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05
Aug 2024
Winter gritting – 13 new routes proposed in Harrogate district
There have been calls for 13 routes in the Harrogate district to be added to North Yorkshire Council’s winter gritting programme.
Individuals and organisations are invited to suggest amendments to winter gritting routes each year.
The Conservative-run council’s environment executive will consider the requests at a meeting on Friday (August 9).
But all 13 look set to be rejected, according to a report ahead of the meeting.
The 13 routes suggested for inclusion in the Harrogate district amount to more than any of the other six areas in the county.
The report, which says the council’s winter service budget is £8.34 million, said:
The officer recommendation for all of the requests in this report are to not change the route’s priority status. This is because officers feel that the current status of the route in question is appropriate given the current winter service policy. However, officers will check the number and spacing of grit heaps and bins on each of the routes in this report before the start of the winter season.
One of the proposed Harrogate routes was at Trapping Hill near Lofthouse, where Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive member for highways, got stuck in snow in February when he was campaigning to be mayor of York and North Yorkshire.
Members of the Tory-run council’s environment executive will decide whether to accept the officer’s recommendation at Friday’s meeting.
Below are details of the 13 areas suggested.
1 Menwith Hill Road
This was proposed by a local business on the grounds that it is a main route used by bus companies.
2 Heyshaw village in Nidderdale
A resident proposed including key routes in the village, which is near Dacre Banks, because it is difficult for people to get in and out during ice and snow.
3 St Hilda’s Road and Wayside Avenue, Harrogate
A resident said gritting would help residents get out of the residential location when it is icy.
4 Careless House Lane
A local business and the parish council called for the road to be gritted because businesses struggle to get their vehicles out.
5 Brimham Rocks Road
A local resident said people are unable to leave their homes in cold weather.
6 Dacre Pasture Lane, Thornthwaite
A resident said some people struggle to get out of their homes during ice and snow.
7 Fellbeck
The B6265 should through Fellbeck should be upgraded because people struggle to leave their homes when it snows or there is ice, according to a resident.
8 Trapping Hill to Pot Moor Road
The local councillor, Lib Dem Andrew Murday, asked for this remote route near Lofthouse to be gritted. A council officer said the section “is very remote and would not be safe to check or treat due to the steep gradient in the middle section and we would be putting drivers at risk”.
9 Walton Park, Pannal
John Mann, the Conservative councillor for Oatlands and Pannal Ash, recommended the route be considered to help residents enter and exit the estate.
10 Moor Close, Killinghall
A resident whose son requires a carer asked for the route to be upgraded.
11 Hill Top Crescent, Bilton
A resident said nearby roads were gritted, but this one wasn’t and residents were unable to leave their homes when it was icy or snowy.
12 Park Road, Asenby
A resident proposed gritting this street, which is on the edge of the Harrogate district, near Topcliffe.
13 Laverton village
Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, the Lib Dem councillor for the village, and the parish council called for a short section that covers 16 properties to be included for gritting.
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