Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
01
Dec
“We are too scared to let our child walk to school in Harrogate”
The mother of a boy who was seriously injured walking to school in Harrogate has said she is now too scared about road safety to let his younger brother walk to school.
Stephanie Talbot was one of several campaigners urging councillors at a meeting last week to implement a 20mph speed limit around seven schools that serve 6,000 pupils in the town.
Ms Talbot said her family was “shattered” when a Ford Ranger pick-up truck hit their son and another 15-year-old boy on Yew Tree Lane at 8.30am on February 2, 2023. Both boys were seriously injured and spent 18 and 22 weeks in hospital.
Ms Talbot said in a statement read to councillors on Thursday (November 27) that she couldn’t understand why it was taking so long to reduce the speed limit on Yew Tree Lane and nearby routes from 30mph to 20mph.
She said the campaign had already lasted four years, adding:
“During that time a child walking on those streets has started and almost left high school. That’s the reality of my youngest child.
"He no longer walks to school, he used to, until his older brother got hit whilst walking on the pavement to school and witnessing it. His parents are too scared to let him walk, as the devastation of the accident caused our families life to shatter.”
Police sealed off Yew Tree Lane after the collision.
Ms Talbot’s statement, read by Dr Jenny Marks, said another serious collision had happened on Otley Road “within five minutes’ drive of our house”.
She said:
All because no one can make immediate decisions within the council that could prevent accidents like these. Speed kills, injures and destroys lives.
I cannot comprehend how a council can ever get anything done if a decision about reducing speed for a certain section of the community takes four years considering there have been two major incidents in its location — Otley Road and Yew Tree Lane.
I have no faith in your system. I live with the fact that our roads are dangerous. I feel like living in this town, the council favours cars and convenience over its people. I hope you feel safe walking on the pavements around Harrogate because I don’t.
Dr Jenny Marks speaking at the meeting.
'Repeated delays'
Ms Talbot’s statement was read during a debate on active travel held by North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area committee.
The first phase of a 20mph zone in Harrogate was implemented this autumn. But the second phase has been delayed.
Dr Marks, who along with Ruth Lily and Hazel Peacock has spearheaded the speed reduction campaign, called for “full and expedited delivery of the south and west Harrogate 20mph zone”.
She said:
Repeated delays to its implementation have left children and residents exposed to unnecessary risks, despite overwhelming community support for action.
Completion of phase two has now been postponed until late 2026, far beyond the original 2024 target for implementation of the full scheme. In the meantime, roads with average speeds above 24mph remain unchanged, and traffic continues to speed in close proximity to children — placing them, and the wider public, at ongoing risk.
She added the roads were used by more than 6,000 students at Ashville College, Rossett School, Rossett Acre Primary School, Harrogate Grammar School, Western Primary School, St John Fisher’s Catholic High School and St Aidan’s Church of England High School.
Dr Marks said:
“Residents’ frustration is mounting. Testimonials from local families highlight daily anxiety about student safety and near misses.”
Ms Peacock told the committee Leadhall Lane is 1km long and had no crossing for schoolchildren, who were “forced to dash across it at their peril”.
She added:
“Otley Road has witnessed serious and even fatal collisions and is a key route to Harrogate Grammar School. On Hookstone Road, Oatlands Infant School has reported three near misses in the last year, and in January 2024, a young person suffered serious injuries at the Hornbeam Park train station crossing due to a collision at 3.30pm.”
Jasmin Gibson
Strategic roads
Jasmin Gibson, improvement project delivery manager at the council, said Leeds Road, Wetherby Road, Otley Road, Hookstone Drive, Hookstone Road and Leadhall Lane were either category 2 or 3 A roads, which were classed either as ‘strategic distributor’ or 'main distributor' roads in Harrogate and it was not the council’s policy to include them in 20mph zones.
Ms Gibson added officers continued to work on expediting the 20mph zone on other roads, adding:
“But it is vital that the traffic calming measures implemented are robust and reduce the speed and ensure that any implemented 20mph zones are self-enforcing. This is paramount to ensure the safety of our vulnerable groups long-term.”
She said further engineering work would take place in December and January and there would be another update in March
0