A councillor has said Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to relocate its horticultural nursery from Harlow Hill will mean a “big, sad loss” for the area.
The authority’s cabinet met yesterday to rubber stamp buying land for a larger nursery elsewhere in the district.
The move paves the way for a sale of the current facility at Harlow Hill to a housing developer, with 62 homes mooted.
The council grows flowers for its displays across the district at the site on Nursery Lane. It also sells plants to members of the public to bring in revenue.
Officers prepared a report that does not disclose the specific location of the land the council wants to buy, citing a confidentiality exemption, only that it’s in the Killinghall and Hampsthwaite ward and is valued above £250,000.
Liberal Democrat member for Harlow & St Georges Division on North Yorkshire County Council, Michael Schofield, told the Local Democracy Service the move away from Harlow Hill will be keenly felt by residents as many have walked there to buy plants for decades.
He said:
“You’re forcing people who live here to drive their car elsewhere. That could be detrimental and it’s not very eco-friendly.”
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Cllr Schofield is also landlord of the nearby Shepherd’s Dog pub and he decorates the pub with plants bought from the nursery.
He said many people enjoy buying plants there and walking through the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens afterwards.
He added the nursery also serves as part of a horticultural trail as it connects with RHS Harlow Carr and the charity-run nursery Horticap. He said:
“I understand what people may call progress but we have three fantastic horticultural sites all within walking distance of each other. That inspires people. Residents living here will be very sad to see it go.”
‘Need to move on’
Harlow Hill is not represented on Harrogate Borough Council after Conservative Jim Clark resigned in October. There will not be a by-election as the council will be abolished on March 31.
The council argues in the report discussed last night that a move to a larger site will enable greater commercial opportunities.
The Harlow Hill nursery is a significant earner for the council with its 2020/21 annual report stating it brought in income of £153,477.
Conservative cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, Cllr Sam Gibbs, told cabinet that the move away from Harlow Hill is “the right next step”. He said:
Harrogate’s Rachel Daly named WSL Player of the Month — again!“We will be aware of all the good that the Harlow Hill nursery does but also its shortcomings, particularly around size and commercial opportunities going forward. Therefore, there’s a real need to move on from Harlow Hill as we look to the future.
“The land identified seems to tick all the boxes and I’m fully supportive if all other members are.”
Harrogate-born footballer Rachel Daly’s amazing year continued today when she was named Barclays Women’s Super League Player of the Month for November.
Daly, who was part of England’s thrilling European Championships success in the summer, has been in red-hot form in front of goal since signing for Aston Villa from Houston Dash this season.
She won the player of the month award in September and has now landed it a second time for playing a key role in Villa victories over Liverpool and Reading in November.
Rachel Daly displays her award.
The former Killinghall Nomads player scored a penalty to seal a 1-0 win over Liverpool before recording a hat-trick against Reading at Villa Park to give her four league goals last month.
Daly is the league’s joint top scorer and has helped catapult Villa to fifth in the table.
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£11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway scheme delayed for another year
The £11.9m Harrogate Station Gateway scheme has been delayed again and is now not due to start for another year.
In an update yesterday, Cllr Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways, said it remained “committed” to the controversial project.
But he added the council was still evaluating the results of the third round of consultation, which ended in August, and would ask Harrogate and Knaresborough councillors for their views before deciding whether to proceed.
Information attached to the summer consultation said it was “anticipated that construction would begin in winter 2022/3 for approximately 12 months”.
The council is now, however, saying work will start in late 2023.
Cllr Keane Duncan
Cllr Duncan said:
“We remain committed to moving forward with the gateway scheme, which represents more than £11m of investment into Harrogate.
“The most recent consultation attracted more than 2,000 responses, almost twice the number from previous consultations, as well as more than 5,000 individual comments. We thank all those who took part.
“The results of this consultation show opinion is finely balanced. Full evaluation and consideration of the responses is being completed and we will publish these early in the New Year.
