Councillors have rejected a bid to build a new motorway service area five miles from Ripon.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee voted this afternoon by 11 to 1 against the proposal by Moto Hospitality, which operates 45 similar sites across the country,

The proposal included a petrol filling station, small hotel, food and retail units and parking for HGVs and coaches on land west of the A61 and A6055 at junction 50 of the A1(M).

Steve Masters, property director at Moto, told committee members the site would support haulage drivers travelling through the district and create 200 jobs.

He said:

“Covid has demonstrated the critical nature of food and medicine logistics and has increased the need for a motorway service area to support the haulage sector.”

A motorway service station at Kirby Hill, about five miles to the south of this site, was refused permission by HBC in November 2019 and is now at appeal. A public inquiry is scheduled later this year.

Moto Hospitality has planning permission from Hambleton Council to expand its Leeming Bar services near Northallerton, which is north of the proposed site.

However, Mr Masters told the committee the company had decided not to go ahead with this redevelopment.

Read more:

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Gordon Gledson, chair of Hewick and Hutton Parish Council, spoke against the proposals.

He said:

“I do not think there is a need for another service station. The A61 is already a heavily used road and the increase in traffic on a large roundabout will lead to a decrease in road safety”.

Cllr Windass, the only councillor to back the proposals, said the plans were “less harmful and controversial” than the Kirby Hill motorway service area rejected by HBC last year.

Cllr Pat Marsh said she was concerned about the impact the site would have on the environment.

She said:

“This is all about our landscape and what heritage we are leaving for our children. What we’re doing is putting within a landscape, buildings, earth mound and trees that are totally alien to this part of our wonderful district. I think it is wrong.”

A total of 1,035 homes in the Harrogate district have been empty for six months or more.

The Stray Ferret obtained the figure from Harrogate Borough Council using the Freedom of Information Act.

The list shows the postcode of each home and when, according to council tax records, it became empty.

The data reveals 444 of the homes became empty in the last 12 months.

A total of 222 are in Band A, the lowest council tax bracket. Sixteen are in Band G, which is the highest.

Harrogate Liberal Democrat county councillor Geoff Webber said it was “obscene” to have over 1,000 properties empty when there has been homelessness in the district.

He also said HBC’s social housing waiting list currently stood at 1,523.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I am very disappointed that Harrogate Borough Council, who are responsible for housing, has about 1,500 families on their housing waiting list when there are over 1,000 private properties are standing empty.

“Some of these properties, of course, will be unoccupied for a good reason, but it does seem obscene that pre-Covid we had people sleeping on the streets and currently have families in hostels and bed and breakfast accommodation when so many private properties are standing empty.”

The number of empty homes in the district is rising. According to government figures, there were 828 in November 2019.

Harrogate Borough Council has powers to encourage owners of empty properties to bring them back into use.

The council charges owners of properties that have been empty for two years or more a premium on their council tax. For example, for a property that has been empty between two and five years the council charges a 100% premium. This increases to 200% when a home has been empty for over five years.

The council can also take enforcement action against landlords, including compulsory purchase orders, enforced sales, and empty dwelling management orders.

A HBC council spokesman said:

“We work with property owners within the district to encourage and assist them to bring empty properties back into use as much-needed homes.

“Where this fails and homes remains empty we do not hesitate to take enforcement action including compulsory purchases.”

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According to national campaign group Action on Empty Homes, there are over 216,000 empty homes across the UK.

The group lobbies the government to give councils greater powers to put empty homes back into use.

When we showed the figures for the Harrogate district to Chris Bailey, campaign manager at Action On Empty Homes, he said homes were being “wasted”.

“This is despite the desirability of Harrogate and despite the increasing problems of housing need and homelessness amidst a wider national housing crisis, which coronavirus and its economic fallout can only worsen.”

Masham Cricket Club is raising £5,000 for an electronic scoreboard as a tribute to popular club president Tony Proud, who died this year.

Club chairman Mark Ellis told the Stray Ferret the scoreboard would be a fitting tribute to someone who had cricket in his blood.

The club is raising the money through a crowdfunding campaign.

