The Harrogate Station Gateway project may have been approved, but the next stages of the £10.9m scheme will be far from straightforward.

It took almost two years of design work and heated debate to get to this stage – now questions are turning to when the vision of Harrogate town centre less dominated by cars could become a reality.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive approved the project last month in the face of a deep divide amongst residents and businesses over what the major changes to several streets will mean for the local economy and traffic congestion.

The council originally said it anticipated construction would start this spring or summer, but it is now being much more ambiguous, saying works “could” begin “later this year”.

It also said construction could stretch into 2024 after initially aiming for completion by the end of 2023.

This uncertainty over when the project could start and finish has drawn further concern from some business leaders who had previously called for the gateway to be halted.

David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate Chamber of Commerce, said now the project is going ahead, it is key that disruption to businesses is kept to “an absolute minimum” when the construction phase eventually gets underway.

He said:

“We were initially told that if approved, work would commence in late spring/early summer, and what I wouldn’t want to see is it commencing in the run up to Christmas.

“When it does start, the message that needs to be communicated loud and clear is that the town remains open for business.

“The project team also needs to consult with the business community long before work starts, and it also needs to be prepared to listen to any concerns that might arise.”

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Works on the detailed designs of the project – which includes reducing a stretch of Station Parade to one-lane traffic and a part-time pedestrianisation of James Street – are now continuing ahead of a final business case being submitted around August.

Objections could lead to public inquiry

The business case will be submitted to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which is overseeing the project funding from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

Subject to its approval, a contractor will then be appointed to carry out the works, as well as similar projects in Selby and Skipton.

Traffic Regulation Orders – which are legal documents needed to introduce road changes – will be necessary for all three schemes and could spark public inquiries if objections are received.

These orders are lengthy processes and can often take several months to complete due to the need for public consultations.

The idea of a judicial review – which would be a court hearing into whether the council’s decision to approve the Gateway was lawful or not – has also been previously discussed by some Harrogate businesses.

This would have the potential to either derail the project or delay it long enough to jeopardise funding.

Reduce congestion

Despite the objections and threats of legal action, the gateway has been well supported by many residents and campaign groups who have hailed it as a positive step to tackle climate change and cut car congestion.

The project also includes improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, with upgrades planned for Station Square and the One Arch underpass, as well the Odeon cinema roundabout and several other streets in the area.

North Yorkshire County Council, the lead partner on the scheme, has continually insisted that businesses, cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users alike will see the benefits once the project is completed.

It also said while the construction phase will be a challenge, the authority will try to minimise the impact on traffic and trade.

A county council spokesperson said:

“Although the Department for Transport set an initial completion date of March 2023, the department has advised that completion could extend into 2024.

“The programme is tight, so the flexibility is welcome.

“The county council takes the delivery risk, but will have robust programme management in place and there is a sum for contingency within each scheme’s budget.”

Motorists face delays this week as emergency roadworks are carried out on Leadhall Lane in Harrogate.

Northern Gas Networks is currently carrying out repairs to a gas pipe on the road.

Leadhall Lane is closed in both directions between Throstle Nest Drive and Leadhall Road.

The company has apologised for any inconvenience caused.

Northern Gas said in a statement:

“We’re carrying out emergency repairs at Leadhall Lane. 

“To safely reach the main under the carriageway, we’ve had to close the road until Friday. We’re really sorry for any inconvenience during this time.”

The works are the latest by Northern Gas Networks in the town.

Last month, the company undertook a series of works on Skipton Road at the junctions with Knox Avenue, Bilton Grange Close and Skipton Crescent.

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Children from Starbeck Primary Academy were at Starbeck level crossing this morning armed with placards asking motorists to turn their engines off.

An idling engine can produce up to twice as many exhaust emissions as an engine in motion, with air pollution known to harm children’s growing lungs.

At Starbeck crossing, the barriers are activated several times an hour to let trains pass. With queues of traffic on both sides of the crossing a regular sight, it is a notorious air pollution hotspot.

