New era sparked hopes and fears

Five long-established councils in the area were swept away and whole chunks of Yorkshire were 'moved' into Lancashire.

Although the Government insisted the new boundaries were created merely for administrative purposes, new boundary signs and Ordnance Survey details put them firmly in Lancashire and caused a debate that still rankles today.

Local officials voiced their concerns, expressed their hopes and made their predictions for the future on the eve of the reshuffle.

Looking back at the Craven Herald reports of the time, we leave it for readers to judge for themselves how right or wrong those predictions have proved to be.

Skipton Urban Council held a commemorative meeting for 120 councillors past and present at Skipton Town Hall. And with it, said the chairman Miss K Farey, ended a chapter in the history of the town.

She said: "I am convinced that Skipton has reached a watershed in its existence."

And she offered the following prophecies.

"Skipton will restore its Market Place, reversing the unsociable influences of motoring and television and allowing the people to come together without the strain of traffic. It will do this through pedestrianisation. The town will have faith in its retail trade and will extend it, realising that from this direction a large proportion of the wealth of the town must come.

"The town will eventually gain an improved road system," she continued, "thus opening up the way for a large new hotel thereby holding the tourist in the town for lucrative periods."

Well, we're still waiting for the market place and pedestrianisation but the hotel and the bypass have come to fruition.

Mr E Gilbert Sharp was less confident about the changes, however. He said it was difficult to visualise the benefits of reorganisation and that people who were still capable of doing good were being removed from local government.

However, he thought that Craven District council was going to retain the benefit of being a relatively small authority and of dealing with real people not just statistics.

Skipton Urban, in its 80 years of service, had seen slum clearance, house improvement grants and the introduction of smokeless zones dominate the agenda of the council. Also, 1,389 houses had been built since the war.

There was plain speaking at the final meeting of Skipton Rural Council by chairman Mr R L Fryers. He spoke of a sense of sadness in winding up the council, commenting: "I am far from being convinced that the change that has been thrust upon us is a step in the right direction.

"The hurried and ruthless way they forced reorganisation of local government upon us is in my opinion a serious blunder."

Mr Fryers was afraid the character and particular concerns of the rural district would be overlooked and submerged in the new, larger governing units.

"We will lose that personal contact and local control which we have enjoyed for so long," he said. "It is my forecast that within 10 years, the powers that be will be looking for ways and means of breaking down the large authorities into smaller administrative sections, as we have known in the past."

Summing up he reflected on the many changes brought about in the council's 80 year existence. He said they could be proud of the fact that rates had been kept so low and such a high standard of service given. The rates had increased less than four times since 1939 although salaries and wages had increased ten fold.

In the last year of his office alone, 30 flatlets had been opened at Addingham, and 20 at Embsay. Over 100 pre-war houses had been modernised and sewage works completed at Embsay and Marton.

Settle Rural District Council held a last social function before reorganisation at the town's Royal Oak Hotel.

County Alderman, Mr B Braithwaite-Exley, presiding, began by praising the council: "They have known exactly what their voters want and have seen that they rated properly and spent money wisely."

Echoing the fears expressed by Skipton Rural Council, he said he was concerned that the needs of local people would not be served in the same way and championed the parish councils as the new voice of the rural district.

He said: "In the future we are not going to get the same sort of service, the same sort of money spent in Settle Rural District as we used to, and it is up to every one of us to support the parish councils and make sure they are the strongest bodies in the country."

He concluded that there was a lot to be proud of in the work the council had achieved in its years. In Settle, he said, the car parking facilities were better than any in the country and their housing record was second to none.

A sadness-tinged nostalgia and brave new words about the future dominated proceedings at the final meeting of Barnoldswick Urban Council, which would now fall under the jurisdiction of the newly-created Pendle Council.

Reflecting on the many changes to the town since 1893, long-serving clerk Mr F Wilson spoke about the three phases in the council's history.

Born out of agitation for improved water and sewage facilities in 1893, the council had soon established vital services such as a hospital, ambulance service, fire brigade plus open parks and spaces.

Between the wars local government was dominated by the problems of depression, strikes and unemployment, although the Elsack reservoir was completed.

In the third phase, said Mr Wilson, 555 houses had been built, Victory Park was opened and the environment of the district generally improved.

The future was discussed, and fears were raised that West Craven would become a mere backwater within the larger area of Pendle Borough Council. The six Barnoldswick Urban District councillors who were to serve on the new authority recognised it was necessary to have their voices heard rather than be "silent witnesses" if the quality of life was to be maintained locally.

At the final meeting of Earby Urban District Council there were mixed feelings about the reshuffle. Members mirrored the fears expressed at Barnoldswick, but others were determined to end their office on a more optimistic note.

The longest serving member, Mr C Pickles, was concerned that Earby would lose its identity.

After 65 years of service, he said, they would cease to be Earby Urban District Council and become wards 25, 26, 27 of Pendle Borough Council. For better or for worse, only time would answer, but for him the remoteness was already symbolised by a name being replaced by numbers.

Mr G Preston said he was sorry he had given his support to the reorganisation of the councils, and that he would always class himself as a Yorkshire man no matter where they were governed from.

Others were more optimistic about the future of Earby. Vice-chairman, Mr R Riley, predicted that the area covered until then by Earby Urban Council would "bloom, blossom and evolve into the crown jewel of Pendle".

And chairman of the council, Mr K. Whitehead, cast a more positive light on the reorganisation by claiming the reshuffle was a mark of progress and a step in the right direction.

All councillors agreed there was much to be proud of in the changes they had seen in the town and felt they had laid the spadework for the new council.

Their street lighting on both back and front streets was second to none, there were no cobbles and the roads were all made-up apart from two. They also had an adequate bus station and sites for facilities for the elderly.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.