Majority are negative towards Harrogate Station Gateway, consultation reveals

The majority of people feel negatively towards the £10.9 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme, the latest consultation has revealed.

The results, published today, reveal that of 1,320 people who replied to an online survey, 55% feel negatively, 39% positively and five per cent neutral. One per cent said they didn’t know.

A decision on whether to proceed with the scheme looks set to be made next month.

Although most people do not support it, and there is the threat of legal action from businesses opposed to the scheme, the councils backing the scheme may decide to proceed.

Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said a report would be sent to the council’s executive, probably next month, recommending what action to take.

But he said he was still to be persuaded that “an £11 million investment in the town centre needs to be turned away”.

Cllr Mackenzie said he didn’t envisage many changes if the scheme does proceed, although he suggested cycle storage and access to some businesses affected by the initiative could be amended.

He added the scheme acted on the wishes of the 2019 Harrogate Congestion Study, which 15,500 residents took part in and revealed strong support for better walking and cycling infrastructure, public transport and encouragement to leave cars at home when making short journeys and opposition to building a relief road.

The main concerns

This was the second round of consultation on the scheme, which aims to make the town centre more attractive and encourage cycling and walking.

The most contentious aspects are plans to reduce a section of Station Parade to single lane traffic, part-pedestrianise James Street and re-route some traffic off Cheltenham Parade into neighbouring streets.

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Don Mackenzie talking at the Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Many of those who responded positively to the consultation were motivated by benefits for walking and cycling, better use of public space and making the town centre a more attractive place for residents and visitors.

Most of those who responded negatively were concerned about the impact on traffic flows, congestion, air quality and local businesses, while some local householders expressed the view that vehicles would be diverted on to their residential streets.

Councillor Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, said:

“This scheme offers a fantastic opportunity to secure the largest investment in to Harrogate town centre for 30 years, revitalising the town centre for the benefit of residents, visitors and businesses and ensuring that it is sustainable and can respond to changing consumer demands and expectations.

“The feedback provided during the course of both public consultations is really important to ensuring that we get the best scheme possible and I am grateful to everyone who took the time to respond.”

The full report on the findings of the Harrogate consultation, which ran from 18 October to 12 November, can be read here.

What is the Harrogate Station Gateway?

The Harrogate scheme is one of three projects worth a combined £42m in Harrogate, Skipton and Selby funded by the Leeds City Region Transforming Cities Fund, which encourages cycling and walking.

They are being delivered in partnership by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council, Craven District Council and Selby District Council.

If the scheme goes ahead, work will begin by the middle of next year.

 

 

 

£1.5m spent on unapproved plans for Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment

More than £1.5m of taxpayers’ money has already been spent on plans for a major redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre before the project has been approved.

In what is set to be one of its biggest decisions in recent history, Harrogate Borough Council will next summer vote on the proposed project, which is currently at the design stage and could cost £47m over three phases.

Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show £1.1m has so far been spent on contracts for design and feasibility works, while £275,000 has been spent on a first phase business case and £179,050 on an outline business case.

Councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader and cabinet member for economic growth at the council, said these works have been a key part of the planning process and that they will help the authority weigh up the benefits and risks before making a final decision. He said:

“By appointing specialists – such as Cushman and Wakefield, Arcadis and KPMG – we will have a comprehensive understanding of the feasibility of the project.

“It is crucial that we redevelop the ageing site as well as introduce much more flexible spaces that will allow us to attract a broader customer base and substantially strengthen this economic impact.

“These changes are essential to stay relevant for the changing conference trade and optimise space for the future.

“The delivery of this project will also be key to the district’s covid economic recovery plan.

“Therefore, it is essential we get it right.”

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Now over 40 years old, the council says the centre is in “critical need” of an upgrade and that there is “very real risk” it will not survive without investment.

It was estimated before the pandemic that the venue attracted more than 150,000 visitors a year with an annual economic impact of £35m. However, there are now questions over how quickly the events industry can bounce back.

Even before covid, Harrogate’s position in the industry was under threat as major conferences began taking their business to bigger and newer arenas.

This growing competition has led to warnings from centre director Paula Lorimer who last week said the venue will miss out on “large and lucrative” events unless the redevelopment plans are accelerated.

‘Major failing’

The project was first revealed in 2020 when the council’s opposition Liberal Democrat group signalled its support for the plans, although it criticised the Conservative-run authority for what it described as a lack of investment in the past.

The Liberal Democrats have also accused the council over failures in planning for the initial convention centre build over 40 years ago, adding that these “mistakes” must now be avoided by ensuring the redevelopment plans are well prepared and fully costed.

The party said in a statement:

“Any potential project of this magnitude needs to be fully costed and investigated before any decision is made to go ahead.

“This was a major failing the council made when it proceeded with the conference centre development in the 1970s.

