North Yorkshire County Council issued legal warning over opposing fracking

North Yorkshire County Council has been warned its decisions over some major developments could be ruled invalid if it approves an opposition move to brand fracking as “inappropriate”.

Senior council legal officers have issued the advice to its decision-making executive ahead of it on Tuesday considering notices of motion tabled by Liberal, Liberal Democrat and Green councillors over potential fracking schemes.

The motions call for the council to agree fracking activities are inappropriate where a council has declared a climate emergency.

The Green motion says fracking would be in direct conflict with the council’s high-profile carbon reduction plan and its emerging climate change strategy.

The motions, which were tabled in November, follows City of York Council, with which North Yorkshire Council is set to form a combined authority to lead major decisions, voting unanimously that fracking “poses unacceptable risks to people, livestock, wildlife, the climate and the environment”.

In October, another neighbouring authority, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, voted to oppose fracking in its jurisdiction.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared his support for a moratorium on fracking in October and while there are no active planning applications to frack in North Yorkshire, energy companies have numerous licences to explore for oil and gas in the county.

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However, an officer’s report to the executive meeting highlights legal implications of a council stating its opposition to fracking.

It states while the council has declared a climate emergency, it has a statutory duty to consider any applications for fracking in the county and be seen to act fairly in the decision-making process.

The report adds, if approved, the motions could give the impression that the council and its members have a pre-determined view or are biased in dealing with planning applications for fracking.”

Cllr Arnold Warneken has criticised North Yorkshire County Council's draft climate change strategy.

Green Party Cllr Arnold Warneken.

The officer’s report warns planning decisions could be ruled invalid “by reason of pre-determination”.

It says: 

“A resolution of the council reflecting the terms of the proposed motion would be a public declaration of the council’s over all position on the issue of fracking.

“When members are sitting in a quasi-judicial role as they are with planning decisions, they have to be alert to how any views expressed by them individually or a collective view of the authority could impact their position.

“It is not just about being fair and impartial, but being seen to be so. The legal test when considering bias is not whether there is actual bias, but whether a fair-minded observer aware of all the facts would conclude there was a real possibility of bias.”

Green councillor Arnold Warneken, who proposed one of the motions, said if councils such as East Riding could put its opposition to fracking in place, so could North Yorkshire.

He said: 

“It could be done in general terms rather than planning terms. You could apply the pre-determination reasoning to anything, such as statements to cut carbon. This would be a policy statement rather than a planning statement.

“We want to move away from the extraction of any fossil fuels in our county. This is about making a statement about the council’s commitment to having an impact on climate change.

“The major impact the council can have on climate change is influencing third parties who we deal with. The council could say it would not support fracking because it goes against our strategy to reduce carbon.”

Government help needed to achieve carbon cutting targets, admits council

Senior North Yorkshire councillors have admitted many of the authority’s climate change goals will only be achieved if the government funds them.

Approving a public consultation over its long-awaited carbon-cutting masterplan, several executive members of North Yorkshire County Council emphasised the authority would steer clear of over-promising what it could achieve given funding and powers at its disposal.

Cllr Greg White, the authority’s climate change executive member, said six months after declaring a climate emergency the authority had formed a plan about how it would get its own emissions to net zero.

He said in addition, the North Yorkshire and York Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) had developed its own plan or roadmap for the area, featuring what he described as the “extremely ambitious” target of net zero carbon emissions by 2034 and becoming carbon negative by 2040.

He told executive members they were being asked to endorse, rather than adopt the LEP’s plan, whilst “recognising many of the actions and ambitions are actually the responsibilities of others and not in control of this council” and approve a draft carbon cutting plan for the new unitary authority.

When questioned by Liberal Democrat Cllr Steve Mason over whether the authority would pursue area-wide ambitions, Cllr White replied the authority would be reliant on residents, traders and the government for the latter.

He said the authority was set to endorse the LEP’s roadmap, but would stop short of adopting it as it could not fulfil many of the targets.

Cllr White said: 

“What we are today doing is widening what we do as a council beyond a focus on what we actually do ourselves, in terms of our vans and our buildings, to how we can help across the whole of the council and help with things like homelessness.

