North Yorkshire Police has been accused of a “flagrant breach of trust” by a councillor because its planned move into Ripon Town Hall has still not happened.
In February, the office for North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe issued a press release to say that a £91,000 refurbishment of space in the town hall was already underway to give officers more of a presence in the city centre.
But six months later none of the works have actually taken place, which has led Cllr Andrew Williams to describe the original press release as “complete and utter bunkum” in an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Cllr Williams, who is leader of Ripon City Council and also represents the Conservatives and Independents group on North Yorkshire Council, criticised North Yorkshire Police and the crime commissioner for not delivering on their pledge.
Cllr Williams said:
“I’d like to see North Yorkshire Police honour their commitment and have an opportunity for residents to speak to officers in the city.
“I’m sick of procrastination and prevarication and now is the time for action.
“It’s a fragrant breach of trust with the public that she has issued this instruction but it’s not been delivered.”
Since the covid pandemic, Ripon has suffered from a series of anti-social behaviour problems and councillors were hopeful the move to create a public consultation room, an office and a break out room for officers, will help tackle crime in the city.
This would become an additional site to Ripon’s main Police and Fire Station based at Stonebridgegate.
Police response
A spokesperson for the crime commissioner said following the decision to approve funding for the move into the town hall, the ground floor space originally offered by Harrogate Borough Council was changed by the new North Yorkshire Council, in conjunction with Ripon City Council.
Alternative space was then offered on the second floor which it said will need to be assessed for “public accessibility and operational use”.
The spokesperson said:
“Commissioner Zoë is committed to ensuring that the residents of Ripon are provided with consistent, visible policing, and it is understood that North Yorkshire Police are currently in the process of assessing a number of additional sites in the heart of the City to ensure the local policing team are accessible to the public.
Ms Metcalfe added:
“When elected as police, fire and crime commissioner I made a commitment to the people of North Yorkshire that I would strive to ensure that they would always be safe and feel safe, with efficient use of public resources being one of my five key priorities.”
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Figures reveal exactly how much money council has received from Harrogate Spring Water
Harrogate Borough Council has received almost £500,000 from Harrogate Spring Water since 2017 as a share of the company’s annual turnover, new figures reveal.
The council owns the land where the company is based on Harlow Moor Road and receives £13,000 a year in ground rent.
Harrogate Spring Water also has to pay a percentage of annual turnover to the council. This is known as turnover rent.
The turnover rent agreement was drawn up in the early 2000s when the council granted planning permission to build a bottling plant on land leased to the company.
However, the figure has never been made public.
Two-year battle
For almost two years, the Stray Ferret has tried to find out exactly how much the council benefits from the success of the Danone-owned company.
We first asked the question to HBC in a freedom of information request in January 2021, almost two years ago.
But the council refused to tell us. It said:
“This information is deemed to be of commercial value and, if disclosed, may impact on the council’s ability to negotiate and harm its legitimate interests, putting it in a commercially disadvantageous situation.”
We then requested that HBC undertake an internal review of this decision.
However, Joanne Barclay, acting chief solicitor at HBC, came to the same conclusion, adding “confidence may be eroded if commercial rents were to be disclosed”.
In summer 2021, we submitted a complaint about the council’s decision not to disclose the sum to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
ICO is an independent government body that promotes openness within public bodies.
After a long delay due to a backlog, it investigated HBC’s refusal and asked the council to look again at the Stray Ferret’s question. It has now decided to publish the figures for the last five years.
Read more:
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Harrogate Spring Water reports £23m turnover but still makes a loss
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Campaigner accuses Harrogate Spring Water of ‘greenwashing’ over expansion plans
Finally publishing the figures
Earlier this year, the BBC’s Local Democracy Service revealed that HBC receives 0.5% of the company’s annual turnover.
It estimated the council received £853,033 over an 18-year period, however, new information suggests that is likely to be a higher figure.
Since 2017, HBC has received £495,000.
Company accounts published on Friday revealed turnover has returned to pre-covid levels after dipping significantly due to the pandemic.
Each year, the council has received the following sum from Harrogate Spring Water in turnover rent:
2017 – £92,811.87
2018 – £138,026.18
2019 – £91,153.15
2020 – £152,332.02
2021 – £21,995.79
Global brand
Harrogate Borough Council and Harrogate Spring Water’s histories are intertwined.
Water has been bottled in Harrogate for centuries but in the early 1990s Harrogate Spa Water, as the company was previously known, was selling just 1,000 bottles of water a year.
The company’s fortunes changed in the late 1990s when HBC, run then by the Liberal Democrats, identified an opportunity to explore water resources at the current site on Harlow Moor Road.
