We are a town, not a village, say Reeth residents
NATIONAL PARK residents are calling on planning bosses to drop a proposal to reclassify “the capital of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale” as a large village rather than a small town.
Residents of the remote area have appealed to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority after its latest Local Plan consultation revealed a proposed hierarchy for settlements in the area, based on levels of services and size of settlement, that would see Reeth would fall into the category of larger village.
Councillor Helen Guy, of Reeth Parish Council, said the proposal had generated a significant amount of concern in the area as it would leave Swaledale and Arkengarthdale without any recognised town or service centre.
She said: “It’s about having its importance of service to the community recognised. We have a rural enterprise centre, a business park, a fire station and we feel it vitally important that status is protected.
“It’s obviously something the local people feel quite passionately about. There’s going to be a lot of responses to this consultation submitted not just from people in Reeth, but further up the dale.
“There’s a pride that historically Reeth has been called a small town. We do have a market charter and have a market here every Friday. That elevates it above other places that are considered large villages.”
She said downgrading Reeth’s status could impact on future funding. Coun Guy said: “Reeth is the capital of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale. People want to keep their capital. Reeth has all the community services, Reeth has all of those set out in the park authority’s small town criteria except a secondary school, although it does have a post office
with full banking services rather than a cashpoint.”
She said while other villages, such as Gayle and Hawes, had been grouped together in the proposed Local Plan making them more substantial, Healaugh, Fremington and Grinton were all within half a mile of Reeth but had not been grouped together.
Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Councillor Richard Good said he questioned the downgrading of Reeth as it had a primary school, Hudson House community information centre, industrial workshops, a doctors’ surgery and a selection of shops.
He said: “The proposed Local Plan implies that all services come from Leyburn or Richmond and these proposals would leave Swaledale as the only major dale without a recognised service centre.” Reeth was by the time of the Norman conquest sufficiently important to be noted in the Domesday Book.