Today’s campaign was organised by the school and Starbeck Residents Association.

Darren Leeming, who has two children at the school and is on the SRA committee said “there are no excuses” for motorists not to turn their engines off whilst they waited.

He said:

“The barriers go down and people don’t turn their engines off. Air pollution goes into children’s lungs. A lot of these drivers have children themselves.”

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Starbeck Primary Academy is on Starbeck High Street and bears the brunt of the air pollution from waiting cars and vehicles.

Its headteacher, Gary de Castro-Morland, said 99% of its children walk to school so he hopes motorists can turn their engines off to help protect their health.

He said:

“This year five class has been learning about air pollution and the children wanted to come down.

“Traffic queues right in front of our school, air pollution from standing traffic is a significant issue for us.”

A new series of monthly organ recitals will begin in Harrogate tomorrow.

The series will see some of the country’s finest organists give hour-long recitals on the new digital organ at St Wilfrid’s Church on Duchy Road.

The organ console will be situated in the middle of the nave, which should enhance the audience experience.

Anthony Gray, director of music at St Wilfrid’s, said:

“We are beginning the fundraising process to restore our pipe organ, which will cost over £500,000.

“This series should be an excellent showcase of the capability of digital organs, and in our relatively cavernous acoustic, it sounds very exciting and rich.”

Anthony Gray

Mr Gray, who is among the organists due to play in the series in the Grade 1 listed building, added he was trying to offer something different to organ recitals held in places like Bradford, Leeds and Ripon by giving each recital a short title, hinting at what is on the programme.

He added:

“We are also offering some slightly different recital experience with a jazz recital next month, a showcase of the entire music department in the summer, and some interesting celebrations of specific composers too.”

John Longstaff, from St Peter’s Church in Harrogate will begin the series this week. Alexander Berry, from Bradford Cathedral and David Pipe, from Newcastle Cathedral, are among the names that will follow.

John Longstaff

The concerts will take place on, or as close to as possible, the first Wednesday evening of each month, beginning at 7:30pm. Admission is £6; under-18s are free,

The full programme is here.

Forty-one schools from across the Harrogate district took part in Friday’s walk to school day, which aims to tackle the impact on the climate from transport.

The event, which was the first of 2022 and the fourth since its launch in June 2021, saw pupils from across Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Ripon take part.

Parents and children who were unable to stop using their cars completely were encouraged to “park and stride” by parking further from the school gate and continuing the journey on foot.

Kettlesing Fellscliffe Primary School won the district’s “Zero Hero” primary school award with 100% of pupils taking part.

Meanwhile, Harrogate Grammar School won the secondary school prize with 90% participation.

Winning pupils from Kettlesing Felliscliffe Primary School.

Holly Whyte, interim head of school at Kettlesing Felliscliffe Community Primary School, said:

“At Kettlesing Felliscliffe Primary School we are committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing for our pupils.

“While many of our children are local to the village, some of our families made the extra effort to take public transport for part of their journey to school before walking the final kilometre into school.

“This ties in with our schools plans to reduce the carbon footprint in the area with our child-led eco-committee.”

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Sarah Bissett, events coordinator for Zero Carbon Harrogate, the volunteer-led charity that runs the initiative, said:

“We have been positively overwhelmed by the level of support received from schools, families and children since the Harrogate District Walk to School Day initiative launched last summer. 

“This first event of 2022 has demonstrated the continued enthusiasm towards positive transport choices both on the day and beyond; building habits which benefit our environment and the health of participants in both the short and long-term.

“Encouragingly, there has also been an increase in the geographical spread of schools taking part across the district: a trend which we hope is set to continue throughout the year.”

The next walk to school day is set to take place on Friday, March 25.

Harrogate’s biggest celebration of comic culture will return in November.

Thought Bubble comic convention will take place on November 12 and 13 at Harrogate Convention Centre.

Three exhibition halls will be filled with artists, illustrators and authors meeting fans and selling copies of their art.

The star attraction is American writer Gail Simone, best known for her work on titles including DC’s Bird of Prey, Batgirl & Wonder Woman.

