History

Nidderdale Plus's creation was facilitated by Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council following 2 years of local consultation and research. Many local organisations were involved in this, including Nidderdale Chamber of Trade, Masham Association of Trade and Tourism, Parish Councils, Community Education, the AONB and local Church groups, to name but a few. Given the newness of the Community Partnership concept, there was a lot of work to be done behind the scenes before the Partnership could become effective, and some of the key stages in the process were as follows:

• January 2000: The concept of a Local Action Group in Nidderdale was first proposed at a meeting of the AONB.
• March 2000: An interim operating structure was established and, throughout the year, a number of open meetings held at which the name "Nidderdale Plus" was agreed.
• December 2000: Nidderdale was formally recognised as a "European Objective 2" area, ie an area designated as able to receive state aid to alleviate hardship occurring from the decline of traditional industries.
• May 2001: An open conference was held in Ripon where a Partnership "Vision" and Aims and Objectives were agreed, with an interim working structure.
• July 2001: An interim Executive Committee was formed to contribute to the first funding bids for European Objective 2 Priorities 3 and 4, and for the Market Town Initiative in Pateley Bridge. All three were successful, with one of the first schemes being support for the AONB through Priority 3.
• April 2002: Funding from Priority 3 and the Countryside Agency allowed the employment of a full time Partnership Development Officer, and the generous support of Harrogate Borough Council provided office facilities in Pateley Bridge.
• In June 2002, Yorkshire Forward seconded a full time Programme Manager to the Partnership, to co-ordinate the Pateley Bridge Market Towns Initiative,.
• July 2002: The first, open AGM at which members were invited to endorse the proposed Constitution, and a formal election held for twelve places on the Executive Committee.
• August 2002: The first meeting of this new Committee was joined by a nominated representative of Harrogate Borough Council, and elected a Chair.

In October 2004, at an EGM, the Partnership determined to change its status to become a company limited by Guarantee and to adopt a Memorandum and Articles of Association which govern how it operates.

In February 2005 the Partnership became a company and the first Board of Directors took office.

The new company continues to operate as a local Partnership, and to facilitate this has extended membership to organisations, agencies and businesses. Its purpose is unchanged and it remains a local partnership, unaligned to any political or interest group, run by locals in the interest of the locality.