New technology will tackle weeds in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon town centres following the coronavirus lockdown.
In a pilot scheme, North Yorkshire County Council will begin using a machine that uses hot water insulated by biodegradable foam – made from plant oils and sugars – to keep the liquid hot to kill weeds and moss right at their root without the use of harsh chemicals such as herbicide.
The Foamstream machine also sterilises surrounding seeds and spores to stop weeds spreading and then kills or damages the plant to prevent regrowth.
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As well as killing weeds, the machine is able to clean chewing gum off roads.
If the pilot is a success, the council said they will use the machines across the county.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for highways at NYCC said the machine will help make town centres more attractive. He said:
Harrogate councillors back £4.5m social housing investment“I welcome the use of this new, environment-friendly technological way to get rid of weeds from our roads and footpaths. This is particularly suited to our town centres, where a clean, weed-free streetscene is good for businesses, shoppers and visitors.”
Councillors have backed a major investment into social housing in Harrogate.
Meeting last night on Zoom, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet gave the green light for the authority to spend £4.5m on 52 properties that are currently being built on Whinney Lane in Pannal Ash.
16 of the homes would be transferred to HBC’s housing company, Bracewell Homes, to be sold under shared ownership, and the rest would be made available for social rent.
Developer Stonebridge Homes has planning permission to build 130 homes at the site with work currently underway. The homes earmarked by HBC for purchase are scheduled for completion in November.
Councillors were told that around 1,500 council homes have been lost in Harrogate town centre since Right to Buy was introduced in 1980 which the Whinney Lane purchase will help mitigate.
Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing, called the purchase “good news” for HBC.
Cllr Graham Swift, cabinet member for economic development emphasised that HBC’s housing stock has been “significantly” reduced due to Right to Buy sales and the investment would “alleviate some of the demand from social housing that is there.”
HBC says it could recoup between £1.18m and £2.37m from the 16 shared ownership properties, with the council turning a profit on the purchase after at least 13 years thanks to the rental income.
Cllr Chambers said the purchase will help get families off the council home waiting list, which currently stands at 1,249 households.
However, the council’s report into the purchase warned there is “uncertainty” over the medium to long-term future of the housing market as estate agents in the district report a “pent up” demand for housing following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
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In related news, almost 50 Pannal Ash residents met on Sunday at the Squinting Cat pub to “mobilise” against hundreds of new houses proposed for Whinney Lane.
It was organised by Whinney Lane resident Mike Newall who wanted the event to be a “wake-up call” for locals who he said will face years of disruption.
Harrogate district event venues light up in ‘red alert’The Harrogate Convention Centre, Harrogate International Festival’s HQ and Ripon Catherdral lit up in red last night as part of a national campaign to highlight the plight of the stricken live entertainment industry.
The “Red Alert” campaign aims to put pressure on the government to give financial support to the industry which has been shut down by the coronavirus lockdown with no clear end in sight.
HIF cancelled its summer season events which has left freelancers working in the sector including artists, events teams, crew and technicians with no work until at least next year.
Harrogate International Festivals chief executive Sharon Canavar warned that without government support the sector could collapse.
She said:
“The impact of COVID-19 has taken our industry to near breaking point, and to support this national campaign, we bathed our Cheltenham Parade base in bright red light – sending an urgent ‘red alert’ to the Government.
“Red is the universal symbol of danger and, as an industry, we are in danger of ceasing to exist!
“It’s an urgent SOS that without support, the arts will not survive.”
Harrogate Convention Centre tweeted its support for the campaign.
Tonight we are showing our support for all the UK’s live event venues #LightItInRed and the amazing staff, suppliers and freelancers in our sector who deliver the live events we love #WeMakeEvents pic.twitter.com/dMXhvuT4rJ
— Harrogate Convention Centre (@HgtConventions) August 11, 2020
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10,000 tune into to Harrogate International Festivals’ virtual weekender
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Harrogate International Festivals’ virtual “word-class” line-up
Ripon Cathedral
Harrogate Theatre said they would not be lighting up in red “at a later date” due to concerns over health and safety.
Chief executive David Bown said:
“Of course we want to support the campaign it’s keeping the plight of theatres in people’s consciousness -our technicians are looking into it. The movement is to remind people of what is happening and the impact on the industry.
“It’s the health and safety that we have to be careful with, leaving lights on when no-one is in the building.”
The government said it has launched a £1.57 billion support package for the arts with applications for funding still open.