“The project increased in price from just over £8m to over £34m by the time it was ready to open in 1982 and took twice as long as originally planned.

“The future of the conference and exhibition business is probably going to be one of the most important economic decisions to be made for our area for years to come.

“We must get it right and learn from past mistakes.”

Otley Road business owner ‘fuming’ about cycle path works

The owner of IXP Security on Otley Road in Harrogate has said he is “fuming” about prolonged works to build the new Otley Road cycle path, which he believes has put customers off visiting his store.

Work has continued throughout November and December to build the first phase of the new cycle route between Harlow Moor Road and Cold Bath Road, which is part of a package of sustainable transport measures in the west of Harrogate. It is due to end this week.

The security store has been on Otley Road for 50 years and sells safes, intruder alarms, locks and CCTV systems.

Owner Marcus Wayman said footfall has evaporated since work began and he has been unimpressed with the “etiquette” of contractors working on the scheme.

“We’ve been subjected to a significant period of time where we’ve been disadvantaged. I can’t get access to my front door all the time. Whilst I bow to the skill of road builders, their ability to follow etiquette is limited.

“They have travelled across our shop’s apron with great big heavy trucks. That concrete footpath has survived 50 years, it’s all smashed up now.

“I’m fuming about it. Stuff has been strewn all over my apron. I move safes in and out of the showroom, which I can no longer do.”

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To accommodate the cycle path, a bus stop has been moved closer to Mr Wayman’s shop.

He believes this could be hazardous for pedestrians who might have to dodge out of the way of cyclists. He has complained to North Yorkshire County Council but said he has been ignored.

He added:

“NYCC are servants to the voters in this town who pay their wages, but they are absolutely incapable of being talked to. They seemingly refuse to get back to you quickly.

“There aren’t many businesses as old as us in the locality, is this the way to treat people? Where has the courtesy gone in life?

“From start to finish I have had a gripe against the whole scheme, there’s no democracy.”

Melisa Burnham, highways area manager at NYCC, said:

“Feedback from residents and businesses is very important to us and can help shape the delivery of this and future schemes. We will liaise with the business owner and identify how best we can support him whilst the works continue on Otley Road.

“We appreciate works of this nature have an impact on the local community and we would like to extend our thanks for their ongoing patience.”

Harrogate cowboy builder James Moss declared bankrupt

Harrogate cowboy builder James Moss has been declared bankrupt, following a string of civil court cases in the past few years for poor quality or unfinished building work.

Mr Moss left a trail of shoddy workmanship across the Harrogate district and owed over £30,000 to five different homeowners who won cases against him.

A document on the public records website The Gazette says Mr Moss filed for bankruptcy last week and his application was accepted the next day. It lists him as not working and living in Summerbridge.

Mr Moss has multiple claims outstanding from people who hired him for building work. 

Last year, the Stray Ferret heard how two women won cases against him in the civil court.

They included a woman in Harrogate who said he left a £13,000 kitchen half-finished whilst pocketing almost the total agreed quote.

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Three different claimants have also won cases in the county court against Mr Moss this year alone.

In January, he was told to pay £11,495 to a woman who was unhappy about the quality of his work.

In February, he was ordered to repay money after a £30,000 garage conversion was so poor it had to be partly demolished.

In April, he was ordered by a judge to repay a man from Knaresborough £1,275 after he took a deposit but failed to show up on a job.

None of them have received any money from Mr Moss.

The Stray Ferret asked Mr Moss for a comment but he declined.

Developer reduces Knox Lane scheme from 73 to 53 homes

A developer has reduced the size a proposed housing development on Knox Lane in Bilton from 73 to 53 homes.

Jomast‘s initial plans to build the homes in April last year generated objections from over 200 people.

Those opposing the scheme criticised the number of homes on the site and questioned how the narrow Knox Lane would cope with the increased volume of traffic.

Harrogate Borough Council‘s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place in the district, says 52 homes should be built on the site, which sits on arable land adjacent to Oak Beck.

Knox Lane in Harrogate.

Knox Lane

Critics of the initial scheme included Cllr Paul Haslam, who represents Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, who said part of the land Jomast wanted to build on was prone to flooding.

Yorkshire Water also submitted an objection to the plans, which it said did not properly accommodate a sewerage system running across the site.

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Jomast said in planning documents that its resubmitted smaller plans included 34 semi-detached and three detached homes, 12 apartments and four terraced homes. A total of 30 homes would be classed as “affordable”.

To alleviate flooding concerns, Jomast would install hydro-brakes, which are machines that control water flow near rivers. It would also install underground storage tanks to hold water in the event of a major storm.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will decide on the proposal at a later date.

The Harrogate pharmacies at the forefront of the booster campaign

Besides the GP-run vaccination sites at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Races, nine local pharmacies are also at the forefront of the booster jab campaign.

