The developers behind a new business park near Knaresborough that could create up to 2,000 jobs have formally submitted proposals.

Opus North and Bridges Fund Management have sent plans to Harrogate Borough Council to transform a 45-acre site into a mixed-use development designed to support offices, logistics operators and tech firms.

The site – to be called Harrogate 47 – is located at Flaxby near junction 47 of the A1(M) and was acquired by the developers in October last year.

It is allocated as the main strategic employment site in the council’s Local Plan and already has existing planning permission for more than half a million square feet of employment space.

The new plans include up to 130,000 sq ft of office accommodation, about 75,000 sq ft of tech starter units and approximately 430,000 sq ft for logistics and warehouses.

A spokesperson for the developers said the existing planning permission allows for the commencement of the site’s enabling works so it can be made “oven-ready” for the main construction to start as soon as the new consent is granted.

Guy Bowden, a partner at Bridges Fund Management, added:

“As Harrogate 47 is such an important site with immense potential to make a significant economic contribution to the local area, we are keen to maintain momentum and as such are commencing preparatory works.

“The work being undertaken will ensure that the plots are ready for construction to begin, which could be as early as summer 2021, and our appointed agents are already in detailed discussions with potential occupiers who have expressed an interest in the scheme.”

The appointed industrial agents for Harrogate 47 are CBRE and Gent Visick, with the office enquiries directed to the office agency teams at CBRE.

Read more:

• Plans submitted for 400-home eco-resort at Flaxby
• Knaresborough employment site ‘that could support 2,000 jobs’ sold

Oliver Freer, from CBRE’s northern planning team, which prepared the planning application, said:

“The new masterplan for Junction 47 responds to the market demand for employment accommodation for office, hi-tech/hybrid and logistics uses in this location, and is in accordance with the land allocation of the site.

“A successful consent would allow much-needed commercial space to be delivered, enabling local companies to stay and attracting new inward investment into the district, whilst unlocking the potential for some 2,000 new local jobs.”

Ryan Unsworth, development director of Opus North, added:

“We have been working hard with our appointed consultancy team and key stakeholders since we acquired the site to progress a masterplan that would maximise the job-creating potential of the site whilst addressing current and anticipated regional demand for sustainable office and industrial accommodation.

“We are confident that our application captures these aspects and look forward to seeing the initial works start on site to facilitate development.”

We must accept plans that reduce car use

Repair the green shelters on West Park Stray

I travel on the West Park Stray on a daily basis and my heart sinks every time I pass the two semi-derelict shelters.

They have never had any repair or maintenance on them apart from being decorated in an awful green colour. What do visitors think when they encounter them? What were wonderful shelters have become, on Harrogate Borough Council’s watch, unsightly.

Because of their leaning structure they are also becoming unsafe and could be lost to the town. Has the council any scheduled plans in place for refurbishment before the shelters fall down?

Ken Richardson, Harrogate

Got 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.

Richard Ellis inserted several covenants into the deed of gift when he presented the statue to the town, requiring that if any attempt were made to move it, the land should be offered back to the Ellis family.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has defended a crime bill that gives police new powers to deal with protests after it was criticised as a “fundamental attack” on freedom of speech.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill covers major government proposals on crime and justice, including changes to protests.

The bill passed its first hurdle this week after an overwhelming vote in favour by Conservative MPs.

All three Conservative MPs whose constituencies include the Harrogate district — Jones, Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith and Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams — supported it.

The protest measures drawn up by ministers and police chiefs will mean more conditions are imposed on static demonstrations, including start and finish times, noise limits and penalties for activists causing “serious annoyance”.

At a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee today, Liberal Democrat councillor David Goode described the bill as a “a fundamental attack on our democratic rights”.

He said it would “significantly restrict” people’s rights to hold peaceful protests and asked Mr Jones why he voted for it.

Mr Jones responded:

“The underlying principle of freedom of speech and freedom to protest is absolutely unchanged.

“This is about making sure we can protest in a way which doesn’t stop people getting to work or a hospital appointment.

“It is possible to protest without impacting others so what we need to strike therefore is that balance and that is what the bill does.”