“However, we have to be constantly aware we can only do what we can do within the funding that we have available and the powers we have available to us. We want to take a leadership role and that is the most you can hope for.”

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Cllr Mason said the carbon-cutting plans had already taken several years to be drawn up. He added: 

“We are now three years down the line and are still talking about endorsing the plan. To be honest, we need to be taking action.”

Executive member for transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, appeared to question whether some ambitions in the LEP’s plan, such as reducing private car use by 48% and a 900% increase in cycling miles by 2030, were realistic.

He said: 

“It’s very easy for us to agree to a pledge that sounds nice on paper, but when you look at the deliverability of what’s going to be involved in making that happen in reality it becomes much more difficult.”

Cllr Duncan added the public would thank the authority for setting realistic goals.

In order to get the reductions in levels of car use, said Cllr White, there would need to be a huge injection of funds from central government.

He concluded: 

“All we can do is help people move in the right direction.”

Cllr Gareth Dadd revealed following the launch of the unitary authority “an accelerated programme of property rationalisation” would be brought forward to tackle climate change.

He said: 

“Everybody agrees with climate change until it affects them. It’s like housebuilding. Everybody agrees we need more homes until they’re next door to them.”

Ouseburn Green councillor calls for greater climate focus on agriculture

An Ouseburn councillor has said a new North Yorkshire County Council strategy to tackle carbon emissions and climate change should focus more on agriculture.

Senior councillors are expected next week to approve opening a public consultation on a draft climate change strategy.

The strategy aims to make North Yorkshire the first carbon negative region in the country, meaning more carbon dioxide emissions would be removed from the atmosphere than emitted.

The document sets out how the new North Yorkshire Council, which will launch on April 1, will develop work already underway to reduce carbon emissions.

Initiatives include producing more renewable energy, reducing the use of fossil fuels, improving insulation in homes, encouraging the use of low-emission vehicles and promoting more active travel such as cycling and walking.

However, Cllr Arnold Warneken, a Green Party member who represents Ouseburn on the council, said the strategy proposed little on how to tackle emissions from the agriculture sector.

Figures show North Yorkshire produced 5,829 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (kt co2e) in 2020, with agriculture equating to a third of the total, transport responsible for 28% and 19% coming from homes.

Cllr Warneken said:

“While the plan is claimed to be ambitious we seem unwilling to address the issue of agriculture and cite what other organisations are doing as opposed to what we propose to do, as at the moment that is nothing.

“We could at least start by looking at the farms we own and then move on to working with likes of the National Farmers Union who have their own targets and strategy which we could work with. For example being more supportive of applications for renewables on farms that wish to produce energy for their own use and that of the local communities.”

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Work already undertaken in the county to tackle carbon emissions includes the installation of energy-saving LED street lighting, energy efficient improvements to buildings and trialling the use of electric vehicles.

The route map for the region to become carbon negative by 2040 has been spearheaded by the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and has seen a plan drawn up to involve the public sector, businesses and communities.

Conservative Cllr Greg White, executive councillor for climate change on the council, said: 

“Climate change is without question the greatest threat that the world faces, and is already impacting on communities across the globe.

“We have seen an increasing frequency of extreme weather conditions here in North Yorkshire and across the UK as a whole, which scientists tell us is clear evidence of significant changes in our climate.

“Without clear and decisive action, the situation will only get worse. However, we are committed to ensuring that we have a comprehensive strategy in North Yorkshire, especially as we look towards the launch of the new authority this spring.”

Plans submitted for South Stainley solar farm that could power 3,000 homes

Plans have been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council to build a major solar farm in South Stainley that could power 3,000 homes.

The site north of Burton Top Farm covers 19 hectares of land and is also close to the village of Wormald Green.

If approved, it would be the second solar farm in the area, following the approval of Elgin Energy’s nearby Caton Solar Farm by HBC’s planning committee in August 2021. That site is larger and can power up to 15,000 homes.

