The average salary of jobs advertised in the Harrogate district from January to March 2021 rose by 28% compared with the same three-month period last year, according to a report by Harrogate borough council.

The quarterly economic overview of the Harrogate district says that the average salary for jobs advertised in the first quarter of this year was £32,000 – up from £25,000 in 2020.

The five sectors providing the largest number of employment opportunities were human health and social work; education; professional, scientific and technical; wholesale and retail trade; and accommodation and food services.

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However, the number of vacancies in the care and hospitality industries in particular are causing headaches.

It was reported this week that around 500 care workers in North Yorkshire could be forced out of their jobs when compulsory vaccines come into force in November.

Mike Padgham, chair of the non-profit organisation Independent Care Group, which provides care services in North Yorkshire and York, told the local democracy reporting service about the scale of the crisis. He said: 

“The staffing crisis is now so bad that providers are battling day-to-day to cover shifts both in homes and in looking after people in their own home.

“Many say it is the worst they have known in more than 30 years and so we need urgent action now before the added pressures of winter turn this into a total meltdown.”

EU nationals in the Harrogate district

Meanwhile, the number of national insurance number (NINO) registrations by EU nationals has decreased year-on-year by 64%.

Between January and March 2020, there were 67 NINO EU registrations.

In the same period this year, there were only 24 NINO EU registrations in total.

There are some signs that this may change though. Last month, the branch manager of Travail Employment Group, which recruits front-of-house and catering positions across the district, spoke to the Stray Ferret about the impact of Brexit on hospitality recruitment.

Lisa Headford believed it’s overly simplistic to blame Brexit on the recruitment crisis in hospitality. She said:

“It’s not definitive. We’ve had a number of people come back to Harrogate from Poland as during the lockdown they didn’t have a permanent job, and they wouldn’t have got furlough. They are now gravitating back.”

Good news for the high street

The council report also shows an improving picture for the town centre, with the retail vacancy rate decreasing from 8.6% in January-March 2020 to 6.8% in 2021.

Councillor Graham Swift, Harrogate Borough Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for economic development, said:

“It is really encouraging to see that the economy is recovering well across the Harrogate district. Especially with shop vacancy rates reducing.

“As the district starts to exit coronavirus lockdowns and returns to a more normalised ways of living, we are keen to ensure that key investment projects are pushed ahead to ensure the local economy recovers and thrives.

“We will also not want to do this alone, and have already been working proactively with a wide range of people and organisations and will continue to work in collaboration with our partners to share ideas and maximise resources we have available to us.”

Organisers of the original Harrogate Christmas Market are holding a meeting next week to discuss moves to bring the event back as soon as possible.

Harrogate Borough Council refused a licence to Harrogate Christmas Market Ltd in July because of safety concerns about the site on Montpellier Hill.

The council subsequently revealed it was holding formal talks with Manchester firm Market Place Europe about hosting a smaller 10-day event in December. The location has yet to be revealed.

In an email sent to supporters, seen by the Stray Ferret, Harrogate Christmas Market Ltd said Harrogate’s White Hart Hotel would hold a meeting on Monday afternoon. It said:

“We have had many communications expressing a desire that this should resume as soon as possible as an annual event in Harrogate’s calendar.

“If this is to be possible then we need a forward strategic plan which will include a succession plan for this limited by guarantee company.”

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Brian Dunsby, one of the volunteers who established the Christmas market in 2012, told the Stray Ferret that he didn’t know yet what his next steps will be. He said:

“I’m very disappointed that events had to be cancelled, when traders have given us a massive vote of support.

“I’m at my wits’ end. We are devastated. We can’t find a way forward.

“I can’t understand the council’s attitude. I think the town centre needs the Christmas market to continue, and there’s no better location than in Montpellier valley.”

A plan to convert an office block in Harrogate town centre into new apartments has been given the go-ahead.

Harrogate Borough Council approved proposals to transform the building on Cambridge Road into eight apartments.

Developers Lake House Investments, which is based near Brighouse, submitted the plans for the three-storey building.

The plans would see the first and second floors converted for residential use. The ground floor is currently occupied by bakers Greggs and a YMCA charity shop.

In its proposals, Lake House said the site had “excellent transport links” and was just a few minutes walk from the train station.

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As a result, the developer said no parking would be necessary.

It said in its planning documents:

“Given the sustainable town centre location close to a range of services and amenities, no off street parking is considered necessary as any impact to any pre- existing problems of access, road safety or traffic flow would be minimal.

“Visitor parking will be provided by local pay and display on street spaces.”

A similar application to convert the offices to apartments was approved by the council in 2019.

The battle to prevent Ripon Spa Baths being sold for housing received a major boost today when the historic building was listed as an Asset of Community Value.

