Council could compulsory purchase 90 acres of land for £60m Kex Gill road

North Yorkshire County Council is in discussions with landowners to purchase 90 acres of land earmarked for a major £60 million reroute of the A59 at Kex Gill.

A diversion is planned west of Blubberhouses on the A59 at Kex Gill, which has been blighted by a history of landslides and a recent “instability issue” which cost the council £1.4 million.

The council needs to acquire the land before it can begin construction on the scheme.

Council officials said negotiations were ongoing with landowners to reach an agreement on the price of the land, rather than acquire it by a compulsory purchase order.

The Stray Ferret asked the county council how much money has been set aside for the project.

Barrie Mason, assistant director for highway and transportation at the county council, said:

“The Compulsory Purchase Orders and the Side Roads Order recently published for the A59 Kex Gill are a routine part of the process of delivering the scheme.

“Where the CPO relates to land purchase, this is being carried out alongside negotiations with landowners aimed at reaching an agreed, rather than compulsory, purchase.

“We have estimated the likely cost of land purchase, but as negotiations are ongoing it would be inappropriate to disclose these figures now, as that could prejudice those negotiations. We will, of course, make this information public once negotiations are concluded.”

The council has outlined the 90 acres of land it intends to purchase in internal documents.

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Included in the scheme is land off the A59 at Blubberhouse Moor between North Moor Road and Hall Lane, land at Hall Farm and land to the east at Hall Beck. 

Agricultural land along the A59 up to Church Hill is also outlined in the scheme. Woodland east of Hall Lane and west of the River Washburn would also be acquired.

The existing road also passes through an area designated as Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Most of the land earmarked for purchase is woodland or agricultural land.

The authority said any compulsory purchase would be used as a last resort. But the project could be delayed by a further 15 months if an objection is lodged against a compulsory purchase order.

Such an objection would lead to a public inquiry.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, told a full council meeting last month:

“The compulsory purchase and side roads orders have been published with a formal consultation period until the end of August.

“The project programme without a public inquiry indicates that construction could start this autumn. On the other hand, if a public inquiry is required, the start of works could be delayed by up to 15 months.”

‘Strong support’ for more Harrogate bus lanes

Harrogate councillors have signalled their strong support for ideas including more bus lanes and a smart ticketing system to boost use of public transport.

Members of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny commission will put the ideas to North Yorkshire County Council to support a multi-million pound bid for government cash, which could help pave the way for a greener transport.

The ideas, which also include more electric buses and more frequent services in rural areas, are part of a wider move to reduce car travel.

But after years of cuts to services and declining passenger numbers, there are questions over how willing motorists will be to make the switch to public transport.

Speaking at a meeting on Monday, Cllr Michael Harrison, the Conservative representative for Killinghall and Hampsthwaite, said: 

“All these ideas to make buses more attractive are clearly welcome but we must not kid ourselves that if people do not use them and they are just running empty tins of fresh air, then eventually they will fail.

“We need to be realistic about running empty buses because the funding will always run out if no-one is using them.”

£7m a year on bus passes

North Yorkshire County Council is the area’s public transport authority and subsidises around £1.5 million a year to keep services running.

It also spends about £7 million a year on bus passes for the elderly and disabled, as well as their carers.

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The county council is currently drawing up bidding proposals for the government’s new bus strategy, under which £3 billion is to be made available to make buses across the country cheaper and easier to use.

The bid is being prepared through a Bus Service Improvement Plan and so-called enhanced partnerships where the county council will agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.

Cllr Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability at Harrogate Borough Council, said the proposals would play a key part in funding a greener future and highlighted the importance of collaboration between Harrogate’s two bus companies – Transdev and Connexions.

He said: 

“These two key pieces of work will unlock the potential of future funding via the national bus strategy, so it is vital that the county prepare these and that we feed in Harrogate Borough Council’s views.

“We have particularly discussed the integration of tickets and had a long debate about trying to resolve the impasse between Transdev and Connexions.

“I’m no miracle worker and I can’t guarantee we will be able to overcome that problem.

“But it is important that we do get this integration moving forward and get collaboration between bus providers in the district if we are going to persuade people to discard their cars and use public transport more frequently.”

Park and ride

Under the plans for smart ticketing, passengers would be able to use their tickets on different modes of transport and with different travel companies.