Harrogate Spring Water has since gone from strength to strength to become a global brand.
The relationship between the two organisations has come into focus due to Harrogate Spring Water’s attempts to expand its bottling plant into Rotary Wood.
The council has always maintained that its status as planning authority and Harrogate Spring Water’s landlord are separate.
A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said:
Ripon Tractor Fest raises £4,000 for hospital’s children’s ward“We have had a base rent and turnover rent agreement in place with Harrogate Spring Water Ltd since 2002.
“As with all of our rental agreements, the money generated is used to help deliver valuable front-line services across the Harrogate district.”
A charity tractor fest in Ripon has raised £4,000 for the Leeds General Infirmary Neonatal Unit.
It was organised by Tom Tate after his newborn son recently spent time in intensive care at LGI with a life-threatening condition.
Mr Tate’s partner Sarah gave birth to their son, Freddie, three-and-a-half months ago.
But soon afterwards he was diagnosed with Atrial flutter, a type of abnormal heart rhythm that makes the heart beat too quickly.
Mr Tate said it was a frightening time for the family. He said:
“When he was born straight away we knew something wasn’t right. In a baby, Atrial flutter is life threatening.
“But after two weeks in intensive care at the LGI, they got him right, and they looked after me and Sarah.”
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Freddie is thankfully now at home and fighting fit, but his dad said he wanted to repay the hospital by raising money for the LGI Neonatal Unit through the Leeds Hospitals Charity.
Mr Tate is a member of West Yorkshire Tractor and Engine Club and around 80 vintage and modern tractors from the club attended F. Tate and Sons garden centre at Studley Road on September 24. It was also attended by the Yorkshire Vet, Peter Wright.
A total of £4,000 was raised, which will be used to transform the corridors in the neonatal ward. They have been renamed the ‘corridors of courage’ and will include pictures and stories to help other families through their hard times.
Mr Tate said:
Harrogate Spring Water reports £23m turnover but still makes a loss“I’m absolutely amazed at how the day went. Massive thank-you to everyone who attended and donated, helping us raise a massive £4,000 for the LGI neonatal unit. It’s such an overwhelming feeling to gi\ve a huge amount of money to an excellent cause.”
Harrogate Spring Water saw sales return to almost pre-pandemic levels last year but still made a loss.
The company, which is owned by French multinational Danone, last week published its latest annual financial report covering the period from December 2020 to December 2021.
During this period, the company reported a turnover of £23m and a gross profit of £6.9m.
However, despite the improved sales figures for 2021, the company still made a loss of £1.3m after costs, expenses and tax.
Bouncing back
The healthy sales figures reflect how the bottled drinking water firm bounced back after its previous report, which covered March 2020 until December 2020, and saw revenue fall sharply.
The decline in 2020 was mainly due to hotels and restaurants that serve its water being closed due to covid.
Turnover in 2021 returned close to its pre-covid figures for 2019/20, when it recorded a turnover of £26.2m in the 12-month period ending March 31 2020.
Harrogate Spring Water declined to make a comment on the accounts.
Read more:
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- Harrogate Spring Water ‘finalising’ latest expansion plans
The Pinewoods expansion
Meanwhile, Harrogate Spring Water is preparing to submit a new planning application to expand its bottling plant in the Pinewoods.
The company was granted outline planning permission to expand to the west of its existing site in 2016, which meant the principle of development had been established but the details had not been agreed.
The reserved matters application provoked a major backlash due to the loss of trees at Rotary Wood. In January 2021, councillors on the planning committee voted overwhelmingly to reject it— against the wishes of council officers who had recommended approval.
The firm held a consultation on plans for its Rotary Wood site this summer and said it would now provide a further update “in the coming weeks”.
Knaresborough concert raises £800 for Resurrected BitesA concert last weekend at Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough raised over £800 for local food poverty organisation Resurrected Bites.
The concert featured musicians and singers including the Silver Keys Clarinet Quartet, Thula Mamas and Knaresborough Silver Band.
Music included Graham Kendrick’s ‘Teach me to Dance’, Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’, Lennon and McCartney’s ‘When I’m 64’ and Brian Hoare’s ‘Born in Song’.
The event was organised by Sarah Darvill and Nick Garrett.
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Resurrected Bites was established by Michelle Hayes in 2018 and began life as a ‘pay-as-you-feel’ community café working with local businesses and suppliers to divert good quality food from landfill.
It turns the food into meals in its cafes and provides it to families through its community groceries scheme.
The organisation runs cafes at Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough and West Park United Reformed Church in Harrogate. It has also launched a community groceries scheme with bases in Harrogate and Knaresborough.