Drivers should be aware that resurfacing work has started on Claro Road in Harrogate this week.
Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.
Roads
Two-way traffic lights will be in place today on Claro Road in Harrogate as North Yorkshire County Council starts resurfacing work in the area.
As previously reported by the Stray Ferret, work will also take place on Ainsty Road, Devonshire Place and Coach Road over the next three weeks.
Temporary traffic lights are also in place on Wetherby Road in Harrogate near to Harrogate Town Football Club.
Yorkshire Water is carrying out work in the area until July 29.
Drivers should expect the usual traffic on Wetherby Road and Skipton Road this morning during the rush hour.
Temporary lights on Ripon’s Clotherholme Road are now in place as Northern Gas Networks carries out replacement work to gas pipes in the area.
The lights will remain in place for seven weeks.
Meanwhile, long term roadworks are in place on Station Road in Goldsborough. The road will be closed until September 19, 2022, as Stonebridge Homes installs a foul water and surface water pipes to connect to the sewer system.
A diversion route is in place in the village.
Trains and buses
Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.
Meanwhile, the Harrogate Bus Company is reporting no cancellations on its services this morning.
Read more:
Councillors delay North Yorkshire climate change proposals
North Yorkshire councillors have postponed moves aiming to ensure robust and immediate actions are taken to tackle the climate change and biodiversity crises for about four months.
A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council saw a majority of elected members agree motions for further environmental measures should be referred to the council’s executive and constitutional working group for consideration.
Liberal Democrat, Independent, Green and Liberal councillors had proposed the authority establish a dedicated scrutiny committee, an executive member to oversee climate change and the development of a biodiversity action plan.
The calls came just days after the council’s executive declared a climate emergency, several years after numerous neighbouring councils, following mounting pressure from councillors.
Coordinator of the council’s Green Party group, Cllr Andy Brown, said while the executive’s recent decision to declare a climate emergency was welcome, “we all know good intent needs a clear, costed, timed action plan” to be approved by the same councillors.
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He added a scrutiny committee was needed as it was the role of councillors to examine plans to tackle climate change and that residents suffering record high temperatures would struggle to understand why the authority was not taking more immediate action.
Cllr Brown said:
“Let’s be honest, how does it look if we say we declared an emergency, but say we’re only going to discuss the scrutiny arrangements in about four months’ time and we may not discuss them at all or we may not set up any scrutiny yet because we think our organisation is more important.
“How are we going to explain that to the people of Tadcaster who lost their bridge for so long, how are we going to explain that to people in Richmondshire who suffered those appalling floods that damaged their livelihoods?”
The authority’s chairman, Cllr Margaret Atkinson, who is tasked with controlling debates at full meetings of the authority, told the chamber the temperatures of the past few days had underlined the need to tackle climate change.
However, she said it was important the authority gave the motions “appropriate consideration”.
She added the council’s staff were already under a lot of pressure due to local government reorganisation.
The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, said the proposals had implications, such as financial ones, that needed to be fully understood, with a report by officers, before the motions could be properly considered.
He said it was possible creating an extra scrutiny committee could dilute the efforts of the authority’s existing scrutiny committees for matters ranging from health to transport.
Cllr Dadd said:
Ex-Harrogate headteacher denies making indecent images of children“Policy and organisational issues are often worse for being delivered on the hoof. Good policy may well take a little bit longer to deliver.”
A former Harrogate headteacher repeatedly denied in court making more than 3,000 indecent images of children.
Matthew Shillito, 42, pleaded not guilty to making 20 Category B images and 3,829 Category C images between December 3, 2012 and December 31, 2015.
Mr Shillito was appointed headteacher of Western Primary School in 2019.
He was previously headteacher across the Goldsborough Sicklinghall Federation of schools.
None of the alleged offences related to his employment.
During the case, “making” was defined as knowingly accessing a site that contained an indecent image.
The court was told that there was no evidence that Mr Shillito downloaded the alleged material onto his laptop.
The prosecution opened proceedings at Harrogate Magistrates Court yesterday and said the alleged indecent images were found on the cache in Mr Shillito’s computer, which could have only have got there had he accessed sites with those images.
Philip Morris, prosecuting, said there were “indicative” terms found on Mr Shillito’s laptop which showed intent to access the alleged images.
