Bus services in a county that failed to secure any money to improve services in the government’s high-profile Bus Back Better scheme are now facing “a potential cliff-edge”, North Yorkshire’s transport boss has warned.
In a statement to a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council next Wednesday, Cllr Keane Duncan said the authority was aware several of the county’s commercial routes were facing “significant pressures”, due to the loss of government subsidies in three months.
The warning from the Conservative-led council’s executive member for highways and transportation comes ahead of bus services across the country having to introduce a £2 price cap on local and regional journeys from October.
It also comes just three months after it emerged the authority’s £116 million Bus Back Better bid had been rejected in its entirety by the government, which claimed the bid had lacked “sufficient ambition”.
As winning the grant had been crucial for elements of the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, the authority expressed dismay at the decision.
Even ahead of the decision in March, members of the authority’s executive had underlined the need for bus services for the county’s rural communities, which dwindled following significant austerity cutbacks.
Cllr Duncan said the council had launched a review of the passenger service network across the county to understand which could become threatened in the coming months.
He said:
“The end of the Commercial Bus Services Support Grant provided by central government in October presents a potential cliff-edge in terms of the future profitability of routes our residents rely upon.”
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He said the review would enable him to assess potential support the council could provide “to keep as many of our vital services running as possible”.
The authority’s opposition leader, Councillor Bryn Griffiths, said concerns had been mounting for the viability of some bus services as they appeared to have reached a tipping point.
Coun Griffiths said by giving one-off grants for specific projects limited to certain places the government was failing to provide the resources needed to improve access to public transport across England’s largest county.
He said:
“It’s an appalling situation. We lose out in the north of England in rural areas because the government doesn’t recognise the issues.
“Places like Bilsdale have no bus services on Sundays because the county council cannot afford to subsidise them, so people can’t get to hospitals to visit their loved ones. Cutting services even further is just ridiculous.
“It’s a vicious circle. You get fewer services, so it gets less and less attractive for people to use.”
New town with 3,000 homes could get just 20% affordable housing
The proportion of affordable homes to be built at Harrogate’s biggest development in decades could be just 20 per cent.
Maltkiln is a 3,000-home settlement planned for the Hammerton and Cattal area.
It aims to play a major role in addressing the district’s housing need by providing “much-needed homes and jobs in a sustainable location”.
But a newly-published development plan document from Harrogate Borough Council states that the number of homes to be classed as affordable is “anticipated to be within a range of 20 to 40 per cent”.
The council’s target for affordable homes at all new housing sites is 40 per cent.
It said achieving this figure at Maltkiln will be “challenging” as the development needs to be financially viable.
Yet the council also admits the affordability of homes is a “key issue” that needs to be addressed as Harrogate remains as one of the most unaffordable places to live in England.
High house prices
Average house prices in the district are around 11 times average incomes, forcing many people out of the area.
The Maltkiln document states:
“Whilst we want to strive to deliver as much affordable housing as possible, an element of flexibility will also be required.
“This is explicitly acknowledged in the justification to the affordable housing policy where delivery is anticipated to be within a range of 20% to 40%.”
The document also said this range is “not out of step” with other large housing settlements elsewhere in the UK “where figures of 15 per cent, 25 per cent and 35 per cent have been set”.
Read more:
- New 3,000 home settlement in Harrogate district to be called Maltkiln
- Two primary schools planned for new 3,000-home Harrogate district settlement
But councillor Pat Marsh, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group on the council, said the authority should be aiming for at least its own 40 per cent target in order to provide homes for those most in need.
She also said that during the creation of the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, her party’s vision for Maltkiln was an “eco-village” which is not car dependent and has many community facilities.
Cllr Marsh said:
“That eco-village had to be in a sustainable place and therefore the area around the Hammertons with two rail halts seemed an ideal place.
“Once taken up and accepted as the new settlement site, there has been a need to ensure all the right infrastructure is in place to serve the existing and new community.
