Editor’s Pick of the Week: Bottled water, broken buses and strong women

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It’s either one of Harrogate’s most successful brands, or public enemy number one.

Harrogate Spring Water returned to the spotlight this week with the news it was appealing North Yorkshire Council’s decision to reject its expansion plans, which means some lucky Stray Ferret journalist has the prospect of a day spent sitting in a room full of lawyers trying to understand what they’re saying.

Perhaps campaigner extraordinaire Sarah Gibbs will dig out her tree costume to liven things up.

Harrogate Spring Water’s planning appeal is a major local news story, which we’ve covered in more depth than anyone else. 

We reported on the appeal announcement here, published an interview with Harrogate Spring Water Richard Hall here, gave the campaigners’ reaction here and here and reported a timeline of the saga here. We also looked at the company’s pipeline project here and analysed how much of the town’s water it uses here.

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Sarah’s indefatigable energy may be explained by her being a more-than-handy Muay Thai boxer. But she has a rival for the claim to be Harrogate’s most determined campaigner.

In the last few days Hazel Peacock, who derives her energy from being an angry mum, has popped up on BBC Radio York, mayor David Skaith’s cabinet meeting and a North Yorkshire Council meeting in her battle with the dead hand of bureaucracy.

Hazel and others spent years lobbying for a car-free zone outside Oatlands Junior School. They eventually succeeded but unless the council comes to its aid soon, the scheme will collapse.

Talking of Mr Skaith, this week he signed a Notice of Statutory Intent to Prepare an Assessment of Proposed Franchising Scheme — proof that the bureaucrats who draft these things love fancy words, especially if they come with capital letters.

In layman’s terms, it means the mayor wants to bring buses back into public ownership. York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority will now spend £3.5 million assessing the case.

Politicians love slogans, and this week the Labour mayor repeated the mantra ‘broken buses’ ad nauseam, much to the annoyance of his Tory rivals at North Yorkshire Council, who currently try to make services like the 24 between Pateley Bridge and Harrogate viable.

With less than two years until the next mayoral election, will Mr Skaith be around long enough to drive buses into public ownership?

The mayor may have more money and power at his disposal than any other local politician but a councillor likening him to a dictator was a low blow this week.

Like buses, public toilets don’t score highly on the sexy story scale, but they mean a lot to people. Vandals in Knaresborough achieved what some might say the council has been pushing for by ensuring the town’s loos will either close completely or earlier by persistently trashing them.

The power of local media was highlighted this week when a reader complained about an unlit diversion in the New Park area of Harrogate, and within 24 hours lighting appeared.

Another street in the spotlight was Ripon’s Kirkgate, which moved a step closer to pedestrianisation this week.

Ripon mayor Andrew Williams said the Shambles in York was the only comparable street in North Yorkshire. It’s certainly hard to think of any finer on our patch.