Voters will head to the polls tomorrow to elect a new county councillor for Bilton and Nidd Gorge.

A new councillor will be elected to North Yorkshire County Council following the death of Liberal Democrat Geoff Webber.

It is the only local council election taking place in the Harrogate district.

Ahead of polling day, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has interviewed and profiled each candidate.

Andrew Kempston-Parkes, Liberal Democrat candidate for Bilton and Nidd Gorge.

Andrew Kempston-Parkes, Liberal Democrat

The Liberal Democrat candidate standing in tomorrow’s Bilton and Nidd Gorge by-election says a vote for Labour or the Green Party “will just let the Conservatives win”.

Andrew Kempston-Parkes, who has previously represented the Bilton area on Harrogate Borough Council, said in a message to Labour and Green voters: “your vote is safe with me”.

He is one of six candidates competing to take the Bilton and Nidd Gorge seat.

Mr Kempston-Parkes said he has “big shoes to fill” but hoped to continue the “great work that Geoff did” if elected.

He said:

“I would be honoured if the people of Bilton and Nidd Gorge would trust me to be their county councillor – they have my word that I will work tirelessly for them.

“I want to continue the great work that Geoff did in being a voice for local people, the homeless and those seeking affordable houses. I also want to support our great educational establishments, protect our green spaces and stop overdevelopment.

“Another big thing I would push for is a park and ride similar to the one in York which has been a great success.

“Harrogate could benefit hugely by taking more traffic out of the town and bringing more people in. Sadly there has been lots of talk but no action on this in the past.”

Mr Kempston-Parkes is a local businessman who runs a chartered surveyors firm in Harrogate. He previously served as a borough councillor for four years but lost his seat in the 2011 elections.

He said there is a “real need for change” in local politics which has “Conservatives at every level”.

Mr Kempston-Parkes said:

“I feel there is incompetence and arrogance, and the Conservatives are not helping our town.

“It’s only through hearing opposing views and listening to arguments that we can find the best way forward.

“I would ask anyone who sees themselves as centre or left-centre on the political spectrum to vote for me. A vote for Labour or the Green Party will just let the Conservatives win.”

Matt Scott, Conservative candidate for Bilton and Nidd Gorge.

Matt Scott, Conservative

Conservative candidate Matt Scott has told voters to “judge my record on its own merits” ahead of polling day for the Bilton and Nidd Gorge by-election.

Cllr Scott has represented the Bilton area on Harrogate Borough Council since 2018 and is one of six candidates competing to take the vacant seat on North Yorkshire County Council.

He said:

“I have lived in Bilton my entire life which means I use the same roads, shops and all the same council services as local residents – and I’m immensely proud to already represent the community I have grown up in.

“As a Harrogate borough councillor since 2018, I have been handing out newsletters into the Bilton division which set out our record of action locally.

“In addition to the Bilton and Nidd Gorge seat, there is the current Conservative county councillor Paul Haslam who is a sort of next door neighbour to me. We have a great working relationship and I would want that to continue if I was elected.”

Cllr Scott, who is employed as a case worker by Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, added:

“I will still be serving as a Harrogate borough councillor if I’m elected and will continue my current top priority of tackling litter. I’m hoping as restrictions ease further, I can organise more outdoor gatherings for litter picking and street cleansing.

“I also know anti-social behaviour has been an issue of late and in my capacity as borough councillor I have worked with safer communities teams on this.

“I’m putting a positive message out there that I will allow residents in my division and the wider Bilton and Nidd Gorge area to judge my record on its own merits.”

Tyler Reeton, Labour candidate for Bilton and Nidd Gorge.

Tyler Reeton, Labour

A teenager who will become North Yorkshire County Council’s youngest member if elected this week has pledged to bring a “fresh face” and “real change” to local politics.

Tyler Reeton, 19, is standing in his first election for the Labour Party and is one of six candidates competing to fill the Bilton and Nidd Gorge seat left vacant following the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Geoff Webber.

Voting will take place on Thursday and Mr Reeton said tackling anti-social behaviour is his top priority as he also promised to launch a new annual event to “bring the community back together”.

He said:

“While I’m young at 19-years-old, that doesn’t make me any less passionate than the ordinary person – I will be a fresh face and the only candidate who will be truly accountable to residents.

“Anti-social behaviour is a problem which is spiralling out of control because not enough has been done. It’s a difficult situation to tackle but I believe in the message that if we all work together, we can get the job done.

