May 5 date set for first North Yorkshire Council elections

Elections will take place on May 5 to elect councillors to the new North Yorkshire Council.

The current two-tier system, where North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council provide different services locally, will be replaced by a single-tier system with one council in charge of England’s largest county.

A Structural Changes Order laid before Parliament, which paves the way for the elections, has confirmed the new council will be called North Yorkshire Council.

Councillors elected in May will serve on North Yorkshire County Council until April 1 2023 when they will move over to the new council.

Existing Harrogate borough councillors will remain in place until North Yorkshire Council is created.

There will be 90 new councillors in North Yorkshire Council, representing 89 divisions.

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Conservative Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council said:

“This is an exciting moment for North Yorkshire and one which I hope people will look back on in the future as a game-changer for the county’s economic fortunes. The new single council will give our county a much stronger voice regionally and nationally and allows us to bring together the very best of all eight councils to build the best possible new one.

“These are very important elections, because the councillors voted in this May will serve the final year of the county council and then they will be the voice of the people for the first four years of the new single council.”

Background to the shake-up

The government announced on July 21, 2021 there would be a new single council for North Yorkshire.

The first day of the new North Yorkshire Council will be 1 April 2023.

On the first day of the new council, the current North Yorkshire County Council, the borough councils of Harrogate and Scarborough and the district councils serving Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale and Selby will cease to exist.

Until then all eight councils in the county will continue to run their own services and make their own decisions, while working together on the change programme.

Infrastructure plan for 4,000 homes in west Harrogate ‘a missed opportunity’

A long-awaited plan to solve how the west of Harrogate’s roads, schools, and health services will cope with 4,000 extra homes has been branded a “missed opportunity”.

The comments have come from The Western Arc Coordination Group and Zero Carbon Harrogate, which had a meeting with council officers on Thursday to discuss  a draft version of the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan.

The Western Arc Coordination Group includes Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association (Hapara), Duchy Residents’ Association, Hampsthwaite Action Group, North Rigton Parish Council and Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council.

Proposed housing schemes in the area include the 1,000-home Windmill Farm development on Otley Road and 560 homes at Blue Coat Wood. The plan was written with input from developers, including Homes England and Gladman Developments.

It includes proposals for two new primary schools and a possible new GP surgery — which have been previously announced. The plan has yet to be released to the general public.

‘Almost as if no problems exist’

Rene Dziabas, chair of Hapara, told the Stray Ferret the plan “totally avoids the heart of the problem”.

At over 100 pages long, he said it lacked a summary at the start clearly explaining its purpose to address the area’s current “weak infrastructure”, such as roads.

He said:

“The purpose of this document is not made clear and totally avoids the heart of the problem in that an urban expansion is being proposed in a part of Harrogate with a weak infrastructure.

“There is no attempt at clearly stating what the problems are, and no attempt at associated analysis. HAPARA, as well as Pannal and Burn Bridge, North Rigton and Beckwithshaw Parish councils have been arguing this case for many years and there is no recognition within this document of their concerns. It is almost as if no problems exist. There needs to be a far clearer `entire West of Harrogate` context for this report.”

Mr Dziabas said that the WACG was disappointed the plan does not address how key arteries into the town, such as Otley Road, as well as country lanes around Pannal, Beckwithshaw and North Rigton, will cope with the inevitable increase in traffic.

Over 1,000 homes are set to be built on both sides of this section of Otley Road.

Mr Dziabas added:

“[Over the last eight years] there has been no improvement to the road system, many of which are country lanes, no real betterment of public transport, and little has happened on the active travel front which will only ever be a very small part of any overall solution”.

He added there needed to be “far more” in the plan about improvements to bus services.

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Secondary school places

The Stray Ferret reported this month that nearly 700 secondary school places will be needed in Harrogate and Knaresborough by 2025/26 to keep up with demand caused by new housing.

Mr Dziabas said the new homes would put further pressure on Harrogate Grammar School and Rossett School in particular.

He said:

“Whilst primary schools are covered in this document, little mention is made of secondary school places. The west of Harrogate has two busy secondary schools, and both are at or above capacity.”

Car culture

Jemima Parker, chair of Zero Carbon Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret the plan contained a “major omission” around energy for new homes, with no mention of onsite renewable energy, solar panels, small wind turbines or ground source heat pumps.

