Stray Views: Valley Gardens boating pool should remain for boats

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Valley Gardens boating pool is for boats

May I quote from my book Souvenir Guide to the Valley Gardens in relation to Fountain v Model Yachts.

The Valley Gardens grew from an ancient footpath that linked the Old Sulphur Well beneath the Royal Pump Room with the mineral wells on Bogs Field. During the nineteenth century, the walk was embellished with planting. At this time, there were paths either side of the stream which incorporated ponds, fountains and a rock garden.

The boating pool was built as a children’s paddling pool in 1925. Over time its use changed from a children’s paddling pool to the Boating Pool.

The boating pool should be left for boats and the Fountain should be where it used to be in the stream not far from the Magnesia Well where it was much admired.

Anne Smith, Harrogate

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Government should take climate crisis seriously with flexible planning laws

I confess to being disappointed with the performance of the government of late – a fiasco on many levels, I’d say. I would not have been able to continue to keep my reputation and run a business for the twenty years I did had I acted in the manner of our representatives.

However, putting that aside, I want to do something – for myself – to mitigate the risks associated with the current crises of climate change, energy pricing and the cost of living but seem to be being blocked at every turn.

You see, I’m lucky enough to live in a conservation area – not that it had that designation when I bought the property over thirty years ago. In addition, in the late 1990’s, I bought a derelict barn at the bottom of my garden that was originally part of a farm. The developer building houses on the site of the farm was intending to demolish the barn (which is over 100 years old) and build a garage for the new builds, three expensive new properties. 

To cut a long story short, we purchased the barn, repaired the walls and roof, then made it into habitable accommodation and connected it to our bungalow for my mother-in-law to move into as she had some health issues, made worse by the loss of her husband. This work was completed in 2000.

For energy efficiency reasons, I’d like to fit good quality uPVC doors & windows (which are almost indistinguishable from wood) in the barn and have applied twice to change the original planning permission which stipulated wood was to be used – the last time going to appeal. Permission was refused. The bungalow attached to the barn already has uPVC windows, as do many other properties in the conservation area, and the barn windows are not visible from the road.

What I am asking is that our governments decides what they want to do. We can live in a pretty country with quaint houses we can’t afford to heat – generating higher levels of CO2 – and be unable to do anything about it or we can take the crises we face seriously and allow some flexibility in the planning process – face the problems head-on.

The front of my house faces south and I’d be willing to install, at my cost, solar panels and an energy storage system but, this requires planning permission with the associated cost and hassle; some applications have been refused because it spoils the look of the village – which has to be nonsense in light of the current crises.

I’d like our governments to decide what they want. The energy crisis is fundamentally of our own making –  don’t tell me it is a world problem, out of our hands; nonsense – it isn’t. We should never have done the dash-for-gas – generating electricity from gas; had we refrained, we’d still be self-sufficient in natural gas. This isn’t hindsight; as a Fellow of the IET, I have given numerous talks on climate change – warning of the dangers for decades – and I am on record as saying that we should not be generating electricity with gas. The reasoning, gas can be delivered to the home for burning at 90% efficiency. This drops to 30 or 40% (at best) if it is delivered as electricity. If I’m generous I’d say we have wasted 60% of the gas we used in electricity generation.

We’ve screwed up, and the current Conservatives must take some of the blame – they’ve been in power for long enough. What we need is vision; the government isn’t leading but has been forced to act by the (inevitable) rise of the evil empire and its invasion of Ukraine. What it has done is too little and too late. We all need to rise to the challenge. We can achieve more but what is currently being done is green-washing and simply not enough. Governments local and national must remove the roadblocks and let us be accountable for solving the problem ourselves. Give me the chance.

Paul Smith, Staveley

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Public control of North Yorkshire bus network ‘not realistic’, says transport chief

Public control of North Yorkshire’s bus network is not a “realistic answer” to the system’s current woes, says the county’s transport chief.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at North Yorkshire County Council, said such a move would be too expensive for the authority to take on.

It comes as officials at the county council have warned passengers that some services may be scrapped if not enough people use them.

