The councillor in charge of highways for North Yorkshire has said a park and ride pilot scheme for Harrogate remains possible despite a £116million funding bid rejection.

The Department for Transport yesterday awarded North Yorkshire County Council none of the £116million it bid for from the government’s Bus Back Better scheme. Much of the funding was earmarked to reduce congestion in Harrogate.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said he was “very disappointed” with the rejection but parts of the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan could still go ahead without government support.

Cllr Mackenzie said this included the park and ride, which is likely to operate from Pannal, although questions remained about how a permanent service would be funded.

“The park and ride trial was not part of this funding, and the pilot itself will use the 36 service so it won’t be particularly expensive to find out whether it works or not.

“I’m very anxious that this trial scheme still goes ahead irrespective of today’s result.”

Cllr Mackenzie also said the on-demand bus service, YorBus, which is being trialled in Ripon, Bedale and Masham could be expanded.

He added:

“One of the things in our Bus Service Improvement Plan was to expand the on-demand response service, YorBus, and of course that pilot continues.

“If it continues to be successful, we will roll it out in other areas.

“We will also continue to work in close partnership with bus operators.”

Read more:

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The Bus Service Improvement Plan included £23 million for new bus lanes, £74 million for other infrastructure changes and £14 million for support for bus services.

‘Plans didn’t lack ambition’

The government claimed areas that failed to get the cash had not shown “sufficient ambition”. In total, just 34 of 79 areas which applied were successful.

In Yorkshire, this included the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which submitted a bid for £168 million, but was given £70 million, while City of York Council wanted £48 million and got £17.4 million.

Cllr Mackenzie said he believed the plans for North Yorkshire were ambitious enough to win funding and that he was now keen to speak to government officials to understand their decision. He said:

“I don’t think our plans lacked ambition. They were worth £116 million over eight years – that doesn’t lack ambition or aspiration.

“Until such time we have spoken to ministers or senior civil servants, I can’t say exactly what was lacking from our submission.

“We knew the Bus Back Better budget had been severely curtailed… but I expected to get some money, not nothing at all, so I’m very disappointed.”

The county council and Harrogate Bus Company have been successful in a separate bid for £7.8 million to make the firm’s fleet all-electric with the delivery of 39 zero-emission buses.

The project will cost almost £20 million in total, with more than £12 million being invested by Transdev – the parent firm of Harrogate Bus Company.

It will see 20 single-decker and 19 double-decker buses bought over the next three years, as well as the supporting charging infrastructure.

The Nelson Inn in Killinghall is to reduce its opening hours after agreeing to a takeover bid.

The pub, which is situated on the A59 Skipton Road, posted on social media today that it will be closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from next week but open as normal for the rest of the week.

It said:

“The reason for this change in opening hours is because we have been approached by an established company to take over The Nelson Inn and has made us an offer we can’t refuse.

“We believe they will continue with the values and beliefs we have founded into bringing The Nelson Inn back to its former glory.

“We’ve tried to put our very best energy and effort into creating a family friendly pub with good home cooked food. We are hopeful we have created a stepping stone for something special.”

The post thanked customers for their support, adding:

“Hopefully we can see everyone before we close the doors, we will be updating with more information as soon as we know our final date.”

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Ambitious plans to transform buses in North Yorkshire were dealt a stunning blow today when the county was completely overlooked for funding.

North Yorkshire County Council applied for £116million from a UK government scheme to improve buses outside London.

The county council warned last month it was unlikely to receive the full £116million after government funding for the Bus Back Better initiative was slashed from £3billion to £1.4billion.

But officials were left shocked today when North Yorkshire didn’t receive a penny, with the government suggesting their plans lacked ambition.

It means plans to create better and more affordable buses in the county will have to be reconsidered.

Harrogate a priority area

Congested Harrogate had been earmarked as a priority area in North Yorkshire to benefit from funding. New bus lanes and a park and ride were among the upgrades planned.

Michael Leah, assistant director of travel, environmental and countryside services at the council, said:

“We are extremely disappointed not to have received an allocation from this round of government funding.

“We believe we had a strong and ambitious bid in our Bus Service Improvement Plan, but we understood that the government’s fund was greatly over-subscribed and that there was no guarantee of funding.

“We are keen to speak to the Department for Transport to understand its decision and to discuss the possibility of any future opportunities to bid for funding.”

Read more:

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‘No funding for areas lacking ambition’

The government awarded funding today to 31 councils, city regions and unitary authorities — and some will implement fare cuts of up to 45% from next week.

A Department for Transport statement said:

“The successful areas have been chosen because of their ambition to repeat the success achieved in London — which drove up bus usage and made the bus a natural choice for everyone, not just those without cars.”

“As the government stated in last year’s national bus strategy, Bus Back Better, areas not showing sufficient ambition, including for improvements to bus priority, would not be funded.”

The funding means passes for unlimited bus travel across Cornwall — one of the successful bidding areas — will be reduced from £9 a day to £5.

