Harrogate business survey reveals opposition to Station Gateway

Three times more businesses oppose the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway than support it, according to a survey.

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce revealed the results of a members’ questionnaire at its monthly meeting last night.

Asked whether they were in favour of the scheme, seven respondents said ‘yes’ while 21 said ‘no’.

Members were also asked if they felt the scheme, which would see James Street partly pedestrianised and a section of Station Parade reduced to single lane to make way for a cycle route, would make business in the town better or worse.

Eighteen said it would make it worse, four said better and six either felt it would be the same or expressed no opinion.

Nineteen opposed the pedestrianisation of James Street, while nine supported it.

Asked whether the scheme would “encourage you or your team to participate in more active travel”, five replied ‘yes’ while 23 said ‘no’.

Martin Mann, acting chief executive of the chamber, said:

“No-one’s in any doubt the town centre needs some work, but the answer is not this design.”

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Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat leader in Harrogate and Knaresborough, told the chamber meeting North Yorkshire councillors should visit the affected area before deciding whether to proceed with the gateway on May 30.

Cllr Marsh, who was one of three councillors to oppose the scheme when it was voted through by North Yorkshire Council’s area constituency committee this month, said:

“If this was a planning decision we would be having a site visit and we would walk the route before making a decision. The same should happen.”

“I’m so against this scheme, I can’t tell you.”

Harrogate school road safety petition handed in to council

A petition calling for a 20 mph limit to be imposed on streets across the south of Harrogate has been delivered to North Yorkshire Council today.

Asking the council to consider the blanket limit across Rossett, Pannal Ash, Oatlands, Woodlands and Hookstone, the petition attracted more than 900 signatures.

It was set up by parents concerned about children’s safety when travelling to schools in the area, and gained the backing of groups including Harrogate District Cycle Action and Zero Carbon Harrogate.

Hazel Peacock, who delivered the petition this morning on behalf of the campaigning parents, said:

“We’re just delighted we’ve got this number of signatures. It shows the support for the proposal of this change, which could bring such positive benefits from a road safety perspective.

“Once you have that, it will change people’s attitudes in regard to comfort around walking, cycling and mobility users.”

She handed the petition to Elizabeth Jackson, democratic services manager for North Yorkshire Council.

After surpassing the required 500 signatures, it will now be debated by the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee.

Councillors John Mann, Pat Marsh and Michael Schofield, whose divisions cover the area of the proposed speed restriction and supported the restriction, all sit on the committee and handed over the petition with Hazel this morning.

Cllr Mann, whose Oatlands and Pannal division includes three primary schools, Ashville College and several nurseries and pre-schools, said:

“There is an urgent need in particular for a 20 mph limit for Yew Tree Lane, Green Lane, Hookstone Road, and Beechwood Grove, all of which are used by large numbers of children going to and from local schools, and I have emphasised this to the highways team at the council.

“In relation to the A61 Leeds Road, I have also written to the head of highways, Cllr Keane Duncan, to request that the 50 mph speed limit on Almsford Bank be reduced to 40 mph to reduce competitive speeding, and to improve road safety for schoolchildren using the pavements along the A61 near to the neighbourhoods of Stone Rings, the Fulwiths, and the Firs.

“The current risks to pedestrians using the A61 in this area were highlighted in January when a driver managed to overturn his car and demolish a 30mph sign at the top of Almsford Bank in the morning rush hour. In the same month, another vehicle overturned due to speeding in the early morning rush hour on Hookstone Road close to the junction with Hornbeam Park Avenue.”

A car demolished the 30mph sign at Almsford Bank on Leeds Road in January 2023The demolished 30 mph sign on Leeds Road

Cllr Mann said he would prefer the A61 Leeds Road to maintain its 30 mph limit through Oatlands in order to ease traffic flow, but that a reduction in the limit elsewhere was “urgently needed”.

He referenced a collision on Yew Tree Lane in which two 15-year-old boys from Rossett School were seriously injured, and another collision on Beechwood Grove which left an Oatlands Junior School pupil requiring hospital treatment – both of which happened while the children were on the pavement.

He added:

“These shocking events, combined with evidence showing that more than 10 children are killed or seriously injured in road crashes every week travelling to school, demonstrate the case for immediate action.

“With thousands of pupils travelling to and from the schools and colleges of south and west Harrogate during the week, implementing a maximum speed of 20mph in these areas has the potential to increase safety significantly.

“I really hope that this petition is looked upon favourably by the North Yorkshire Council highways team.”

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Malcolm Margolis, a member of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said reducing the speed limit would also make cycling a safer option for many families travelling to and from schools.

He said:

“It’s a terrific initiative by Hazel and the others. It’s absolutely needed in this area of Harrogate and we hoe it will be the start of it becoming normalised.

“In other countries, it’s just normal. You see parents and grandparents picking up children on their bikes. There’s no reason why we should be different.

“In a calmer 20mph environment, it’s so much more pleasant for anyone who isn’t in a car. In an urban area, it actually makes very little difference to journey times.”

Cllr Marsh, who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone for the Liberal Democrats, said she also backed the plan, and hoped it would be supported by North Yorkshire Police.

She added:

“I’ve been supporting this idea for a very long time. My late husband and I got a 20mph limit put outside Hookstone Chase Primary School and some of the residential streets close by well over 15 years ago.

“My only issue is I wish the police would monitor it, because if they don’t, motorists know it and will ignore it. We can’t put our children at risk.”

Lib Dem leader describes £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway as ‘vanity project’

The £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway has been branded a “piecemeal vanity project” by the chair of the committee that voted to approve it.

The Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, which advises North Yorkshire Council, backed the scheme by 10 votes to three at a meeting on Friday.