Other artists including G. Willow Wilson, Christian Ward, Magdalene Visaggio, Rafael Albuquerque and David Aja will be available to meet fans.

This year’s guest of honour is comics legend Ian Kennedy. 

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Chloe Green, Thought Bubble Festival Director, said:

“It’s very exciting to be back planning another Thought Bubble, the whole team has a real fire in them to bring the most amazing Thought Bubble yet, in what we hope will be a much more straight-forward year than the last two… Expect incredible guests from around the world, the most awe-inspiring comic creating exhibitors and a weekend of panels, workshops and fun for every level of comic fan”

Plans to expand a controversial animal testing company in Harrogate have been given the go-ahead.

Labcorp Drug Development, which was previously called Covance and is based on Otley Road, conducts tests on various animals, including dogs and mice.

It lodged plans to refurbish and expand its site after purchasing six vacant buildings.

The company bought the former Nidec SR Drives offices, known as East Park House, in December 2020 for £2.45 million, according to HM Land Registry documents.

Now, Harrogate Borough Council has approved the proposal for the expansion.

Under plans submitted to the council, the firm will refurbish and extend the former Nidec offices.

A new entrance will be created, and the ground and first floors will be reconfigured. A one-way system to access the car park will also be built to reduce “traffic complications” on nearby Otley Road.

The proposed visual of East Park House, as submitted by Labcorp.

Labcorp also intends to refurbish five other buildings on the site to create office space, extensions for “new plant requirements” and further car parking and cycle space.

Rebecca Micallef, the authority’s economic and transport officer, said in response to a consultation on the plans that the economic development team were supportive of the expansion.

She said:

“This proposal will enable expansion of the business within its current location and promote the adaptation, refurbishment and reuse of a currently vacant commercial property. The proposed capital investment from a foreign company is particularly welcomed during this time of economic uncertainty caused by covid and Brexit.

“The proposed expansion and development will support Labcorp’s future within the Harrogate district and secure additional high level, high paid skilled jobs, directly supporting the aims of our economic growth strategy.”

Labcorp said in documents submitted to the council that the plans will help to “ensure the continued life” of property on the site.

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Animal testing in Harrogate has proved controversial and protests frequently take place outside Labcrop.

In October, Cllr Victoria Oldham, Conservative councillor for Washburn on the borough council, called for a moratorium on animal testing in the district.

However, this was turned down. Cllr Graham Swift, cabinet member for economic development, said in response:

“I don’t like and I don’t want medicines tested on animals. But the law insists medicines are tested on animals prior to being tested on humans and prior to being used as medicines.”

Cllr Swift added that about a third of Labcorp’s 4,000 UK staff were based in Harrogate, which was “great for the economy”.

Meanwhile, Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has lobbied government to help the company expand.

Is fast-food chain Leon planning to open one of its restaurants in Harrogate?

The company, which describes itself as a place for healthy fast food, has about 70 outlets in the UK.

It was recently bought by Euro Garages group, which was awarded planning permission last year to open a drive-thru Starbucks on Wetherby Road.

Rumours have been circulating online that the group could prefer to open a Leon at the site.

The rumours were fuelled when a job advert for a general manager for a Leon restaurant in Harrogate was posted in November.

The Stray Ferret asked Euro Garages, which bought the chain last year for a reported £100 million, if it could confirm whether a Leon would be opening at the Wetherby Road site instead of a Starbucks.

However, a spokesperson would not be drawn on the issue.

Leon set for drive-thru expansion

Euro Garages has permission to open a Starbucks drive-thru on the former dental surgery site.

Work is already underway on Wetherby Road and the surgery has since been demolished.

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Although the company had earmarked the land for a Starbucks, it also has plans to expand Leon.

In December, Leon announced that following the takeover from Euro Garages it intended to open 50 more restaurants across the UK.

The fast food chain recently opened its first drive-thru in Leeds and opened new sites in Milton Keynes and Holtspur in Beaconsfield.