Cllr Duncan told an executive meeting that bringing the network under public authority ownership – often referred to as franchising –  would lead to “20 to 30 thousands pounds of subsidy” per passenger every year.

He said:

“I think that no matter what political party you may come from in North Yorkshire County Council and beyond, or whatever political persuasion you might be, you’re looking at those figures at potentially subsiding per passenger per year at ten, twenty, thirty thousand pounds and it just doesn’t stack up.

“The case is not there. We know we have got some unique times in North Yorkshire and we have got to work through those. It is potentially more difficult than just ‘lets have public authority control’, that is not going to be a realistic answer to the problems we face.”

Local control is ‘better value’

Matthew Topham, of the Better Buses for North Yorkshire campaign group, said that bringing the county’s network under local control was “common sense”.

Mr Topham said a franchising model – which Transport for London and Greater Manchester operate under – would be better value for passengers.

He said:

“Far from being “unrealistic,” taking buses into local control is the only common sense answer. It’s better value. It’s popular. It unlocks unique powers to improve services.

“Findings from London show franchising is a more efficient use of public money. In Jersey, it helped the council add routes while cutting costs by £800,000 a year. Imagine if we had it here!

“Polls show over two-thirds of the public back local control. Experts from the Countryside Charity CPRE, levelling up think tank IPPR North, and even the UN agree: local control is the way forward.

“If the mountainous areas of France or Switzerland all find it cheaper to coordinate services through local control, we can trust that North Yorkshire will too.”

The network’s woes come as seven months ago the government rejected North Yorkshire County Council’s bid for a £116m share of Boris Johnson’s high-profile Bus Back Better initiative, saying the local authority’s plans lacked ambition.

Since then, local politicians have raised concern over the future of services in their area.

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Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate, said he feared up to 80 services could be under threat across the county.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat councillor for Pateley Bridge, Andrew Murday, said residents of his division faced having just two services a day to Harrogate.

He said:

“We just have to do something about bus services, and encourage more people onto buses. We need to know how we are going to go about discouraging people from driving and encouraging people on to buses, so bus services can thrive.”

Developers appeal Lamb and Flag housing plan refusal

Developers have appealed a council decision to refuse plans to build five houses at the Lamb and Flag pub in Bishop Monkton.

The proposal was tabled by Carol and Trevor Pawson for the 200-year-old pub, which also had a bed and breakfast.

Harrogate Borough Council rejected plans for the pub back in May.

Now, the developers have taken the refusal to the government’s Planning Inpsectorate, which deals with planning disputes.

As part of the plan, two houses would be created by converting the pub itself and another would be created at the barn next door.

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A further two homes would be built at the car park at the back of the pub.

However, council officials have refused the application on the grounds that “insufficient marketing” has been done to demonstrate that the pub could not be used for community use.

Officers added in a decision notice that two of the houses on the car park are outside the development limits.

In documents submitted to the government, the developers argued that the site was not viable for any community use.

It said:

“An independent report has confirmed there is no scope for the Appeal property to be viably run as a public house. 

“The issues highlighted in that report would equally, and perhaps more so, apply to any alternative community use. 

“The only realistic potential purchasers for an alternative community use project would be the parish council and Harrogate Borough Council. The property has been marketed since 2017 and at no time has either body expressed any interest in it.”

A government planning inspector will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

‘We will prosecute if we have to’: On the road with Harrogate’s traffic police

Harrogate traffic cop TC Craig Taylor has been a police officer for 20 years – 16 of which have been policing Yorkshire’s roads.

In that time, he’s stopped drug drivers, pursued motorists speeding and been at crime scenes where a drink-driver has killed someone.

These days, he’s on Harrogate’s roads making sure that cars are abiding by the speed limit.

On a cold, crisp Tuesday afternoon, the Stray Ferret joined TC Taylor on a patrol to see what he faces on a daily basis.

‘No one sets out to have a collision’

“I don’t think people set out to have a collision,” TC Taylor says as we head down Leeds Road in his BMW.