A government spokesperson said:
Grouse shooting in Nidderdale: barbaric or necessary?“Our £1.57 billion support package is the biggest ever one-off cash injection in UK culture to secure the future of the performing arts and live events, protect jobs in the industry and ensure work continues to flow to freelancers. Throughout this crisis, we have worked with urgency to support the arts and we are committed to delivering this funding quickly and fairly to organisations across the country.”
Today is the so-called “Glorious Twelfth”, the start of the shooting season for red grouse in the UK.
Grouse shoots are either barbaric or a crucial part of a rural life depending on who you ask.
They are held in the Harrogate district across Nidderdale and are legal. It’s argued that the shoots are vital for the management of moorland but campaigners say a spate of birds of prey killings near to Patelely Bridge this year has raised fresh questions about the practice.
Leeds-based campaigner Luke Steele told the Stray Ferret that birds of prey such as buzzards, hen harriers or red kite are killed on moorland near to Harrogate because they eat grouse eggs, and shoots rely on an abundance of grouse when the season begins.
He said it’s “inevitable” that more will be killed as the grouse shooting season begins.
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Mr Steele said it’s “difficult to separate” the legal killing of grouse with the illegal killing of birds of prey and called on the government to introduce stricter legislation to stop wildlife crime.
He said:
“There’s an antiquated view that we need to be killing off the birds and burning the heather to create the habitat for the grouse. It doesn’t need to happen.
North Yorkshire Police has issued several appeals for information this year after birds of prey were found either shot or poisoned in Nidderdale — but it’s historically been difficult to prosecute.
The issue was highlighted in July by TV presenter Chris Packham when he told the Independent that not just birds of prey were being killed to protect grouse moors, but also foxes, weasels and stoats.
Andrew Gilruth from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, a charity that promotes grouse shooting, told the Stray Ferret that birds of prey are killed by a small minority of landowners or gamekeepers.
He said:
“If you’re going to look at individual cases of people breaking the law then the police are looking at them. It’s not my job to end all wildlife crime.”
“But there’s a coalition of people fed up with their livelihoods being played with by celebrities like Chris Packham. They are being presented to the world as evil people.”
The food chain
Mr Gilruth claimed people taking part in grouse shoots will eat every bird they kill.
He said it is hypocritical to criticise grouse shooting when shoppers in the district will happily buy meat from the supermarket.
He added those criticising grouse shooting have become removed from where their food comes from and have instead “subcontracted killing to supermarkets”.
He added:
“Would you rather be a grouse flying around where you might get shot or you might not — living the life of Riley — or would you like to be a supermarket chicken who lives to the grand age of 30 days then gets gassed and presented in cling film in a supermarket?”
The rural economy
Mr Gilruth said grouse shooting is vital for the rural economy, bringing visitors to Nidderdale who will stay in B & Bs and eat and drink in local pubs.
He said the thought of this ending “terrifies” many local businesses and said campaigners who want to stop grouse shooting have not come up with a viable alternative for what the moorland will be used for.
He said:
“What jobs will they have? What’s going to happen once you’ve decided to end this?”
However, Luke Steele called the tourism aspect “massively overplayed”.
He suggested that more news reports of birds of prey being killed to protect grouse moors could even damage the reputation of Nidderdale and keep tourists away.
He said:
Ripon Barracks transport assessment ‘flawed’, says council“It’s affecting the reputation of Nidderdale and the local community.
“In a time when the country is recovering from the covid crisis the last thing Nidderdale needs is bird of prey killings damaging the reputation, but that’s exactly what the grouse moors are doing.”
Ripon City Council says a transport assessment for the 1,300-home Ripon Barracks development is “flawed” — and a new road should be added to alleviate potential congestion.
The development will be called Clotherholme and encompasses Claro Barracks, Deverell Barracks and Laver Banks. It’s being developed by the government’s housing agency, Homes England, and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
As well as the new homes, the plans include a community centre, employment space, shops, parkland, a new primary school and sports facilities.
Homes England commissioned consultancy firm AECOM to undertake a study which would provide evidence on where roads will be built. This informed their masterplan for the development which included main access points on Clotherholme Road and Kirkby Road.
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However, Ripon City Council called this assessment “flawed” because it was undertaken during a period when there was less traffic coming through the city.
It said:
“It was collected during a very quiet period of time in the city, namely June. The city is quieter at that time for a number of reasons; many residents are on holiday – taking advantage of going away before the school holiday season; seasonal visitor numbers have yet to increase; some year groups at the secondary schools are absent, having already sat exams; the milder weather means that many residents might choose to walk rather than drive into the city centre.”