Harrogate Borough Council put the historic baths on the market in February, leading to concerns it could be sold to a private developer and turned into housing.

Ripon City Council, Ripon Civic Society and Ripon Together called for any sale not to be rushed through and applied for the 116-year-old Grade II listed building, which has a distinctive terracotta-clad frontage, to be listed as an asset of community value.

Ripon city council leader Andrew Williams told the Stray Ferret today the application had been accepted.

It means the local community now has six months to put together a bid to buy the building, which Harrogate Borough Council has said will be ‘surplus to requirements‘ when the new Ripon Leisure Centre opens this year.

Cllr Williams said he was “highly delighted” by today’s news. He added:

“I hope it means we can now guarantee a future for the site that doesn’t involve it being turned into expensive apartments.

“People across the community have been calling for it not to be housing. There has been very broad support for it remaining as a community asset.

“We now need to explore all the options open to the local community with proper professional advice, to secure the long-term use of the spa baths for community use.”

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Next steps

Cllr Williams said it seemed unlikely the baths would remain as a swimming pool and what happened next remained unclear.

“I’ll be talking to the full council on Monday, looking to appoint professional advisors on what can be done with the building and to create a development brief for how it can be used by the community.

“A new use needs to be found, and I doubt it will still be a swimming pool. But it does provide an exciting opportunity to reinvent the site and city as a whole”.

The Stray Ferret has asked Harrogate Borough Council for comment but has yet to receive a response.

What does Asset of Community Value status mean?

According to Harrogate Borough Council’s website, a building or land can be listed as an asset of community value if:

• current primary use of the building/land or use of the building/land in the recent past furthers the social well-being or social interests (cultural, recreational, or sporting) of the local community
• it’s realistic to think that now or in the next five years there could continue to be primary use of the building/land which will further the social well-being or social interests of the local community, whether or not in the same way as before

Once an asset is listed, owners can’t dispose of it without:

• letting the local authority know that they intend to sell the asset or grant a lease of more than 25 years
• waiting until the end of a six-week “interim moratorium” period if the local authority doesn’t receive a request from a community interest group to be treated as a potential bidder
• waiting until the end of a six-month “full moratorium” period if the local authority does receive a request from a community interest group to be treated as a potential bidder

The owner doesn’t have to sell the asset to the community group.

History of plans to sell Ripon Spa Baths

• 24 February: Ripon Spa Baths up for sale amid housing fears
• 8 March: For sale sign on Ripon’s Spa Baths
• 9 March: Ripon City Council unanimously agrees urged action to prevent sale
• 5 May: Harrogate Borough Council confirms plans to sell, saying “Selling the baths for redevelopment, subject to planning permission and listed building consents, would allow this local asset to be given a new lease of life, retain its key features and remain as a city landmark.”

Plans have been submitted ti turn a former doctors surgery in Hampsthwaite into a house.

Dr Bannatyne and Partners, which was based at Winksey Cottage, High Street, in the village closed in March.

The surgery was part of Church Avenue Medical Group and shut down after practitioners felt the cottage was no longer a viable place for a medical practice.

A proposal to close the surgery submitted to North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group said:

“The branch surgery is no longer fit for purpose and has limited possible use. Approximately 800 patients are registered as using the branch but the majority of these patients also use the main site at Church Avenue.

“The practice is not asking patients to re-register with another practice and will accommodate all clinical capacity provided in Hampsthwaite within the Church Avenue site so there is no loss of service delivery.”

Now, Mozaffar Mari, a developer who bought the property, has submitted plans to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the former surgery into a house.

The developer said in an application to the council that the building had been previously used as a house before becoming a surgery and could be “readily converted back” into a home.

The borough council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

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The findings of a council-run review into Harrogate’s hosting of the 2019 UCI Road World Championships could be revealed before the end of this year.

Members of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny commission are running the review into the cycling event, which was hailed as a success by organisers but criticised by many businesses and residents who had complaints over road closures and diversions.

The nine-day event will also be remembered for leaving West Park Stray severely damaged after it was used as a spectator area during heavy rainfall, with repairs works and upgrades later costing £130,000.

Cllr Nick Brown, who is one of several councillors leading the cross-party review, told a meeting on Monday that the commission had asked residents to give their views on the event as part of a consultation which will now be opened up to businesses.

He said: 

“The public consultation has been undertaken – we have got about 700 responses which for a consultation is quite a lot.

“Those have been analysed and we are going to do some further consultation with the business community and a number of other organisations.

“This has taken rather longer than I would have liked, but obviously we have had covid so it has not been a very easy time.

“We will hopefully have a report to the commission in December.”

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If the findings are published in December, it will mark more than two years since the event was held in September 2019 when hundreds of international cyclists competed in races starting in different towns and cities across Yorkshire but with each finishing in Harrogate.