Harrogate Pharmacy, at the back of Rawcliffe’s on East Parade, is amongst them. It has been offering vaccines since October and has so far delivered 4,000 doses at a rate of one every four minutes.

When the Stray Ferret visited to find out more about the operation, staff told us the past 18 months had been like no other but were adamant they wanted to do their bit to help.

They offer 300 to 450 vaccines per week, which are all administered by one vaccinator.

The pharmacy is now booked up until Christmas but about 10 people a day drop out so staff are happy to take calls inquiring whether there are spaces for walk-ins.

Shaun Davis, superintendent pharmacist, said more pharmacies should provide jabs to meet the government’s goal of offering all over 18s a booster by the end of the month. he said:

“They need to allow more sites to open a centre more easily — why can’t pharmacies who have offered a flu jab for years not offer covid jabs without all the unnecessary red tape? if it was to be made easier it could be a very simple walk-in service in any pharmacy.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement on Sunday night did not give vaccine sites much time to prepare for the sudden increase in capacity required.

“They can’t announce something yesterday saying you need it to happen today with no infrastructure in place to manage that.

“That kind of knee-jerk response to things is not very considered to me. It’s only around 40% of the population that have had their booster and if you want to get it to a stage of having a real impact on this variant they have to come up with a strategy to do this.”

Harrogate Pharmacy has been open throughout the pandemic. Staff have helped patients when GP surgeries and hospitals have been overwhelmed, as well as giving vaccines.

Charlotte Turnbull, supervisor, said:

“It’s been a lot of pressure. We took a lot of the brunt when a lot of doctors or hospitals were overwhelmed and because we are delivery-only a lot of people moved to us because we can drop it at their doorstep and walk away rather than them having to walk to a busy pharmacy.

“There needs to be more capacity and people on board, if they want all adults booked before new year.”

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Other pharmacies in the Harrogate district offering vaccinations:

Appointments are available on the NHS app for Thursday December 16 and Friday December 17 8am-6pm, Saturday December 18 8am-3pm, December 20 to 23 8am-8pm, December 28 to 30 8am-8pm and December 31 8am-3pm.

*Some of these dates have been extended today so new appointments are now online to book.

Appointments are available on the NHS app for Saturday December 18 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm, Tuesday December 21st 8am-1pm and Thursday December 30 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm.

Appointments are available on the NHS app for Monday to Thursday 9.30am to 5.45pm

Appointments are available on the NHS app Monday to Sunday 9am-1pm, 2pm-4pm and 5pm-6.30pm

Currently full until New Year

No information available at the time

No information available at the time

Waiting on vaccine supply, keep an eye on our covid coverage for more information.

Waiting for official approval then clinic appointments will be made available online. Keep an eye on our covid coverage for more information.

 

The Witcher: First pictures of Harrogate district filming for major Netflix show

Two beauty spots in the Harrogate district are set to feature in the second series of a major Netflix show starring Henry Cavill as Geralt.

The Witcher, which has a cast and crew of around 250 people, was filmed at both Plumpton Rocks near Harrogate and Fountains Abbey near Ripon.

In the first series, most filming was done in countries such as Hungary, Austria and Spain. However, due to coronavirus restrictions Netflix had to look for locations in the UK.

In October last year, the Stray Ferret showed a picture taken by reader Jo McGregor at Fountains Abbey of a film crew in action. The National Trust would only say at the time it was a “major TV series”.

Ahead of the release of series two of the Witcher on Friday, the National Trust and the owner of Plumpton Rocks have now confirmed the details and released behind the scenes pictures.

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Justin Scully, general manager of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, said:

“It was great to see such an exciting amount of activity happening onsite last year. Filming for The Witcher was by far the largest scale filming we’ve ever had here.

“Our visitors really enjoyed seeing such a big production happening around the property and had fun guessing what was being filmed, which we had to keep confidential at the time.

“There was a huge amount of work that went on behind the scenes to make it all happen.

“We worked for months with the production team from Netflix as well as specialist filming conservators so that we could ensure the safety of visitors, staff and of course the abbey and water garden.”

The National Trust added that the location fees it received will be spent on essential work at Fountains Abbey.

Robert de Plumpton Hunter, who owns Plumpton Rocks and has spearheaded a major £700,000 renovation at the site over the last several years, told the Stray Ferret:

“Netflix brought a major crew for the Witcher to Plumpton Rocks, where they filmed for about two weeks.

“Particularly during coronavirus it was great for Harrogate’s economy. I am looking to forward to watching it.”

More pictures from behind the scenes:

A crew member uses a VFX ball to capture lighting information from the set within the ruins of Fountains Abbey. Photo: Netflix

An elaborate set and special effects light up the abbey ruins during a dramatic scene. Photo: Netflix

MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries in the ruins of Fountains Abbey. Photo: Netflix

Harrogate’s showground vaccine centre expands

Harrogate’s vaccination centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground has expanded to accommodate more vaccinators as part of a push to meet the government’s ambitious booster target.