“This includes schools including a secondary school, shops, open spaces and sports pitches. Also, that the houses built would be carbon neutral.
“Added to that the requirement of 40 per cent affordable homes which is very important and we should not consider the delivery of less.”
Flaxby rejected
The Hammerton and Cattal area was chosen as the location for the huge housing plans after rival proposals for 2,750 homes on the former Flaxby Golf Course were rejected by the council in a decision which led to a legal challenge from the developers.
The proposals for Maltkiln include two primary schools and land for a secondary school, as well as shops, employment space and a GP surgery which will be centred around the train station.
The council said it chose this location due to its transport links with the York-Harrogate-Leeds railway line and the A59.
It also said this location will “steer development away” from nearby residents who previously warned the housing plans will be “utterly devastating” for surrounding villages.
A six-week consultation on the development plan document is planned for October when residents will be asked to share their views on areas including roads and public transport.
After this, the document will then be submitted to the government for public examination.
Positive covid patients at Harrogate hospital doubles in three weeksThe number of patients at Harrogate District Hospital who tested positive for covid has more than doubled in three weeks.
Latest figures supplied by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust show 35 covid-positive patients are currently in hospital — a rise from 14 on June 25.
Of that number, six are primarily receiving treatment for covid.
The figure peaked at 42 positive patients on July 5, but has since declined.
Harrogate hospital officials have put the rise in cases down to the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant.
Health officials have warned that hospitals are under extreme pressure due to a rise in cases.
West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts, which includes Harrogate hospital, said that the increase in cases has meant the availability of beds has been impacted.
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This combined with covid-related staff sickness means patients are also facing delays for planned treatment, officials said.
Dr Phil Wood, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said:
Local firm averts traffic danger at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show“The significant upsurge in covid-19 cases in West Yorkshire and Harrogate means that our hospitals are facing extreme pressures. Our teams are doing everything they can to make sure that services are safe and, in some cases, planned treatment may need to be postponed.
“We are aware that some people have been waiting for planned operations for a very long time and, wherever possible, we will ensure these go ahead as planned.
“Thankfully, the number of very seriously ill people needing treatment in intensive care for covid-19 is very small and accounts for less than two per cent of total inpatient cases.
“The covid-19 vaccine is very effective at preventing severe disease in those who have been immunised and I’d encourage anyone who has not yet had their vaccine to book an appointment through the NHS.uk website.”
Quick-thinking traffic management staff averted a highly dangerous situation on a main road outside Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show this morning.
Staff at SEP Events, which is based in Boroughbridge, discovered 450 cones and 25 signs were missing when they arrived for work shortly before 6am this morning.
The items, worth thousands of pounds, are believed to have been stolen either by another firm or by thieves looking to sell them on. Several sources have confirmed the details to the Stray Ferret.
The cones and signs were taken at the Kestrel roundabout, which has been the busiest point for traffic during the show, and at the nearby junction of Wetherby Road and Rudding Lane.
An SEP van at the Kestrel roundabout.
The stretch of Wetherby Road between the two locations usually accommodates two-way traffic but a one-way system has been operating from 6am until 8pm each day of the show to improve traffic flow.
The cones and signs have played a key part in enforcing this.
But with the items missing, and 6.30am approaching, there could have been chaos with traffic heading towards the show from the Kestrel roundabout in both lanes meeting head-on vehicles travelling in the other direction that should have been diverted off Wetherby Road.
SEP employees had to stand in the road in high visibility jackets and use their vehicles to direct traffic while colleagues went back to Boroughbridge to get replacement cones and signs.
Shortly after 7am traffic measures were back in place and no accidents had occurred.
Traffic cones cost several pounds each and weigh about 6kg so whoever was responsible is believed to have had a trailer with a high load-bearing capacity.
North Yorkshire Police has issued an appeal for information. It said in a statement:
“The cones and signage were installed as part of traffic management for the Great Yorkshire Show and the theft led to significant disruption for motorists and showgoers.