The review of the event was launched last year with the aim of “building on its successes and identifying any areas for improvement to inform the organisation of future events,” the council previously said.

It is also separate to an economic impact study of the event which was carried out by accountancy firm Ernst and Young at a cost of £19,000 to the council.

The study concluded the championships was watched by a global television audience of 329 million and resulted in an economic boost to the local economy of £17.8 million.

However, it did not take into account losses by businesses affected by road closures and a reported drop in town centre footfall – something the new review is aiming to cover.

A review into traffic measures on Harrogate’s Oatlands Drive is likely to include new double yellow lines, according to a senior county councillor.

North Yorkshire County Council is due to publish a new set of measures this autumn to improve walking and cycling in the Oatlands Drive area.

The Oatlands Constituency Feasibility Study is being drawn up after the council ditched proposals to introduce a one-way system on the road following complaints from residents.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive councillor for highways at North Yorkshire County Council, told the Stray Ferret that he expected double yellow lines to be included in the feasibility study.

It follows concern that drivers have been ignoring signs erected by Harrogate Borough Council warning drivers they face a £100 fine or being towed away if they park on Stray land next to the cycle lane on Oatlands Drive.

The new signs on Oatlands Drive.

One side of Oatlands Drive has double yellow lines but the other side — where cars park — does not.

The signs only appeared last week but pictures have already emerged of cars parked right next to the signs blocking the cycle route.

Double yellows expected for Oatlands

Although Cllr Mackenzie said he could not guarantee where the proposals would suggest the double yellow lines be placed, he said they were likely to be included in a “comprehensive scheme” for the area.

He said:

“I’m pretty sure it will be included.”

Cllr Mackenzie added that the county council had outlined plans for double yellow lines in its rejected proposals for Oatlands.

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But he added that introducing double yellow lines might just increase parking congestion on other streets.

Cllr Mackenzie said:

“We could have put in yellow lines, but we are also aware that residents on St Hilda’s Road are already suffering from long term parkings problems.

“While those people are not breaking any laws, it does make it difficult to get in and out of driveways.

“Every time we introduce them [double yellow lines], it tends to shift the problem elsewhere. If it did not have a knock on affect then we would have done it.”

Cllr Mackenzie said he expected officers to bring the review into Oatlands to him “in the next few weeks”.

A ‘more permanent solution’ needed

Following the introduction of the signs on Oatlands, a borough council spokesperson said the authority hoped people would “think twice” before parking on the street.

The spokesperson added council officials were working with the county council on a “more permanent solution” to the parking problem.

They said that parking on the Stray breached the Stray Act 1985:

“A breach of the act allows the borough council — as custodians of the Stray — to issue a £100 fine to anyone caught parking on the Stray, or to have their vehicle towed away.

“We hope that the signage will make people think twice about parking on Oatlands Drive and allow cyclists to use the cycle path as intended.”

In a letter to the Stray Ferret, Judy d’Arcy-Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association, said yellow lines was the “simplest solution” to parking problems on Oatlands Drive but the county council had been “ridiculously uncooperative”.

Residents and parish councils have lodged strong objections to plans for a major oil and gas company to relocate to Marton-cum-Grafton.

Northern Energy is currently based In Hampsthwaite and has had its headquarters in the village for more than half a century.

However, the company tabled proposals to Harrogate Borough Council in February to move to Limebar Lane, one kilometre from the village of Marton-cum-Grafton and next to the A168.

The firm, which has an annual turnover of £27 million, supplies more than 50 million litres of oil and liquid petroleum gas across the UK each year.

But two parish councils have written to the council to object to the plans.

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They say the development is inappropriate and would have “unacceptable consequences”, such as loss of agricultural land, increase in traffic and the proximity of the site to local residents.

Arkendale, Coneythorpe and Clareton Parish Council wrote to the council to object in “the strongest terms”.

It said:

“The other consequence is of course that valuable agricultural land will be lost. 

“Such land is increasingly being lost to development and for us to be as sustainable as a nation we need to preserve our agricultural capacity rather than rely on importing foodstuffs from abroad.”

Meanwhile, Marton-cum-Grafton added in its response that the development was “not of exceptional quality” and “does not enhance its immediate setting nor is it sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area”.

The application has so far attracted 33 comments to the council, with 32 of those objecting and just one in support.

Council officials will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Company has “outgrown” its site

However, Northern Energy has said it has outgrown its current site and needs to move.

The plans include 10,000 square feet of office space, a vehicle depot, LPG and oil storage tanks and a new car park.

The site would accommodate 30 office staff and 20 operations staff.

The proposed Northern Energy site off the A168 as submitted to Harrogate Borough Council in planning documents.

In documents submitted to the council, the company said the current location was “beginning to hinder business”.

