Ferret Unlocked: what you missed in news last week

A week seldom goes by without an article on the Harrogate Station Gateway project – and last week was no exception. 

North Yorkshire Council’s highways boss, Cllr Keane Duncan, said legal action against the £12.1 million scheme would not halt construction.

Steven Baines, local business owner and spokesperson for anti-gateway group Get Away, previously said “battle has commenced” after launching the legal challenge. But Cllr Duncan said the authority is fighting it "as strongly and as robustly” as it can.

The Stray Ferret also revealed three trees and the little temple on Station Square look set to be felled first when work on the gateway scheme begins. You can read more about that here.

On the topic of legal action, the Conservative leader of the council, Cllr Carl Les, last week told all councillors Labour's decision to cut a £14.3 million grant was “worth challenging”.

After the government axed the rural service delivery grant, which helped councils to cover the costs of additional services rolled out in rural areas, North Yorkshire Council sent a letter to the government seeking a judicial review on the matter.

When asked how much potential legal action could cost the taxpayer, Cllr Carl Les said: “The cost could be £250,000. It could be even more if either side decide to take it beyond the High Court and take it to the House of Lords. It could be a very large sum.”

On a lighter note, local house music lovers revelled in news of the return of Love to Be Festival Harrogate. The line-up, which included the likes of Armand Van Helden and The Shapeshifters, was announced last week. Subscribers can read more here.

The Stray Ferret followed the last few months of Liz Hatton’s life last year. The former Harrogate Grammar School pupil was just 17 when she died of a rare and aggressive sarcoma in November.

Following her death, her mother launched a fundraiser to raise vital funds for research into the condition, as so little is known about it. Last week, it reached its £100,000 target, which you can read about here.

Over in court, a man was fined after he exposed himself at a Harrogate swimming pool and a local man, who approached lone women in his van and performed sex acts on himself, avoided jail. You can read both stories – and plenty more court reports – with a subscription.

Finally, Yorkshire Water’s chief executive, Nicola Shaw, defended her £371,000 bonus despite criticism over sewage overflow failures and a downgrade in its environmental performance. Read more about that here. 

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