“I would organise surgeries so residents can speak directly with police to crackdown on the problem before it gets to this point again.

“My local recovery plan will focus on rebuilding the community after Covid and using my county councillor grants, I will bring back a yearly community event like the Bilton Gala which has been fundamental for so many years.”

The Labour candidate is a former Harrogate Grammar School student and aspiring solicitor who says his sole aim in life is to help others.

Read more:

• Bilton by-election: every candidate announced

• Local elections 2021: Everything you need to know in Harrogate district

• What the Bilton by-election candidates say on the big issues

He believes “years of party politics” have damaged relationships in Bilton but vowed to start a “rebuilding process” if he is elected.

He said:

“I am not in this for myself, my aim is to help others and make Bilton a better place to live. I feel party politics has damaged reputations between councillors and residents and I now want to start on that rebuilding process.

“With the effort I am putting in and the fact I will be accountable to residents, I believe I have a great chance of winning this election.

“We need a councillor who is accountable and can crack on with the job. If you pledge a vote for me, you will be voting for real change.”

Harvey Alexander, Independent candidate for Bilton and Nidd Gorge.

Harvey Alexander, Independent

An independent candidate has vowed to do everything he can to bring more speed camera warning signs to North Yorkshire if he is elected as the new Bilton and Nidd Gorge county councillor.

Harvey Alexander said he is standing in Thursday’s by-election because he has become “incensed” with the “lack of” warning signs in the county as he also pledged to push for the creation of more high-tech jobs in Harrogate to support the economic recovery from covid.

He said:

“Every other local authority in the Yorkshire area puts up speed camera signs but in North Yorkshire there are none.

“The point of these signs is to slow traffic, not catch people speeding. Some areas have signs up 24/7 even when there are no cameras there and they do their job to make the roads safer.

“If you vote for me I will do everything I can to bring more speed camera signs to the area and also address concerns about unemployment.”

Mr Alexander is a former UKIP member and retired electronics engineer who first became involved in politics when he stood for Leeds City Council at 21-years-old.

He most recently represented UKIP at a Leeds election in 2016 and is one of six candidates competing to take the Bilton and Nidd Gorge seat.

He said:

“There is an awful lot of housebuilding going on but there is no industry being brought in to give jobs to local people.

“There is also a hell of a lot of commuters who travel outside Harrogate and this is a problem which is only going to get worse.

“What I find so annoying is all these big companies taking their business down south. We need to be doing a lot more to encourage big businesses to come here in Harrogate, especially these companies in high-tech industries.”

Mr Alexander, who also served as a parish councillor in North Rigton and Pannal, said he could not support any of the options on the table for local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire and instead believes Harrogate should reclaim its historic links with the west of the county.

He said:

“I do feel Harrogate should go back to its connections with West Yorkshire. A huge number of people have links with Bradford and Leeds – that’s where people work and travel to the most.”

Arnold Warneken, Green Party candidate for Bilton and Nidd Gorge.

Arnold Warneken, Green Party

The Green Party candidate contesting in this week’s Bilton and Nidd Gorge by-election has claimed the community is at risk of being “dismantled” by current councillors.

Arnold Warneken is one of six candidates competing to become the division’s new county councillor with voters set to go to the polls on Thursday.

He has put anti-social behaviour, littering, traffic pollution and loss of green space as his top priorities and has promised to “retain the uniqueness of the Bilton community” if elected.

Mr Warneken said:

“With the backing of the Green Party, I would work to solve these issues, push to retain the uniqueness of the Bilton community, and build on the fantastic resources they already have here, which are under-rated, under-stated and under-funded.

“Local councils must have our climate in mind as we build the economy back after covid.

“More Green councillors mean a substantial commitment to the climate action we all know is urgently needed in all our council chambers. Future generations depend on the steps we take now, protecting green spaces, reducing CO2 pollution from cars, making our roads safer and providing resources for them.”

Mr Warneken became the first ever Green councillor in the north of England when he was elected to Harrogate Borough Council in 1991.

He has lived in the district for 65 years working as a farmer and currently sits on a number of committees and environmental groups including Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition.

Mr Warneken added:

“As chair of the area planning, town twinning and environmental health committees, my experience will be invaluable moving forward as the region changes under the re-organisation of the authority in the coming years.