Searches were ‘legitimate’
However, Kevin Blount, defence, told the court that while the terms found on the computers may have been indicative, they were “not conclusive” as they could also bring up legitimate results.
Mr Blount said that a Russian image website named in court, which was accessed on Mr Shillito’s Dell laptop, contained legitimate images, such as travel pictures, as well as illegal ones.
He added that cached images could have been stored on the laptop from parts of a web page which Mr Shillito did not look at.
Addressing the search terms found on the laptop, Mr Blount said that the terms could bring up “legitimate images”.
He pointed to terms such as “Nabokov Lolita”, which he said could have been a legitimate search for the 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov.
He said:
“All of those search terms are capable of bringing back legitimate material.”
Cross examination
During cross examination of Mr Shillito, Mr Blount asked him whether he had visited the named Russian site.
Mr Shillito said:
“I visited it a lot. It was just that it was a website full of photographs.
“It was a moderated site. It was a site that had rules.”
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Mr Shillito told the court that he used the site to look for images he was interested in, such as travel after visiting Croatia in 2011. He said he had also used it for teaching material.
He told the court that while the website was Russian, it was loaded in English and was recommended by technology companies such as Apple as a site to use.
When asked by District Judge Lower if he had seen any indecent images of children, Mr Shillito replied “no”.
He repeatedly denied under cross examination that he had made the alleged indecent images of children.
Summaries of four police interviews with Mr Shillito were also read out in court where he denied the allegations.
iPad disposed
Prosecutor Morris asked Mr Shillito about an iPad mini, which was not recovered by police but a backup was found on a silver MacBook Pro.
Mr Shillito confirmed that he had disposed of the iPad because it was “not updating” and had a crack down the screen. He added that he threw it out during a clear out of his address.
Mr Morris put it to Mr Shillito that he had thrown the iPad out two days before police arrived to arrest him because “he was rumbled”. He denied this and said he was he was not aware that police were coming to his address.
When asked about the number of times he visited pages which were “indicative” of the alleged indecent images, Mr Shillito said he “could not imagine” visiting some of them.
Mr Morris told the court that it was “not just one” occasion that the defendant visited the site.
He said:
“In some cases, you have visited not just once or twice but 30 times.”
The trial was adjourned until August 10.
Motorists set for six weeks of delays on Harrogate’s Grove RoadMotorists face six weeks of delays on Harrogate’s Grove Road from Monday due to gas works.
Work is being carried out by Northern Gas Networks to replace ageing pipework with plastic pipes.
Temporary three-way traffic lights will be in place at the junction of Grove Road and Skipton Road from July 25 for two weeks.
These will then become two-way lights for four weeks as work progresses.
Parking will also be restricted along Grove Road while work is carried out.
Northern Gas Networks said in a statement that although most work will be carried out on the road, engineers will need access to customer properties to complete the project and ensure the continued safe and reliable supply of gas.
Russ Kaye, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks, said:
“We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused during these essential works. However, it is vital we complete them in order to continue to maintain a safe and reliable gas supply to the residents of Harrogate.
“We want to assure residents and road users that we will be working hard to complete this essential scheme as safely and as quickly as possible.”
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Red Arrows Harrogate district flight postponed until tomorrow
The Red Arrows have postponed their Harrogate district fly over until tomorrow.
The RAF aerobatic team was due to fly from their base at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire to Prestwick today.
According to a military airshow website, the Red Arrows were due to fly over north west of the district this afternoon at 3.36pm and also pass York and Morecambe Bay as part of the fly over.
The times and route were weather dependant and the site later said the fly over had been postponed by 24 hours.
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Former Harrogate headteacher ‘repeatedly accessed’ website with indecent images, court hears
A former Harrogate headteacher repeatedly visited a website which was “indicative” of alleged indecent images of children, a court heard today.
Matthew Shillito, 42, denies making 20 Category B images and 3,829 Category C images between December 3, 2012 and December 31, 2015.
Mr Shillito, of Gordon Avenue, Harrogate, was appointed headteacher of Western Primary School in 2019.
He was previously headteacher across the Goldsborough Sicklinghall Federation of schools.
None of the alleged offences related to his employment.
Mr Shillito appeared for trial at Harrogate Magistrates Court today.
