“Why did you call it Yore Vision? What does that mean, in layman’s terms? What’s it all about? Is it another talking shop?” – such are the questions that people have posed to me and, I’m sure, other members of the regeneration partnership for Boroughbridge and the Lower Ure Valley. It is an interesting problem – what title do you give to an organisation so that it sticks in people’s minds easily, is also out of the ordinary so as to encourage the questioner to probe deeper into the subject and also, provokes debate? Why did we call it Yore Vision?

If you go into Google on the Internet, you will find lots of references to Yore worldwide but, locally, Yore is the ancient name for the valley of the River Ure. Yore Vision was born from the initial successes of the Boroughbridge Town Team and other partnerships in the area, which had done valuable work since 2003 on market town renaissance. It also, in a sense, crystallises all of the information that residents and visitors had shared with us on how they wanted to see the communities of the Lower Ure Valley develop – Yore Vision is also YOUR Vision.  So, now that we have got that out of the way, what are we all about?

The partnership is one of 25 market town/community initiatives sponsored by Yorkshire Forward across Yorkshire and the Humber region from Grimsby in the east to areas such as Settle and the Upper Calder Valley in the west. We are a community-based team, representing the whole of the Lower Ure Valley from Skelton to Lower Dunsforth to Tockwith, including Boroughbridge, which is the main focus of our activities. Our aims are simple – to improve the quality of life for the benefit of the whole community by working in partnership with like minded bodies such as town and parish councils, community groups and individuals on a wide range of initiatives. Partnership is vital, as we are aware that we cannot deliver on our own – we have to work with others. Therefore, my thanks go to Nigel Avison and the team of the EDU at Harrogate Borough Council for their support and guidance, Boroughbridge Town Council for the use of their conference facilities at the Community Office and the Ripon Gazette for the opportunity to communicate with its readership,

Over the next few months and years, we will be progressing initiatives such as a Housing Pilot Study, aimed at delivering affordable housing provision for local residents, the creation of a Centre for Rural Enterprise and Skills with associated workshops and the building of an Arts/Business Forum, providing a mixed use venue for performing arts and the holding of small conferences. Our vision is to work on a limited number of projects that make the maximum impact and are sustainable – too often in the past, groups have tried to deliver many projects that have been short-term successes and were quickly forgotten by residents because they weren’t planned and delivered with the future user in mind.

Two of our projects you will have heard of previously – the refurbishment and improvement of the town centre realm, including St. James’s Square, in Boroughbridge and the launch of “iTown/myTown” – a project driven by 13 teenage residents of the area using the latest technology. This latter initiative is aimed at giving them a much-needed voice on the future of where they live, what facilities they believe are lacking and working with partners to deliver the outcomes. Our aim is not to impose the answers but to facilitate the team in coming up with sustainable solutions for themselves. We have engaged consultants with expertise to aid the group in this work and the first fruits will be seen at our next meeting on June 22nd at 6pm. This meeting is not in our usual venue as Yore Vision will be the guests of the “iTown/myTown “ group at Boroughbridge High School.In my next column, I will update you on this initiative together with progress on other projects.