Applicants Infraland and Boultbee Brooks say the reneweable energy facility would operate at a peak capacity of 10MW a year to help the UK meet its legal target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Solar panels would be built on three grade 3 agricultural fields, which are currently used for arable farming and for pasture.

Construction would take around 12 weeks with planning permission sought for the farm to operate for 40 years.

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In a planning statement, the applicants said the farm would support HBC’s economic policies by encouraging the diversification of use for rural and agricultural areas.

The applicants set up an online consultation about the plans for residents living in South Stainley, Bishop Monkton, Burton Leanard and Markington with Wallterthwaite and sent out more than 1,000 leaflets to homes.

The web consultation garnered just nine responses, with four offering support or no objection and five against.

Caton Solar Farm

Irish renewable energy firm Elgin Energy was granted permission to build Caton Solar Farm on land the size of 70 football pitches last year. It will generate up to 48MW a year and power 15,000 homes.

The UK government sees solar as an important part of the energy mix as it attempts to reduce the country’s dependancy on foreign imports and fossil fuels.

However, applications to build solar farms on agricultural land have not always been popular with residents who might live near them.

South Stainley Parish Council is yet to issue its formal response to the Infraland and Boultree Brooks application, but last year it strongly objected to the Caton Solar Farm plans.

 It said:

“The area would become sterilised from an agricultural, environmental and recreational point of view.”

Fountains Abbey plans solar panels in effort to reduce fossil fuel reliance

Fountains Abbey has submitted plans to introduce solar panels at its attraction in an effort to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The National Trust, which owns the site near Ripon, has lodged the plan with Harrogate Borough Council.

It would see the 34kW panels installed on the roof of its visitor centre to generate electricity.

In documents submitted to the council, the trust said the plan was part of its commitment to reduce reliance on fossil fuels at a time of high energy prices.

It said:

“This proposal will reduce the reliance on imported electricity and reduce fossil fuel sources, and in future will enable funds to be directed to other goals such as increased efforts in environmental protection and conservation.

“At a time when the cost of energy is extremely high the organisation is looking at creative ways to minimise the impact on the charity as well as make meaningful change for the environment.”

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The trust had initially proposed to implement 105 panels on the roof, but later reduced this to 95 to preserve the character of the building.

It is hoped the panels will contribute 28,000kWh of electricity to the site each year and help the trust reach its carbon net zero target by 2030.

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Developer tables plan for 55 retirement homes in Kirk Hammerton

A developer has lodged plans to create 55 retirement homes and a community hub in Kirk Hammerton.

SageHaus Living, which is based in the Isle of Man, has submitted the proposal to Harrogate Borough Council for land off Station Road in the village.

It would see 55 park homes built, which the developer said would be “sustainable modular retirement bungalows”.

A hub would also be built, which would be open for the community to use for meetings and other activities.

The developer said in documents submitted to the council that scheme would help bring more retirement accommodation to the district, while also being environmentally friendly.

It said:

“SageHaus Living are introducing a new concept for eco retirement living to overcome the lack of supply of age appropriate retirement options for the elderly population of Harrogate.

“The development will deliver a retirement lifestyle that is focused on community and independent living whilst being carbon net zero.”

A visual of the community hub planned for the Kirk Hammerton site.

A visual of the community hub planned for the Kirk Hammerton site.

The proposal comes as SageHaus acquired the land, known as Carlton Fields, back in 2021.

In a statement on its website, the company said the nine acre site would help to provide a “peaceful community”.

Simon Westray, managing director of SageHaus Living: 

“Our first site exemplifies our business model; a rural but sustainable site that is very well connected (both Harrogate and York are only 10 minutes by rail) where we can provide a peaceful community for our residents. 

“We very much look forward to working with Harrogate Council to deliver much needed elderly and truly sustainable accommodation in the district.”

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

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Harrogate district schools set to take part in Walk to School Day 2022

Local environmental group, Zero Carbon Harrogate, is set to hold its annual Walk to School Day for 2022.

The event will be held on Friday (October 7) with a focus on “building good transport habits”.

A further five walk to school days will be held in November, February, March, May and June.