“It is believed the items were taken between 9pm on Tuesday 12 July and 4am on Wednesday 13 July so police are appealing for anyone who might have seen anything which could help the investigation.”
The Stray Ferret has contacted SEP Events about the incident.
Halls of Ripon celebrate a sparkling anniversary year
This story is sponsored by Halls of Ripon.
It has been a sparkling first year for the 20 plus independent retailers at Halls of Ripon.
At Red Buttons – one of the jewels in the department store’s crown – the celebrations continue for owners Mike and Liz Cooper as they will soon reach a golden milestone, having married in August 1972.
The couple, along with Hedley Hall, Ben Butler and Lloyd Sheard, were instrumental in the re-birth and re-invention of the unique retail destination on Fishergate, under the famous Halls name, so fondly remembered in Ripon and across the Harrogate district, for the quality of its goods and the excellence of its service.
In their own golden wedding anniversary year, Mike and Liz have launched a sale of select rings and other jewellery items, offered at discounted prices that customers can purchase to mark their own special occasions, from silver to gold, diamond and platinum.
The special anniversary sale of select jewellery items is now on at Red Buttons
Mike, who worked for more than 40 years in senior management at some of the best-known jewellers on the UK high street, said:
“Jewellery is a personal, emotional and sentimental gift that carries deep meaning and lifelong memories.
“Over the years it has been a pleasure to share in everything from marriages and the earliest wedding anniversaries, to the birth of a child, by helping people to find the appropriate piece or pieces of jewellery.”
Mike pointed out:
“For some customers, diamonds have been selected as the mile-stones that tell the story of their lives.
“The sentimental value goes on when single items or entire collections are left to loved ones and become treasured heirlooms that will be passed on to future generations.”
Creating customised Jewellery
Red Buttons takes pride in providing a personalised service and experience for customers, supported by designers and craftsman jewellers who can create customised pieces, often involving the recycling of a family’s redundant and damaged items.
Mike explains:
“A lady brought gold rings inherited from her parents, that she was unable to wear and within a matter of days we transformed them into a simple, but stylish cross that can be worn every day.
The gold heart with diamonds, created from wedding rings and an engagement ring
“For another customer, the wedding ring of her late mother and grandmother’s diamond engagement and wedding rings, were united in a single gold and diamond heart, whose sentimental value is beyond price.”
Red Buttons’ services include free jewellery cleaning and inspection, re-sizing, stone replacement, claw re-tipping and replacement. Part exchange is also available for customers with items that they wish to trade.
A community of independent retailers
Liz Cooper, said:
Two primary schools planned for new 3,000-home Harrogate district settlement“Our independent retailers cover all ages, from clothes for babies and children to hand-made furniture and a newly-introduced repair shop where classic sofas and chairs are re-upholstered and returned to use.
“All traders have expanded over the past year and each has something special to offer that adds to the department store experience. The coffee, homemade cakes and sandwiches at The Hive cafe within the store are highly recommended.”
Two primary schools and land for a secondary school form part of proposals for a new 3,000-home village between Harrogate and York.
The settlement, to be named Maltkiln, will be built in the Hammerton and Cattal area. New details of the major scheme have been revealed this week.
A development plan document from Harrogate Borough Council shows there are proposals for two 420-place primary schools – one of which would be able to expand with room for 630 pupils.
The plan also said because the village is not large enough to “generate sufficient pupils” for a secondary school, around £10.5 million would be provided to fund an expansion of 11 new classrooms at Boroughbridge High School.
However, it added that land within Maltkiln has been designated for “future secondary provision should this be required in the future”.
The plan said:
“The council has been working with the education authority, North Yorkshire County Council, in order to identify the educational infrastructure required to support the level of growth proposed in Maltkiln.
“NYCC have indicated that the development is not projected to generate sufficient numbers of pupils to warrant the need for a secondary school on-site.