“Following this, we will ask Harrogate and Knaresborough councillors for views on their support for a scheme that could be transformational for the town, and whether they want it to go ahead.
“Subject to final approvals, it is anticipated construction will begin late in 2023.”
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The Stray Ferret asked the council about the scheme as there had been no updates since the summer consultation and work was due to begin anytime now.
We also asked whether the threat of a judicial review, which was raised by the owner of Hornbeam Park this year, remained but Cllr Duncan’s statement did not address this.
Latest delay in controversial saga
The Station Gateway was hailed as the “greatest investment in decades” in Harrogate town centre by Cllr Duncan’s predecessor, Cllr Don Mackenzie, when funding was secured from the Department for Transport.
It would see part of James Street pedestrianised and part of Station Parade made single lane, as well as significant changes to the public realm near the Victoria monument.
How Station Parade would look
The government department had set a deadline of March 2023 for completion and work was due to have started in spring this year and last for a year.
But in January this year it was announced the scheme had been pushed back a year and now the same thin has happened again.
The project is one of three in North Yorkshire, and 39 nationally, being funded by the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund to promote active travel.
North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority all support the gateway.
It has divided opinion with supporters saying it would boost cycling and walking as well as modernise the area around the train station.
But critics argue it could increase traffic delays and disrupt town centre business.
Weetons wins Harrogate’s Christmas shop window competition
Weetons has been declared the overall winner of the Harrogate Christmas Window Dressing competition 2022.
Store manager Jess Upson and Vicky Davis designed and produced the award-winning display at the food hall on West Park.
A total of 26 shops entered the competition, which was organised by Harrogate Business Improvement District and the Rotary Club of Harrogate.
Weetons won the overall category as well as the prize in the large shops category. West Park Hotel, Bettys and Mama Doreen’s Emporium were highly commended in the large shops category.
Helen James Flowers on Station Parade won the medium shops category, with The Yorkshire Soap Company highly recommended.
In the small shops category, Harrogate International Festivals came out on top. Sophie Likes, Foxy Vintage and interiors, Susie Watson Designs and Bijouled earned highly recommended accolades.
The winners were announced at the West Park Hotel on Tuesday. Harrogate borough mayor Cllr Victoria Oldham handed out certificates.
Helen James Flowers won the Christmas window shop for medium retailers
Harrogate International Festivals won the Christmas window shop for small retailers
Councillors give backing to Harrogate council chief executive’s £101,000 redundancy pay-out
Councillors have backed a package worth £101,274 for outgoing Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson.
The five councillors on the authority’s chief officer’s employment committee, which includes four Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat, met yesterday to discuss a report written by HBC’s head of legal & governance Jennifer Norton.
The report recommends Mr Sampson is paid a settlement due to the impending abolition of HBC.
HBC will cease to exist along with six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council from April 1, 2023. A new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council will replace them to run services across the county.
Mr Sampson’s settlement is made up of a contractual £71,633 redundancy payment and £29,641 for a 12 week notice period that he will not have to work as his job will end on March 31.
He is paid a salary of £118,447.
After HBC is abolished, his employment would automatically transfer to North Yorkshire Council.
However, the report says because the new council is “likely to refuse to recognise” Mr Sampson as an employee he would be “effectively stranded” and it could lead to an unfair dismissal claim.
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A redundancy package offered now would therefore reduce the “risk of the risk of costly legal proceedings that will be picked up by the public purse”.
Ms Norton summarised the report and described the settlement as a “practical and pragmatic” solution.
Conservative deputy council leader Graham Swift chaired the meeting in place of council leader Richard Cooper, who was absent.
Cllr Swift said HBC had been “disciplined” in preparing the settlement for Mr Sampson.
Hambleton District Council has faced criticism after offering a £225,000 pay-off for outgoing chief executive Justin Ives.
Cllr Swift praised Mr Sampson for his commitment to the role as staff prepare to move to the new council.
He said:
“We’re fortunate that we have a chief executive that is not just hanging around but ensuring employees are protected into the new organisation, that’s very important for staff to see leadership taking place.