Philip Morris, prosecuting, told the court that the indecent images were found on the cache in Mr Shillito’s computer, which could have only have got there had he accessed sites with those images.
He said:
“It is the prosecution’s case that those images found as they were on the computer cache were present as a result of the user of the computer accessing indicative content on the internet.”
Police seize computers
Police arrested Mr Shillito and seized two computers at his address on January 4, 2020.
Officers recovered a Dell laptop and a MacBook Pro, which contained a back up from an iPad mini which was not found.
Giving evidence to the court, Zoe Warboys, a digital forensic investigation officer at North Yorkshire Police, said that while the defendant may not have been aware of the cache, he could have only got them by accessing the material.
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A Russian website named in court was frequently accessed on the Dell laptop, which Ms Warboys told the court was a site which contained indecent images of children.
The site is public and allows users to upload albums of images which others can view.
The court heard how the site was frequently visited on February 26, 2011.
Mr Morris told the court that Shillito visited some of the pages which were “indicative” of possibly including indecent images 30 times.
Meanwhile the defendant’s MacBook contained a backup from an iPad mini, which the court heard was not recovered by police during the raid.
Mr Morris said the backup included search terms which were “indicative” of indecent images of children.
A number of Google search terms were also presented to the court, which the prosecution argued demonstrated an intent from the defendant to access the alleged images.
Denies allegations
There was no evidence that Mr Shillito downloaded the alleged images onto his desktop, the court heard.
Mr Shillito repeatedly denied to the court that he had knowingly accessed indecent images of children.
Kevin Blount, defence, said that while the terms found on the computers may have been indicative, they were “not conclusive” as they could also bring up legitimate results.
The court heard how Mr Shillito had also repeatedly denied accessing the alleged images during police interview.
The trial continues.
Traffic and Travel: Harrogate district traffic updateTraffic is moving as normal in the Harrogate district this morning.
However, some roadworks remain in place in areas.
Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.
Roads
Drivers should expect the usual traffic on Wetherby Road and Skipton Road this morning during the rush hour.
Temporary lights on Ripon’s Clotherholme Road are now in place as Northern Gas Networks carries out replacement work to gas pipes in the area.
The lights will remain in place for seven weeks.
Meanwhile, long term roadworks are in place on Station Road in Goldsborough. The road will be closed until September 19, 2022, as Stonebridge Homes installs a foul water and surface water pipes to connect to the sewer system.
A diversion route is in place in the village.
Trains and buses
Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.
Meanwhile, the Harrogate Bus Company is reporting cancellations on the 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and the 1D this morning.
You can find out more information on the disruption here.
Read more:
Contractor for Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle route to be appointed in autumn
Council officials have said a contractor to build the second phase of the Otley Road cycle route in Harrogate is expected to be appointed in the autumn.
But it is still unclear when work on the project will start.
The first phase of the route, which runs from Harlow Moor Road to Cold Bath Road, was completed in January.
However, residents raised concerns over its design and the length of time it took to complete the project.
As a result, county council officials delayed progress on the second phase to review its designs.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire County Council when the next phase of the route will be built and whether a contractor had been procured.
Melissa Burnham, highway area manager at the county council, said:
“Final detailed designs for phase two of the Otley Road cycle route are due to be approved within the next few weeks, with the contract expected to go out to tender during August.
“It is expected the contract will be awarded to the successful provider during the autumn.”
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However, she did not respond to another question enquiring when construction is expected to start.
Council officials had previously set that procurement for a contractor would begin in June.
The second phase of the cycle lane will run from Arthurs Avenue to Beech Grove.
Costs have yet to be revealed for the next section of the route, but Hull-based PBS Construction was awarded a contract worth £827,000 for the first phase.
The third and final phase of the scheme, which will run from Harlow Moor Road to Cardale Park, is expected to be funded via contributions from housing developers.
EnviroVent extends Harrogate Town sponsorship until 2024EnviroVent has extended its stadium sponsorship of Harrogate Town for another two seasons.
The deal will see the company sponsor the Wetherby Road ground until 2023/24.
It will also see EnviroVent work with the Harrogate Town Community Foundation to teach children about climate change as part of the club’s environment programme.
Iain Service, head of foundation for Harrogate Town AFC Community Foundation:
“We are absolutely thrilled that EnviroVent will be helping the community foundation to deliver our new environmental sustainability projects.