Speaking in December, Glenn Edwards, managing director of Leon restaurants, said:

“We are very excited to announce a significant acceleration of Leon’s expansion. For the first time we will be taking Leon across the country, driving regional growth at speed. The new formats in this rollout will build on our traditional restaurants and form a base for further growth.

“Making Leon even more accessible is at the heart of this strategic expansion. We are absolutely focused on delivering for our clients and living up to Leon mission – making it easier for everybody to eat well, live well and be kind to the planet.”

The longstanding roof repairs at Harrogate Theatre could be finished this month, it was announced today after another performance was cancelled due to a leak at the weekend.

The final performance of Kinky Boots, by Harrogate Operatic Players, was cancelled at late notice on Saturday night after a backstage leak raised concerns about the electrics.

The decision, taken on safety grounds after a day of heavy rain, disappointed both performers and audience alike.

Some audience members had already taken their seats so the cast chose to perform a few numbers from the award-winning musical with just the house lights on.

Work to replace the roof has been taking place since May.

It is not the first time a performance has been cancelled due to a leak since the roof repairs began. The recent pantomime season was also affected.

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Work to replace the 121-year old Victorian theatre roof began in May. It was due to finish in September but this was put back to March.

David Bown, chief executive of the theatre, said today it could be finished this month if there are no further incidents. He said:

“The last time I spoke to the contractors they were ahead of schedule, it could even be the end of this month. The area that was leaking was backstage and that has been repaired.

We’d only cancel a show if absolutely necessary but the safety of everyone in the theatre had to take priority.”

A robot polar bear and an 18 metre beached whale are among the attractions travelling round the Harrogate district this month as part of an environment-themed week of events.

Visit Harrogate, Harrogate Borough Council’s tourism body, has organised the week of events named ‘Our Planet, Your World’, to offer free acitivities for families with an over-arching message of protecting the environment.

Events will take place between Monday, February 21, to Saturday, February 26, in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Masham and Pateley Bridge.

The week will begin in Boroughbridge with earth-themed storytelling sessions at the library between 10am and 1pm. On Tuesday, there will be sea inspired craft activities available to children at Masham Town Hall.

The Masham event is on between 11am and 4pm and children are encouraged to attend both days in fancy dress.

Robot polar bear to highlight the plastics crisis

On Wednesday February 23, an animatronic polar bear will roam Ripon’s Market Square with its keeper throughout the day. Visitors are also being invited to help an artist to create a five foot sculpture out of plastics, which will then be donated to a local school.

The two spectacles are there to highlight the urgent plastic crisis affecting the oceans. There will also be live music, face painting and crafts going on nearby between 11am and 4pm.

18 metre whale to arrive in Valley Gardens

Harrogate’s Valley Gardens is the venue for Thursday, February 24, which involves a 18 metre whale, two life-size kangaroo impersonators, The Roo’s and a huge animatronic tortoise all to fascinate visitors.

This day’s aim is to educate families about sea-life preservation. Alongside the three main attractions there will also be a sea fairy glob, with a magical sea fairy inside,  and Bob the Lobster to entertain children.

Craft activities will also be held throughout the day between 11am and 4pm.

Two life-size kangaroo impersonators will arrive in Harrogate.

On the Friday, an earth-themed craft session is being held in Pateley Bridge between 11am and 4pm.

The week concludes in Knaresborough Castle Grounds on Saturday. Boat-About, a life-size boat cruise with actors, will move around the grounds to entertain visitors between 11am and 4pm.

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Gemma Rio, head of Destination Harrogate said:

“Our Planet, Your World is the perfect family-friendly event to kick off what we hope will be an exciting year of live events across the Harrogate district. Events like this increase footfall to our town centres, and attract visitors from further afield, which in turn helps support our local businesses. I would encourage everyone to come along this February half term, enjoy the events, celebrate the world we live in and learn about how we can protect it.”

Organisers have said some activities are weather dependent so are asking visitors to follow the Visit Harrogate social media channels.

The event is being funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the government’s Welcome Back Fund.