Despite today’s setback, Mr Leah said:

“We remain committed to enhancing North Yorkshire’s public transport and continuing to work with bus operators to improve services across the county.

“Our recently agreed enhanced partnership with operators is not entirely reliant on this funding, so we will be able to progress elements of that partnership.”

A disused Methodist chapel near Masham dating back more than 100 years could be converted into a home.

The Old Chapel at Breary Banks, Healey, was built in 1911 for workers building reservoirs that served people in Leeds. Breary Banks was later used as a prisoner of war camp during the First World War.

The slate roof chapel is not a listed building but is considered to be a non-designated heritage asset located within the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Harrogate Borough Council has now received a planning application from Clementine Godwin to convert the chapel into a single house.

The rear of the chapel.

Planning documents submitted to the council say:

“The proposal is to convert the redundant former chapel into a single dwelling unit. This will be open plan and the sleeping area will be on an upper mezzanine level.

“The intention is to repair and maintain the external character and appearance of the old chapel. The entire development is contained within the existing envelope of the building, without the need for additional structure or openings in the external walls.

“The external repairs to the building will all be carried out with the utmost care and be sympathetic to the original construction.”

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Masham Parish Council has supported the application.

Breary Banks village was constructed in 1900 by the Leeds Corporation, which had commissioned the creation of two nearby reservoirs to supply Leeds with water.

The village was designed to house the navvies working on the construction of the reservoirs and their families. By spring 1904 the settlement accommodated 400 men with more huts being built, according to planning documents.

Sixteen men lived lived in each hut.

Planning permission was granted for the chapel to be used as a furniture workshop in 1983 but it was never acted on.

Ripon Grammar School‘s boarding school has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

A report published on Saturday said children “enjoy boarding at this school”, safeguarding arrangements are “effective” and “the school is very well supported by a skilled, experienced governing body”.

Government inspectors rated the boarding provision ‘good’ in all areas assessed. It was rated ‘outstanding’ at its previous Ofsted inspection in 2017.

Ripon Grammar has 929 boys and girls aged 11 to 18 years, of which 94 are boarders. Yearly fees for years seven to 11 are £11,719.

Accommodation is provided in two houses: School House for boys and Johnson House for girls.

School House

The latest Ofsted visit took place from February 8 to 18 this year.

The report said:

“Children enjoy boarding at this school. They make new friends and enjoy socialising with children of all ages. Older children help the younger children, or those new to boarding, to feel at home.

“Children feel they are fortunate to board at this school. They believe that the experience helps
their overall development.

“Children are helped to settle as boarders. There is a well-established routine of visits
to the school before children begin boarding.”

Headteacher Jonathan Webb

Boarders told inspectors their boarding houses were like ‘big families’. The report said:

“Everyone has someone they can talk to, which means that children feel reassured
about being away from family members.”

Areas to improve

Ofsted recommended improvements in three areas. It described the arrangements for auditing medication as “mixed”, adding:

“This reduces the effectiveness of the oversight of medication that is stored in the boarding houses. The head of boarding accepts this shortfall and plans to improve these processes.”

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Inspectors also said that although most areas are well maintained “the physical condition of the boarding houses varies” and that “some bathrooms need improving and one of the houses lacks homely touches” .

“Given that some children stay in the boarding houses for long periods, this is detrimental to their experiences.”

Ofsted also said there was a potential risk to children, recognised by leaders, due to the siting of the artificial playing field and their were plans “to improve screening to enhance the protection afforded to children”.

Headteacher ‘extremely pleased’

Mr Webb said:

“Overall we are extremely pleased with the outcome of this report given the increased rigour, now evident from Ofsted, which is being applied to the inspection framework.

“Since our last inspection in 2017, boarding at RGS has most definitely moved on with some essential, possibly less eye-catching, initiatives such as the considerable amount of investment we have made to site and fire security in both houses, extensive upgrades to staff accommodation to ensure we recruit and retain highly qualified and committed staff, and improvements in some of the social spaces such as communal kitchens and common rooms.

“Last year we also added a further 10 new bedrooms in School House to accommodate boarders. In addition, a huge amount of work has been done to standardise routines across both houses and promote boarders’ independence.”

More than 700 scooters converged at Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough yesterday for a pre-season ride-out to York.

The event, organised by Yorkshire Scooter Alliance, saw the riders depart for York at 1pm.

Scooters travelled up the high street and on to York Rugby Club where there was music and trade stands.

Gemma Hart, one of the scooterists taking part, said:

“It was a well organised event that gave the scootering community chance to meet prior to the start of rally / ride-out season.

“A lot of members of the public came to look around the scooters and watch them ride out.”

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The leader of Conservative-run Harrogate Borough Council has attacked the local Liberal Democrats for using a firm in Dundee to print a leaflet urging people to ‘buy local’.

