Councillor ‘shocked and disappointed’ by parking changes at Nidderdale Showground

A senior Harrogate borough councillor has said he was shocked and disappointed to discover new parking arrangements had been introduced at Nidderdale Showground.

NIdderdale Agricultural Society, which owns the showground, has ended a 21-year lease agreement with Harrogate Borough Council to operate the car park and appointed a private company instead.

The company has introduced automatic number plate recognition cameras to the car park and does not accept the council’s £12 annual Pateley Bridge parking permit, which includes parking at the showground and Southlands car park.

It means people who bought the permit in spring now have to pay extra to park at the showground — even though the deal they signed up to was for 12 months.

Cllr Stanley Lumley. Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, said:

“It is my understanding the agricultural society who own the land decided not to renew the lease with Harrogate Borough Council and instead contracted with a commercial company to manage the site

“This was a shock and disappointment to me, Harrogate Borough Council have provided Pateley Bridge with a valuable asset to the town, we welcome visitors and parking is an essential need especially during the holiday season.”

Cllr Lumley added:

“When we were selling the parking permit to local residents for short stay visits it was eligible for parking at all the Harrogate Borough Council parking sites in the town, we had no idea a change in the showground was due, we provided permits in good faith.

“I think it is a great shame this change has happened and I hope people who will have been parking there for many years aren’t caught out and fined.”

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The comments by Cllr Lumley, a Conservative elected to represent Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Moors on Harrogate Borough Council, follow criticism of the new arrangement by Andrew Murday, a Liberal Democrat who represents Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale on North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Murday said people had bought permits in good faith and should be entitled to use them in the showground for the full 12 months they had paid for. He added:

“It is a disgrace. People have been blindsided and it’s unfair to issue fines.”

‘We don’t receive any revenue from this’

The society published a statement yesterday, which said:

“Due to the council’s 21-year lease ending on the car park, the decision was made to hand over the running of the car park to a private company.

“We also took the decision to keep the charges to exactly the same rate as the council charged.

“We understand that unfortunately some people have prepaid car park passes, which are no longer viable for the showground car park, but these could be used in the other car parks in Pateley Bridge.

“The car park now operates on an ANPR camera system which registers number plates on entry. There is a window of 10 minutes to park, pay or leave. Failure to do this unfortunately results in a fine which in no way is charged by the show society, and who do not receive any revenue from this.

“At present to pay an annual parking pass can be downloaded onto your smart phone or there is a number to ring and pay using card details.

“A card pay machine is to be fitted due hopefully by mid January 2023 to make payment simpler.

“The show society apologises for any confusion.”

Pateley’s annual permit still applies to the town’s Southlands car park, which continues to be operated by Harrogate Borough Council.

Cost of delayed Harrogate Hydro refurbishment increases by £1m

Harrogate Borough Council has revealed the cost of Harrogate Hydro‘s delayed refurbishment has increased by about £1 million to about £12.8 million.

The Stray Ferret reported this month the reopening of the leisure facility, originally scheduled for next month, had been pushed back until summer next year.

The council said this was due to discovering “some additional areas of work that could only have come to light when the building was closed and a strip-out of the internal fabric had taken place”.

In a press release today, the council gave a breakdown of the additional costs, which will be met by taxpayers. They are:

The refurbished Hydro will include a pool, new diving structure, 400 square metre fitness suite, sauna and steam suite and new reception and café, as well as a reconfigured car park, bicycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.

The existing gas boilers have been replaced with air-source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, along with new metering and energy monitoring and control systems, which are expected to halve the carbon footprint of the leisure centre.

Harrogate Hydro is among the facilities which will be run by the new leisure company.

How the Hydro used to look.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of the board of directors at the council-controlled Brimhams Active, said:

“At a time when some local authorities across the country are reviewing their investments in leisure facilities, we remain committed to ensuring people across the Harrogate district can keep fit and active for many years to come.

“By carrying out this additional work now, while the facility is closed, we can ensure the building is fit for purpose and can conform to the latest legislation and building regulations.

“And at a time of increasing energy costs, we are helping to offset this by making the leisure centre as energy-efficient as possible. And thanks to a government grant of some £1.8million, it will be able to utilise renewal energy.”

The council added the new leisure and wellness centre In Knaresborough was on target to open at the end next summer.

It will provide a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.

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Delayed opening for temporary gym at Ripon leisure centre

The opening of the proposed £300,000 temporary gym at Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon has been delayed until the New Year.

On July 28, Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) said it had submitted a planning application to install the temporary structure on the car park next to the centre’s main entrance and added that it would open in the autumn at a date to be confirmed.

Today, an HBC spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:

“I’m led to believe the temporary gym will not require planning permission now and we’ll be looking at installing the temporary gym in the new year (date TBC).

“Ahead of opening, we’ll be making all customers/members aware.”

In the meantime, the gym located on the upper floor of the existing 1995 leisure centre where remedial ground stabilisation works are due to take place at a cost of £3.5 million will remain open.

At the time of HBC’s announcement in July, Cllr Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of the board of directors at Brimhams Active which runs the centre, said:

“We remain committed to enabling people to enjoy physical activity.

“By providing a temporary gym, while the ground stabilisation works take place, we can minimise the disruption to current and potential customers and ensure they can continue to maintain their health and wellbeing goals.”

The need for ground stabilisation works follows the discovery of a void under part of the existing leisure centre understood to have been present for a number of years.

It was discovered when the reinforced concrete slab for the new swimming pool was cast.

The temporary gym will include equipment currently available in the existing leisure and wellness centre and expert advice and guidance will be provided by members of the Brimhams Active team.

Customers will be able to use the changing and shower facilities in the new pool area – as well as the sauna and steam suite – which opened in March and group exercise classes will also continue to be provided at Hugh Ripley Hall.

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