It said:

““Such is the success of the business, the company have now outgrown their current premises on the edge of Hampsthwaite.

“Indeed, the location of the facility, some distance from the local highway network, and the absence of oil and fuel storage capacity on site is now beginning to hinder the business.”

Northern Energy is currently consulting on its plans to relocate. Residents can have their say on the plans here.

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.

Double yellow lines would prevent parking on the Stray

Regarding the Oatlands no parking signs, such signage is not allowed under the Stray Act and is, therefore, technically illegal. However, so is parking on the Stray.

That said, we have been working with Harrogate Borough Council and have mutually agreed with the temporary erection of these signs as we have sympathy with their efforts to resolve the ongoing parking problems.

Over the past many years the Stray Defence Association has tried to get this situation resolved. We have always felt that the simplest solution would be a double yellow line down BOTH sides of the road. However, North Yorkshire County Council has flatly refused to do this, despite innumerable approaches.

Regrettably people seem to think they have an innate right to park wherever they choose. Sadly they do not appear to have the same recognition of the damage they do to the Stray all along there, together with blocking the cycle lane.

Frankly NYCC have been ridiculously uncooperative over putting in double yellow lines, the best and simplest solution all round.
Why is beyond comprehension as it would be a quick, simple and legally binding solution to the problem and could have been done 15-plus years ago.

As it is there has been endless damage to the Stray all along Oatlands Drive and the edges of Oatlands Stray and endless complaints from the cycling fraternity who, rightly, complain that their cycle lane is obstructed.

It is time that the law was enforced and this illegal parking was brought to an end. Perhaps this will make NYCC see sense and install double yellow lines.

Judy d’Arcy-Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association 

End this parking confusion

Your photo of parking on Oatlands Drive gives an easy pointer to why people park as they do. They mistake the dotted line of the bike lane as an encouragement to put one side of the car within that line and one side on the verge.

It is compounded by there being a double yellow on the western side (with the bike lane markings) and nothing on the other side.

So, the council could fine people for having one side of the car on the Stray verge, but if they simply park wholly on the road, no offence against the Stray and no offence against parking? Their signs imply that parking on Oatlands Drive is not allowed.

Bob Hankinson, Harrogate

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Councils need to stop these illogical projects

I continue to be surprised by the enthusiasm of North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council to spend taxpayers money on illogical projects which are universally unpopular with local residents and merely serve to exacerbate and concentrate traffic flows rather than keep them diluted.

Having already registered my opposition to the Beech Grove experimental traffic order, which has frustrated both drivers and local residents and has inevitably increased the flow of traffic down Victoria Road, Queens Road and Cold Bath Road, I am now surprised to see that NYCC will continue to create further problems by introducing a one-way system on Victoria Road.

This new plan, apparently intended to reduce traffic, is going to push even more drivers down Queens Road (where I live) and Cold Bath Road. Cold Bath Road is congested at the best of times but as soon as the schools go back (and indeed once office workers start to return) it will become unbearable.

Moreover, I dread to think what sort of impact the several thousand new houses they are building on Yew Tree Lane, Whinney Lane, Cardale Park and Otley Road will have on congestion. All the traffic created by these developments will flow down Otley Road and Cold Bath Road with no improvements to the road traffic routes.

It’s all very well for public sector employees to sit around examining ways of maintaining their budgets and tinkering with local roads to divert traffic when it has no material impact whatsoever on their personal lives. But on the ground it will concentrate traffic down certain roads and your next initiative is going to worsen rather than improve this situation.

Surely NYCC and HBC have more worthy and important projects to spend taxpayers money on? A few of note might be:

1 Rejuvenating the town centre, which is a depressing day out now that many stores have closed and are unlikely to reopen. Surely more can be done to encourage businesses to take up empty retail space.

2 Cleaning up the litter problem in the town centre. Every morning I walk our dog through the town and the amount of litter gets worse and worse.

3 Showing more consideration for local residents by completing jobs which inconvenience thousands of people on a daily basis far more quickly. Two examples are: The 4/5 way traffic light at the top of Pannal Ash Road were in place for months during school term and created huge tail backs. There appeared to be no urgency whatsoever to complete the job. We then had a similar experience on East Parade with temporary traffic lights causing significant tail backs. The works, which finished on the Wednesday, were in place for two more days with no-one doing any work. I called up NYCC and asked why this was the case and the operator said that the traffic lights were still in place because the works were due to finish on the Friday. But the works had clearly finished on the Wednesday!

4 Improve the state of Harrogate’s roads which are appalling in parts.

None of the above reflects particularly well on NYCC or HBC. I am not alone in holding these opinions.

David Pickering, Harrogate

Doppelganger issues

Please could you congratulate John Plummer on being appointed Editor.  I hope makes a great success of the role and enjoys it.