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The bill’s second reading was passed by 359 votes to 263 on Tuesday. It also contains dozens of new measures to increase sentences for child killers and other violent criminals, as well as tougher penalties for attacks on police officers and changes to sexual offences legislation.

The most controversial part, however, are the reforms on protests, which garnered extra interest after scenes of police officers restraining women attending a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard in London on Saturday.

At present, police need to prove protesters knew they had been told to move on before they can be said to have broken the law.

The bill proposes an offence of “intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance”, which is designed to stop people occupying public spaces to make themselves both seen and heard.

The new laws would also give Home Secretary Priti Patel the authority to define “serious disruption to the life of the community” and “serious disruption to the activities of an organisation” — a concept opponents argue is not clear enough.

Speaking at a debate in the House of Commons this week, the Home Secretary defended the proposed changes to peaceful protests which she said are a “cornerstone of democracy”.

She said:

“This bill will give police the powers to take a more proactive approach in tackling dangerous and disruptive protests. The threshold at which the police can impose conditions on the use of noise at a protest is rightfully high.

“The majority of protesters will be able to continue to act, make noise as they do so now without police intervention.

“But we are changing it to allow the police to put conditions on noisy protests that cause significant disruption to those in the vicinity. As with all our proposals, the police response will still need to be proportionate.”

A survey of businesses in the Harrogate district has found high levels of confidence, despite months of restrictions.

Harrogate law firm Berwins conducted the survey in the last week of February to gauge confidence as many firms prepare to re-open.

Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of the approximately 50 respondents were confident about their prospects.

The figure rose to over 70 per cent when asked about the next six or 12 months, suggesting businesses are looking to the future with a renewed sense of optimism.

However, 30 per cent thought the next three months would pose challenges, highlighting short-term concerns.

Part of this growing assurance has been put down the government’s proposed road map.

While the overall handling of the pandemic by central government generated mixed responses, the phased approach to re-opening was generally well received.

Confidence in the wider business community was, however less assured. While firms are broadly positive about their own position, just 30 per cent felt the same way about the local commercial community over the next six months.

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Although that figure improved in the medium term – 50% of respondents were confident about the community over the next 12 months – the gap between business leaders’ perceptions of their own business and the wider community remained.

Paul Berwin, senior partner at Berwins, said:

“Over the past year, we have seen some fantastic examples of enterprise and innovation, which has stood many businesses in good stead. We are now also starting to see wider signs for optimism.

“Tourism and hospitality remain key strands of our local economy and play a crucial role in bringing visitors to our high street.

“I am hopeful that these sectors will be boosted by a roadmap out of restrictions, reports of an increase in people choosing to holiday in the UK and the prospect of major events returning to the convention centre as the Nightingale hospital closes.”

A “very high number” of Harrogate businesses applying for coronavirus support grants could mean the council runs out of cash under one scheme sooner than expected.

Harrogate Borough Council was allocated £4.6m as part of the government’s Additional Restrictions Grant scheme to help firms forced to close during lockdown. So far it has handed out more than £2m in two phases of payments.

It had planned to open a third phase tomorrow but now says this is “on hold” because it is still working through a backlog of applications.

And because the council is not expecting any further grant money from the government under this scheme, it could mean some businesses expecting a third and final payment later this month may not get it.

The council said in a newsletter to businesses:

“We received a very high number of applications in phase two, far more than anticipated, and we are continuing to work hard to complete assessment of these.

“Until we have assessed and awarded all the grants in phase two we are unable to commit to a further grant funding phase.”

The high number of businesses asking for financial support shows how seriously the strain of the pandemic is still being felt in Harrogate’s shutdown sectors of the economy and could mean all of the £4.6m is used up before the third phase is opened.

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Some business owners who had been expecting a third payment told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the grants will be “the difference between survival and closure” for many firms as they also called on the government to provide more support.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said:

“We recognise that many businesses across the district are relying on this financial support for their survival, so that’s exactly why we’ve been working as hard as possible to get money out the door.

“In total, across all schemes since the first lockdown, we’ve distributed £70 million to more than 5,000 businesses.

“There are strict criteria for the various grant schemes, and the different phases of those schemes, and we’ve had to make sure businesses are eligible for the support on offer.”

