Localism gets Tour de France off to grandest of starts
20 Jun 2014 03:58 PM
A local council has used new powers to ensure
the Tour de France gets the send-off it deserves in
Yorkshire.
In
just a fortnight, the first leg of the world’s most prestigious cycling
event will now come to an exciting climax on Harrogate Stray and work can begin
next week to lay the preparations.
Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, intervened at
the request of Harrogate Borough Council to facilitate it hosting the
event.
Part of the open grassland in Harrogate, known as the
Stray, needs to be sectioned off to make way for sporting infrastructure. But
this contravened ancient laws that date back to as far as
1770.
A
special new power granted to councils – known as the general power of
competence – has been used by Harrogate. The Secretary of State praised
this innovative use of the power and stepped in to lay an order before
Parliament to support it. It will also require the land to be fully returned to
normal afterwards.
Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and
Local Government, said:
As
a proud Yorkshireman, I couldn’t be more delighted to welcome Le Grand
Départ of the Tour de France to God’s Own County. The government
has done its bit to help Harrogate bring the world’s greatest cycle race
to these shores.
This will bring lasting benefits to Harrogate and using
this localism power for the first time ever will ensure the event is a success
and the land is looked after and returned to its original state
afterwards.
Councillor Richard Cooper, Leader of Harrogate Borough
Council, said:
The
Tour de France coming to the Harrogate district is a once-in-a-generation
opportunity and excitement is mounting daily.
We
are grateful for the support shown by the government and local MPs to help make
this a reality and for allowing us to make the most of the economic benefits it
will bring, not just to Yorkshire but to the country as a
whole.
It
just shows that local people working with the council and in partnership with
government can do things for the good of our local area that alone we could not
achieve.
Further information
In
order to host the tour Harrogate Borough Council intended to use some of the
area of land known as the Stray. The Stray is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster
but managed by Harrogate Borough Council. Its use and management has been
regulated since 1770 by a succession of private acts, the current being the
1985 Act.
Harrogate Borough Council anticipated it would need to
section off 19.5 hectares of the 80 hectare Stray for a maximum of 16 days, and
that it would be occupied by temporary infrastructure to support those running
the Tour and the thousands of spectators who will come to watch
it.
The
council will ensure the Stray is returned to its original state very shortly
after the event.
Harrogate Borough Council presented to government a
compelling case for using the general power of competence to host the Tour de
France: the general power of competence is a broad power and the economic
merits of hosting the Tour de France are significant. The general power of
competence applies in these circumstances as an individual with full capacity
would have the power to host a cycle race on someone else’s land, subject
to complying with an applicable legal restrictions and obtaining the
landowner’s consent.
Following consultation and consideration of the
statutory conditions, the Secretary of State has decided that several parts of
the 1985 Act do prevent or restrict Harrogate Borough Council from exercising
the general power of competence in hosting the Tour de France, and it was
appropriate for him to use the 2011 Localism Act to lay before Parliament an
Order to disapply or amend parts of the 1985 Act, for the period of 23 June to
8 July 2014, for the sole purpose of hosting the Tour de France. Parliament
agreed that this is an appropriate use of the Secretary of State’s
powers, and on 8 May the Secretary of State used these Localism Act powers for
the first time to sign and make The Harrogate Stray Act (Tour de France) Order
2014.
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