This year, Zero Carbon Harrogate has changed the format of the walk to focus on taking part and building good transport habits, rather than calculating winners.

A spokesperson for the group said:

“This year, our strategy is slightly different. Instead of calculating winners and announcing our leaderboard, the event simply focuses on taking part, building good transport habits – ideally on a daily basis – and spreading the word.

“At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, we will present gold, silver and bronze certificate awards to all participating schools in the area, depending on the number of events they took part in over the academic year.”

The 28 schools taking part in the event on Friday are:

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Ouseburn councillor opens Green Party conference in Harrogate

The Green Party autumn conference was opened this afternoon by Harrogate man Arnold Warneken, North Yorkshire County Council councillor for Ouseburn.

Cllr Warneken was elected in May with 69% of the vote and he gave a passionate speech to delegates at Harrogate Convention Centre.

He recalled how he was first elected as a councillor 32 years ago to the then-Harrogate District Council.

In those days, he was the only Green Party councillor in the north of England.

After his recent return to local politics, he said the five Greens elected to the county council in May were “already starting to make a difference”. He accused the Tory-led council of “procrastinating” on the climate emergency.

Cllr Warneken also had some sharp words for Harrogate Spring Water and its plan to fell trees in Rotary Wood to expand its bottling plant.

He said:

“At the pump rooms, people came from all over the country to have our foul-tasting and smelly water heal them. It was dispensed in a ladle by Betty Lupton.

“However, 100 years later Betty Lupton has been replaced by Danone. Her ladle has been replaced by millions of plastic bottles produced by Harrogate Spring Water and Danone before being sent all over the world. Shame on them.”

He was followed by a speech from Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.

The three-day conference ends on Sunday.

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The Stray Ferret spoke to Cllr Warneken beforehand where he said he was “proud and honoured” to open the event.

Cllr Warneken added:

“We are at a turning point in Green politics. In 2018, we had 150 councillors, now in 2022 we have over 500. We are hoping we can get somebody to help Caroline Lucas MP in Parliament.

“We have Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh speaking here on Sunday. That’s the way politics has to move forward. We’re hoping for a hung parliament so we can introduce PR. The future’s bright, the future’s green.”

Harrogate Spring Water investigating new water sources on council land

Harrogate Borough Council granted permission for Harrogate Spring Water to test the council’s borehole at its horticultural nursery on Harlow Hill, documents reveal — so the company could explore a potential new water source. 

The Stray Ferret has obtained emails between the company and the council via a freedom of information request. They reveal Harrogate Spring Water tested the borehole in May this year and is continuing to investigate groundwater in the area.

Boreholes are used to extract water from the ground. Harrogate Spring Water bottles water from a bore hole at its headquarters on Harlow Moor Road, on land owned by the council and leased to the company.

Much of the land surrounding the facility, including the Pinewoods and Harlow Hill nursery, is also owned by the council.

As part of the firm’s lease agreement with the council, water is extracted from two boreholes on the Harlow Moor Road site. There is a third borehole on Pennypot Bridge.

The council grows its floral displays at Harlow Hill nursery and sells plants, pots and compost to the public there, although it plans to sell the site for housing and move the nursery elsewhere. It also has a on-site borehole that it uses to water plants.

Investigations in the area

Harrogate Spring Water is set to submit fresh plans to increase the size of its bottling plant within the next few months and emails suggest the company may also be looking for new sources of water to help the company expand.

An email from Harrogate Spring Water to the council, dated June 6, reveals the council gave the company permission to perform “some testing work” on its borehole at Harlow Hill nursery in the previous month.

However, it says the results “weren’t what Harrogate Spring were looking for”.

Email from Harrogate Spring Water to Harrogate Borough Council on June 6

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The email continues to say the company would like to survey the land around Harlow Moor Road to find out “where the best potential for water might be and how the water is working”.

Follow-up emails between two council officers, whose names were redacted, query if these tests are to identify new water sources.

A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group, the charity that looks after the Pinewoods, said the testing of boreholes in the area was a “major concern”.