Councillors have also signalled their strong support for a Harrogate park and ride scheme, which county council officials are currently looking into. There are two potential sites for this – land near Pannal Golf Club and another site near Buttersyke Bar roundabout south of the village.

It comes as the county council is currently piloting its on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track services on-demand in the Ripon, Bedale and Masham areas.

Since its launch in July, 726 journeys have been completed with an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5.

A59 Kex Gill ‘instability issue’ cost council £1.4 million

An instability problem on the A59 at Kex Gill has cost North Yorkshire County Council £1.42 million, according to a report published by the authority.

Multiple incidents including landslides over the last 10 years has seen authority officials intervene to fix the road.

According to recently published county council documents, the cost to taxpayers for the road has been “increasing over the last ten-year period”.

But an instability issue in May 2018 caused road closures for several months, which council officials say led to a “complex repair scheme” being carried out.

Barrie Mason, assistant director highways and transportation at the authority, said:

“The £1.42 million cost and the ‘latest instability issue’ relates to the complex repair scheme that we implemented in 2018 when we closed the road on 30 May that year, after movement was detected in the carriageway.

“We had to carry out a two-phase repair involving rock anchors, which saw the road closed until 8 July 2018 and then operate under temporary signals until the end of March 2019 followed by a week-long closure in May 2019 for the final surfacing to be completed.”

Meanwhile, between October 2000 and May 2019, five landslides were recorded at the site and the retaining wall failed four times.

In January 2016, the road was closed for eight weeks and traffic diverted through Ilkley and Otley after heavy rain caused a landslide.

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The report, which was published to support the council’s compulsory purchase orders for land at Kex Gill as part of a £60 million diversion project, said:

“There is a long history of landslips on the land above the A59 at Kex Gill. These landslips deposit material onto the road leading to closures of the A59. 

“The financial cost of intervention for the authority and the disruption to users of the route has been increasing over the last ten-year period and the risks of earthwork failures have slowly been shifting from a slope stabilisation risk to a global stability risk of the carriageway itself.”

It comes as the county council is pressing ahead with a £60 million project to create a diversion west of Blubberhouses at Kex Gill.

The project would take a year to complete and could start in autumn this year.

Authority officials are currently in the process of procuring a contractor to start work on the project.

However, this could be delayed by 15 months if a public inquiry is called.

Such as hearing could be held if an objection is lodged to the council’s compulsory purchase orders

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, told a full council meeting last month:

“The compulsory purchase and side roads orders have been published with a formal consultation period until the end of August.

“The project programme without a public inquiry indicates that construction could start this autumn. On the other hand, if a public inquiry is required, the start of works could be delayed by up to 15 months.”

Plan to convert Ripon Cathedral Choir School into townhouses

Persimmon Homes has lodged plans to convert the former Ripon Cathedral Choir School into four townhouses.

The school was previously earmarked to be demolished to make way for 12 new apartments.

The proposal came as part of a wider plan to build 105 homes on the Whitcliffe Lane site.

However, the developer said the demolition of the former school site was met “negatively by the public” and has since tabled a fresh application.

A total of 68 objections from residents were lodged to the council against the previous proposal.

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The developer said in planning documents that the new bid to convert the building into homes followed conversations with officers at Harrogate Borough Council.

It said:

“Following feedback and discussions with case officer, Persimmon Homes have sought to amend the proposal, withdraw the application and submit a new application for the conversion of the school building. 

“The Conservation Officer confirmed via email in April 2021 that retaining the building is ‘the way forward’.”

Persimmon said in its plans that the current building is in “extremely poor condition”.

The new proposal will see the existing brickwork retained but the roof replaced in its entirety due to its poor condition.

The building was originally constructed as a late 19th Century grandstand. It was converted in the early 20th century into two semi-detached dwellings, then extended for use as a school.

Ripon Cathedral Choir School began using the site in 1960 until it closed in 2012. It had planned to merge with a local preparatory school but this fell through.

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Major triathlon race set to be held in Ripon

A major triathlon race is set to take place in Ripon next weekend.

The Dalesman Triathlon, which is organised by Trihard Events, will see more than 600 athletes from across the UK come to the city.

The inaugural event will take place on Saturday, August 21, and Sunday, August 22.

The longest race, called the Full Dalesman, will start at 6am on Sunday morning with a 2.4 mile swim in the racecourse lake.