He says that drink and drug driving is what the force is particularly looking out for at Christmas.

While he has come across 16 years worth of incidents involving drivers under the influence of drink and drugs, he says none set out to do anyone harm.

“No one that I have ever come across ever thinks ‘that’s what I’m going to do today’.

“But they ruin their own lives and other people’s lives.”

TC Taylor first started by patrolling Bradford and Leeds before moving to police the roads in Harrogate.

TC Taylor, who has been a roads police offer for 16 years.

TC Taylor, who has been a roads police offer for 16 years.

While the metropolitan cities of neighbouring West Yorkshire may seem a different world for policing, he says there is not much difference.

This week North Yorkshire Police launched its  “save a life, call it in” campaign, which urges people to call out drivers who appear to be under the influence on the county’s roads.

Amid the plea to the public, TC Taylor says there is not much difference between finding drink drivers in the centre of Harrogate to out on rural roads where they “feel safer” driving home.

“It’s a broad mix.

“Obviously you’ve got more chance [of catching drink drivers] where it’s more densely populated and where you’ve got more drinking establishments.

“But you could have the same person thinking ‘I’ll drive home, it’s only a couple of miles up the road’.”

While some cases of drink driving are stopped before an accident happens, TC Taylor has experience of incidents which don’t end so well.

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As we pull over on Leeds Road to carry out a speed check, he talks about a crash where a businesswoman killed two pensioners while under the influence of drink.

The woman had been out on a Christmas party, where she had got drunk and decided to drive home.

As she drove home, she turned onto a main road and crashed into a parked car where the two pensioners were unloading their shopping. Both were killed.

“That’s one that always sticks in my mind.”

TC Taylor carrying out a speed check on Leeds Road, Harrogate.

TC Taylor carrying out a speed check on Leeds Road, Harrogate.

Last year, police arrested 137 people during their December campaign for drink or drug driving in North Yorkshire.

From the 137 arrests, 120 were men and 17 were women. 72 people of the 137 were charged with an offence. A total of 25 of the arrests were made following a crash. 

TC Taylor points out that when it comes to a fatal crash, there is always an underlining factor involved.

“Sometimes it can just be an accident. You can slip on some diesel on the road, but that’s few and far between.

“Generally speaking if you’ve got 100 cars that drive down this road, 99 of those cars will go on the same road and the same path.

“But the one car that doesn’t and ends up running into a tree and ends up fatal, that’s normally because there’s another factor involved.”

‘We will prosecute if we have to’

Armed with his speed gun and fluorescent jacket, he starts to point at oncoming drivers down Leeds Road – which he says is a common area for speeding in the town.

Most drivers spot TC Taylor in the distance and begin to temper their speed.

He pulls over a woman who was going too fast and orders her to take a breathalyser. She passes and is given words of advice before being sent on her way.

TC Taylor says that it is not the case that every driver needs to be prosecuted.

“We will prosecute people if we have to, but it’s about education as well.”

Award for woman who saved lorry driver’s life on A1(M) at Boroughbridge

A woman has been recognised for bravery after saving a lorry driver’s life on the A1(M) at Boroughbridge.

Evie Armitage intervened after the driver suffered a heart attack and crashed into the central reservation on the morning on December 9, 2021.

For 11 minutes, she provided life saving CPR before paramedics arrived.

The driver was taken to hospital for urgent treatment and made a full recovery.

Evie and four North Yorkshire Police officers were recognised by the Royal Humane Society for bravery this month.

Lisa Winward, chief constable at the force, said:

“These commendations recognise the bravery and selflessness of those who put themselves at risk to save the lives of others.

“The courageous actions of the recipients are an inspiration to us all, and I was proud to be able to honour them in this way.”

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Evie was recognised alongside PCSO Felicity Wilkinson, who was first on the scene following reports of a man in distress on the wrong side of a bridge over the A1(M) near Scotch Corner on August 3, 2021.

She made the scene safe and spoke to the man, before PC Michael Smith, PC Steven Gardner and PC Alan Fenney arrived, and they grabbed hold of him to prevent him falling.

