Harrogate town council: could it run Harrogate Convention Centre?

From the running of Harrogate Convention Centre to bin collections, the district’s public services will change in 18 months when devolution kicks in.

One of the major questions confronting Harrogate in 2023 will be what assets it wants to retain control of.

North Yorkshire County Council, which successfully bid for the new unitary council model, has promised “double devolution”.

That means a town council will be able to bid for assets — even though this may see council tax precepts hike up.

One of the Harrogate district’s biggest assets is its convention centre. Harrogate Borough Council has long sold it as an economic benefit to the town.

But it soon could become an economic vehicle which is no longer controlled locally.

HCC as an economic asset

In April 2023, a process known as “vesting day” will be held. This will see assets of all seven district councils moved to the control of North Yorkshire Council, the proposed name of the new unitary authority.

Among those which will be transferred is Harrogate Convention Centre.

The HCC has for a decade been sold as a £60 million benefit to the district – though this dropped to £35 million according to minutes from a council meeting held in December 2019.

An economic impact summary used to assess the value of the HCC in 2016/17.

With the HCC no longer in the district’s control, the question becomes what will its future be and what role will it play under the unitary council?

North Yorkshire Council officials will have to decide whether it is a strategic asset to them or not.

The new authority will have its own tourism and economic agenda, which the HCC may be included in.

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However, the council will also have to factor in assets in other districts, including Scarborough, Richmondshire and Craven, and have to decide whether to retain control of the HCC after 2023.

Harrogate Borough Council, which will no longer exist in 2023, has long felt that an arms length approach to running the centre is the best approach. It has put public money into the HCC and has since planned a £47 million renovation of the site.

In its annual report in 2019, the council said:

“We are responding to the challenges of the changing nature of the conference industry by redeveloping the Harrogate Convention Centre site.

“The facility contributes around £55 million a year to the local economy and has an important role to play in the district.”

However, the HCC is one of only two conference centres to be run by a local council. The other is Brighton Centre.

The unitary council may feel that the operating model of the HCC needs to change.

Town council control?

Given the scale of the asset and the uncertainty over how a unitary authority based elsewhere in the county will treat it, the question then becomes whether the HCC can be controlled locally?

Should the county council’s “double devolution” agenda come to fruition, a Harrogate authority could bid for control the HCC.

But, given that town councils elsewhere have had to significantly hike up their council tax precepts to pay for modest assets, it may be a tall order for an authority with fewer resources to handle.

Jonathan Webb, senior research fellow at the think tank IPPR North, told the Stray Ferret that any council-run public assets needed to benefit the wider area.

He was critical of the government’s “patchwork” devolution agenda, but added that some services are better run by larger authorities.

Mr Webb said:

“Different authorities will have different systems and I think part of the problem is that the public is not aware of how it works.

“The challenge of creating this new council is it is an extremely large area. The largest at the moment is Cornwall.”

Mr Webb added that the question for the unitary council is whether it can run services in Harrogate better or not.

“Does the unitary deliver anything better. Does it give them more resources or does it affect it?”

Harrogate district reports record 191 daily covid cases

The Harrogate district has reported another record high for daily covid cases as the infection rate continues to soar.

A further 191 cases were confirmed today by Public Health England. The figure surpasses the previous high of 177 on October 6.

The district’s seven-day covid rate now stands at 631 per 100,000 people after passing the 600 mark for the first time yesterday.

The North Yorkshire average is 463 and the England rate stands at 366.

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No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest NHS England figures.

A total of 129,455 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 121,051 have had a second dose.

Stump Cross Caverns owners live underground for 105 hours

The owners of Stump Cross Caverns are taking on a mammoth 105-hour stay underground to raise money.

Lisa Bowerman and Nicholas Markham, who own the limestone caves near Pateley Bridge, are staying in one of the caverns as part of a crowdfunding campaign for new cave lighting.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Ms Bowerman said the move was inspired by Geoff Workman, who in 1963 spent 105 days in one of the caverns and broke the previous world record for time spent continuously underground by 40 days.

The pair have set a crowdfunding target of £200,000 and will remain in the cave until 8pm on Friday.

Ms Bowerman told the Stray Ferret:

“We decided that we needed to do something crazy. It’s a massive undertaking and we need this crowdfunder to work.

“I said to Nick that if we do nothing then we will get nothing.”

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The couple, who are dressed as a caveman and cavewoman, are live streaming their stay in the cavern every day on their Facebook page.

As part of the fundraising campaign, the pair have also decided to raffle off their £130,000 flat in Pateley Bridge.

They hope to sell 20,000 tickets for £10 each to generate funds to maintain the ancient limestone caves.