It will be followed by a 112 mile cycle route in Masham, Dallow Moor and Brimham Rocks before returning to Ripon for a 26.4 mile marathon.

As part of the event, there will also be a Half Dalesman race over half the distance and a smaller Quarter Dalesman race.

A spokesperson for the organisers said:

“The hope is that Ripon’s businesses and residents will get behind the event, make the visitors feel welcome and give them support in what will for many of the athletes, be a unique experience, the memories of which will last a lifetime.”

Volunteers will be at the event to look after entrants and marshal the racecourse.

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Organisers say there will also be opportunities for people to fundraise at the triathlon. 

The fundraising team from Yorkshire Air Ambulance will be at the event to help organise parking and campaign areas.

For more information on the Dalesman Triathlon, visit the website here.

Another 62 covid infections reported in Harrogate district

Another 62 covid infections have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England figures.

Harrogate District Hospital is currently treating seven patients for covid.

However, no covid-related deaths have been reported at the hospital for four months.

The last time a death was recorded was on April 11.

It means the death toll at the hospital from covid since March 2020 remains at 179.

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Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day rate is now at 281 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire rate stands at 270 and the England average is 306.

Elsewhere, 123,564 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 108,313 have had a second dose.

Union concerns over staffing shortages at Harrogate district leisure centres

A trade union has raised concerns over staffing shortages at Harrogate district leisure centres which have recently been taken over by a new council-controlled company.

Brimhams Active was launched by Harrogate Borough Council this month and around 160 staff were transferred across to the new company to remain in their roles.

But with around 27 vacancies as a result of staffing shortages across the leisure industry, David Houlgate, branch secretary at Unison Harrogate, has raised concerns over the impact on services, as well wider issues over staff pay and retention.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said:

“The main concern is that it could impact on service delivery just as the new venture is starting up, resulting in limits on when facilities will be open.

“We have for some time raised concerns about recruitment and retention, right across the council, due to year on year real-terms pay cuts as a result of pay freezes and below inflation pay rises and also detrimental changes to terms and conditions.

“This year it is happening again, with staff being offered a below inflation pay rise of 1.75%.

“But at Brimhams, staff are also paid at a less favourable rate for overtime, than those in the council, a legacy of when the service was provided directly by the council.”

Leisure centres including Starbeck Baths and Knaresborough Swimming Pool were closed for more than a year earlier during the covid pandemic and since reopening some services have yet to make a full return due to the staffing issues.

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This was after many leisure staff were temporarily redeployed into different areas such as bin collections and as the council introduced a recruitment freeze in order to keep costs down during the pandemic.

Mr Houlgate added:

“The year-long recruitment freeze hasn’t helped.

“We were never consulted on it and we did make representation to the council to relax it sooner but this was not acted upon quickly enough in our opinion and we believe this has contributed to the current situation.

“We’ve also found that some staff who have been re-deployed during the covid-19 pandemic have preferred their new temporary roles and where the opportunity has arisen have chosen to remain in them.

“The council does not always engage with or involve the unions as often as we think it should.”

In response, a council spokesperson said it was “working hard” to fill the vacancies and that the staffing shortages were not specific to Harrogate but a nationwide problem.

The spokesperson said: 

“We have proactively explained to our residents that unfortunately, we may need to scale back some of our non-essential services so that we can protect both our staff and our customers.

“We also have a number of vacancies across our local authority controlled company Brimhams Active that we’re working hard to fill. This is progressing well and a number of new starters will be joining us this month.

“The recruitment issue is being faced right across the country, in both the public and private sector. It is therefore disappointing that the union has decided to paint this issue and the launch of Brimhams Active with the same brush.”

The spokesperson added:

“Brimhams Active will allow us to transform a conventional leisure service into a leading community focused health and wellbeing service.

“There are still strong careers in the leisure industry and we are optimistic that with competitive salaries and a wealth of other benefits we will attract people to come and work for us.”

Harrogate district records another 70 covid infections

The Harrogate district has recorded another 70 covid infections in the last 24 hours, according to latest Public Health England figures.

No covid-related deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital for four months.

The last time a death was recorded was on April 11.

It means the death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

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Currently, seven patients are being treated for covid at Harrogate hospital.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day rate is now at 278 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire rate stands at 260 and the England average is 305.