With spiralling energy costs, Ms Parker said greener homes would make people more resilient to the volatile market.

She said:

“There are pages and pages about design, but not a single mention of building design for energy-efficient homes, like passive houses. This ignores the council’s own planning policy guidance as set out in the Local Plan. We want residents’ homes to be built to zero-carbon standards now, not needing to be retrofitted later, and for low-carbon construction materials to be used.”

A passive house on Bogs Lane in Harrogate

Ms Parker believes the plan focuses too heavily on car-friendly developments.

“We are saddened to see that the plan still has a car culture, reliant on private ownership rather than shared transport and active travel. Given the location on the West of Harrogate we would like to see an imaginative ‘work from home’ settlement, picking up on the 15-minute neighbourhoods seen in other UK towns with plenty of access to car clubs.

“Overall it is disappointing the west of Harrogate may miss out on the opportunity to be designed appropriately both to reduce its carbon footprint and to be resilient to our changing climate.”

Council’s response

The draft plan is still to be ratified by the council.

A council spokesperson said:

“The development of west Harrogate provides an exciting opportunity to deliver quality place-making, a wide-range of private and affordable homes to meet the current housing demand, while also ensuring we have the necessary infrastructure to support these future communities.

“Once approved, the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan will create clear goals and objectives by identifying what infrastructure is required. For example, first-class community facilities, school provision, green infrastructure and sustainable travel opportunities.

“A number of suggestions have already helped shaped the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan and I’d like to thank those local residents groups and parish councils for their valuable feedback.”

Harrogate BID ‘waste of money’, says pub landlord

A Harrogate pub landlord has described the town’s Business Improvement District as a “waste of money” — and is refusing to pay the £370-a-year levy.

Marik Scatchard has been the landlord of Christies Bar on King’s Road for 14 years. He told the Stray Ferret that his pub has seen little benefit from the BID, which was set up in 2019 to improve Harrogate town centre

Businesses within Harrogate’s town centre pay the BID 1.5% of their rateable value a year on top of their usual business rates. Harrogate BID brings in around £500,000 from local firms.

Because a majority of companies voted to set up the BID, Christies is legally obliged to pay the levy. However, Mr Scatchard said he would not pay because the BID does not offer good value for money to levy payers and is run by a “private mates’ club”.

He said:

“We’re having to pay these levies but all they seem to do is put stickers in shop windows. I’m not paying. They can lock me up.”

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Whilst the landlord said the BID provided the pub with some furniture after lockdown and sponsored the Pubwatch scheme, he dismissed recent BID initiatives such as a ping pong table in the Victoria Shopping Centre.

He said the BID should focus its efforts on cleaning up King’s Road and Parliament Street, which he said were regularly strewn with litter.

BIDs have been criticised for doing jobs that have traditionally been under the remit of local councils, effectively taxing businesses twice.

Mr Scatchard said:

“Hardly anyone is in the ping pong room when I’ve been past. It’s a joke. It won’t bring anything to town.

“You don’t see them doing anything around the King’s Road area. It just winds me up, it doesn’t benefit me at all.”

BID’s response

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID Manager, said:

“We are well aware of Mr Scatchard’s views on the BID and the levy. Whilst he hasn’t paid his levy for the last two years, he has been happy to accept support from us, in particular outdoor furniture to help him out of the first lockdown in July 2020. He also had BID-funded flower boxes surrounding his venue.

“Christies also benefits from our sponsorship of Harrogate Pubwatch, and if he so chose to, he could take advantage of the LoyalFree app to help promote his business, and also become a member of the Harrogate Gift Card Scheme.

“He could also apply for a £750 match-funded grant, which would more than pay for one year’s levy! And whilst happy to criticise us on social media, he isn’t keen to speak with us in person, which we have tried to do on several occasions.

“Even though he personally doesn’t like the ping pong parlour, which I’m delighted to say is reopening at the end of the month, there are many who do, and these people make special trips into town to make use of this BID-funded activity.

“Finally, perhaps he’d like to pass comment on our recent festive partnership with Harrogate Borough Council and Destination Harrogate? Without BID and the levy, much of this would simply have not been possible.”

