Community Asset Transfers Made Easier On The North Yorkshire Coast

North Yorkshire Council is introducing a new Community Transfer Policy to make it easier for town and parish councils, including those in Whitby and Filey, to take over the running of local assets and services.

North Yorkshire Council is set to introduce a new framework designed to make it significantly easier for parish and town councils, as well as voluntary groups, to take over the running of local assets and services.

The newly outlined Community Transfer Policy will replace the existing Double Devolution Pilot, establishing a single, transparent system for communities across the county. The move aims to support the authority's ambition to be the most local large council in England.

Under the previous pilot scheme, several local devolution opportunities were initiated on the Yorkshire Coast. Proposals in both Whitby and Filey are currently still in progress. The council has confirmed it will work with any organisation involved in these legacy projects to help them finalise their proposals by the thirty-first of March 2027. If this is not possible, groups will be invited to submit a new expression of interest under the updated policy.

The comprehensive policy applies to transfers of freeholds, leaseholds, and other arrangements such as licences. It also permits the transfer of assets at less than market value, provided there is robust evidence of community wellbeing benefits and full compliance with subsidy control requirements.

Speaking about the new framework, Councillor Heather Philips said:

"I know there's a lot of interest around the county at the moment regarding various organizations who would like to take over facilities, but are maybe stymied at the moment because of the complexity of the process.

We're going to be flexible, the smaller the project, the less paperwork there is, which I think is only fair. Because I don't want anyone to think it's going to be too complex for them to transfer the benches into their local care because we are not as good as other people at looking after their benches. So the main thing about this is it's flexible and it's being future-proofed."

The framework explicitly seeks to enable a wide range of community organisations to step forward. By offering flexible arrangements, such as short-term agreements, the council hopes to build confidence and organisational capabilities without forcing long-term commitments on either party. The process is designed to ensure it does not unnecessarily favour larger organisations or create excessive bureaucracy.

A separate but complementary initiative, known as Community Grow, will also provide a streamlined, licence-based route for the community use of council-owned land specifically for food growing.

Highlighting the benefits of community-led delivery, Councillor Heather Philips said:

"Anything that we transfer will be at the Council's discretion.

There's both proactive devolution and reactive. The community asset transfers recognize the wider social and community value that community-led projects can bring. They can provide services, possibly at a better rate, and with a more local nuance than we can manage as quite a large local authority, and it is by our own declaration when we started to, we want to be as local as possible as much as we can."

The policy recognises parish and town councils as key local partners. Because of their democratic mandate, local knowledge, and ability to raise funding through precepts, they are seen as being in a strong position to act as long-term custodians of community assets.

Discussing the authority's long-term vision, Councillor Simon Meyer said:

"The intention of the new council from the outset was to enable, where suitable, the transfer of value community assets to a more local level. And like many things about local government reorganization, they take a bit of time to bed in, and I think this is a better, more refined, and perhaps easier path for us to achieve."

To further support applicants, North Yorkshire Council will provide relevant asset and service information, and may even fund some costs associated with the transfers on behalf of the community groups applying. The council's report notes that all transfers remain voluntary and discretionary, subject to a staged assessment and formal approval process.