

Tickets* cost £1 and 60p from every ticket sold goes back into good causes across the Harrogate district. There are 117 good causes to choose from and if you can’t decide why not support THE LOCAL FUND for the Harrogate district as it will support numerous community groups and charities through its annual small grant scheme.

Since THE LOCAL LOTTO started over four years ago a whopping £240,000 has been raised for Harrogate district local causes.

*Players must be 16 years or over

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 aims to gather your views and feedback on the draft climate change strategy. Your feedback will help the new authority create a final strategy and action plan.

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

We're excited to welcome back Chapterhouse Theatre Company who have three performances in our parks this summer.

Sense and Sensibility – the timeless classic from Jane Austen – follows two sisters as they fall in love and experience heartbreak for the first time in their quest to strike a balance between sense and sensibility.

The event takes place at Knaresborough Castle on Friday 18 August from 7pm, and tickets can be purchased online.

Oscar Wilde's finest and most eccentric romantic comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest featuring a cast of unforgettable and larger-than-life characters, will take place at Ripon Spa Gardens on Saturday 19 August from 7pm, and tickets can be purchased online.

Friday 1 September sees music from both Queen and ABBA being performed at Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough. The beautiful setting is the perfect place to dance the night away to the pop and rock world's greatest hits, including Waterloo, I Want to Break Free, Dancing Queen, and Bohemian Rhapsody. Tickers can also be purchased online.

This April, Harrogate will welcome a host of legendary speakers who promise the strangest tales and most gripping personal encounters from their illustrious careers.

BBC wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchanan will share his passion for the animal kingdom in his 30 Years in the Wild – Anniversary Tour (6 April).

Ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, Tracy Borman – royal historian, broadcaster and chief curator of Hampton Court and The Tower of London – will take you on a gripping tour of 1,000 years of British monarchy in How to be a Good Monarch (18 April).

Test Match Special Live – The Ashes (22 April) will see celebrated cricketers Jonathan 'Aggers' Agnew and Glenn McGrath share an evening of stories, memories and predictions ahead of a massive Ashes summer.

Lexicographer and best-selling author Susie Dent will take you on a journey into the curious, unexpected and downright surreal origins of the words we use every day (or not) in The Secret of Words (29 April).

Don’t forget The Simon and Garfunkel Story at the Royal Hall (20 April) featuring a full live band, Big Girls Don’t Cry (28 April) celebrating the iconic sounds of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and for an evening of good laughs, Dave Gorman – PowerPoint to the People (4 April) and Sara Pascoe: Success Story (21 April).

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

Save 10 per cent on your next MOT at our Claro Road depot in Harrogate when you book online, by using the discount code MOTNEWS10.

This offer is exclusive to readers of Residents' News, for online bookings only and subject to availability (don't forget to press the 'validate code' button to ensure the discount is applied).

We offer tests for cars and light vans (Class 4), and 3 and 3.5-tonne commercial vehicles (Class 7). The current cost of an MOT is £54.85 for Class 4 and £58.60 for Class 7.

We do not provide any servicing or repair works, if your vehicle does not pass the MOT you will be given a certificate confirming the work required to be undertaken. Our workshop will arrange a free re-test after the work is completed within ten days of the original MOT appointment.

Don't miss out, get 10 per cent off by booking your MOT online today.

Our horticultural nursery offers you the chance to buy our high-quality plants at great prices.

We currently have spring bedding plants for sale, including primroses, violas, pansies and polyanthus, as well a selection of gifts and gardening accessories, such as planters, containers and compost.

The nursery shop is open Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 3.30pm. You can find us on Nursery Lane East, off Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate (please use the postcode HG2 0FH if you are using a sat nav).

You can find out more by visiting our horticultural nursery website.

As you would have read earlier and in previous editions of Residents' News, Harrogate Borough Council will come to an end on Friday (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.