A LONG-standing councillor has resigned as chairman of an influential community organisation over a proposed five-fold increase in council tax on second homes.

Former Richmondshire District Council leader and North Yorkshire county councillor for the Upper Dales John Blackie stepped down from leading the Upper Dales Area Partnership (UDAP), whose members include district and parish councillors and other leading groups in the Yorkshire Dales.

The move follows a decision by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA), of which Cllr Blackie has also been a member of for more than 20 years, to raise council tax on second homes in a bid to deter people from buying holiday homes and attract more families to move to and stay in the Dales.

Richmondshire District Council, which runs the UDAP, is supporting the council tax move and Cllr Blackie said he wanted to put "some clear blue water" between himself and the council and UDAP, which gives grants for community projects and examines issues facing residents of Swaledale, Wensleydale and Arkengathdale.

In his resignation letter, he said: “Instead I will take part in the UDAP from the floor of the meeting, challenging as appropriate items that come forward on the agenda if they are against the best socio-economic interests of the Upper Dales, and supporting those that promote them.

“This I consider will be my most effective way of representing communities in the Upper Dales at the UDAP. The proposal will seriously harm the very cause its promoters claim to have put it forward to support, and result in the young families that remain or are attracted to our Dales communities as the ultimate losers, through the damage it will cause to the local economy.”

Cllr Blackie, who runs holiday cottages which would be unaffected by the tax rise, highlighted the amount of work brought to local builders by second home owners and said plan would “undermine the value of houses”.

He has been pivotal in the running of The Little White Bus, the Post Office and the filling station in Hawes, and believes they will also be threatened by the planned tax increase.

In his resignation letter, he also hit out over the council's cutbacks to public toilet cleaning services and its policy to charge to use them. He also highlighted the decline in the street scene services in Hawes and the council’s proposal to the Boundary Commission to change the ward structure in the Dales.