The decision paves the way for North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative executive to give the project the go-ahead on May 30.

It means Station Parade will be reduced to one lane of traffic so a bus lane and cycle route can be built and James Street partly pedestrianised.

Committee chair Pat Marsh was one of three Lib Dems to oppose the gateway but support by five of her colleagues and five Conservatives enabled it to go through despite vociferous public opposition.

In a press release issued last night, Cllr Pat Marsh — who is leader of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems — called for businesses and residents to be consulted as the scheme progressed. She said:

“Of particular concern was the level of poor consultation and lack of any business impact assessment for the project. The council needs to acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them.

“Many residents and businesses put forward positive suggestions for improving the scheme. There is little evidence that any of this was listened to and actioned.”

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Cllr Marsh, who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone, added:

“The lack of long-term investment in the town centre and any meaningful strategic active travel plan for the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency means that projects like the gateway are seen as isolated piecemeal vanity projects by the council’s administration rather than a solution that links improvements in traffic flow throughout the town, leading to significant carbon emission reductions.”

“There is nothing in this scheme that will reduce traffic volumes in the town centre to any meaningful degree.”

Cllr Marsh claimed North Yorkshire Council’s “unwillingness” to consider a Harrogate park and ride scheme “further highlights the lack of strategic thinking”.

She also claimed recent failures to secure levelling-up and active travel funding from the UK government “questioned the ability of North Yorkshire Council to deliver this project on time and to budget”.

Friday’s meeting saw councillors agree to support the gateway on condition that further engagement with local businesses and residents took place.

The committee also requested an active role in the project as it progresses.

Commissioner rules out Harrogate fire engine rethink despite faulty data

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe has ruled out reconsidering plans to reduce the number of nighttime fire engines based in Harrogate.

Ms Metcalfe’s three-year fire service blueprint last year decided the number of overnight appliances at the Skipton Road fire station would be cut from two to one.

One of the main concerns during consultation was this could lead to life-threatening delays at Starbeck level crossing if a second fire engine were required in an emergency.

Ms Metcalfe allayed fears by telling councillors firefighters knew the train times and could ring ahead to Network Rail if they needed to cross urgently.

But her office admitted last month this information, which it said had been “relayed in good faith by the commissioner”, was incorrect, which heightened concerns.

Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative, responded by saying concerns about Starbeck level crossing had been “the subject of limited media coverage”.

She added there was “misunderstanding on the part of the media and therefore also local stakeholders and the public” about the significance of Starbeck level crossing in her Risk and Resource Model 2022 to 2025, which outlines how fire service resources should be deployed.

She added:

“I want to reiterate that the Risk and Resource Model proposals were subject of a detailed modelling and consultation process undertaken in support of the review of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service provision.

“The nature of the misunderstanding does not warrant a reconsideration of the resource proposals and statutory planning process that is now complete.”

But Ms Metcalfe added:

“Nonetheless, I recognise that local concerns about this misunderstanding should be addressed and I propose to offer a meeting with myself and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, should any local councillor wish to avail themselves of that opportunity.”

‘Gates down for five minutes’

Cllr Pat Marsh, a Liberal Democrat on North Yorkshire Council who raised concerns about Starbeck level crossing with Ms Metcalfe last year, said the issue “cannot be batted away” and called for a meeting at the level crossing. She added:

“I have major concerns when the gates are down for a long period of time and ambulances and fire engines are waiting it can make the difference between life and death as it did in my family.

“The gates are down on some occasions for at least five minutes. If you are having a heart attack or your house is on fire every minute is precious.”

Cllr Paul Haslam, a Conservative on North Yorkshire Council, said he was willing to meet Ms Metcalfe in the hope of putting pressure on Network Rail. He said:

“We have been working round this issue for a long time.”

13 complaints against Harrogate district councillors this year

This year, 13 complaints were made against Harrogate district councillors and only one councillor was found to have breached code of conduct rules.

The councillors have featured in a Harrogate Borough Council report which details how the complaints made during 2021/22 were investigated and dealt with.

This was councillor Pat Marsh, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group, whose comments secretly recorded during a conversion with a resident amounted to an “unwarranted personal attack” on other councillors, council officers and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones.

That is according to a separate report, which concluded that Cllr Marsh “had not treated others with respect”.

Cllr Marsh, who represents the Hookstone ward, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that a complaints panel hearing held in January was “not fairly balanced” because it was made up of two Conservative councillors and one Ripon Independent.

She also said she had a right of freedom of speech and that her comments were “not harmful or disrespectful”.

However, the report concluded that “whilst freedom of speech is important for elected members, there is a need for council to ensure that they do not undermine trust and confidence with ill-judged and inappropriate statements”.

All other councillors involved in the 13 complaints are not named because they are “treated confidentially” unless a panel hearing is held, the council said.

Bullying allegation

There were 11 complaints where a monitoring officer and independent person ruled that investigations were not needed. This included allegations of bullying by a parish councillor.

The report said there had been “historical and ongoing difference of views” between two members of the parish council and that another investigation was “unlikely to resolve the situation”.

A separate complaint alleged that a borough councillor tried to “cajole” the borough council’s planning committee by reading a pre-prepared speech at a meeting.

However, the monitoring officer and independent person ruled that this was “not a cause for concern as it merely demonstrates that a councillor has prepared for the meeting and marshalled their thoughts and arguments”.

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Another complaint claimed that a borough councillor adopted an “unhelpful and obstructive approach” by failing to answer questions during a public consultation.

But this complaint was also not referred for an investigation.

Accusations of lying formed the basis of one complaint which involved a parish councillor who allegedly distributed leaflets containing “inaccurate and misleading information” about a planning application.

This complaint was also closed after a conclusion that there was “no evidence” to support the claims.