“I will use my experience working with and for the community, if I’m elected; I’ve been the district council representative on the Selby Police Liaison committee and a director of Harrogate Theatre and established and chaired Harrogate Environmental Forum.

“Now is the time to help local people have a say in local matters they deserve. I want to amplify their voices for the good of the community, to ensure that services they rely on and the future of the community is not at risk.”

John Hall, Yorkshire Party candidate for Bilton and Nidd Gorge.

John Hall, Yorkshire Party

The Yorkshire Party candidate competing in this week’s Bilton and Nidd Gorge by-election says it’s time the county got a fairer share of government funding.

John Hall is standing in his third election for the party which launched six years ago with the aim of devolving spending and decision-making powers from Whitehall to Yorkshire.

And while the government rejected its ‘One Yorkshire’ devolution bid in 2019, Mr Hall said the party’s priorities remained clearer than ever.

Mr Hall said:

“Fairer funding for Yorkshire is our main message..

“School pupils who live in the London borough of Tower Hamlet receive around £6,965 of government funding per head, while those in Yorkshire get £4,613. This is not fair and something I want to tackle.

“We want a proper Yorkshire devolution package to keep as much localism as possible.

“And where Yorkshire Party candidates have been elected in the past, they have always been a success. We are pushing a new message but we know we can make a difference.”

Mr Hall previously stood to be MP for Thirsk and Malton and also for the Starbeck seat on Harrogate Borough Council.

His party have previously won seats on three councils in Yorkshire including North Yorkshire County Council, East Riding Council and Selby District Council.

Speaking about the issues he hopes to tackle as the new county councillor for the Bilton and Nidd Gorge division, he said:

“I do know anti-social behaviour is becoming an issue so I would hope to get a good working relationship with police right from the word go.

“Affordable housing is another issue I want to get involved in and I would insist that any new homes to be built must fit almost seamlessly into the area.

“It’s going to take time for me to truly understand all of the issues and concerns in Bilton but I would be a new broom who could start afresh and not be tied to any existing problems or difficult relationships, as I know there is some hostility currently.”

Two people have been found dead in an incident at the DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic hotel.

Police are currently at the hotel on Ripon Road. No further details are currently available.

A spokesman for the DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa said:

“Following an incident last night, the police were called and we are currently assisting them with their enquiries.”

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Like blossom on the Stray, bluebells in Ripley are a highlight of spring in the Harrogate district.

As these images by amateur photographer Michael White show, the annual display in Ripley woods is now in full glory.

Mr White, who lives in Birstwith, took the photos at 6.30pm on Sunday.

The route through the woods is popular with dog walkers and cyclists.

Besides bluebells, the woods also feature numerous pheasants and other wildlife, such as squirrels, which were beautifully captured in these photos.

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The author Lady Antonia Fraser will discuss her latest book’s Ripon connections in this year’s Markenfield Hall lecture series.

The hall, near Ripon, has held lectures since 2013 to raise funds for restoration work.

Past speakers include the writers Phillippa Gregory, Diane Atkinson, Julian Fellowes, Leanda de Lisle and Anne de Courcy.

Lady Antonia, who headlines this year’s series, will talk about her book The Case of the Married Woman, which is due out next month.

The book portrays the Victorian women’s rights activist Caroline Norton, whose descendant Lord Grantley owns Markenfield Hall.

Lord Grantley and Lady Antonia will talk about Norton’s life, as well as how the Markenfield archives were used as a source for the book.

The lecture will take place online on May 12.

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Until last year, lectures were held in the drawing room at Markenfield Hall, which can seat about 50 people.

This year’s planned online events also feature the author Alexander McCall Smith, the writer A N Wilson and the Guardian journalist Madeleine Bunting.

Lord Grantley’s mother, Lady Deirdre, lives at the hall with her husband Ian Curteis, the former TV director.

The programme for 2021 is available here.

Train operator Northern is introducing new timetables with more trains from Sunday May 16.

Northern has been running a reduced service since the current lockdown began in January but the new timetable will return services to similar levels to before the pandemic.

It means the Harrogate line will have more trains during peak hours, and services will start earlier and end later on some days.

Throughout most days there will continue to be a roughly half-hourly service between Harrogate and Leeds, and an hourly service between Harrogate and York.

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Some of the changes include:

• The first train from Harrogate to Leeds on weekday and Saturday mornings will leave Harrogate station at 0605, half an hour earlier than currently.
• There will be 11 trains from Harrogate to Leeds on weekdays and Saturdays leaving before 0900, as against five currently.
• The last train from Leeds to Harrogate will be almost two hours later, at 2339 instead of 2129, every day except Sunday.