Harrogate district reports 222 positive covid cases

The Harrogate district has reported 222 positive covid cases today according to UK Health Security Agency figures.

Latest government figures show that the district’s seven-day covid average has dropped to 1,059 per 100,000 people.

However, it is above the county average, which is 970, and the England rate of 977.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England.

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There are 20 covid patients currently being treated at Harrogate District Hospital.

According to government figures, 106,434 booster or third jabs have been given in the Harrogate district, as of today.

Harrogate College to host week of networking events for businesses

Harrogate College is to host a week of sector-specific networking events for businesses next month.

The events will be held between Monday 14 and Friday 18 February. They are free and open to anyone who books a place via the college’s Employers’ Network page. 

The sessions will cover energy and construction, health and social care, hospitality and retail, digital, education and training and business and finance. 

They have been set up to facilitate talks between employers working in similar fields.

The college will use feedback from participating businesses to tailor its curriculum — and, if required, start new courses — to ensure it is delivering the skills that are most in demand by local firma.

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Harrogate College’s partnerships and development manager, Holly Hansen-Maughan, urged businesses to sign up.

Holly Hansen-Maughan

Ms Hansen-Maughan said:

“Launching the employers’ network sparked such a positive discussion between all kinds of businesses, and this is a great chance to build on that.

“These sessions will allow people to mingle with others in their own industries, find out more about each other and potentially mutually beneficial opportunities, and explore those kinds of discussions further.

“You do not have to be a current network member to take part – you just have to book a place through our website.

“The network is growing and thriving and we look forward to welcoming new businesses along in February to find out more about it, and the benefits it brings.”

For full details, and links to book a place, visit the Harrogate College website.

                                        

Council urges residents to report ‘increased’ dog fouling in Harrogate

Harrogate Borough Council has urged residents to report dog fouling to its dog warden team.

It comes after an increase in reports of dog owners not picking up after their pets around Harlow Hill.

The council’s dog warden service said in a post on Facebook that the Otley Road area around Beckwith Road, Nursery Lane and the ginnel from the Shepherd’s Dog Pub to the allotments was “particularly bad”.

It urged people to report anyone seen using the same route regularly who does not pick up their dog’s mess, either by getting in touch on its website or by calling 01423 500600.

The statement said:

“Without this information it makes it harder to focus patrols and make a difference.”

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The council can issue fixed penalty notices of up to £80 for dog fouling. However, an FOI request submitted by the Stray Ferret last year revealed the council had issued no fines for dog fouling in the preceding 12 months.

It looks after more than 250 dog waste bins across the district.

Green Shoots: Harrogate Town’s vegan footballer who is passionate about environment

Harrogate Town midfielder George Thomson is part of a growing cohort of professional footballers who are vegan and passionate about the environment.

Fan favourite Thomson joined Town in 2017. He’s played more than 160 matches and been a key cog in Simon Weaver’s history-making side that was promoted to the English Football League for the first time in the club’s 100-year existence. Town are at home to Oldham this afternoon.

Players including Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero and England player Jesse Lingard have gone vegan for health reasons but Thomson told the Stray Ferret his conscience couldn’t allow him to continue eating meat. He made the switch five years ago.

He said:

“Agriculture is one of the main contributors to global warming, it gives off a high percentage of greenhouse gases. It’s known to contribute more than even cars.” 

Thompson was shocked after watching the Netflix documentary Cowspiracy, which exposed the impact of meat on climate change, water use, deforestation and ocean dead zones.

He also said that ethically he could no longer eat meat due to the suffering caused to animals.

He added:

“I saw what happens and I didn’t want to be a part of it. I didn’t want that on my conscience.

“There’s so much information now so I did lots of research.” 

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Thomson, who is known as one of the fittest players in Town’s squad, said it’s a misconception that becoming vegan will result in a lack of protein.

“I wasn’t going to be deficient in something that would affect my job. What stuck with me, no vegan player has been to a doctor with a protein deficiency. There’s protein in every single food. We eat a lot of beans and lentils that are high in protein. It’s like anything, you get used to it and it becomes easy.”

He’s not the only vegan at the club: midfielder Alex Pattison also recently made the switch, although Thomson said they face some friendly banter from the meat-eaters in the dressing room.