Mr Ellis said:

“He was president of the cricket club when he died. He was there every Saturday watching the game. He was there to give advice, had a great sense of humour and was loved by everybody. He was a real character.”

Mr Proud was a former woodwork teacher at Bedale secondary school and cricket was his passion. He played for Masham CC for over 30 years with and represented other local clubs.

He also was instrumental in setting up Masham Sports Association, a charitable organisation that supports cricket, bowls, tennis and football in the market town.

Mr Proud died during the height of the Covid pandemic in April and Mr Ellis said the club wanted to do something special for his family.

He added:

“The church at Masham would have been packed out with people who played sport either with or against Tony over the years.”

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Currently, the club has an old-fashioned pull-chord scoreboard and Mr Ellis said an electronic version would “bring the club into the 21st century”.

He is confident the community will come together to raise the target of £5,000. He added:

“I’m sure the community will support what we’re trying to do because he was such a big character. Everybody knew Tony.”

If the club raises £5,000, it will have an official opening of the electronic scoreboard next year, which will double up as a celebration of Mr Proud’s cricketing life.

You can donate to the crowdfunder here.

Harrogate Town fans have been asked to nominate someone whose mental health has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic and is deserving of a special Zoom call from a first-team player.

The initiative is part of mental health charity Mind’s ‘Do One Thing’ campaign, which inspires people to make one small change or take one action to look after their mental health. All English Football League clubs are taking part.

Nominations should be emailed to community@harrogatetownafc.com by Friday October 9. A group of senior Town players will then judge the nominations.

Supporters can also get involved in the campaign by sharing on social media their one piece of advice or activity that can improve mental health.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said:

“Coronavirus has undoubtedly affected the lives and routines of many fans. Whether that’s seeing familiar faces on the terraces on match day or celebrating/commiserating the result with fellow fans after, many fans will feel that the current climate has left them less able to do the things that support their mental health.

“Whether it’s going for a walk, learning a new skill or doing something creative, taking the first steps to getting support for yourself, or reaching out to someone else; Mind and the EFL are encouraging fans to do one thing for better mental health this World Mental Health Day.”

Read more:

• BT Sport to broadcast Harrogate Town documentary tonight

• Harrogate Town chairman on life without fans

On Friday night BT Sport aired “Proud To Be Town”, a 90-minute documentary filmed during and after lockdown.

It included contributions from manager Simon Weaver and first-team players who opened up about how the three-month shutdown of professional sport affected their mental wellbeing.

As cars are banned from roads around primary schools elsewhere in the country, could Harrogate see new schemes introduced to do the same?

The national School Streets project aims to make streets near to schools a safer place for children, increase opportunities for them to walk or cycle, and reduce their exposure to toxic air pollution.

While North Yorkshire County Council has not said it will introduce School Streets, its Open Harrogate project – which aims to encourage active travel – confirmed on Twitter the possibility is being explored.

School Streets was pioneered in Hackney, London in 2017 and has since gone on across the country including at Yorkshire primary schools in Halifax, York, Leeds and Sheffield.

In Hackney, vehicles are able to apply for exemptions but only if they are a blue badge holder or a resident or business inside the School Streets zone.

Since School Streets first came to the London borough, children cycling to participating schools has increased by over 50%, with traffic outside the schools reducing by around two-thirds.

‘Behaviour change’

The idea of School Streets has been welcomed by environmental campaign groups. Caroline Linford from Sustainably Harrogate told the Stray Ferret that the scheme would help enforce “behaviour change” for parents in Harrogate.

She said:

“Improving congestion and pollution around schools is a bit of a chicken and egg issue. One of the reasons parents drop their children close to school is because it’s not safe for them to walk or cycle, but by doing so they’re actually exacerbating the problem.

“School Streets help enforce behaviour change and show parents that the school run can be a relaxed, safe, quiet and pollution free.”

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• ‘Act now before a child is killed’

The walking and cycling charity Sustrans published a survey last week which involved more than 1,000 parents of children under 16. It found seven in ten (71%) parents agreed that local authorities should take steps to make it easier for families to walk and cycle to school.