Northern do not expect any overcrowding, although a spokesperson said:

“It’s very difficult to say. There is no official capacity limit, however we are very conscious that people may well be concerned so we’re asking people to tailor their journeys to try and travel outside of the busiest times.”

Trevor Chapman was elected to succeed Stuart Martin as mayor of the Harrogate district last night.

Cllr Chapman, a Liberal Democrat who represents Bilton Grange on Harrogate Borough Council, succeeded Conservative councillor Stuart Martin.

Here are 10 facts about the district’s new mayor.

1 He was born in 1944 in Finedon, Northamptonshire, where the Reverend Richard Coles is parish priest.

2 He met his wife, Janet, when they both worked for the East Midlands Electricity Board in Northamptonshire. They married in 1966 and have two children, Zoe and Ben, and five grandchildren.

3 They moved to Harrogate in 1970 when he got a job with North Eastern Electricity Board, where he worked as an energy marketing sales engineer.

4 A keen football fan, he grew up supporting Kettering Town but after moving to Harrogate became a regular season ticket holder at Leeds United and watched the great Don Revie team. He’s also a member of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and a life member of Bilton Cricket Club, where he used to coach the under-17s.

5 He worked in electricity until privatisation in 1999, when he took early retirement.

Read more:

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6 His two political heroes are local Liberal Democrats Geoff Webber and Phil Willis, who ignited his interest in politics. Webber, who died this year, was a Liberal Democrat councillor on Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council and Willis was MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough from 1997 until 2010.

7 With their encouragement, he was elected to represent the Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council in a New Park by-election in 2004. When the boundaries changed in 2018, he stood successfully in Bilton Grange, which he still represents.

8 The mayor usually holds office for one year. The honour is rotated between the political parties based on the amount of seats each one has. The Conservative-controlled council therefore has the most mayors. This year it was actually the turn of the independents to hold the mayoral office but neither independent councillor wanted to take the role so they nominated Cllr Chapman instead.

9 In a typical year, the mayor can attend as many as 400 events. Covid decimated this for the previous mayor but in-person duties have resumed. One of the highlights Cllr Chapman is most looking forward to is attending the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

10 His three nominated charities are Supporting Older People, which he is a trustee of, Citizens Advice Craven and Harrogate Districts, which his wife was a trustee of for 19 years and the Friends of Harrogate Hospital.

Harrogate Borough Council has begun making preparations for the live streaming of meetings to continue when councillors return to the chamber next month.

Emergency regulations which allowed local authorities to meet remotely – where councillors tune in from different locations – were introduced in March last year and most meetings have since been broadcast online.

The rules will expire on May 6 when meetings must return in person but there is a government expectation that they must still be live streamed for members of the public.

Harrogate Borough Council has ordered live streaming equipment to install at its headquarters in what marks a major change from when councillors voted against any live streaming in January 2020 before the pandemic struck.

Read More:

• Virtual meetings could ‘drag council into 21st century’ and open up democracy to a wider audience
• ‘Mistake’ to return to in-person meetings, says council leader

They voted against the idea because of claims it would have been too expensive – and it is not yet known how much the new equipment will cost.

Conservative Cllr Ed Darling told a meeting on Thursday that the council was now waiting for the installation of equipment to begin.

He said:

“Remote meetings have become commonplace over the past year – I personally think they have been rather positive.

“A solution has now been ordered and we are awaiting its installation. Once it is installed and tested, the members ICT working group will meet to review the system.”

It comes as the High Court has this week rejected a challenge by local government lawyers and Hertfordshire County Council for online council meetings to continue after May 6.

He also argued councils should be given a choice whether to hold meetings remotely or in-person in the future.

Announcing the end of the emergency regulations last month, Luke Hall, minister for regional growth and local government, said in a letter to councils that he recognised safety concerns but the vaccine rollout and fewer covid cases “should result in significant reduction in risk for local authority members meeting in-person”.

Rail passengers on the Harrogate to Leeds line will have to use a bus replacement service on Sunday.

Network Rail has announced work to install new overhead line equipment and signals will cause disruption after the last train on Saturday and continue throughout Sunday.

Normal service will resume on Monday, which is a bank holiday.

