The man who built the Forth Railway Bridge could not have realised when it opened to passenger transport in 1890, that 117 years later the constant need to paint the construction would have passed into the dictionary of life as a metaphor for an endless task. So it is with regeneration- it never seems to reach a natural conclusion without something else needing to be added to the list of jobs to be done or letters to be written to funders seeking their generosity.  However, as we near the end of Yore Vision’s first year, I can look back on some milestones having been reached - management committee in place, membership arrangements clarified with local residents joining on a weekly basis and business plans for individual projects underway to name but 3 achievements. But there is a lot to do and to be honest, if there wasn’t, there would be something wrong.

The Lower Ure Valley, and Boroughbridge in particular, have suffered from under-investment for years and therefore it is like the Forth Railway Bridge in terms of the work that needs to be done and the projects that need to be progressed. There are a few sceptics and cynics in our local population who think that we are awash with cash for the work we are doing on a voluntary basis; nothing could be further from the truth and it’s important to state that fact to all who read this column. We received a start up grant last March from Yorkshire Forward – as did all the other 24 towns in the Renaissance market Towns Initiative - and we have been successful in receiving funding from Harrogate Borough Council, together with the moral and physical support of Nigel Avison and his colleagues in the Regeneration team. Quite frankly, they have been superb and we would have been lost without the input of Genevieve Parker, Rebecca Dacre and Peter Crossley. We receive no financial or other forms of support from North Yorkshire County Council or from central government – we have to make a business case for any form of funding, some of which have been successful, some of which haven’t. Yorkshire Forward are clear that this needs to be driven by the community for the community – and they’re right. If all that they did was keep putting in cash, we would never be sustainable and operate on our own two feet. So hopefully, this will help clear up any misunderstanding and nail the lie that we receive buckets of cash from the public purse!

Whilst we are handing out the thanks, I want to mention some people who have been very supportive and helpful to Yore Vision. Our facilitator from MBED, Lee Corner, left the group at the beginning of February and I want to thank her particularly for her support in helping the group access experts and others across Yorkshire and the Humber who have contributed to some of our current projects, particularly the re-development of St James’s Square; Lee’s successor is Valerie Monti-Holland, who will attend her first meeting at the end of March.

I also want to thank Keith Boardall, who has played a strong role in shaping the growth and development of Yore Vison since its inception; he played a pivotal role in much of the preparatory work by our predecessor organisations and was a founder member of Yore Vision. As chair, I personally have valued his wise counsel, support, detailed knowledge of local issues and at times of stress, his sense of humour! Keith stepped down from the management committee in February but I know he will still be one of our strongest supporters in the local business community.

Finally, the thanks of all Yore Vision go to James and Maureen Wilkinson of Pybus the Newsagents in Boroughbridge, who allowed us to place our membership leaflets in the newspapers that they deliver to residents in various communities in the Lower Ure Valley – we have had a great response and applications are coming in at a steady pace since this recent exercise. Thank you to all of these good people for their support for our endeavours.

Anyway, using the Forth Bridge analogy, what’s next? Watch this space but you can be assured life will not be quiet for the Yore Vision team.