‘Something I believe in’

Forest Green Rovers, who play in League Two alongside Harrogate, have been described by FIFA as the “greenest club in the world” and they’ve even been recognised by the UN for their eco-credentials.

Only vegan meals are served at their ground, which is powered by 100% renewable energy and includes electric vehicle charging points.

Thomson, who cycles to training, said he supported the club’s model:

“It’s a great concept what they’ve done at Forest Green, even the kit is made of recycled plastic.

“The environment is a massive topic at the minute, everyone is beginning to be more conscious about their carbon footprint. For me, being vegan helps massively and you have the health benefits on top. I’d support what they’ve done there massively, it’s something I believe in”.

And with vegans options now much more mainstream, he said he doesn’t have to miss out on a celebratory pizza with teammates after a match thanks to Dominos’ vegan option.

Police say wanted man may be in Harrogate

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for information to find a wanted man with links to Harrogate.

Andon Llalla, 40, is wanted on recall to prison. It is unclear what Llalla was jailed for.

Police initially asked for information on the whereabouts of Llalla in October. Officers today renewed their appeal to the public to come forward if they have seen him or know his whereabouts.

He also has links to Halifax and Brighouse in West Yorkshire.

A police statement added:

“If you see him or have information for the police, call North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference number 12210179751.

“To report information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

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Exclusive: Council invests £20m in cancer-causing tobacco companies

A North Yorkshire County Council-controlled pension fund invests over £20m in two of the world’s largest tobacco companies, despite the council being in charge of public health and running its own quit smoking service.

The revelations come as part of a series of investigations by the Stray Ferret into controversial investments made by the North Yorkshire Pension Fund, which is controlled by the council.

You can click on the links to read our previous reports on how NYCC’s pension fund invests in fossil fuel companies and arms companies.

The Stray Ferret obtained a full list of the companies the pension fund invests in through a freedom of information request.

The NHS estimates smoking kills more than 1,000 people every year in North Yorkshire but the council’s pension fund holds £12.4m worth of shares in British American Tobacco and £8.9m in Phillip Morris.

Matt Walker, an NHS manager from Knaresborough who is also a Liberal Democrat campaigner, told the Stray Ferret he has seen first-hand the damage smoking has had on people’s health, including his own grandparents.

He said:

“If I was lucky enough to have a private pension then I certainly wouldn’t want it invested in tobacco companies. I don’t smoke for a good reason; I saw the painful premature death of my grandparents who both died within days of each other from smoking-related diseases.

“As someone who has worked in health locally for nearly two decades, I know that in North Yorkshire smoking continues to be the biggest preventable cause of ill health and early death.”

‘Live its values’

NYCC has a document called the North Yorkshire Tobacco Control Strategy for 2015-2025.

It says the council has a “proven record of success” in the provision of stop smoking services, with rates falling, in part thanks to its quit smoking service called Living Well Smokefree. The service is available to anyone aged from 12 and offers one-to-one help to quit.

Cllr Caroline Dickinson and LivingWell Smokefree team members.

The report says the county still has work to do, particularly with young people and those with mental health issues. It says:

“The impact of tobacco is felt most by the poorest in the county, not just on the smokers but also on their children and their communities. We must protect the health of future generations by ensuring smoking prevalence continues to fall.”

NHS manager Matt Walker called on the council to “live its values” and divest from its holdings in tobacco companies.

He added:

“The council also has smoking policies to protect the health and wellbeing of its staff. It’s important that any organisation lives its values. North Yorkshire County Council fails at the final hurdle as its pension fund holds over £20million in tobacco companies.”

‘Not an issue’

Harrogate Borough Council Conservative councillor Jim Clark has sat on the Pension Fund’s committee of councillors since 2001.

He told the Stray Ferret that he “doesn’t think there is an issue” with the council pension fund profiting from tobacco companies whilst at the same time being in charge of public health.

Cllr Clark pointed to the way tobacco giants such as British American Tobacco have diversified in recent years.

The companies now sell, what they market as, healthier alternatives to cigarettes, such as vapes and oral nicotine products.

Philip Morris’ chief executive Jacek Olczak said he hopes half of the company’s revenue will come from these smoke-free products by 2025.

Cllr Clark said:

“We know there’s a health issue with tobacco but some of these companies have other activities. It’s very difficult to get a company that deals in one activity now.