They held on to the man for 10 minutes while further officers made their way to the location. They were eventually able to pull him on to the right side of the bridge, and he was taken to hospital.

Council sets aside £11m for A59 Kex Gill contingency funding

North Yorkshire County Council has set aside £11 million to cover any contingencies for a major realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill.

The project is set to cost £68.8 million and construction was due to start this month, but no precise date has been given.

The authority awarded a £50.7 million to John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd, an Irish civil engineering and construction firm, to build the scheme.

The project is due to be funded by a £56.1 million grant from the Department for Transport, with the council covering the rest from its reserves.

Now, Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways, has confirmed that £11 million has been factored into the £68 million budget to cover any issues with ground conditions or bad weather.

Cllr Duncan said:

“The re-alignment of Kex Gill will undoubtedly be one of the council’s most ambitious ever highways projects. The road has been identified by the government as one of the most important strategic routes nationally and this project is vital to maintaining east-west connectivity.

“Within the budget of £68.8 million there is an £11 million contingency. This includes a contingency for both price inflation and potential construction issues that may arise such as unexpected ground conditions or prolonged bad weather. The risk of price inflation sits with the contractor and this has been factored into the total bid price.

“There is always the risk of cost increases on any major construction project, however, we believe we have secured as much certainty as we can.”

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It comes as senior county council officials have warned about the risk involved with the authority’s major projects amid soaring inflation.

Gary Fielding, the council’s director for strategic resources, warned previously that the “burden of risk” for major projects, such as the realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill, will fall on the authority amid soaring inflation.

The last update said contractors were expected to move on site this month to clear the moorland by late February next year, to avoid the bird nesting season. The estimated completion date is May 2025.

The A59 at Kex Gill, near Blubberhouses, is the main route between Harrogate and Skipton. Since 2000, the route has been closed 12 times following landslips.

The project has faced numerous delays and following tender returns, the estimated cost of the scheme increased by £7.2 million to £68.8 million, which the council attributes to due to inflation affecting constructions costs.

It therefore approved an increase in its allocated funding from £5.5 million to £12.7 million, given the DfT grant is fixed.

MPs Watch: Resignation honours and River Nidd water quality

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In November, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced his autumn statement, which included scrapping planned investment zones in the Harrogate district and across the country.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours were also revealed, which is set to include district MP Nigel Adams.

We asked our three Conservative MPs, Harrogate & Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon’s Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but, as usual, we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, pictured at Prime Minister's Question Time.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found out on Mr Jones:

Julian Smith at PMQs

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams:

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Police plea to call out drink drivers amid increasing Harrogate district incidents

North Yorkshire Police is urging people to alert the force to suspected drink drivers amid concern over increasing cases.

The force, along with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, today launched its Christmas drink and drug drive campaign.

Called ‘Save a life and call It In’, it encourages people to ring 999 if they suspect someone is behind the wheel under the influence of drink or drugs.

The campaign, which runs until January 1, will also see officers patrolling the county in marked and unmarked police vehicles and carrying out roadside checks.

Superintendent Emma Aldred, head of specialist operations for the force, told the Stray Ferret:

She said:

“We do drink drive campaigns throughout the year, but we do see an increase around the festive period because people come together a lot more and there are office parties, house parties and with the cost of living we are seeing a lot more home drinking.

“We are seeing increased drinking and people thinking they are okay to drive the next morning or that night, which is just not acceptable.”

‘We are seeing an increase’

During last year’s campaign – which ran from December 1 to January 1 –  there were 137 people arrested for drink or drug driving in the county.

From the 137 arrests, 120 were men and 17 were women. 72 people of the 137 were charged with an offence. A total of 25 of the arrests were made following a crash. 

Tony Peel, group manager at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.

Tony Peel, group manager at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Tony Peel, group manager for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, also said that the service was now seeing an increase in drink driving incidents across Harrogate and North Yorkshire.

He said:

“We are starting to see a slight increase.

