Leeds Bradford Airport applies for relaxation of nighttime operating restrictionsBid to protect Harrogate’s Stray with common land status

A campaign group has submitted an application to have the Stray in Harrogate registered as common land.

The Open Spaces Society (OSS) said registration could bring more protection for the Stray, requiring additional permission to hold events outside the existing restrictions.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, OSS case officer Hugh Craddock said it would make it more difficult to hold events that did not comply with the 1985 Stray Act, such as the 2019 UCI Road World Championships, which saw heavy rain and large crowds leave West Park Stray in need of extensive repairs.

He said:

“Our view is that, once registered, the protections afforded to common land generally would apply to the Stray as well.

“There would be an additional layer of consent which would have to be obtained for such events. That’s not to say it would be impossible, but there would be another layer of protection.”

The Stray Act 1985 appointed Harrogate Borough Council to guard it and residents’ freedom to use it. When the new North Yorkshire Council comes into effect in April, it will take on that responsibility.

Among the restrictions under the act are a limit on the amount of space that can be used for events, and their duration. No more than 8.5 acres can be used for a maximum of 35 days per year.

A consultation was held in 2016 to extend the amount of time the Stray could be used for events, but the council said there was not public support for the proposal.

The OSS said it is trying to reverse a decision made in November 1966 to exclude the Stray from registration under the Commons Registration Act 1965. It has applied to North Yorkshire County Council to register the 200-acre parkland as common land.

Mr Craddock said:

“The decision in the 1960s to keep the Stray off the registers was understandable but misguided.

“Only a quarter of one per cent of registered common land was exempted from registration, and exemption proved to be both misleading and unhelpful.

“The Stray has always been common land, and ought to be registered as common land.”

Once the application has been validated by the county council, Mr Craddock said the process of determining whether to register the Stray as common land is likely to take between six and 18 months.

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The OSS said the move would help to resolve some “inconsistencies” in the area of the Stray defined by different acts of Parliament in 1770, 1893 and 1985.

Mr Craddock referred to a small patch of grass adjacent to Harrogate District Hospital which used to be part of the gardens belonging to a house on the site of the hospital. Although it appeared to be part of the Stray, it was not officially Stray land.

In 2020, that land was identified as part of a ‘land exchange’ for a piece of verge alongside Otley Road which was part of the Stray. The Stray land was set to be adjusted as part of the cycle route being created by North Yorkshire County Council which required loss of the verge.

The OSS said officially recognising the Stray as common land could only further ensure its protection.

Commons registration officer Frances Kerner, who made the application on behalf of the society, added:

“Registration can only reinforce the protection already afforded to the Stray under the Harrogate Stray Act 1985.  The land will also become protected under the Commons Act 2006.

“And registration will ensure that those who buy and sell land adjacent to the common are always notified of its protected status.

“We look forward to the council advertising the application in due course.”

Plans to extend drinking hours at village pub near Ripon

An application to extend drinking hours at the Sawley Arms near Ripon will be decided by the council next week.

The gastro pub has applied for a licence for late-night drinking until 1am, seven days a week.

As part of the application, the pub said it will ensure accompanied children are seated away from other guests, and that staff will be on site at all times. It also said there are 16 CCTV cameras recording constantly in order to prevent crime and disorder.

The application had originally requested the licence for both the bar and the gardens, but environmental health officer Gemma Demaline said that was likely to cause disturbance to nearby residents in Sawley.

Responding for the Sawley Arms, Steve Harryman said:

“This will be predominantly to allow us to serve our guests for a bit longer.

“We are a quiet country pub with the gardens only usable in the summer months and our current licence allows us to use them up until 11pm.

“No noise complaints in our nine-year trading period.”

Mr Harryman then offered to keep the licence for the gardens until 11pm and extend the hours inside only. He said staff would ask guests to move inside at 11pm and signs would be put up asking them to leave the pub “quickly and quietly”.

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He added:

“This is most likely to be hotel guests walking to the rear of the pub to their hotel rooms, no traffic movements.

“We also have night porters on site to ensure noise levels are kept to a minimum, for the benefit of our neighbours and our other hotel guests.”

An objection to the proposal was submitted by David Taylor, clerk to Grantley and Sawley Parish Council, saying the council had “grave concerns”. He said:

“The residents of the village are very likely to be disturbed by vehicles leaving the site at times that would extend beyond 1am.

“Although 1am is the requested extended time, there would be ‘drinking up time’ and staff leaving the premises, therefore it would be nearer to 2am when the last cars leave the site.

“this would present a very real disturbance to the many residents leaving in close proximity to the Sawley Arms.”

The application will be considered by Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing committee next Friday, October 28.

Harrogate Spring Water ‘finalising’ latest expansion plans

Harrogate Spring Water has said it is finalising the latest expansion plans for its bottled water plant – more than a year and half after previous proposals were rejected following widespread opposition in the town.

