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19
Jan
Housing, Station Gateway, the arts... 5 things we learned after business leaders quizzed council bosses this week
Business leaders quizzed North Yorkshire Council officials this week on key issues affecting businesses in the district.
Richard Flinton, the council’s chief executive, Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of the authority, and Karl Battersby, corporate director for environment, fielded questions from an audience at the first Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting of the year.
The event, which was held at Rudding Park Hotel, covered a wide range of topics including business rates, the Harrogate Station Gateway scheme and council finances.
Here are five things we learned from the meeting.
1 ‘No business rates holiday’
David Waddington, of Hornbeam Park Developments, asked the council’s chief executive whether there would be any support for Harrogate’s businesses on business rates.
Mr Waddington pointed out that trading conditions were already difficult and asked whether the council would commit to support town centre retailers with rates.
Mr Flinton said it was not something the council would be able to do because of its own financial situation.
He said:
We can’t give a commitment that we’re going to reduce or have holidays on business rates. I need to be honest with you, with the financial position the council is in that’s not something we can do.
We understand the circumstances that you have described and if we can work with you and others to try what we can to make Harrogate as an attractive venue for others to come then I think that is where we are.
2 Station Gateway: ‘Time to get on with the scheme’
Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director for environment, said it was “time to get on” with the Station Gateway scheme.
During the meeting, Mr Battersby said the council hoped to have a contractor for the £12.1 million gateway scheme by April this year.
Karl Battersby, corporate director for environment at North Yorkshire Council.
However, the council was criticised for its handling of the project by one businessman.
Steven Baines, a landlord in the town centre who leads the Get Away business coalition, told council bosses that his tenants and others on Station Parade have “an awful lot of concern” over the scheme.
Mr Baines added that businesses did not feel there had been any consultation on the project and that the scheme had not “been handled properly”.
Mr Battersby denied that the there had been no consultation on the project and said that it was time the scheme got started.
He said:
I think we have consulted to death on the Transforming Cities Fund scheme. We have done three scheme consultations, had thousands of responses to it and we have had drop-in sessions.
Mr Battersby added that the scheme had already been amended due to responses to the scheme, such as keeping Station Parade as two lanes.
He said:
I think the time for consultation has ended. It’s time to get on with the scheme.
3 ‘We need to look at new settlements’
Mr Flinton told the meeting that the council may need to look at “pivoting” to more new settlements in a bid to increase housebuilding.
Following its election, the Labour government has set a target to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years.
Mr Flinton said the council was currently lobbying government over its new mandatory housing target of more than 4,000 homes. The Stray Ferret has a full article on this here.
The plans for Maltkiln.
Meanwhile, he said the authority may need to look at proposing more new settlements similar to Maltkiln — a 3,000-home scheme in the Harrogate district — as part of its housing plans.
He said:
One of the things that is clear to my mind is that we’re going to have to look at how we pivot to more new settlements than North Yorkshire has ever had over the last 20 years when we look at this going forward.
That’s one of the reasons why Maltkiln is important to us. But there are other opportunities in Selby and in the central area of the county if you look at former MOD sites etcetera.
4 Culture 'safe' in Harrogate
North Yorkshire Council’s leader pledged to protect Harrogate’s culture offer during the meeting.
The move came as Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, raised the issue of culture in Harrogate during the question and answer session.
She called on the council “not to forget” that culture is an important part of Harrogate and pointed to the Harrogate crime writing festival and the 125th anniversary of Harrogate Theatre as examples.
Cllr Carl Les, leader of the council, said he often visited the town to “access culture” despite living 25 miles away.
He said:
If I want to access culture, I have to come to Harrogate. Harrogate culture will be safe as long as I’m leader of the council.
5 ‘Not the end of austerity for rural councils’
Mr Flinton claimed during the meeting that it has “not been the end of austerity” for rural councils.
He pointed to a recent funding settlement from government, which included an end to the £15 million rural services delivery grant.
The council has also proposed the maximum council tax increase for the forthcoming year, which the Stray Ferret has a full report on here.
Mr Flinton told business leaders that the authority was already looking at saving around £90 million over the next three years.
He said:
I don’t quite sure what we would get with a new government, but its not been the end of austerity or certainly not for rural councils in our situation.
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