In March, the couple raffled their VW Campervan, which raised £72,5000 in 40 days — enough money to keep the caverns open.

You can find out more on how to support the Stump Cross Caverns campaign here.

Harrogate town council: will it be created and what would it cost?

In the first of our series on devolution and the prospect of a Harrogate town council, we look at how parish councils taking on more assets has been done in Cornwall.

Devolution has detonated a bomb under local government in North Yorkshire and thrown into doubt who will control Harrogate’s assets.

Harrogate Borough Council will no longer exist in 18 months time and any power it had will be given to one council in North Yorkshire, in what is the biggest shake-up to local authorities since the 1970s.

What remains to be decided is whether any control will be taken locally over the town’s assets. This has led to the suggestion that a Harrogate town council will be created to oversee this.

Since the devolution agenda was launched, county council officials have pointed to Cornwall Council as an example of what could be done in North Yorkshire.

If this model is followed, a Harrogate town council would be created and take on a range of assets – but it would also see local council taxpayers foot the bill.

A Cornwall model

Back in 2009, Cornwall scrapped its six districts and county council and set up a single unitary authority — just as North Yorkshire is doing now.

In an effort to reach out to local areas, it started a process of “double devolution” to its 197 parish and town councils.

This saw town and parish councils take on more assets and, in theory, given more control.

As a result, town councils launched bids for more power. Truro City Council took over the city’s library, youth centre, sports hall and open spaces, such as Lemon Quay.

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Other town councils opted for more modest bids and took control of art galleries and CCTV services.

But the drive to give local areas more say over how their assets are run has come with a cost to taxpayers.

In order to run museums and youth centres, town councils in Cornwall have increased local precepts – which goes on top of Cornwall Council’s tax bill.

Some of the increases have been dramatic, with sums rising into the hundreds. The hikes in council tax precepts are also not capped, unlike at unitary authority level.

Truro currently charges £267.56 for a Band D property and has an annual income from its precept of £1.8 million.

This goes on top of a general council tax bill of £1,903.82 – meaning the overall bill in Truro for a Band D property stands at £2,171.38.

But the revenue from ratepayers has not been enough for some parishes, which have had to look for additional income in order to meet the upkeep on assets.

Many of the town and parishes have also taken control of the car parks in order to raise money.

Should a Harrogate town council want to replicate the model in Cornwall, it could see mean similar actions being taken.

A town council for Harrogate

In the coming years, Harrogate will have to ask itself what powers and assets it wants to take back from North Yorkshire Council

Once that is answered, it will also have to ask how will it pay for those facilities.

Currently, ratepayers in Harrogate do not pay a precept as it does not have a town council.

For those in Ripon, Knaresborough and other parishes though, there is already a precept to be paid to fund town council services.

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This could be about to change for Harrogate.

Some in the district feel it’s long overdue that Harrogate ratepayers start funding their own services, such as the clean-up of the Stray and community centres.

Gareth Owens, who used to sit on Kirby Hill Parish Council, said he would welcome Harrogate getting its own town council.

Residents in Kirby Hill currently pay a £30 precept on top of their council tax bills in order to fund the parish council for services such as cutting the village green.

But Mr Owens feels that residents also end up paying for services in Harrogate through general taxation.

He said:

“My personal opinion is ‘why should a village fund services in Harrogate that we do not use?’.”

This sentiment has also been echoed in Ripon, where ratepayers have previously criticised council investments such as the £47 million in Harrogate Convention Centre as they feel it only benefits Harrogate.

However a Harrogate town council decides to fund itself will be down to local people and elected councillors.

But what is the case is that for every asset that Harrogate wants, there will be a price to pay and that may hit the pockets of local taxpayers.

Tomorrow, we look at the the future of Harrogate’s major assets and how they will be affected by devolution.

Former Harrogate editor given freedom of the borough

The former editor of the Harrogate Advertiser has been made an honorary freeman of the borough after 41 years in local journalism.

Harrogate Borough Council bestowed the honour on Jean MacQuarrie, who stepped down from her role this year, at an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday.

Ms MacQuarrie was editor for 33 years and also served as editor-in-chief of JPIMedia’s Yorkshire weeklies.

She was also involved in many local organisations including Saint Michael’s Hospice, the Army Foundation College independent advisory board, Harrogate Business Luncheon Club, Harrogate BID and the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

Ms MacQuarrie said: 

“For my work in Harrogate and the wider district to be recognised in this way is amazing, and I am very grateful to all the councillors for granting me this, their highest honour.

“I supported many organisations throughout the district, whether that was to help them raise funds, or raise the profile of their work by shining a light on what they were trying to achieve.

