IT was now more important than ever that Britain’s villages should be preserved, said Lord Derwent, president of the Scarborough and Pickering branch of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England.

Lord Derwent was speaking at the branch’s prize presentation for its Best-Kept Village Competition.

He was pleased to see that schools were teaching children the importance of keeping the countryside tidy.

A few years ago, pieces of paper which were thrown about disappeared, due to the weather, after a short time, but many things were now in plastic containers which could still be about five years after they had been dropped.

He praised Wilton, which won the award for the best-kept village in the small section, for its achievement because competition was getting keener every year.

Mervyn Edwards, chairman of the branch, said the North Riding was largely unspoiled by development.

He said war memorials and churchyards in the villages in the competition had shown a marked improvement.

The presentations were made in Wilton Village Hall. Thornton-le-Dale received a certificate of merit for being second in the large village section.

Lord Derwent presented awards at Snainton, which won the large village section, and certificates to representatives of Ebberston and Lockton, joint second in the small villages class.

Both Snainton and Wilton received a shield, a cheque for £30, a certificate and the wooden sign, which is erected in the winning villages for a year.

From the Malton Gazette & Herald this week in 1967

 

PICKERING Town Council is recommending the Ryedale District Council to refuse a planning application by Sam Avison, of Black Bull, Pickering, for a petrol filling station at Black Bull.

The proposed site is on the east side of the main Pickering to Malton road, and the council considers a filling station there is unnecessary because it is close to existing filling stations.

At Monday’s town council meeting, Councillor David Baxandell said Mr Avison owned a caravan site at Black Bull.

He had written about the site to the Ryedale District Council, which had recently told him that in spite of representation, no action had been taken by Mr Avison regarding the conditions laid down by the planning authority for the operation of the caravan site.

“If Mr Avison gets planning permission for a petrol station, which would doubtless be subject to conditions, he is unlikely to observe these conditions either,” said Coun Baxandall.

Councillor Daisy Cooper pointed out that the council was dealing with an application for a petrol station and not a caravan site.

She said that if the council was opposed to the petrol station it must give definite reasons.

When it was suggested the matter should be left to the planning authority, Councillor Alan Pickup observed: “It is no use the planning authority sending up plans and asking for our observations unless we are going to make them.” Councillor GWA Blakely questioned the need for another filling station in the locality when, he said, there were already four garages within a distance of about three miles.

The council also recommended refusal of an outline planning application of submitted by S Kipling of Beacon Park, Pickering, for residential development and the construction of service roads on land at Beacon Park.

From the Malton Gazette & Herald this week in 1974