The council’s report, which was undertaken by Andrew Cameron & Associates, said a new road from Chatham Road to Galphay Lane and Studley Road could potentially relieve some of the congestion on Clotherholme Road.
It also said the development should reuse or replace the existing military bridge over the River Laver, to create a new connection to the south of the city.
It added that AECOM’s transport assessment did not do enough to encourage walking and cycling and called for a review into reopening the Harrogate to Ripon train line that was closed in 1967.
Homes England said Ripon City Council’s report “was not correct” and released the following statement to the Stray Ferret:
Harrogate Town bolsters squad with two new signings“The impact of traffic from major developments with a planning consents within Ripon have been taken into account as part of the transport assessment.
“The approach used by Aecom builds on ‘the Ripon Transport model’ which was used to inform the Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) Local Plan (which included the key allocations and consented developments).
“The approach behind the surveys is robust and the surveys were undertaken at a time which is in line with national guidance.
“The timing and location of the surveys formed part of a report to inform the Transport Assessment and this was agreed by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) who is the Local Highway Authority. The ACA report also did not raise concerns regarding the timing of surveys.”
“The proposed Galphay road link in not needed, and a new road in this location is not supported by the HBC adopted Local Plan or the NYCC Local Transport Plan.”
Harrogate Town have announced Jake Lawlor and Connor Kirby will join the club as they prepare for their first-ever campaign in the English Football League.
The two players will join Simon Weaver’s history-making squad who celebrated their promotion with an open-top bus parade on Saturday through Harrogate.
Centre back Lawlor, aged 29, joins on a free transfer after his contract expired with Wrexham at the end of the season. The 6ft 4in Lawlor started his career at Osset Town before spells with Guiseley and Town’s local neighbours Harrogate Railway,
As well as scoring against Town during his time at Guiseley, Lawlor started both fixtures for Wrexham home and away against Town this season and is familiar to manager Simon Weaver.
Weaver said:
“I’ve liked Jake for years, he’s a good player and to add someone of Jake’s experience still with that hunger to improve is a real lift.”
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Connor Kirby who signs on a free transfer.
Midfielder Connor Kirby joins on a free transfer from Sheffield Wednesday after being named runner-up player of the season during a loan spell at fellow League Two outfit Macclesfield Town.
Weaver described him as a “really energetic midfielder”.
He said:
Harrogate out-of-work benefits claims rise slightly“He’s local, talented lad and will do well here I’m sure – getting the right characters in means everything to us.”
“He’s a really energetic centre midfielder who is willing to break forward and put a tackle in, a good all-round, honest, hungry and talented lad.
“He has already shown he can do it in League Two and he’ll attack it with confidence; as soon as I met him I thought he would be a great fit for us.”
There has been a slight rise in the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district.
In July, there were 3,885 people claiming out-of-work benefits, up slightly from 3,740 in June. Of those, 2,235 were men and 1,650 were women.
The figures were published today by the Office for National Statistics and are accurate up to July 9. They reveal that 4.1% of the district’s population were claiming out-of-work benefits, a decrease from 3.9% in June.
Harrogate is below the UK figure of 6.4% for people claiming the benefits, which includes Job Seekers’ Allowance and Universal Credit.
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The figures have remained stable over the past couple of months but with the government’s furlough scheme winding down ahead of it closing completely in October, the long-term outlook for jobs in the Harrogate district remains uncertain.
According to Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, 15,200 people have had their jobs protected in the district through the furlough scheme since it began.
Last week, a study undertaken by the County Councils Network suggested that more than 50% of all jobs in Harrogate are “at risk” due to the economic impact of coronavirus.
Harrogate Climate Coalition faces fresh criticismAnother member of Harrogate’s Climate Coalition has spoken out against the group, saying it needs to be “more than a talking shop”.
Arnold Warneken from the Harrogate Green Party said he has written to Cllr Phil Ireland, who chairs the coalition, calling on Harrogate Borough Council to take “decisive action” in response to the climate emergency.
The Harrogate Climate Coalition was formed at the beginning of this year after HBC rejected calls to declare a climate emergency in 2019. It brings together councillors as well as green groups and local businesses — with the aim of working together in the name of sustainability and helping the environment.
However, since it was formed it has faced criticism, with members frustrated over progress in tackling climate change. In June, campaigner Malcolm Margolis resigned from the coalition’s sustainable transport subgroup because of a “lack of action”.
Mr Warneken said the coalition needs to “transform the way it operates and act with a real sense of urgency”.
He said:
“The coalition needs to be able to make policy recommendations to the council.