“My experience is the chief executive role is one that nobody wants to do but everyone thinks they can do it better. As Wallace steps down we’re in great shape. At full council we’ll express our sincere thanks for his commitment.”
A full meeting of the council will take next Wednesday where councillors will have a final vote on Mr Sampson’s redundancy package.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Pat Marsh, said she will be asking her colleagues to approve the package next week.
Cllr Marsh said:
“Looking at what some other district and borough councils are proposing for their chief executives, I welcome what is being recommended.
“I will be urging my group to support the package being offered to Wallace Sampson.”
Current North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton has already been announced as the chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.
He will earn a salary of up to £197,000 a year with responsibility for an annual budget of £1.4 billion and a workforce of 10,500 staff.
Wetherby Road crossing ‘likely to cause further delays’ for Harrogate driversA new crossing on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road is likely to cause “further delays” for drivers, a county council officer has said.
North Yorkshire County Council yesterday revealed plans to install a toucan crossing on the road next to Slingsby Walk on the Stray to encourage walking and cycling in Harrogate.
The crossing would be the fourth set of lights in less than a mile between the Empress roundabout and the Woodlands junction, which is already one of the most congested stretches of road around Harrogate.
In a report outlining the proposal, Barrie Mason, assistant director for highways and transportation, accepted the move would likely increase pressure on the road network.
He added there were also officer concerns over “existing traffic congestion on this section of Wetherby Road”.
However, he said that the measure had to be balanced with the benefit that it would offer to both pedestrians and cyclists.
Slingsby Walk is popular for walkers and cyclists.
Mr Mason said:
“Any additional crossing of the A661 Wetherby Road will likely cause further delays for people travelling on the road.
“It is felt, however, that the signalised crossing would be of benefit to pedestrians and cyclists and the safety and movement of vulnerable road users should be prioritised in this location in order to achieve a better balance between travel modes.”
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Mr Mason added that the measure has the potential to more than double the cyclists on Slingsby Walk.
According to the report, a cycle count in the area on a single day in 2021 counted 84 cyclists.
Mr Mason said:
“Given the route’s geography, it is highly likely that most of these cyclists reached the A661 at the proposed crossing point location.
“The proposed crossing is thought to satisfy a key desire line for present and future cyclists.”
‘Creating opportunities’ for cycling and walking
Cllr Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, is to consider the proposal at a meeting on Wednesday, December 14.
If approved, implementation of the crossing will be subject to a detailed design and safety audit before it could be introduced in 2023/24.
Funding of £75,000 for the crossing has been secured from Harrogate Borough Council’s sustainable transport budget.
Cllr Duncan said:
Business Breakfast: Harrogate firm acquires Ripon advertising company“We are committed to creating opportunities for people who want to walk or cycle for work, education, shopping or other reasons. This is clear in the Harrogate area through our Transforming Cities Fund gateway project and Active Travel Fund schemes to develop a safe, accessible network for cyclists and pedestrians.
“The Slingsby Walk crossing could offer a significant addition to the town’s infrastructure, providing a safe, formal crossing point for pedestrians and cyclists who might be hesitant about using the link at the moment.”
Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal
A Harrogate advertising company has acquired Adverta Transport Advertising as part of an expansion at the firm.
CP Media, which has offices on East Parade, will add 23 more staff to its team following the acquisition.
Adverta, which is based in Ripon, is one of the UK’s largest bus and tram advertising specialists and represents around 30 bus companies.
Mike Brennan, chief executive of CP Media, said:
“The bus and tram advertising sector is one that we know well. I was heavily involved in transport advertising for many years alongside my business partner Andrew Walker. This means that Adverta is a perfect fit for our ambitious growth strategy.
“We are really looking forward to working with the Adverta team and growing the business in the same way that we have grown the main CP Media business and subsequently Eye Airports following our 2019 acquisition.”