The firm held a consultation on plans for its Rotary Wood site this summer and said it would now provide a further update “in the coming weeks”.

That same phrase was used by the Danone-owned company in January 2021 when it said new designs would be revealed “in the coming weeks” after its larger expansion plans were refused by Harrogate Borough Council.

Twenty months on, there is no new application from the firm.

Harrogate Spring Water was first granted outline permission to expand in 2017, however it failed to get approval for final designs which were 40% larger than original plans and would have seen more trees chopped down at Rotary Wood which was planted by children 16 years ago.

The company later announced it would revert back to its original plans and has now released a new statement this week.

A company spokesperson said:

“We started our public consultation process in June because it was important for us to ensure that, as we look to grow, create further job opportunities and continue to support the local and regional economy, we listen to the local community.

“This process has included individual meetings with community stakeholder groups as well as an open public consultation event, allowing people to have their say on the design and landscaping of the proposed extension and surrounding land.

“We have taken these views on board as we work towards finalising our plans for the reserved matters application.

“We anticipate providing a further update on this matter in the coming weeks.”

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More than 400 objections were lodged against the larger expansion plans which councillors claimed put “profit and plastic before impact on the environment” as they voted for refusal in January 2021.

Harrogate Spring Water previously made a commitment to replace felled trees at a rate of two to one and has since said it is looking at ways to “achieve net biodiversity gain” at its site.

Harrogate Spring Water

Harrogate Spring Water’s headquarters.

It also said the expansion would create 30 jobs and that there is “potential” to make Rotary Wood more accessible to the public.

Speaking earlier this year, the company’s managing director Richard Hall said:

“We feel it is vital for us as a business to take our environmental responsibilities seriously.

“We also want to work in partnership with the local community on this.

“We want them to help shape the woodland into the resource which they would like to see and ensure our extension blends in as well as it can into the surrounding area.”

Residents unconvinced about Harrogate Spring Water’s expansion

Harrogate residents remain unconvinced about Harrogate Spring Water‘s plans to fell trees in Rotary Wood to expand its bottling plant.

The company, which is now owned by the French firm Danone, held a three-hour consultation event yesterday at Harrogate’s Crown Hotel.

It was a chance for people to make suggestions on the design and landscaping of the proposed extension. The company said the responses would influence its final design.

Since 2017, it has had outline planning permission to expand its production facilities on its site on Harlow Moor Road that would involve felling trees.

It is now putting together a ‘reserved matters’ application which will detail how the new building will look, how the surrounding area will be landscaped and crucially, where new trees will be be replanted.

The Stray Ferret went along to speak to attendees and representatives of Danone, including Harrogate Spring Water’s managing director Richard Hall.

Passionate views

Throughout the evening there was a slow trickle of curious people looking at display boards that offered background on the plans and reasons why the company feels it needs to expand. The boards are available to view online here.

Some saw the event as a chance to passionately tell Mr Hall what they feel are the wrongs of the company, including the merits of plastic bottles.

Sarah Gibbs has been a long-term campaigner against the expansion and often dons her trademark tree costume. She said:

“My stance is we are in a climate emergency. We need to start acting like it. Why do we need bottled water?”.

Rotary Wood

Rebecca Maunder campaigns for the environment in the Harlow Hill area.

She believes it’s not a certainty that the trees will be lost if a case can be made that any replacement tree planting proposals are insufficient.

She suggested the company should instead look to expand its premises in different ways.

“They should build it on their car park.”

Ms Maunder said Rotary Wood “belongs to all of us” and is worried the business will look to further encroach into the woodland in the future.

She added:

“In three years they might want more space.”

How the site currently looks from above.

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Complex issues

When Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee considered the company’s last bid to expand in January 2021, it was for some, a simple battle between the profits of a private business and the environment.

Richard Hall said to frame the debate in these terms is unfair and is “more complex” than what is sometimes presented.

When asked if he is personally concerned about the effects of climate change. He said:

“I think that everyone is thinking about the climate. I’d like to behave in a way that takes into account the future”.

Mr Hall confirmed the company still wants to plant trees in a private field behind RHS Harlow Carr, as it proposed last time, but this is “not enough” and it wants to plant more.

Mr Hall said they have been in talks with some landowners but are yet to come to any agreements.

Last time many objectors, including local climate scientist Professor Piers Forster, were unhappy that the felled trees would be replaced elsewhere with saplings, which are much less effective at soaking up CO2 emissions.

Mr Hall said the company is looking into how the new trees can ensure a “biodiversity net gain”.

On Rebecca Maunder’s car park suggestion, Mr Hall said it was not possible due to a sustainable drainage system underneath.

Sadness

Terry Knowles is a member of Rotary Club of Harrogate and chaired the group’s environmental committee from 2000 until 2015.

Mr Knowles is a key reason the trees were planted there in the first place, which began in 2005 and took around four years.