“Nevertheless, for the proper and long-term planning of the area, the council consider a cautious approach should be taken and have safeguarded land for a secondary school if it is needed.”
Read more:
- Green Hammerton gets final approval for 3,000-home settlement
- Flaxby fails to stop Green Hammerton development at High Court
- New 3,000 home settlement in Harrogate district to be called Maltkiln
It is estimated that more than 8,000 residents will occupy the village, which may not be completed until at least 2038.
A six-week consultation on the development plan document is planned for October, when residents will be asked to share their views on areas including roads and public transport.
After this, the document will then be submitted to the government for public examination.
Maltkiln is centred around Cattal train station which links York, Harrogate and Leeds – and Harrogate Borough Council hopes this location will “steer development away” from residents living in surrounding villages who have objected to the proposals.
The council also said facilities including shops, employment space and a GP surgery should be built around this central location.
It said:
“A new community of over 8,000 residents will generate a need for significant new local facilities and these should be located at the heart of the settlement directly adjacent to Cattal railway station.
“The mixed-use local centre will provide a diverse and vibrant space at the heart of Maltkiln.”
A meeting of the council’s cabinet will be held next Wednesday when senior councillors will be asked to agree to the launch of the consultation on the development plan document.
A report to the meeting said the publication of the plan is a “key milestone” and that once approved it will provide “a 30 year vision for Maltkiln”.
The report added:
Yorkshire Ambulance Service declares ‘critical incident’ status“The development plan document provides the starting point to guide the development and delivery of Maltkiln.
“Proposals will need to go through the planning application process and there will be further opportunities for communities and stakeholders to be involved in more detailed master-planning.
“The council is also exploring a range of governance and stewardship options to ensure that residents will have a say in how community facilities are run.”
Yorkshire Ambulance Service has urged people to only call 999 for serious or life threatening injuries because it is under “extreme pressure”.
YAS, which covers the Harrogate district, said in a statement it was operating on Resource Escalation Plan 4.
This is the equivalent to Black Alert for hospitals and is only declared when an ambulance service can no longer effectively deliver a service due, typically due to a major incident
All 10 ambulance trusts in the country have now declared a similar status.
Staff shortages and hot weather are among the reasons.
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YAS has asked people to consider contacting their GP, pharmacy or practise self-care as alternative options to the ambulance service.
A spokesperson for YAS said:
Firefighter photos reveal extent of Harrogate district field fire“An extremely high volume of calls is currently having a significant impact on both our 999 and NHS 111 operations.
“We have taken the decision to move to REAP Level 4, our highest level of escalation, and while the situation is being managed in line with the plans that we have in place to protect our core services, unfortunately there are patients who are facing delays and we are very sorry that we are unable to respond to them as quickly as we would like.
“All emergency calls are categorised according to the nature of a patient’s illness or injury and those in a life-threatening condition are always prioritised. It’s important that members of the public only call 999 for an ambulance when it is a serious or life-threatening emergency. This will help us to focus our efforts on our most poorly patients.
“You can also help us by not calling back to check where the ambulance is as we need those phone lines to be free for those in a life-threatening condition. However, if the condition of the patient changes or if you feel you no longer need an ambulance, it’s important that you let us know.
“For anyone with less serious illnesses and injuries, they should consider self-care, their local pharmacy, GP surgery, urgent care centre or making their own way to the emergency department. Our NHS 111 service is also available online at 111.nhs.uk or by calling 111.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and thank all our hard-working staff and volunteers for their efforts at this challenging time.”
Photos released by Harrogate firefighters have revealed the extent of yesterday’s field fire near Ripon.
The blaze, which occurred just after 4pm at Hutton Bank, Sharow, was one of two crop fires in the district as the heatwave hits.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log says:
“Ripon and Harrogate crews attended reports of a field of standing crops on fire.
“They requested a further four appliances due to the 300m fire front. Crews worked with the farmer to extinguish the fire. Incident has been scaled down now.”