“I think with the messages we did many years ago, it [drink driving] did go down. But it does seem to be growing a little bit and we are seeing an increase.”

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The plea to call out drink and drug drivers has been endorsed by actor Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle in television soap Emmerdale.

Mr Charnock took part in a mock car crash at Harrogate Fire Station this week to demonstrate the impact that drink driving can have on someone.

Mark Charnock was cut from a car as part of a demonstration at Harrogate Fire Station.

Mark Charnock was cut from a car as part of a demonstration at Harrogate Fire Station.

The demonstration saw him cut out of a car by fire crews and put onto a stretcher before being lifted to safety.

Mr Charnock said:

“If this was real, if you add in real horror into the mix of what I’ve just been through, I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like.

“You just would not wish it on your worst enemy.”

The campaign against drink and drug driving will run from December 1, 2022, until January 1, 2023.

Business Breakfast: Harrogate beauty brand raises £52,000 for hair charity

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.

A Harrogate-based hair and beauty brand has reached a £50,000 fundraiser target for The Little Princess Trust.

Cloud Nine started fundraising for the charity, which provides free, real hair wigs and support to children and their families through childhood hair loss, back in September.

The company launched a limited edition “Royal Blue” collection as part of its partnership with the charity to help raise funds.

Now, Cloud Nine has hit its target and raised £52,442.

In addition to raising £50,000, the company has also generated hair donations of over 74 inches of hair for the charity.

Martin Rae, CEO at Cloud Nine, said: 

“We have sold out of our Royal Blue Collection in the UK and Australia, which has been very popular. It is fantastic to know that we have raised this amount of money for such an important cause.

“The team are already arranging other events to raise more for The Little Princess Trust, including The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge.”

Phil Brace, CEO at The Little Princess Trust, said: 

“We are so grateful to Cloud Nine for their incredible support. The money raised will help the charity provide free wigs to children and young people that really need them.”

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Harrogate rental company reports improved interim results

A Harrogate-based equipment rental company has announced improved profits as part of its interim results.

In the six months up to September 2022, Vp reported revenues of £186.5 million compared with £176.1 million on the same period last year.

The company, which is based at Central House on Beckwith Knowle, also announced profit before tax, amortisation and exceptional items increased by 6% to £21.5 million.

Vp said the results reflected “a period of continued recovery” and was a result of “sustained demand across the group’s business units”.

Jeremy Pilkington, Chairman of Vp plc, said: 

“I am pleased to report a solid set of results that reflect a period of continuing recovery and which demonstrate the enduring strength of our business and the maintenance of our industry leading returns. 

“Our businesses have continued to make good progress in their engagement with customers and supply chain partners to deliver sustainable and innovative fleet solutions as we collectively strive to reduce emissions. 

“The period under review has seen continued inflationary pressure on fleet capital costs, transport, fuel, wages, utilities and interest costs, but we have largely mitigated these with agreed price increases combined with a diligent focus on efficiencies within our business. We expect these actions to remain a priority for the foreseeable future. 

“Notwithstanding these challenges, we remain alert to quality growth opportunities whether organic or via acquisitions and we remain confident of delivering a full year outcome in line with the Board’s expectations.”

Harrogate and Ripon survive today’s cull of HSBC branches

Harrogate and Ripon have been spared its HSBC banks shutting after the company announced a raft of closures today.

The bank said it will close 114 branches from April 2023.

HSBC UK said the closures were down to a change in customer habits and that it would invest “tens of millions of pounds” in its remaining banks.

Among the closures include branches in nearby Wetherby and Skipton.

However, Ripon’s branch on Westgate and Harrogate’s on Prospect Crescent have been spared closure.

The HSBC – which has no external cash machine – is Ripon’s sole remaining bank branch after Halifax closed on November 14.

The Halifax closed less than three months after the long-established Barclays branch closed its doors for good on August 25.

Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s managing director of UK distribution, said: 

“People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning. 

“Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us. 

“Not only can we do it anywhere at any time of day or night, many more things can be done at the customers’ convenience and don’t rely on a branch visit.”

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