According to David who runs the Harrogate-based cycling website Hedgehog Cycling, School Streets would make it safer for children to get to school.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“Children should be able to walk or cycle safely to school, but if school streets are full of vehicles parents will rightly worry about their safety. NYCC has been encouraging active travel through Open Harrogate, but it’s not enough just to encourage. Only if the local authority also makes it safe and easy will it happen.

“Small children and big SUVs don’t mix, and it would be great to see a plan to remove traffic danger around all schools in Harrogate.”

The Stray Ferret has recently heard concerns about the volume of traffic near to Killinghall and Western primary schools.

Sarah Bassitt, the headteacher of Killinghall Church of England Primary School, said she worries that traffic on Otley Road could eventually see a child killed.

Tim Broad, headteacher at Western Primary School, said the first week back was “chaotic” at pick-up time, adding:

“This is the first time I can remember feeling deeply concerned that we could have a road traffic accident.”

Ten years ago this week, Harrogate Town and Bolton Wanderers were five divisions apart, with the Lancashire club plying their trade in the Premier League and Town in the National League North.

That year, 2010/11, was Simon Weaver’s first full season as player/manager of the club and Bolton’s side was littered with internationals including future England stars Daniel Sturridge and Gary Cahill.

But sport can be a great leveler and the two clubs will face each other for the first time in a competitive fixture at 3pm today. The game will be played at Town’s temporary home of the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster.

Simon Weaver’s men have been in buoyant form so far in League Two and are unbeaten after three games. They made an immediate statement, beating Southend 4-0 on the opening day of the season, and last Saturday they secured a battling point against the fancied Port Vale.

Bolton were relegated from League One last season and are one of the favourites for promotion – however, they have so far failed to pick up a win.

Simon Weaver said he hopes his team can build on their good form.

He said:

“The Bolton game is a huge one for us. They’re a massive club, with history, a big fan-base and a fantastic stadium, but they haven’t had the best of starts and they’ll be desperate to put that right this weekend.

“We can’t allow them to do that. We have to be on the front foot, making life difficult for them and all-energy with and without the ball. We’ve made a positive start to the season and we have to be relentless in trying to build on that.”

Read more

• BT Sport to broadcast Harrogate Town documentary tonight

• Harrogate Town chairman on life without fans

Bolton manager Ian Evvet was full of praise for Town ahead of the game.

He said:

“They put you under pressure and they’ll put the ball into areas that force you to defend. They’re very good from set pieces as most League Two teams are, and we have to be at the races it’s as simple as that. We have to make sure we’re better with and without the ball than we were last Saturday.”

Town midfielder Jack Muldoon missed out on the trip to Port Vale with a minor muscle injury and he could come back into contention today.

Goalkeeper James Belshaw continues to progress in his recovery from a hand injury but he’ll most likely be unavailable, with Joe Cracknell continuing to deputise.

Bolton manager Ian Evatt said new signing Lloyd Isgrove will miss the game against Town because of an injury. Arthur Gnahoua is fit and available and could come into contention for a start.

Antoni Sarcevic and Shaun Miller returned to training this week and could be available for a place in the matchday squad.

Town fans can stream the game live through the club’s website for £10.

Harrogate Borough Council is preparing a public consultation on the location of 3,000 new homes to be built near the villages of Green Hammerton and Cattal.

Planning consultant Gillespies has produced a report for the council setting out three possible sites for the development, including a preferred option on land south of Cattal train station.

Along with the housing, the plans include two new primary schools, employment space and retail units.

HBC’s cabinet will meet on Wednesday to discuss the report and potentially approve a consultation that would begin later this year.

In February, developers Oakgate Group submitted plans to HBC for Maltkin Village, a scheme near to Cattal.

The three new settlement options to be discussed by the cabinet on Wednesday are below. The orange colour indicates where the new housing would be built, green indicates green spaces and purple indicates employment space. Blue shows where the “local centre” of the development would be.

Meanwhile, plans submitted in 2017 for 2,750 new homes at Flaxby which were due to be discussed by planners on Tuesday will now be heard at a later date. The developer, Flaxby Park Ltd, had not been informed of the committee date due to a “technical error”.