“But to be honest, it was easy, because the Harrogate district is full of inspiring, enthusiastic and generous people who are committed to supporting others.”

She added: 

“Local newspapers are all about being a champion for your town and district, highlighting the positives and also challenging and campaigning when you and your readers see something that is wrong.

“I have worked with some great people over the years, and always been lucky to have a good team around me. I had some exceptional editorial leaders too, who gave me free rein to edit the newspapers in the way I wanted to.

“I particularly enjoyed mentoring and encouraging talented young journalists and watching their careers flourish.”

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The title of honorary freeman is the highest honour the borough can bestow and was last awarded in 2012 to Jonathan Wild, former chairman and chief executive of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said: 

“Jean has been an unstinting champion for all things in the Harrogate district for decades.

“She ensured that our area’s song was sung, that local events were supported week in, week out, that campaigns to make our area better enjoyed a high profile and that our businesses were enthusiastically promoted.

“Jean has also made an outstanding contribution to the development of young and upcoming journalists.

“Over the decades I have been involved in local politics, I have seen many young journalists working on the local paper. I have seen them grow and move on to bigger things.

“This doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because there is an exceptional person nurturing them. And that person is Jean MacQuarrie.”

Parents and staff object to closure of Harrogate district school

Parents, staff and governors have objected to a planned closure of a Harrogate district school.

Baldersby St James Church of England Primary School has announced it will close in August 2022.

Hope Sentamu Learning Trust, the Church of England trust that runs the school, announced the closure, saying low pupil numbers “show no prospect of improving for many years ahead”.

However, parents, staff and members of the community have set up a campaign group called Save Baldersby St James Primary School, to fight the move.

Campaigners argue that the decision was “carried out in secret, without open discussion” and that the school was not “given an adequate chance to build numbers”.

Sally Muir, a spokesperson for Save Baldersby St James Primary School, said: 

“The Hope Sentamu Learning Trust clearly fails to see the benefits of a small rural school.

“In an era where running costs are elevated above all other criteria, it is a shame that a school with both history and potential that has long served the community is now earmarked for closure.

“In their letter to parents and carers the trust claimed that they ‘have comprehensively researched and considered all potential options available to support the continued operation of the school. As there is good quality church and non-church education in the local area with capacity this provides us with limited options’.

“As parents we are yet to be provided with any data by the trust and this also suggests that the so-called Christian trust is prioritising short-term costs over long-term rural community effects.”

Meanwhile, Stuart Carver, a school governor, said the trust had “limited interest in a small rural school and has no inclination to help it thrive or continue”.

The trust has said the reason for its decision was that the school currently had 22 pupils in two classes, one for key stage one and the other for key stage two. Some year groups have just one student.

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The school, which is a grade II listed building, has a maximum capacity of 60 students.

Helen Winn, chief executive of the academy trust, said in a statement:

“This has not been an easy decision, but after a great deal of consideration, we came to the conclusion that this is the best resolution for the children concerned and their education.

“As part of the process, we have carefully looked at potential options, including speaking to other local multi-academy trusts, looking at the possibility of sharing the delivery of the curriculum with schools within and outside Hope Sentamu, and changing the nature of provision at the school but ultimately none of the options were practically viable.”

She added that the low numbers has “proved impossible to deliver the broad, balanced curriculum that the children deserve”.

Carlton Miniott Primary Academy, Dishforth Church of England Primary School and Topcliffe Church of England Academy would take up the catchment areas left by the school closure.

Meanwhile, senior councillors at North Yorkshire County Council look set to offer no objection to the decision at a meeting on Tuesday.

The county council, which is the local education authority, has been consulted on the closure.

Baldersby St James school was built by Lord Downe following the establishment of the village in 1850. The school has served generations of pupils in Baldersby St James, Rainton and the surrounding areas.

Man sentenced for possessing knife in Harrogate church

A man has been given a suspended sentence for possessing a knife in a Harrogate church.

Christopher Earle, 46, was charged under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 with having a yellow kitchen knife without good reason or lawful authority in St John’s Church, Bilton Lane, on September 17.

Earle, of Dragon Avenue, appeared before Harrogate Magistrates Court for sentencing on Thursday.

He was sentenced to four months in prison suspended for 18 months.

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He was also ordered to pay a victims’ surcharge of £128 and £40 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The court took into account Earle’s guilty plea when imposing the sentence.

Rev Simon Dowson, rector of the church, told the Stray Ferret he wasn’t aware of anyone having a knife in the church but the incident may have happened in the church grounds.

