Editor’s Pick of the Week: Harrogate rots as mass surveillance arrives

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Harrogate Civic Society, not an organisation known for its radicalism, was in unusually combative mood this week.

The society accused North Yorkshire Council of allowing Harrogate to rot by neglecting many of the town’s most famous heritage assets.

It said it had even been waiting 18 months for a response to a query about benches.

There may well be problems getting people to do things in Harrogate, but there is no shortage of people watching.

As if there weren’t enough security cameras, this week saw the arrival of mass surveillance in the county when North Yorkshire Police deployed live facial recognition technology for the first time as part of a ’24-hour day of action’.

A breathless police press release described the grandly nicknamed Operation Super Tornado Two as the “biggest operation in the force’s history”. Who chooses these names?

Cameras were introduced at Yorkshire Water reservoirs in January 2024 as part of a trial to introduce parking fees.

Finally, almost three years later, and to the surprise of nobody, the company announced this week the charges will continue.

More money doesn’t necessarily mean better facilities, as North Yorkshire Council’s annual highways report revealed.

Highways funding has never been higher, but the percentage of roads classified as ‘good’ has gone down.

Knaresborough residents wish some council funding could find its way to repairing Viaduct Terrace on Waterside, which was damaged last winter.

As if to rub their noses in it, the council used an image of the viaduct spanning Waterside in a job advert for a new chief executive, who will receive a salary of up to £225,000.

Still, at least Knaresborough’s Matalan received a store refresh this week, which hopefully means clothes will no longer be left lying all over the floor.

And football fans can look forward to watching ex-international and former £11 million man Ross McCormack turning out for Knaresborough Town. Nobody saw that one coming.

If that was the week’s most eyebrow-raising stories, the most heartwarming was the news that a couple in Bishop Monkton have delivered milk in the village for 50 years. Sadly, they’re now retiring — I hope they’re enjoying a pint of something harder than milk to celebrate their extraordinary service to the community.