“Now is the time for Harrogate to be brave and forward thinking – for example, where are the sites for Park & Ride, where is the commitment for all council houses to be Passivhaus standard – it’s not enough just to say that these policies will be ‘considered’ or ‘encouraged’.
“The Climate Coalition has an important role to play in firstly guiding the council to declare a climate emergency, and then to strengthen the council’s commitment to achieve district-wide carbon-neutral status.
“I want the coalition to become a change-maker, not just a talking-shop!”.
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Cllr Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, told the Stray Ferret that the council has implemented a range of measures to improve the environment which he said is saving “hundreds of tonnes” of CO2 every year.
These include a carbon reduction strategy, a low emission car club and improvements to Harrogate rail and bus stations.
He also said Harrogate Borough Council’s move to the civic centre at Knapping Mount, which includes solar panels, green roofs and passive heating, is improving the authority’s carbon footprint.
He added:
Residents mobilise against Whinney Lane developments“The Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition, a partnership of businesses, public sector organisations and voluntary groups, not only supports these measures but has a joint aim of reducing carbon reduction activities throughout the Harrogate district.
“The most effective projects for achieving our ambitious targets are not going to happen overnight and the vast majority of members of the climate coalition understand this and are committed to working hard to we implement the right measures in the best way possible.
“This requires collective action and we will happily work with anyone and any group that is working to reduce carbon emissions to achieve net zero.”
Almost 50 Pannal Ash residents met last night at the Squinting Cat pub to “mobilise” against hundreds of new houses proposed for Whinney Lane.
It was organised by Whinney Lane resident Mike Newall who wanted the event to be a “wake-up call” for locals who he said will face years of disruption.
The developer Stonebridge is currently building 130 homes at Castle Hill Farm on Whinney Lane and last month plans were submitted by Banks Group for 270 homes and a new primary school on the fields opposite the Stonebridge development.
Pannal Ash residents meeting at the Squinting Cat pub last night.
Mr Newall spoke to give locals information about each development and advice for submitting objections to Harrogate Borough Council.
Whinney Lane is now closed for seven months due to the construction of two site access points for the Castle Hill Farm housing development as well as a new roundabout.
The lengthy closure has proved controversial and the manager of the Squinting Cat pub told the Stray Ferret that it “could kill” the business.
Mr Newall told the Stray Ferret that developers are “riding roughshod” over the area.
He said:
“All of a sudden people are realising that if we’re not careful it will be urban expansion. It will be a complete belt around Harrogate that is expanding into urban sprawl.
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While the latest set of plans from Banks Group is at a site allocated for development in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, Mr Newall is hopeful that because it is on Special Landscape Area (SLA) land, development could be delayed.
Since HBC adopted its long-awaited Local Plan in March, the planning committee has begun to refuse developments on sites that sit within the plan.
Last week, councillors refused 149 new homes on Kingsley Road near Harrogate High School because they said it would make already clogged roads in the area even worse.
Mr Newall added:
Harrogate firm to supply ‘covid-safe’ vending machines to airport“People are suddenly waking up to the fact that they have a big housing development behind them and they will be staring straight into someone’s bathroom. That’s what’s stirred up this current group.”
“Covid-safe” vending machines will be installed at Leeds Bradford Airport for passengers to buy food, drink and PPE.
Harrogate-based Livewell Vending Ltd is behind the “VendSafe” stations that sell snacks and drinks as well as face coverings and antibacterial spray.
Flights have now resumed at the airport but many airlines have suspended the sale of food and drink on flights to reduce in-flight contact points, and not all cafes at LBA have reopened.
Instead, there are three of the contactless stations available for passengers inside the airport.
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Livewell says products are stored in hygienic, temperature-controlled units behind glass screens. There are also hand sanitiser dispensers fixed to the front of each station for passengers to use.
The managing director of Livewell Vending, Aaron Prout, said:
“As a Harrogate-based business, we are delighted to provide automated vending services to passengers and staff at LBA. With the latest low-touch interface and contactless payments, these self-serve VendSafe stations are a great way to provide refreshments safely. We hope it’ll be a reassuring service to those travelling again.”
A spokesperson for Leeds Bradford Airport added:
“The resumption of flights is well and truly underway at Leeds Bradford Airport and we’re delighted to introduce Livewell contactless vending machines as part of our adjusted operations.
“Passengers can continue to use the airport safely, with access to refreshments, face coverings and hand gel. We see investments like this as important additions to the airport and thank Livewell for providing a timely solution.”