Lisa Ratcliffe, managing director of Adverta, said:
“I am proud of Adverta and very happy that it will be joining the CP Media group.
“CP Media has a great track record of diversification, acquisition and growth and I know that this move will help Adverta to grow significantly.”
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Knaresborough opticians win social media award
A Knaresborough opticians has won an award recognising its social media practice.
Yorkshire Eyewear, which has a branch on High Street in the town, picked up the award at the Opticians Awards in London.
The awards aim to recognise best practice in the industry.
A total of 32 categories were up for nomination, including technology, lens, frame, and contact lens award.
In a tweet, Yorkshire Eyewear said it was delighted to win the best social media practice award.
It said:
Council plans new crossing on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road“Congratulations to all the other finalists. We are all winners.”
A new crossing could be installed on Wetherby Road in an effort to improve walking and cycling in Harrogate.
The crossing, which could include traffic lights, would be put in place next to Slingsby Walk on the Stray.
North Yorkshire County Council has proposed the measure, which would cost £75,000, which it says could “double the number of people using a popular cycling and walking route”.
Cllr Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, is to consider the proposal at a meeting on Wednesday, December 14.
Cllr Duncan said:
“We are committed to creating opportunities for people who want to walk or cycle for work, education, shopping or other reasons. This is clear in the Harrogate area through our Transforming Cities Fund gateway project and Active Travel Fund schemes to develop a safe, accessible network for cyclists and pedestrians.
“The Slingsby Walk crossing could offer a significant addition to the town’s infrastructure, providing a safe, formal crossing point for pedestrians and cyclists who might be hesitant about using the link at the moment.
“We recognise concerns around existing traffic congestion on this section of Wetherby Road. While an additional crossing would place extra pressure on the network, this needs to be weighed against the benefit to pedestrians and cyclists that already use this location and those that would if there was a formal crossing.
“We need to consider the benefits a signalised crossing would bring to pedestrians and cyclists and the safety of vulnerable road users in this location to achieve a better balance between different modes of travel.”
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If approved, implementation of the crossing will be subject to a detailed design and safety audit before it could be introduced in 2023/24.
Funding of £75,000 for the crossing has been secured from Harrogate Borough Council’s sustainable transport budget.
Cllr Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, said:
Harrogate district train passengers warned not to travel for five days next week“If we want to achieve our zero-carbon economy targets, we need to invest in sustainable travel options and help make them as safe as possible.
“Introducing a road crossing on Wetherby Road at Slingsby Walk will ensure people have safe access between the east and west of Harrogate town centre. Especially as this route is frequently used by young people accessing the nearby schools.
“I’d like to thank North Yorkshire County Council as well as Councillor Keane Duncan for considering this proposal.”
Northern has warned passengers not to travel for the majority of next week amid more industrial action.
RMT Union members are expected to stage another walkout from Tuesday (December 13) until Saturday (December 17) in a dispute over pay and conditions.
The strikes will be the latest to hit the Harrogate district rail network this year.
Northern, which operates services from Harrogate and Knaresborough towards Leeds and York, has warned passengers not to travel after Monday next week as services wind down.
The operator said it expects to run a “very limited service” during the days of strike action.
A visual issued by Northern
It said in a statement:
“On strike days, only travel by rail if necessary and if you do travel, expect severe disruption and plan ahead – especially the first and last trains of the day.
“If you do decide to travel, there will be very limited services running across the whole rail network so remember to check your entire journey as other train service providers may be affected.
“There will be no rail replacement buses on strike days for Northern services and some Northern stations may be closed or have reduced hours due to the limited staffing and services.”
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Northern is also expecting disruption over Christmas as the RMT Union announced further planned demonstrations.
The union is planning to stage a further walkout from Christmas Eve until December 27.
Northern added:
‘Lessons learned’ after covid patient’s oxygen disconnected at Harrogate hospital, inquest hears“We’re working on what that means for services, please check before you travel as your usual train may not be running.”
