Richmond MP hosts EU referendum QandA sessions

Rishi Sunak  is to hold a question and answer session in the town before the EU referendum in June.

In a total of four meetings across the district – also in Northallerton, Stokesley and Leyburn – he says he will give constituents the chance to ask their MP about whether Britain should vote to leave or remain in the EU.

On his blog today, he said: “The interest in the EU question is tremendous. People have to make a difficult judgment about a very important, complex issue and these meetings should help constituents do that,” he said.

The meetings will be chaired and independently moderated by Chris Lloyd, chief feature and political writer of The Northern Echo and Darlington & Stockton Times, Cllr Russell Lord, Mayor of Richmond, and Cllr Stewart Brennan, of Stokesley Parish Council.

Sunak, who has previously declared that he will vote to leave, said: “The meetings will not be about me campaigning for Brexit. Obviously, I will make my standpoint clear but I will also acknowledge there are opposing views.”

The Richmond meeting is on Wednesday, June 1 at Richmond Town Hall.

The other dates and venues for the meetings are: Monday, May 30 – Northallerton Town Hall; Tuesday, May 31 – Stokesley Town Hall; Thursday, June 2 – Tennants Auction Rooms. All start at 6pm.

Seating at all the venues can be reserved by registering with the constituency office on 01609 765330 or by email at rishi.sunak.mp@parliament.uk.

Wheelchair users urged to attend local NHS consultation

If you use a wheelchair, or other social care equipment, the local NHS wants to hear from you at a special event this month.

Health and social care equipment includes mobility and communication aids that help to support adults and children to live independently at home. Examples include shower chairs, perching stools, kettle tippers, pressure relieving mattresses, wheelchairs, etc.

NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group (HRW CCG) are working with other local CCGs and North Yorkshire County Council to gather opinions of local health and social care equipment users to help shape future services.

Dr Charles Parker, HRW CCG Clinical Chair and local GP said: “We want to commission services that are driven by the needs of local people and the views and experiences of service users and patients are fundamental to achieving this.

“CCGs in North Yorkshire and its County Council partners are working together to commission improved equipment and wheelchair services. A series of drop-in sessions in December 2015 and January 2016 have been created to take place across North Yorkshire. We are asking local service users to drop-in and share their views. There is no need to book, just come along.

“For people who are unable to attend the drop-in sessions we have created a survey – this means that everyone has an opportunity to have their say, be it face to face or sharing their views through a series of survey questions.”

The nearest local meeting is at:

Richmondshire

Tuesday 12 January 2016

10.30am – 12.30pm

Penleys Market Place Leyburn DL8 5BJ

The surveys are available online at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/equipmentandwheelchairs

Hard copies of the survey are also available and can be requested by phoning 01904 555 870 or emailing valeofyork.contactus@nhs.net

Put your questions to the Chief Constable and PCC this week

The Police Crime Commissioner  (PCC) and Chief Constable are inviting the public to send in questions about the agenda items for their next meeting on Tuesday 28 July at 1.30pm.

The monthly meeting is chaired by PCC Julia Mulligan and Chief Constable Dave Jones to monitor progress against the Police and Crime Plan – the document which sets out the priority areas of action, based on consultation with the public.

To ask a question:
Send your question to info@northyorkshire-pcc.gov.uk before midday on Monday 27 July, they ask that you include your name and address with your question.

The meeting will be livestreamed on the day here:

More information and the agenda papers can be found here.

Catterick cinema plans: 2 for….150 against

Plans to build a seven screen cinema at Catterick have drawn a large number of written objections. Richmondshire council’s planning department received 150 objections and just two letters of support of the proposal.

The letter writing is at odds to the polling on this blog where the majority of people welcomed the idea and comes after a campaign by the management of the The Station asking supporters to object.

Of course it’s important to note that letters and polls don’t carry any legal weight. The councillors on the planning committee will need to base their final decision on planning reasons laid down by statute.

The councillors who sit on that committee are:
Jane Parlour (IND) (Chairman)
John Blackie (IND) (Vice-Chairman)
John Amsden (IND)
Angie Dale (IND)
Campbell Dawson (CON)
Tony Duff (CON)
Malcolm Gardner (IND)
Mick Griffiths (IND)
Rob Johnson (CON)
Ken Lambert (IND)
Keith Loadman (CON)
Ian Threlfall (CON)
Jimmy Wilson-Petch (CON)
Clive World (LDA)

The meeting where the application is due to be heard is scheduled for March 4. All council meetings are held in public and we’ll do our best to get along to film it for you to share too.

Video: First livestream from the council chamber

Richmondshire Council held its first full council meeting in the new council chamber at Mercury House last night – and we were able to livestream it.

The new chamber is much more businesslike environment than the former wood panelled chamber at the now empty Swale House on Frenchgate and it has good wifi.

This meant we could set the camera rolling to cover the meeting live and give people unable to make the meting the opportunity to follow proceedings.

Via Twitter (@RichmondNYorks) and through the streaming service it was possible to see a couple of people logging on to follow and I see there’s already been more than 30 views as I type this.

Being a full council, the councillors weren’t making decisions tonight but instead reporting back and agreeing earlier proceedings.

The evening started with discussion of the Friarage Hospital, went on to discuss the controversial calendars (about minute 12), bus services, tourism jobs, some confusion over council tax increases and finally a Christmas greeting.

View the archived version of the full meeting here.
Richmond Council

Video: Planners vote for flats conversion in Friars Wynd

Richmond Council’s planning committee vote to allow for the conversion of the former council offices in Friars Wynd despite objections from The Fleece Hotel and the environmental health officers.

This clip covers the debate which took place.

Read more from the meeting here.

Presentation to Richmondshire councillors discussing the filming of meetings

The slideshow here was presented to Richmondshire councillors attending a workshop to learn more about the Richmond Noticeboard and ask questions about our proposal to film some council meetings.

Introducing the Richmond Noticeboard – an open, free, independent space from Sarah Hartley

A handful of councillors attended plus officials for the hour-long session. Questions ranged from questions about ownership of any filmed material (to be issued under a Creative Commons licence) to issues about bandwidth in locations outside of the town.

The decision will be taken at a meeting in the near future – if you have any questions you’d like answered ahead of that, please do feel free to submit them via the comments below.

It seems that Hambleton council were also considering this issue today.Note:the report from the Northern Echo linked to contains some inaccuracies which I’ve corrected in the comments underneath the story.