“Activities, workshops and campaigns will highlight the importance of climate change, recycling and other ways in which we can do our bit to safeguard our planet for future generations.”
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The Harrogate-based company manufactures ventilations for house builders and employs more than 250 people at its manufacturing plant, training suite and head office on Hornbeam Park.
EnviroVent is due to move to a new state of the art headquarters on PennyPot Lane.
It has sponsored Harrogate Town for the last nine seasons.
Andy Makin EnviroVent MD, with past winners and runners up (from 2021/22) of the Enviro Way Awards, an internal award voted for by staff members.
Andy Makin, managing director at EnviroVent, said:
“As a local business with shared ideals, EnviroVent is delighted to announce a further two-year commitment in our partnership with Harrogate Town AFC.
“We were excited to become stadium sponsor when the club was promoted to the National League and now, two years on, we are very happy at the prospect of building further on our relationship. This will allow closer links with the club on the pitch and its great work, off the pitch, in our local community.”
Joanne Towler, commercial director at Harrogate Town AFC, said:
Harrogate hospital records increase in heat-related illnesses“We are delighted EnviroVent is continuing its partnership with the Club as Stadium Sponsors, our like-minded values create an enjoyable and rewarding working relationship.
“We are very fortunate and thankful to have EnviroVent behind us, the company’s commitment to the club is invaluable.”
Harrogate District Hospital recorded an increase in heat-related illnesses during this week’s record-breaking temperatures as it also warned of extra pressures from a further rise in covid patients.
The hospital saw a 10% increase in visitors with conditions such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke, while covid patient numbers have tripled to 33 since the end of June.
Dr Matt Shepherd, deputy chief operating officer at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said demand on services was “higher than we would typically expect” for summer and that there is “no doubt” much of this was due to the pandemic.
He added:
“Extreme weather, such as heatwaves, also adds additional pressure on hospital services.
“We need to ensure that the people in our care and our staff are not unduly affected by increasing temperatures and we have severe weather plans in place to address any issues.
“Waiting times to be seen during these times can also be longer than usual due to demand.”
Temperatures are easing today after approaching 40 degrees in the district yesterday when North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service declared a ‘major incident’ on the hottest day ever recorded in the county. It said today it had ‘stood down’ this status.
Gosh it was a hot one yesterday! ☀️ As you know we, like most other fire services around the country, declared a major incident due to the level of demand. The good news is we have now stood down this status and have returned to expected levels of demand.
— North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (@NorthYorksFire) July 20, 2022
As well as causing a surge in demand for emergency services, the heatwave also led to cancellations for train services and forced some schools to shut.
The forecast for today is still warm, but cooler on Thursday and Friday with highs of 19C in Harrogate.
Covid pressures
Covid infections and hospital admissions have been creeping up since the end of spring and after the emergence of the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron.
Dr Shepherd said while most patients are not falling seriously ill with the virus, it was still causing pressure for the hospital which is battling long backlogs.
He said:
“Since we emerged from lockdown, our priority has been to reduce the backlog for operations and treatment.
“The increased number of planned operations being performed has added to the pressures, but it has meant we have been able to reduce our waiting lists and no longer have any patients who have been waiting over two years for treatment.”
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The Harrogate district’s weekly infection rate has been climbing steadily over the last few months and currently stands at 288 cases per 100,000 people.
The latest figure is up from 52 in May, but well below the previous peak of 1,007 in March.
The increase comes as the government has announced that everyone aged 50 and over will be offered a booster vaccine this autumn to top up their immunity.
Younger people at high risk from covid, as well as health and social care staff, will also get the booster.
Dr Shepherd added:
“Covid vaccinations have been extremely successful in reducing the severity of the virus, however, the highly infectious nature of the new variants is having an impact at our hospital.
“Thankfully, most patients who have tested positive are here for other medical issues or surgical procedures rather than having acute covid symptoms.
“However, in most cases it does mean that their treatment cannot be progressed until they test negative, which increases the time they need to stay in hospital and reduces the number of beds we have available.
“Whilst we are much better prepared at treating covid than we were two years ago, this virus has not gone away and it still has a significant impact on the hospital and is still a threat to people’s health – particularly vulnerable or unvaccinated patients.”