It means the number of covid deaths at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

Elsewhere, 123,512 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 108,147 have had a second dose.

More bus lanes needed to boost Harrogate public transport, says council

More bus lanes and a smart ticketing system are some of the suggestions being put forward by Harrogate Borough Council to boost use of public transport.

The council’s overview and scrutiny commission will meet on Monday to discuss the ideas, which also include more frequent services in rural areas and more electric buses as part of a bid to reduce car travel.

The ideas will form part of a multi-million pound bid for government cash, which is being prepared by North Yorkshire County Council – the area’s public transport authority.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said he believes bus services in Harrogate are among “the best in the country” but he added there was still room for improvement.

He said: 

“Where we face challenges is in our rural areas where passenger numbers have not been sufficient enough to allow bus operators to run a commercially-viable service. That is why the county council has had to step in.

“Currently, we subsidise bus services to the tune of £1.5 million a year and we are committed to keeping that figure in place for years to come.

“We also provide 127,000 bus passes to the elderly and disabled, as well as their carers, and that costs us around £7 million a year.

“But with inflation the £1.5 million buys less and less each year so we are looking at other options.

“I welcome the fact that this issue has gone to the overview and scrutiny commission – I would like to hear their views.”

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Under the government’s new bus strategy, £3 billion is to be made available to make buses across the country cheaper and easier to use.

It is hoped these targets will be met through so-called enhanced partnerships, where councils agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.

The county council agreed to this in June and is now drawing up proposals through a Bus Service Improvement Plan which will be published by the end of October.

Smart ticketing

In a report to Monday’s meeting, David Stannard, strategic transport planner at Harrogate Borough Council, said the authority would like to see the introduction of a smart ticketing system where passes can be used on different modes of transport.

He said: 

“Simple and easy fare systems should be encouraged across operators and integration with other transport modes needs to be considered.

“In the Harrogate district context, this could include linking bus travel with the existing car club and rail services as well as active mode provision.”

Another suggestion was more bus lanes, which Mr Stannard said would “improve journey times and reliability – making buses more attractive than the private car”.

There is also strong support for a Harrogate park and ride scheme, which county council officials are currently looking into. There are two potential sites for this: land near Pannal Golf Club and another site near Buttersyke Bar roundabout south of the village.

£20 million bid

It comes as the county council has submitted an expression of interest bid to the government to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet zero-emissions.

If successful, the £20 million bid will fund 39 new buses and other infrastructure works.

The county council is also currently piloting its on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track services on-demand in the Ripon, Bedale and Masham areas.

Since its launch in July, 726 journeys have been completed with an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5.

Cllr Mackenzie said:

“We are delighted with the success of YorBus in the short time it has been running – the statistics speak for themselves. It has been very well-received and enhances our existing public transport network.”

End of an era: Harrogate working men’s club folds after 108 years

A Harrogate working men’s club has closed after more than 100 years.

The National Reserve Club, on East Parade near the town centre, formally dissolved with the Financial Conduct Authority at the end of July, according to recently published documents.

According to the FCA, the organisation had been registered as a working men’s club since July 11, 1913, when it was known as the Harrogate Battalion National Reserve of the West Riding of York Club.

However, a formal resolution was passed by members in October last year to dissolve the club.

The special resolution said:

“It is with a heavy heart I inform all members that the proposal to dissolve the club was a 93% unanimous decision in favour of the committee’s recommendation from October 1, 2020.”

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The club, which had 28 members at the time of closing, donated its remaining cash to charity.

Although the closure of the National Reserve Club represents the end of an era, the district is still served by working men’s clubs.

Clubs are registered with the Club and Institute Union, which represents more than 1,600 societies across the country.

According to the CIU website, nine clubs are affiliated with the union in the Harrogate district.

In Harrogate itself, punters can find clubs in Oatlands, Starbeck, High Harrogate and Bilton.

The town also has the Londesborough Club on Bower Road and Harrogate Traders Hall on Westmoreland Street.

Knaresborough has two social clubs and Boroughbridge also has its own members’ club.

Meanwhile, Ripon has a Conservative club and Pateley Bridge has its own club on the High Street but these two are not affiliated with the CIU.

Look for an in-depth history of working men’s clubs in Harrogate written by historian Malcolm Neesam this weekend on the Stray Ferret .