A council spokesperson said “as a gesture of goodwill” the authority would offer the developer more time to prepare. A new date is yet to be set.

Option One

This option focuses on the area north of the railway line between Cattal and Hammerton train stations and incorporates the village edges of Green Hammerton and Kirk Hammerton.

Option One – ‘Central Focus’

Option Two

This option focuses on the area north of the railway line around Cattal station, with the majority of the development located south of the A59.

Option Two – ‘North of Cattal Station Focus’

Option Three

This option focuses on the area around Cattal station expanding towards the south and southwest of the railway line. This is the current preferred option, according to the report to be discussed by the cabinet on Wednesday.

Option Three – ‘Cattal Station Focus’

Read more:

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• Council accused of ‘steamrollering’ through Green Hammerton plans

‘Clawback’

A report written in 2017 by Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at North Yorkshire County Council, revealed that the county council would make money on some land at Green Hammerton if it were developed.

The report states that in 2003, NYCC sold land at Green Hammerton to farmer Derek Pickles. When the council sold the land, there was a covenant attached that said if planning permission were granted within 30 years for any other use of the property, a “clawback” would apply. This would result in NYCC receiving 70% of the uplift in the land’s open market value.

The land owned by Derek Pickles is highlighted in purple.

According to the report published by Gillespies, the land owned by Mr Pickles, which is close to the village of Green Hammerton, would primarily fall into options one and two and not the preferred option around Cattal train station.

Harrogate Borough Council adopted its Local Plan in March 2020 and chose Green Hammerton as the broad location for a new settlement in the district.

However, the choice has been contested by Flaxby Park Ltd, which wants to create a new village on a former golf course to the east of Knaresborough.

As reported in the Stray Ferret yesterday, Harrogate Borough Council will head to the High Court in London later this month for a judicial review that will decide whether or not the decision to choose Green Hammerton over Flaxby for a new settlement was unlawful.

If found to be unlawful, the decision on where to place the new settlement may have to made again.

Harrogate Town’s fairytale ascent into the English Football League will be the subject of a major TV documentary tonight.

Proud To Be Town will be premiered on BT Sport at 10pm and will be available on the BT Sport app on Saturday.

BT Sport is billing the 90-minute programme as the first full-length documentary to highlight the “profound impact” of the Covid pandemic on football.

Filming for the documentary began in June when the club began preparing for the National League playoffs after the season had been curtailed in March due to the lockdown. Town went on to win a historic Wembley playoff final against Notts County 3-1 in August.

The behind-the-scenes film traces the club’s exploits on the pitch as well as exploring how coronavirus hit the club’s finances.

Read more:

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• Harrogate Town faces ‘cliff edge’, warns chairman

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said:

“This is not just the story of one club. It reflects aspects of almost every football club in the country amid the Covid pandemic.

“A large proportion of the film was self-shot by members of the team and club staff on phones and tablets, who enthusiastically recorded their experiences of lockdown, getting back into action and making their historic bid for promotion.

“We are grateful for the club’s collaboration.”

Residents on Whinney Lane have said lights used to brighten a temporary footpath at night are so intense they are like “a Leeds Bradford airport runway”.

Whinney Lane in Pannal Ash is closed to traffic until February 28 while work on the 130-home Castle Hill Farm housing development is carried out.

A temporary footpath has been created through a field that bypasses most of Whinney Lane.

The Squinting Cat pub requested developer Stonebridge Homes installed lights on the footpath to make it safer for people walking to-and-from the pub at night.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said the lights have been in operation since Monday. He praised Stonebridge for installing them but said the brightness was “totally over the top”.

He said the lights were good for safety but added:

“It’s lit the footpath up but it’s also lit our bedroom up. I’ve had enough of it.”

Read more:

• Residents mobilise against Whinney Lane developments

• 270 homes and primary school proposed for Whinney Lane

Another resident Mike Newall, who is a former pilot, said the lights reminded him of his flying days. He welcomed them being installed but described the brightness as “overkill”.

North Yorkshire County Council said it had not received any complaints from residents about the lights.

The Stray Ferret contacted Stonebridge about the brightness but had not received a response at the time of publication.