WIREDGOV

People living in Hawes, a remote town in the Yorkshire Dales, are saving themselves a 70 mile round trip by running some of their own council services in a new, one-stop community office.

Hawes residents, concerned at the absence of local services from their town, decided to form a committee and conduct a survey of local wants and needs.

Local services remaining local - decentralisation

Acting on feedback from local residents, and with advice from their local council, volunteers in Hawes are running a community office to offer a range of services. These include a library, the use of computers, facilities to pay council tax bills or talk to the police. Without the office, residents would have to travel over 35 miles to reach a town with comparable facilities.

As local independent councillor John Blackie explains, the community service for Hawes has come a long way since its beginning. 

John Blackie said:

"It started with Richmondshire District Council who used to bring an officer up one day a week, and we thought perhaps we could expand that to a five day a week offer. What we have now is the District Council of Richmondshire, the library of North Yorkshire County Council and a community centre. We have a police station for Upper Wensleydale, and a community minibus service based here, as well as a number of community organisations that are using us as their front desk."

Expansion of services

The community office allows organisations to share resources and office space, saving money as well as giving people in Hawes a greater level and range of services than they would otherwise have.

The action taken by Hawes volunteers illustrates the Government's Localism Bill in action - ending the hoarding of power within central government and top-down control of communities by allowing local people to run their lives. By decentralising power from Whitehall and giving it to communities like Hawes, residents can decide how best their services should be run, where they should be based and even what services they need.

Councillor John Blackie explains more about this in the video below:

A transcript is available to download below.

More information on the services can be found on Councillor John Blackie's page on the North Yorkshire County Council website (external link).

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• Yorkshire town delivers more council services for less - transcript
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