“We must remember, if we have shares in these companies, we can help to inform the debate.”

Responsible investment policy

As we have reported this week, the pension fund investments are managed by a private company called Border To Coast.

Government guidelines say fund managers can take ethical, social or environmental concerns into account when it invests, providing the fund’s finances do not suffer.

However, North Yorkshire’s responsible investment policy, last updated in July 2021, states that it will not implement an “exclusionary policy” against companies for ethical or social reasons.

It says:

“Whilst the Fund recognises that there is the potential for investment in certain sectors to cause harm, it will not implement an exclusionary policy against investment in any particular sector or company purely based on social, ethical or environmental reasons”.

Divesting from tobacco

The Greater Manchester Pension Fund, currently the largest local authority fund in the UK, divested from tobacco stocks in 2014.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the health charity ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) told the Stray Ferret that North Yorkshire should follow suit.

Ms Arnott said:

“Local authority pension funds have a legal duty to get the best deal for their pensioners, but that doesn’t mean they have to invest in tobacco companies.

“Greater Manchester, the largest fund in the Local Government Pension Scheme disinvested from tobacco stocks years ago, on the basis that the tobacco sector is relatively small as a proportion of world equity markets and the Fund’s investment managers’ views were that such exclusion was unlikely to have a material adverse impact on returns.

“What’s true for Greater Manchester’s pension fund is equally true for North Yorkshire.”

Gary Fielding, treasurer of North Yorkshire Pension Fund for North Yorkshire County Council, said: 

“The pension fund needs to get the balance right on responsible investment and ensuring funds are available to pay pensions without further call on local taxpayers

“Rather than divesting from companies, the fund believes active engagement gives it, in collaboration with other pension funds, greater influence in effecting change within companies.”

Do you pay into the North Yorkshire Pension Fund and have an opinion on our investigation? Contact thomas@thestrayferret.co.uk 

Ripon council leader calls swimming club price hike ‘disgusting’

The leader of Ripon City Council has said it’s “appalling and disgusting” that a volunteer-run children’s swimming club won’t be able to use the city’s new £15m pool after Harrogate Borough Council tripled its fee.

The Stray Ferret reported yesterday that Ripon City Swimming Club has been offered space at the Jack Laugher Leisure Centre, but only if it stumped up £12,500 a year — almost three times what it was previously paying. This has effectively out-priced them.

The pool will be run by Brimhams Active, the arms-length leisure company set up by Harrogate Borough Council last year.

The club said it was ‘absolutely gutted” it won’t be able to afford to use the pool, which is due to open this month although no date has yet been set.

Ripon council leader, Cllr Andrew Williams, told the Stray Ferret that the move by Brimhams Active sent a negative message to young families in Ripon. He said;

“I couldn’t believe what I was reading in the Stray Ferret article.

“The idea they want to charge a commercial rate to local volunteers who are trying to provide something to local children. They should be given the pool free of charge. It’s disgusting and appalling.”

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Brimhams Active had wanted to amalgamate the club, which taught children to swim at the now-closed Spa Baths as far back as the 1930s, with its own swimming lessons. However, the club declined because it wanted to remain separate from the council.

Cllr Williams accused Brimhams of “exerting its commercial position unfairly”. He said he plans to raise the issue at the next Ripon City Council meeting in February.

“They didn’t come under the council’s umbrella with Spa Baths, so why now? It doesn’t wash at all. Brimhams wants to monopolise swimming lessons in the district.

“The situation has been badly handled by Brimhams and Harrogate Borough Council.”

The council’s response

A spokesperson for Brimhams Active said:

“Our Learn to Swim programme that is accredited by Swim England – the governing body for swimming – teaches swimmers how to be competent and confident in the water, and follows a recognised framework that provides a love for swimming and the skills and motivation required to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. It also provides reassurance to our customers that they will receive the highest level of coaching and safety standards.

“We have offered to work with Ripon City Swimming Club, enable them to fit into this district-wide development pathway and become a Swim England accredited recreational swimming club for children who have completed the fundamentals of our Learn to Swim programme.

“The club have also been offered the use of the pool at the same rate they were previously paying, should they wish to work with us and accept this offer.

“Should the club not wish to accept this offer, they are welcome to explore the hire of the pool at the commercial rate.”