Minutes later crews from York, Northallerton and Colburn attended a large field fire measuring approx 100 metres at Dishforth.
They used pitchforks and beaters and a hose reel to extinguish the flames.
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New 3,000 home settlement in Harrogate district to be called Maltkiln
Formal consultation is set to begin on a proposed new 3,000-house settlement in the Harrogate district.
The settlement, which will be larger than the town of Boroughbridge, will be built in the Hammerton and Cattal area of the district, close to York.
Harrogate Borough Council said in a news release today it was “finalising its policies and proposals for the new settlement” following earlier stages of consultation.
Its executive will consider a development plan document, which will set out the boundary for the settlement and other details, on Wednesday next week before it goes out for formal consultation.
It added:
“The development of a new settlement is a key part of the district’s growth strategy providing much needed homes and jobs in a sustainable location along the York-Harrogate-Leeds railway line.”
Wetherby real estate developer Oakgate Group earmarked the area to be known as Maltkiln for 3,000 homes in 2017.
It submitted a screening application to assess whether it needed to conduct an environmental impact assessment before submitting a formal planning application.
Cllr Tim Myatt, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for planning, said today:
“The development plan document sets a clear and ambitious 30-year vision for Maltkiln and provides a policy framework that will enable the planning authority to lead, guide and manage how it is developed.”
Read more:
- Green Hammerton gets final approval for 3,000-home settlement
- Flaxby fails to stop Green Hammerton development at High Court
- Harrogate council to commission climate change study for new 3,000-home settlement
As part of the plan, the council also commissioned consultants at a cost of £20,000 to produce a “comprehensive climate strategy” for the settlement.
The council said that Maltkiln would be planned in a way which would help to to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2038.
It said this would mean reducing the need to travel, providing walking and cycling infrastructure and improvements to public transport as well as supporting the transition to low emission private cars.
Cllr Myatt added:
“Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing us today and one that the council takes seriously which is why we have commissioned a climate change strategy to ensure Maltkiln will be a climate resilient place, fit for the 21st Century.”
If councillors agree the plan next week, a consultation on the development plan will be held in the autumn. It would then be submitted to the secretary of state for examination.
The move to create a settlement in the Hammerton/Cattal area comes after a long running saga between Flaxby Park Ltd and the borough council.
The battle led to a High Court hearing over whether the homes should be built in Flaxby or Green Hammerton before it was finally settled in late 2020.
Harrogate jewellery expert sells rare brooch for £80,000Harrogate jewellery expert, Susan Rumfitt, has sold a rare brooch at auction for around three times its guide price.
Ms Rumfitt, who has written a column for the Stray Ferret and is an expert for the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, sold an intricate micro-mosaic theatrical mask brooch by Castellani of Rome for £80,600.
The piece had been listed under a guide price of £20,000 to £30,000.
Ms Rumfitt said:
“Items crafted by Castellani are a few and far between at auction, so our sale presented a very rare opportunity for collectors to acquire this delightful brooch.
“The house of Castellani is famed for its archaeological-revival designs in gold, gemstone and mosaic, and it was a privilege to share this brooch. The auction saw passionate bidding, with clients from across the globe taking part.”
Made in around 1850 and depicting Bacchus, the brooch reproduces part of a 3rd Century AD mosaic now in the Capitoline Museums portraying theatrical masks which decorated the Thermae Decianae.
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Susan Rumfitt
For the past decade Ms Rumfitt has focussed on her showroom in Harrogate. Her return to the auction house is in collaboration with Dore & Rees auctioneers in Frome, Somerset.
Ms Rumfitt said:
“The first sale this week was vibrant and exciting, and I’m absolutely thrilled with the results, especially the fabulous price we achieved for the Castellani brooch.
“The sale as a whole was strong with great interest in Victorian jewellery and also the emerald pieces proved very popular. We are now gathering for our next sale in December with some beautiful pieces already consigned.”