Richard Cooper criticised the move in a post on the Community News website run by Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough. Cllr Cooper is employed by Mr Jones as his office manager,

It is a sign that the North Yorkshire Council election campaign is hotting up ahead of the vote on May 5.

Mr Cooper said it was “critical that we use local businesses where we can”.

According to the post, other local Liberal Democrat literature has been printed in York and Chesterfield.

Cllr Cooper said:

“It is critical that we use local businesses where we can and there are a lot of good local printers who would have wanted this business.

“It really is strange to call on others to ‘buy local’ when you are buying from York, Chesterfield and even Dundee!”.

Cllr Cooper, who has said he will not be seeking re-election next month, also said the leaflet’s ‘greener’ agenda was at odds with its creation.

Carbon footprint

He said:

“Even if they didn’t want to use local printers for some reason was it really necessary to go 60-odd miles north of Edinburgh? The carbon footprint of their literature is enormous.

“When you tell people you want to ‘buy local’ and ‘be greener’ you have to match your actions with words.”

The post said all election campaign leaflets published by Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservatives were printed in Harrogate and Mr Jones’ annual reports were printed in Knaresborough.

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Pat Marsh, leader of Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, told the Stray Ferret that the Conservatives “should really have bigger things to be worrying about than where we print our material”, such as spiralling energy bills, the fallout of war in Ukraine and “businesses feeling the bite of Brexit”.

Cllr Marsh added:

“This is a particularly strange attack from the Conservatives who, during the pandemic, took £10,000 of grants to pay for their office.

“We think these grants should have been used to support local businesses, not on political party campaigns. Since they print a lot of their material at their office many people will be questioning whether their taxpayers money is helping to fund Conservative election leaflets.”

She added that the Liberal Democrats’ process for using outside suppliers was to “try and get the best value for money”, which was “something Conservative-run Harrogate council could learn from”, adding:

“They spent £5,000 on a giant snow globe that was displayed in London for two days over Christmas and £700 on social media influencers. This is on top of the £13 million they wasted on a council office for a council their own government is abolishing.”

The Inn South Stainley is to introduce parking charges for people who do not use the venue.

The pub, midway between Harrogate and Ripon on the A61, has a 36 bus route directly outside.

Some people going to Harrogate, Ripon and Leeds use the site as a free park and ride.

Meters and signs have been introduced explaining that it will cost £2 to park for up to two hours, £4 for up to three hours and £5 for up to 10 hours.

Anyone using the pub, or the adjoining 12-bedroom accommodation, will be able to put their vehicle details into a touchpad screen when they enter to avoid the charge.

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Bar manager Chris Chapman said:

“Because the bus stop is right outside, people park and jump on the bus to go to Harrogate, Ripon and Leeds.

“We won’t be charging customers.”

The Stray Ferret revealed in February that parking meters had been installed in Ripley Castle Car Park.

The car park was also used for free by some people who then caught the 36 bus.

Firefighters from four fire stations were called to a blaze at a house in the Harrogate district last night.

Crews from Knaresborough, Harrogate, Ripon and Boroughbridge were summoned to the home in Brearton just after 10pm.

The house suffered severe fire, heat and smoke damage to the living room, hallway and front of the property, according to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The rest of the property suffered moderate smoke damage.

Brearton is about three miles from Knaresborough.

The fire service’s incident log said “the incident remains open whilst the cause is investigated”.

It added:

“Crews used eight breathing apparatus, four hosereel jets, two main jets, thermal imaging cameras, nine-metre ladder, triple extension ladders, small tools and lighting.”

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There are fears that about 10 peacocks have been secretly killed in Killinghall.

A muster of peacocks has roamed the village for years. But the number exploded last year to as many as 16, upsetting some residents with their loud screeching and damage to gardens.

There were calls for the peacocks to be rehomed — but it seems someone may have taken matters into their own hands.

Killinghall Parish Council said in a statement on social media yesterday it was “made aware that there are concerns regarding our resident peacocks”.

It added:

“There have been sightings of only four of the birds and people are speculating as to what has become of the rest.

“If action was taken to remove any of the peacocks, the parish council is unaware of this and certainly had no involvement.”

Parish council unfairly blamed

Last year, after receiving complaints about peacock anti-social behaviour, the parish council had suggested working with residents to address the problem.

It floated the idea of rehoming and even looked into the possibility of neutering — an idea that was dropped as impractical.

Read more:

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The parish council said yesterday it hadn’t received any further communication from residents since last year.

Nevertheless, its attempts to respond to concerns.have led to some unfair speculation on social media that it was responsible for the missing birds — something it has been keen to clarify that it wasn’t.

Speculation is now rife about the fate of the peacocks, with some suspecting a disgruntled villager may be responsible.

There are also fears for the safety of the remaining birds, which tend to roost in a large tree in the new development at the back of Cautley Drive.

Some residents in nearby Bilton were upset last year when its resident peacock, Peter, was rehomed by the RSPCA animal charity after concerns for his welfare. He is believed to be in Lancashire.