Under another scheme, the Local Restrictions Support Grants, the council was allocated £23m and up to the end of February had paid out £18.5m.

Almost £100,000 has also been paid out to pubs that do not serve food and are eligible for a one-off payment of £1,000.

Harrogate Borough Council said it was now keen to signpost towards the government’s Restart Grant, which will aim to help businesses get back on their feet as lockdown is lifted.

Non-essential retail businesses able to reopen from 5 April will receive grants of up to £6,000, while hospitality and leisure businesses will receive up to £18,000 before they make a full return on 17 May.

For more information go to www.harrogate.gov.uk/business-investment

Building work on a new Tesco Express in Killinghall is set to begin on Monday.

The supermarket is to open a store on the site of the former Three Horseshoes pub in the heart of the village on Ripon Road.

Castlehouse Construction, which is carrying out the work, notified residents this week.

It said in a letter to them that work is expected to last for 34 weeks, which would mean a finish date in November. The company is also building four flats.

Demolition of the pub is due to commence on March 29 and take four weeks. The letter adds:

“This operation may cause some noise but we will endeavour to keep this to a minimum.”

In August, Tesco applied for an alcohol licence from 6am to 11pm seven days of the week at the site, which has hosted a pub for 150 years.

A Tesco spokesman said:

“We are pleased to say that work is beginning at our new Killinghall Express store.

“We hope to have the store opened by 2022 but we’ll keep the local community updated as the work continues.”

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A pub has operated on the site for 150 years.

Locals asked the public body Historic England to grant the pub listed status but this was rejected.

The Greyhounds Inn opposite the site has been closed for years, which means the centre of Killinghall could be without a pub when they are allowed to re-open, despite huge growth in the village.

A senior NHS official in North Yorkshire today insisted “safety is the number one priority” in the coronavirus vaccine rollout after some European countries paused the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab amid concerns over blood clots.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer of NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said while some patients may be feeling uneasy about receiving the jab, regulators had been “absolutely clear” that it is safe as she urged everyone to take up the opportunity as soon as it arises.

Her bid to reassure the public comes after Germany, France, Italy and Spain joined the list of countries to suspend use of the vaccine while they seek further clarification on its safety.

Speaking at a meeting of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum today, Ms Bloor said:

“We understand that this action may be concerning for some people around the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine but I want to reassure you safety is the number one priority for the NHS.

“The phenomenon of blood clots can occur naturally – they are not an uncommon thing.

“Over 12 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have now been given across England and the number of blood clots that have been reported after having had the vaccine is not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally.”

The European Medicines Agency previously said there was “no indication” that the jab causes blood clots and is expected to release the final findings of an investigation on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the UK’s medicines watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, has also said that evidence “does not suggest” the jab causes clots.

Ms Bloor added:

“Given this, the NHS will continue to offer the AstraZeneca vaccine and we would urge people to come forward when invited.

“This will give us the greatest chance of keeping the cases of covid at bay within communities and hospitals, and also allowing us to progress along those timings that have been outlined in our roadmap.”

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• Matt Hancock praises Harrogate’s rapid vaccine response

It was also announced today that more than 188,000 people in North Yorkshire have now received their first coronavirus jab and 13,000 their second.

More than 50,000 of those have been delivered at Harrogate’s mass vaccinations centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Those who are currently being called up for their vaccine include over 50s and those with underlying health conditions between 16 and 60-years-old.

Ms Bloor said the “fantastic” progress in working through the age groups meant North Yorkshire remained on track to meet the government’s target of vaccinating all over 50s by 15 April and every other adult by 31 July.

It comes as the number of people with covid in North Yorkshire’s hospitals has continued to fall with a drop from 129 last week to 96 today. Twenty three of those patients are in intensive care.

In the county’s main hospitals there are currently 13 patients in Harrogate, 25 in York and three in Scarborough.

The weekly rate of coronavirus infections is also continuing on a downward trend with the figure for North Yorkshire standing at 46 cases per 100,000 people and Harrogate 38.

These are both below the national average of 58.

North Yorkshire residents are being urged to complete their census forms this weekend.