Overnight the team has increased the number of clinical pods to cater for four more vaccinators and five more administration staff.

It means that rather than administering 1,700 jabs in a day, the team will be able to give 2,000 jabs.

There is now also room for more walk-ins to wait inside in anticipation of the colder weather to come.

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Tim Yarrow, operations manager at Yorkshire Health Network, a federation of the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate and district that operates the showground vaccination site, told the Stray Ferret:

“Firstly, I would urge anyone over 30 to book an appointment and for all walk-ins to bring their NHS number. It saves the team so much time.

“I have been trying to manage the staff the best I can so they can cope and it’s safe. We have had an extremely busy four days, it was like a tidal wave at the weekend.”

Walk-ins are available between 9am and 4pm every day and not outside those times.

100 trees to be planted in Harrogate district for Queen’s jubilee

Tree planting has begun across the Harrogate district to mark the queen’s platinum jubilee next year.

About 100 elm, oak, hornbeam, sycamore and lime trees will be planted in the district as part of a nationwide initiative called The Queen’s Green Canopy, which invites people from across the United Kingdom to ‘plant a tree for the jubilee’.

The trees will be planted on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road, Jacob Smiths Park in Knaresborough, High Cleugh in Ripon, Pateley Bridge recreation ground and Boroughbridge recreation ground.

One tree from each location will be saved to plant on February 6, the queen’s accession day.

Harrogate Borough Council is organising the project and hopes the initiative will also help it achieve its carbon reduction initiatives. It is encouraging everyone, including individuals, community groups, businesses and landowners to also plant a tree.

Councillor Andy Paraskos, the council’s cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said:

“The Queen’s Green Canopy is a wonderful opportunity for us to not only honour Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee but also help address the climate situation and deliver carbon reduction initiatives throughout the Harrogate district.”

The Queen’s Green Canopy will coincide with the borough council’s plans to plant thousands of trees in Bilton Beck Wood and Willow Wood, Harrogate and Upper Horse Shoe Fields, Knaresborough as part of the White Rose Forest partnership.

To get involved and plant a tree, people can pin it to the Queen’s Green Canopy map. It will then count towards Harrogate’s total.

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Councillors weren’t ‘bullied’ into approving plans for 200 Harrogate homes, says council

Harrogate Borough Council has “entirely refuted” claims from its own councillors that they were “bullied” into approving plans for up to 200 homes at a former police training base.

The proposals for the Yew Tree Lane site in Pannal Ash were approved during a three-hour meeting last Tuesday when the applicant Homes England was accused of making legal “threats” over any further delays on the application first submitted in June 2020.

Councillors had initially rejected a recommendation of approval during the meeting before claiming they had been “bullied” into the final decision.

This claim was supported by residents who said councillors “were unduly influenced” by the “threat” of a costly appeal from Homes England – the government’s housing agency.

The council has now issued a statement saying planning committee members must base their decisions on local and national planning policy. It added:

“Although the committee initially voted not to accept the officer’s recommendation, it is incumbent of them to provide acceptable planning reasons to support their decision.

“The decision was discussed at length and committee members were unable to identify sound reasons to justify such a vote, explaining their return to the original vote on the recommendation before them.

“Views that members were bullied, misled or voted due to fatigue are entirely refuted.”

Formal complaint

The council’s handling of the application has led to it receiving a formal complaint from Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association, and Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council.

David Oswin, deputy chair of the parish council, this week described the decision from councillors as “shambolic” and “embarrassing”.

He said:

“Coupled with threats of a legal challenge by the developer and misinformation from the officers, councillors were frankly bullied and bamboozled into reversing a decision that potentially sets a dangerous precedent for those with the deepest pockets to exploit.”

During last Tuesday’s meeting, it was also revealed that Homes England had written to the council claiming it acted “unlawfully” when councillors delayed a decision on the plans in summer.

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Homes England was asked to comment on this and the claims of “bullying,” but only provided a short statement explaining the council’s decision:

“Members of the Harrogate Borough Council planning committee approved our planning application at the former police training centre last week.

“The scheme will deliver 200 new homes – including 30% affordable homes.”

A decision on the plans was previously delayed to allow time for work on the West Harrogate Parameters Plan – a long-delayed document which sets out the infrastructure needs for the up to 4,000 new homes set to be built in the west of the district.

It was due to be completed last year, but will now not be published in draft form until at least February net year.

The plans from Homes England include the conversion of several former police buildings into 16 homes and the construction of 184 new properties at the former training centre which closed in 2011.

A reserved matters application is expected in spring 2022 and if approved, construction could start in autumn.