They said the charity had received reports from visitors of investigative works taking place in the Pinewoods recently, adding:

“We’ve had assurances before around no further expansion plans but confirmation that more boreholes are being investigated around the Pinewoods area is a major concern for us.

“Several visitors reported seeing investigative works happening within the Pinewoods itself recently, without any notice of this from either Harrogate Spring Water or Harrogate council.

“We would encourage all parties to be transparent on their longer terms plans and involve the relevant stakeholders as required.”

Harrogate Spring Water’s statement

A spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water confirmed it had performed testing at the council borehole at Harlow Nurseries. It said this was to “understand the potential availability of water” from beneath the ground.

They said it is also exploring the land around Harlow Moor Road and the Pinewoods for similar reasons.

They described this as a “routine part” of the management of their water sources.

The spokesperson also said the company had “no immediate plans” for a new borehole, but that if “an opportunity to enhance our water security arose”, they would consider it.

The full statement is below:

“Over the summer, we have been doing a geophysical survey of parts of the land to the rear of our facility in order to create a 3D map of its geology.

“The reason for the survey is to better understand the bedrock geology in the area as part of our aquifer management and to better understand the potential water capability of the aquifer. This is a routine part of the responsible management of our water source, alongside work such as weekly monitoring of borehole performance via depth and meter readings and weekly rainfall recording.

“We work with a local family-run company that helps us manage our boreholes and explore the areas around Harrogate for new sustainable sources of high-quality water, which is a prudent part of responsible water management.

“We have no immediate plans for a new borehole, but if an opportunity to enhance our water security arose, and a landowner showed an interest in having us drill on their land, we would work with that landowner and the Environment Agency to ensure that any source was 100% sustainable, in compliance with the regulatory regime.

“The boreholes which we use take up only a few square metres of land, which is normally in a corner of a field or hidden by a screen of shrubs or trees.”

Yorkshire Dales’ key purpose could change for climate change

Custodians of the Yorkshire Dales National Park have questioned whether its main purposes need to change to help tackle climate change.

A meeting of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority heard the organisation was expected to lead the way over tackling climate change, but a consultants’ study found the level of emissions generated by visitors  were similar to those created by its residents.

The meeting heard that mainly due to the lack of public transport, visitors generated about two-thirds of residents’ emissions by just travelling to the area and returning home.

However, the carbon footprint of the residents of the national park is estimated to be around 18 per cent higher than the UK average.

The residents’ emissions from flying are estimated to be around 48 per cent higher than for an average UK resident.

Member champion for the natural environment Mark Corner told the meeting although the park authority could not dictate how visitors travelled to and from the park, it could encourage greener transport.

He said:

“Once drivers get to the park they have a very limited ability to get round other than the cars they come in. We need to look again at our public transport approach.”

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Nick Cotton, the authority’s recreation management member champion, questioned whether national parks should continue to promote themselves as international destinations given the large volumes of greenhouse gases that air travel generates.

He said:

“If we are saying come to beautiful Britain to the wealthy, developing countries in the Far East then aren’t we shooting ourselves in the foot a bit because we are actually encouraging more flights and more greenhouse gas emissions.”

Another member, Kevin Frea, called for the authority to relook at alternative ways of travelling to and around the park, pointing out how 36% of the park’s carbon emissions related to car travel.

Richard Foster, the leader of Craven District Council, also questioned whether it was right for the park be promoted nationally and internationally, through events such as the Tour de Yorkshire cycling race.

In response, the authority’s chief executive David Butterworth said while the authority had some influence on the park, it was not among the top five organisations that could make significant changes.

He said the national park was still being promoted to British and foreign tourists because the law had not caught up with the reality of climate change.

Mr Butterworth said he believed there was a contradiction between needing to tackle climate change and national parks’ statutory purposes.

He said he was optimistic the new government would review whether the climate change and nature emergencies should be enshrined in national parks’ main purposes.

Mr Butterworth told the meeting:

“The law says national park authorities exist to promote understanding and enjoyment. We have taken that over 50 years to mean that means promoting visitor numbers.”

He said national parks were in need of “better and stricter guidance” from central government over how they should be responding to climate change.