The census survey, which happens every 10 years, gives a snapshot of the population at that time and is used to inform local and national government policy.

Households across the county should have received an invitation to take part in the 2021 version, which includes a new question for armed forces veterans and two voluntary questions about gender identity and sexual orientation.

Data from the census will be available in 2022 but no personal data will be released for 100 years.

Sunday is census day and people are being urged to complete the survey, which takes about 20 minutes, as soon as possible after then although it can be done now.

County council leader Carl Les said:

“Everyone benefits from the census. It informs decisions nationally and locally on vital services and issues.

“Ultimately, it ensures millions of pounds are invested in emergency services, mental health care, school places, hospital beds, houses, roads, GPs’ and dentists’ services based on the information people give.

“That’s why it is important to complete the census – to ensure an accurate picture exists to help us to direct our funds and services to the right places.”

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Ruth Dyble, census engagement manager at the Office for National Statistics, said the census would provide “an everlasting picture of North Yorkshire during a pandemic”. She added:

“It’s a great thing to do as a family and quick and easy to complete. I would encourage everyone to make sure their voice is heard and leave a record for future generations.”

Four major transport schemes aiming to get Harrogate walking and cycling towards a greener future are set to be debated this week.

North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee will meet on Thursday to discuss the next stages of the £7.9m Station Gateway project, Otley Road cycle path, Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood and schemes under the government’s Active Travel Fund.

The projects are funded from different sources and are at varying stages of development. But all have the same aim to cut carbon emissions by making the towns more accessible by bike or on foot.

Station Gateway

The Station Gateway project has the potential to be the biggest shake-up in the town centre for decades and a report to Thursday’s meeting says it is focusing on “investment in infrastructure to improve public and sustainable transport connectivity”.

What that means in simple terms is giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists, which could involve Station Parade being reduced to one lane of traffic and the full or partial pedestrianisation of James Street.

Under the plans still being drawn up are also two new bus priority areas at Lower Station Parade and Cheltenham Parade, junction upgrades, new cycle lanes and cycle storage facilities, as well as an increase in safe space for people on foot, new flexible public events spaces and water features.

A consultation on this scheme is underway and once it ends on March 24 the aim is to finalise designs for construction to begin by summer 2022 with completion in 2023.

Otley Road cycle path

The long-delayed Otley Road cycle path project was first unveiled in 2017 as part of a wider £4.6m package of sustainable transport measures for the west of Harrogate.

Four years on and North Yorkshire County Council has still not started construction because of delays with utility works and drawn out discussions over changing byelaws so parts of the Stray can be used for the two-way cycle path.

But the report to Thursday’s meeting says preliminary roadworks are now underway and that it is hoped construction of a first phase could finally start in autumn this year.

Read more:

• New Beech Grove sign to stop cars driving on Stray
• Call for public to engage with Harrogate Station Gateway plans

Beech Grove 

The Low Traffic Neighbourhood on Beech Grove caused controversy when it was introduced earlier this year with planters placed on the road to stop through traffic and create quieter streets where residents feel safer walking and cycling.

It has made getting around the area by car more difficult and that is the idea behind it – to drive down car use.

The report to councillors says it should be noted that the Low Traffic Neighbourhood is temporary for now but could become permanent subject to an ongoing consultation, which ends in August.

Active Travel Fund

The final scheme set for debate on Thursday is the Active Travel Fund from which North Yorkshire County Council has received more than £1.2m of government cash to get more people walking and cycling as the nation emerges from the pandemic.

The cash will be used for three projects in Harrogate, including segregated cycle lanes and improved crossings on the A59 between the town and Knaresborough, as well as the same upgrades plus bike storage in the Victoria Avenue area of Harrogate.

There are also plans for cycle lanes and a one-way system for vehicles on Oatlands Drive but this has been met with a hostile response from residents, with 50% of respondents to an online survey strongly opposing the plans.

North Yorkshire County Council previously said it acknowledged the concerns over traffic levels and how much existing cycle lanes are used and added all comments would be taken into account before a final decision is made.

The meeting will start at 10am and can be viewed on the county council’s YouTube channel.