CRAVEN boundary signs - put up across the district four years ago at a cost of £18,000 - will be eventually be removed 'as highways crews are passing', says the new North Yorkshire Council.

A total of 18 signs went up in September, 2019 as part of the Great Place: Lakes and Dales programme that sought to attract young people to live and work in the Dales. The signs, designed by artist Mary Woolf, were aimed at promoting Craven as a distinct area within North Yorkshire, similar to Pendle boundary signs in Lancashire.

Each of the signs are different, and feature areas of the district - the one closest to Skipton features Skipton Castle, the Bentham sign has Ribblehead Viaduct while others include the area's distinctive drumlin hills, waterfalls, rivers and railways.

Not everyone was happy with the signs; one on the A56 at Wysick Hill, between Thornton-in-Craven and Earby went missing after it was criticised for being in the wrong place geographically and not on the correct 'Craven' boundary. Others said the signs were a waste of money.

The signs were a joint project between Craven District Council and Great Place: Lakes and Dales. They were paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England GPLD.

Now, following the end of Craven Council at the end of March and its replacement with the new county wide, North Yorkshire Council, the boundary signs are set to go - as the new authority rolls out its own branding.

Old Craven Council householder waste bins will also be replaced with new ones with the North Yorkshire Council logo - but only when they need replacing and when existing stocks have gone.

Councillor Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council, said: “We have taken a cautious and prudent approach to branding for the new council to ensure that the money of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers is used as effectively as possible.

“Absolutely no bins are being replaced across North Yorkshire until they would normally have been, and neither are stickers being replaced on bins. As bins reach the end of their working life or our stocks run out in waste depots across the county, they will be replaced with bins featuring the new North Yorkshire Council branding, but with no additional cost. There is no planned programme of replacement of waste bins linked to rebranding.

“With regards to the removal of the Craven boundary signs, over time as highways crews are passing, such signage will be removed. However, there is again no specific programme to remove the old signage.”