Terry Knowles inspecting the boards

Speaking in a personal capacity, he said he felt sadness that some trees that he planted with local schoolchildren, who are now adults, could be lost.

He said:

“Bottled water is not an environmental product. The last permission was in 2017 and a lot has changed since then.”

GPs ‘extremely concerned’ Knox Lane housing will put pressure on health services

The organisation that commissions local GP services has issued a strongly worded objection to a plan to build 53 homes in Bilton.

North East property developer Jomast wants to build the homes on a field off Knox Lane, in what has been a controversial and long-running planning application.

Many objections from residents in Knox and Bilton have focused on the impact of the potential new homes on roads and congestion.

Knox Lane

Knox Lane

However, NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group says GP practices in Harrogate are already over-saturated and have “very limited capacity” to accept another 123 patients that the new homes could bring.

The letter says:

“Having consulted with the local GP practices and primary care networks directly impacted we wish to strongly object to this proposed residential development.

“As primary care providers, the GPs and primary care networks are extremely concerned regarding any proposals for further residential development within Harrogate. The existing health infrastructure in Harrogate already operates above optimum capacity and has very limited capacity to absorb additional pressures.

“Primary care and community services within the area are already running at, or far beyond their existing capacity. This is further compounded by the fact that primary care networks practices are operating in substandard buildings limiting their ability to cope with the existing high patient demand.”

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The letter adds the application offers “no provision” for healthcare services for residents, but approved, Jomast should make a payment to the CCG through a section 106 agreement.

The CCG has used an NHS formula to calculate that the developer should pay £63,974, which will be spent by GP practices.

But it warns that this figure would only make up a small part of what is required by GPs.

A spokesperson for Jomast’s planning consultant Spawforths said it is currently considering the comments from the CCG and will issue a response in due course.

Latest blow

The objection from the CCG is another blow for the developer’s hopes of building the scheme in its current form.

Last month, North Yorkshire County Council said the layout of the development was ‘not acceptable’ and the plan should be refused unless the developer agrees to pay to widen the road.

Developer resubmits Flaxby self-build homes eco scheme

A developer is not giving up on his dream of delivering a self-build eco-development in Flaxby after being knocked back by Harrogate Borough Council.

Ben Holmes, from Birstwith, first submitted plans last year to build the cutting-edge development in the village near Knaresborough.

It was for a community self-build scheme, which is a different model of housebuilding from what is usually seen.

Mr Holmes would install infrastructure, such as paths, water, drainage and a communal area, on the site.

Nine plots would then be available to people who want to build their own home. The buyers then hire an architect and builder and design a home to suit their family’s needs.

A stipulation would ensure all the homes are built to strict environmental standards and include solar panels, air-source heat pumps and super-tight insulation.

The plans were refused by the council on the grounds that it was not in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which sets out where development can take place, and because the number of homes was below the council’s requirement per hectare.

‘Moving away from the car’

Mr Holmes appealed the council’s decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate but it upheld the refusal.

He has this week submitted new plans to the council, which he hopes address the reasons for refusal.

The revised plans include plots for 20 homes, which would be available to those who have joined Harrogate’s self-build register.

He said:

“All of the principles of our original scheme will be included, which is again trying to move away from the car, with use of shared electric vehicles and further an electric mini-bus for the school run.

“The homes will generate their own electricity with photovoltaic panels on the roofs and rainwater harvesting will be used to cut down on energy bills.

“They will all be Passivhaus, relying mainly on solar gain for heating, and have air source heat pumps for any extra heating required. They will be extremely well insulated and air-tight. The intention is that they will set the standard for new homes across the area, and be a catalyst for greener developments.”

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New village hall

The initial proposal received a seven-page objection from Goldsborough and Flaxby Parish Council.

It cited concerns over flooding, sustainable transport and claimed the plans “gave no thought whatsoever to the village of Flaxby”.

To help win over locals this time, Mr Holmes has added a village hall and nature reserve for anyone to use.

He added:

“This was in response to some of the existing villagers’ comments that there was nothing in the original scheme to fulfil their social needs, and it should be more integrated for community cohesion.

“The joined parishes of Flaxby and Goldsborough don’t currently have a village hall so this would be an opportunity for them to have their own village asset, that they can use as they see fit.”

The council will decide on the plans at a later date.

Harrogate district unemployment figures remain low

Just 2.2% of all adults in the Harrogate district are claiming out-of-work benefits, latest figures show.

Monthly figures published today by the Office for National Statistics show 1,755 people were claiming the benefits on May 12, which was similar to April’s figure of 1,779.

The figures appear to have stabilised after falling by around 150 people a month since the start of the year.

However, they are still above pre-pandemic levels. In January 2020, 1,410 people claimed the benefits that includes Universal Credit.

Universal Credit can also be claimed by people who are in work but on low incomes.

Many of the district’s key sectors including hospitality and social care have reported difficulties hiring staff since the end of covid restrictions.

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