It means trains will terminate at Horsforth, and replacement buses will operate between there and Leeds station all day on Sunday.

Trains from Harrogate to York will run as normal.

The replacement buses will pick up and drop off passengers on New Station Street, in front of Leeds station.

Passengers are advised to plan ahead and check their journey with National Rail enquiries.

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An inquiry has been launched after emails revealed a Harrogate council officer “massaged” a key report on now-approved plans for a controversial motorway service station on the A1(M) near Kirby Hill.

Emails seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show that Barrie Gannon, former principal landscape architect at Harrogate Borough Council, made changes to a landscape report in 2019 when the council’s planning department went against three previous refusals to recommend approval.

Mr Gannon said he hoped the changes would make the report “read better” – although it is not yet known what was amended.

What is clear though are the report’s conclusions. It said the landscape impact of the service station was “not substantive” in what campaigners have described as a “complete U-turn” from a previous council assessment, which warned it would cause “significant harm”.

The revelations have sparked questions over why a change of stance was taken, as well as concerns over impartiality within the planning department.

Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said:

“It is a mystery to us how officers made a complete U-turn on the landscape assessment. Landscape harm has been the main reason for refusal of a motorway service area at this site for 25 years.

“We do not understand how or why this position changed.”

The proposals put forward by Applegreen were most recently rejected by councillors in 2019.

However, that decision was overturned at an appeal this month as the developers won approval at the fourth time of asking.

Read more:

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Mr Owens, who gave evidence during the appeal, said the landscape report played a key part in the planning inspector’s decision to grant approval, which made it even more important to understand why the council had changed its conclusions.

He said:

“The officer’s report was not only presented to the planning committee. It was relied on by Applegreen at the public inquiry, who told the inspector that he should accept the view of the council’s professional planning officers, which he duly did.

“The planning inspector went along with the planning officer’s conclusions on landscape, so we think it is important to understand how they were arrived at.”

In the email dated November 2019, Mr Gannon said to a colleague: “I’ve massaged the landscape section 9.56 – 9.69 which hopefully reads better.”

Robert Windass, the Conservative councillor for Boroughbridge and one of the planning committee members who previously rejected the service station, said he had “serious concerns” about the email after he made calls for the inquiry last week.

Speaking at a full council meeting, he asked the council’s cabinet member for planning councillor Tim Myatt:

“Will you undertake a full inquiry into this matter to ensure that all reports presented to the planning committee in future are factual, truthful and unbiased?”

In a statement, councillor Myatt later said he was “confident” that officers always made “fair and impartial” assessments of planning applications.

He said:

“Officer recommendations are formed based on their assessment of information available about the application, including information submitted by the applicant, internal and statutory consultees, and the public.

“I am confident that officer recommendations are based on a fair and impartial assessment of that information.

“Together with officers, I have met with councillor Windass to discuss his concerns regarding the landscape assessment included in the officer’s report to committee.

“I agree with councillor Windass that there is a need to provide residents with reassurance that our planning processes were followed correctly, and I have agreed with councillor Windass that we will look into the specific concerns he has raised before providing a report to councillors.”

Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones has urged care minister Helen Whately to review care home guidance on outdoor trips.

The guidance says residents that leave homes must isolate for 14 day except for medical appointments or exceptional circumstances.

It has been widely criticised nationally and locally, including by care home residents, the Bishop of Ripon and the director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council.

Nick Moxon, 32, who has cerebral palsy and is a resident at Disability Action Yorkshire‘s care home on Claro Road, Harrogate last week told the Stray Ferret he feels “trapped” and “treated like a lesser being” because of the guidance.

Now Mr Jones has described it as “too restrictive and not in the best interests of the health and wellbeing of our care home residents” and urged Whately to act.

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Mr Jones revealed the news not on his official website but on Community News, a website he runs featuring local Conservatives.

He said “slow but positive improvements” meant care home residents could now receive two nominated visitors and hold hands with them

But he added the same could not be said for outdoors visits, which particularly impacted younger care home residents:

“New guidance says that when they leave their homes for any reason, as they often do to exercise in the fresh air, they must self-isolate for 14 days thereafter. This is said to be necessary to keep other residents safe.

“Whilst I support the government’s motive, this is undoubtedly too restrictive and not in the best interests of the health and wellbeing of our care home residents.

“I have written to the Minister for Care, Helen Whately, to ask for the guidance to be reassessed and reconsidered and I hope this will be acted upon quickly.”