DISCUSSIONS continue as to where a tourist information centre might be sited in Richmond if the district council withdraws its funding.

A number of community organisations have put their hands up to become its new home, including the Station.

Given that town councillors have expressed a preference that whatever tourist information service the town can afford should be centrally located, that would seem to rule out the Station – which is about half a mile away from the centre.

But the Station had more than 350,000 visitors last year, which probably exceeds the footfall of all the other contenders put together.

It might not be such a bad location after all.

Poor value?

Hambleton Council’s idea of halving the number of councillors recognises an unspoken truth – many councillors these days don’t have very much to do.

The introduction of cabinet style administration a few years ago streamlined the way councils operated but also sidelined many rank-and-file members.

They are meant to scrutinise the work of the executive but in practice hardly ever do in a meaningful way.

A sweeping generalisation perhaps, but on many authorities the taxpayer isn’t getting good value for the allowances paid to councillors.

Partners in print

Elsewhere in this edition readers may have seen that North Yorkshire County Council is going into partnership with the county’s local newspaper publishers – including Newsquest, publishers of the D&S Times – to get its message across and dropping its monthly newspaper NY Times to save money.

Spectator thinks its a partnership which makes a lot of sense – for both parties and the taxpayer.