Harrogate hospital has “learned lessons” following the death of a woman who became disconnected from her ventilator when she was left alone in a room with the door closed.
Karen Smith was 44 when, in October 2020, she was admitted to the hospital with covid.
She was put on a temporary intensive care ward that had been set up by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust to deal with the high demand of the pandemic.
An inquest heard this week Ms Smith died on the ward after her oxygen mask became disconnected.
The continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) oxygen machines used on the ward were not connected to the nurses’ station in the way they were on the established ICU.
When Ms Smith’s mask came off and the tube became disconnected around 5am on Saturday, October 24, although the machine’s alarm sounded, there was no way of it sending a signal to the nurses’ station for a rapid response.
The previous day, the hospital’s infection control team had visited the ward and recommended that the doors to each bay, which had been open, should be closed to help reduce the spread of covid.
Dr David Earl, a consultant in anaesthesia and critical care, told the inquest:
“The doors were closed on that Friday and I don’t think enough work was done to recognise the implications of how that might make nursing quite difficult, because you can’t hear behind the doors.
“This is when things start to go a bit wrong, I think, on that Friday.”
On the Saturday evening, a nurse who was covering a meal break had left Miss Smith’s bay to go to the toilet urgently. She had no way of contacting another nurse to cover for her, but believed the original nurse was about to return from her break.
The inquest heard that, during the pandemic, staff were required to remove extensive personal protective equipment (PPE) and go to a bathroom nearby, rather than the one on the ward, which took much longer than usual.
When the nurse she was covering for returned, the disconnection was noticed and Ms Smith’s mask had been completely removed.
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Dr Earl told the inquest many patients find CPAP masks uncomfortable and can attempt to remove them when slightly disorientated, such as when waking up.
The machine’s log indicated Ms Smith had been without hers for around four-and-a-half minutes. A new mask was immediately brought from the store cupboard nearby.
Staff said they hoped the short time of disconnection meant that Ms Smith would not have been affected by the lack of oxygen supply.
The inquest heard that, although her blood oxygen levels quickly rose again, it became apparent to the team on the next shift that she was more sleepy and less responsive than usual.
That night, as her condition further deteriorated, staff called her mother, but she was not allowed to come into the hospital because of covid restrictions.
Addressing Ms Smith’s mother Audrey and brother John, who were at the inquest, Dr Earl said:
“At the time, we were following national guidelines about visiting.
“As someone who worked through all of this, not having visitors all the time was terrible. On intensive care, we spend a lot of time with families getting to know them. To suddenly not have families there was absolutely awful for us, but we know it was even worse for families like yourselves.
“It we could go back, we would get you straight in when we knew [she was dying]. Now, that’s the national guidelines.”
Ms Smith said her daughter had been well enough the day before to be messaging her friends. However, Dr Earl said given the number of days she had been reliant on the CPAP without any sign of improvement, his experience with covid patients suggested she was more likely than not to have succumbed to the virus in the end.
Walkie-talkies introduced
Dr Earl said the hospital had “learned lessons” from Ms Smith’s death and a number of changes had been implemented to prevent the same situation arising again, including changes to nurse rostering and the introduction of walkie-talkies to allow nurses to communicate with each other even when in separate rooms.
He added:
“We realise we can’t make everything perfect, but we try to list all the things where we think there’s a potential danger there and try to minimise them.
“In this new area, we had one of those risk registers and recognised it was constantly evolving, but in these circumstances, it was the best we could do.”
Delivering a narrative conclusion, senior coroner for North Yorkshire Jonathan Heath said Ms Smith, who lived in Wetherby, had died from a hypoxic brain injury caused by becoming disconnected from her oxygen machine. A secondary cause of death was her high body mass index.
Mr Heath said there was no evidence of how Ms Smith’s mask came to be removed and the tube disconnected, so he did not want to make any assumption.
Mr Heath said:
“I am satisfied that a ‘prevention of future deaths’ report is not required.
“Whatever I would be saying to the hospital appears to have been addressed already.”