Tories ‘letting public down’ over meeting attendance, says councillor

A Liberal Democrat councillor has accused Harrogate Borough Council’s Conservative ruling party of “letting the public down” by failing to find substitutes for meetings.

Cllr Chris Aldred claimed Tory members had failed to find substitutes on 32 occasions since April – something he said “really upsets me”.

He told a full council meeting on Wednesday: 

“The main purpose of being elected is to represent the public and if we have a place on a committee then we should do our damned hardest to fill it.

“You are letting the side down and you are letting the public down.”

Cllr Aldred also said Lib Dem members had not failed to find a substitute on a single occasion during the same period from April.

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However, council leader Richard Cooper hit back saying there were “various” reasons why members could not attend and that he could not “apologise for there being so many Conservatives on the council”.

The council is made up of 30 Tory councillors, eight Lib Dems and two Ripon Independents.

Cllr Cooper said:

“This is just primarily the product of winning so many elections.

“There is a reason why we win so many elections and have so many committee places to fill, and a reason why you win so few elections and have so few places to fill.”

Cllr Cooper also said illness was a factor that needed to be considered when it came to members missing meetings.

He said: 

“I didn’t really want to go into this, but some individuals on this council aren’t well.”

He also told Cllr Aldred: 

“You say you are speaking for the public. I don’t know quite what mandate you think you have to speak for all the public of the Harrogate district.

“The mandate comes when we have elections. And the last time that mandate was put to the test, this administration secured the highest percentage of seats on this council that have ever been secured.”

The next elections will take place in March 2022 when a new North Yorkshire council is created to replace the county council and seven district councils including Harrogate.

It is likely that the number of councillors in the Harrogate district will be cut by around two-third with possibly just 20 seats up for grabs.

In total, there could be around 89 councillors covering the whole of North Yorkshire.

Harrogate district covid rate reaches another record high

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has reached another record high.

The average now stands at 591 infections per 100,000 peoples and surpasses the last high of 585, which was reported in September.

North Yorkshire’s rate stands at 444 and the England average is 341.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate district has reported another 114 daily covid infections, according to Public Health England figures.

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Hospitalisations have increased at Harrogate District Hospital, with 13 covid-positive patients receiving treatment – a rise of three on last week.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital.

Elsewhere, 129,376 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 120,863 have had a second dose.

Highways boss: No ‘exact date’ for completion of Otley Road cycle path

The transport boss for Harrogate has said there is still no completion date for the Otley Road cycle path, despite construction finally starting after nearly three years of delays.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said he was unable to give any “exact dates” for the completion of the project, which started last month with work on a first phase between Harlow Moor Road and Arthur’s Avenue.

This phase will be completed in late November but covers only a small section of the entire route, which is designed to connect the town centre with Cardale Park.

Cllr Mackenzie said the uncertainties over the end date were due to negotiations with the government and the Duchy of Lancaster – the landowners of the Stray – over the use of grass verges protected by law.

There are also ongoing talks with housebuilders that have promised to contribute cash – and the outcomes will depend on the publication of the West Harrogate Parameters Plan, a major planning document that has also been long delayed.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive councillor for highways at North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Mackenzie said: 

“The bylaws required to complete phase one and two have been submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation, who has agreed the new bylaws in principle.

“Phase three – from Harlow Moor Road to Cardale Park – relies on developer funding from the west of Harrogate urban extension. Plans are currently being worked on which will then lead to more detailed planning, including a feasibility study.

“Since the timescale for the construction of the western end of the cycle path between Harlow Moor Road and Cardale Park depends on developer funding and further work on the parameters plan for the west of Harrogate, we cannot yet provide exact dates.”

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Frustration among cyclists

The cycle path is part of a package of sustainable transport measures for the west of Harrogate, which were first announced in 2018 and will cost £4.6m once completed.

But three years on – and after the delays caused by consultations and utility works – campaigners who have supported the project have now expressed frustration at still not knowing any kind of target completion date.

Kevin Douglas, chairman of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said it was “great news” that the works were finally underway, but added he was “disappointed” that the public could not be told when they will be finished.

He said: 

“The worry is that only a small part of the project will be completed and people will look at it and think it is not doing the job we wanted.

“The idea was that the cycle path will link Cardale Park with the town centre.

“That is the council’s ambition, but it needs to be done in one go to make it effective and so people can use it, rather than it looking like it is not going to be of any benefit.

“I am pleased it has started and hopefully it is going to run smoothly, but not being able to say when it is all going to be finished is disappointing.

“There is going to be a huge number of houses on Otley Road and having a complete cycle lane when these new residents move in would be a big plus.

“Whereas now, it may be that the cycle lane comes sometime later.”