Funding to boost ‘undersold’ Knaresborough businesses

Harrogate Borough Council is set to support the setting up of a Knaresborough Business Improvement District with a £27,000 loan.

Senior councillors will be recommended to support the BID in principle and the loan at a cabinet meeting tomorrow.

A BID is a partnership between businesses, which pay a levy on their rates to provide further projects and services to benefit businesses in a defined area.

It can include marketing, promotions and street cleaning.

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As part of the proposal, the Knaresborough BID area would cover 380 businesses.

William Taylor, one of the directors of the BID, told the Stray Ferret that the aim of the project would be to help make the town “more accessible”.

He said:

“We had a good conversation with them [the council] and they were looking for a professional approach and we have got that in place now.

“Knaresborough is very much undersold and has lived in the shadow of Harrogate and Ripon.

“We are looking to make it accessible to people and make people aware of it.”

Business ballot

Knaresborough BID was set up in 2019 and this loan will help it become operational.

Knaresborough BID brought in consultants Mosaic Partnerships, which also supported the development of the Harrogate BID, to help set up the organisation and canvass support.

The project will be funded through a mixture of public and private funding.

The council’s proposed £27,000 loan would match funding raised by the Knaresborough BID.

So far, the BID has raised £16,000 from private business sources, organisations and individuals.

The loan would be paid for from the council’s 2024 reserves and repaid if businesses agreed to support it in a ballot.

Mr Taylor said it was working towards a ballot date in June.

A report due before councillors on Wednesday said the move to set up the BID had the potential to be positive for the town.

It said:

“The development of the Knaresborough BID is an externally led example of businesses coming together to seek to improve their trading environment to the benefit of all. 

“The development of Knaresborough BID represents an opportunity for the council to provide start up support for an initiative that has the potential to make positive changes to Knaresborough town centre and surrounding area.”

Can you drive to Swinsty reservoir for a walk?

It is a simple question: can I drive to beauty spots like Swinsty reservoir in the Harrogate district for exercise? But a clear answer appears elusive.

Harrogate Borough Council’s newsletter last week said:

“Driving to the other side of the district, into the Nidderdale AONB or to either of the national parks is not acceptable.  If you do, you run the risk of a fine.”

Swinsty, Fewston and Lindley Wood reservoirs — popular spots with walkers and dog owners — are all located within Nidderdale AONB and the council’s comments prompted a fierce debate on Twitter.

Some questioned whether legally people could in fact be fined.

Another person tweeted it was ‘bizarre’ that you could join ‘droves of people in Valley Gardens but a quick hop up to deserted Nidderdale is risky and the coppers might fine you’.

But others said there had been a huge increase in local walkers and supported fines.

Today the Stray Ferret attempted to get clarity.

We approached the council, which said it was simply “amplifying North Yorkshire Police’s messaging about what local means”.

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North Yorkshire Police sent us two links when we asked for clarification.

The first was a quote from Superintendent Mike Walker, who leads the force’s response to covid:

“If the officer finds that the individual has travelled multiple miles to exercise and it’s outside of their local area, where there is plenty of provision and open spaces to exercise close to home, the officer has the option to encourage adherence or enforce the regulations dependant on the circumstances.”

There is no further explanation on how far “multiple miles” is. But Superintendent Walker adds that getting “embroiled in detail” can mean we “lose focus of the real reason we are being asked to limit movement”.

The second link referred to a reply by chief inspector Charlotte Bloxham to a resident’s question about what was classed as local travel.

“In relation to travelling for exercise it’s really clear that the message is to stay local in order to do that.

“You can exercise once a day and with one person from another household but the guidance is to stay local to reduce the spread of the virus.

“Local is defined as in your village, your town, your city or locality.

“We are not trying to be the fun police and try spoil people’s activities but it is for a really important reason.”

Some Twitter comments referred to recent guidance on the stay local message from the National Police Chiefs Council, which represents police chiefs.

“UK government guidance strongly requests that people do not leave their local area. However, the covid regulations which officers enforce and which enables them to issue fixed penalty notices for breaches, do not restrict the distance travelled for exercise.”

Government’s coronavirus guidance states:

“Outdoor exercise should be done locally where possible. But you can travel a short distance within your area to do so if necessary.

“For example, to access an open space.”

Strayside Sunday: It’s time to give praise where praise is due…

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

Shock news this week from Harrogate Borough Council; the elected body voted to do the right thing!

With 8 councillors voting against and with 4 abstentions, the planning committee turned down Danone’s application to expand the footprint of the Harrogate Spring Water plant at the Pinewoods; notwithstanding being presented with a report for consideration that gave outline approval to do just that.  This represents a real victory for the Harrogate environmental coalition that campaigned against it.  By mobilising so effectively they have stopped the felling of Rotary Wood, the public access oasis at the site, beloved of local walkers, dogs and assorted wildlife.  Mother nature and local residents will be pleased.

Our councillors must have arrived at the conclusion that the opportunity cost of the creation of a dozen new jobs and an uptick in the revenue and ground rent that HBC receives from Danone (but won’t report because it is bound by a “commercially sensitive” and therefore confidential agreement) did not compensate for their likely discomfort at the hands of their constituents.

It may also be that the sword of Damocles represented by the likely swallowing of HBC in the pending devolved authority looms large and threatens the comfy sinecures of our elected councillors.  Accordingly, they need to get some credits on the record before the candidacies for the new body are doled out.  Still, good on them, the decision they have taken is obviously correct.  More such please and, until then, the rest of us should more drink water from the tap and less from single use plastic.

As a child I attended church and Sunday school assiduously (Church of England and Anglo-Catholic).  Now in my early fifties, I returned to worship 2 years ago (very much Anglo-Catholic) and was confirmed.  Attending gives me respite and comfort, even and especially in current circumstances, where face masks are required, congregational singing is banned, the organ is silent, the choir temporarily disbanded, the pews occupied one at each end and when the vicar races through the liturgy in 26 minutes flat.  The censer smells have gone, the bells remain.

I am not a fan of the current head of the church of all England, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Portal Welby.  For one thing he is from the evangelical wing of the church and, given my domestic circumstances, I’m rather hopeful that come judgement day my preference for a New Testament reading of the bible proves justified.  This week Archbishop Welby saw fit to proclaim that Boris Johnson should relocate from Downing Street to Westminster Abbey and, ad orientem, pray for forgiveness.

Now, I grant you Boris is a bit of a lad.  As we know he has fathered an unspecified number of children with an unspecified number of women, both in and out of wedlock.  He is an admitted adulterer.  We know too that he is unafraid to tell porkies; I for one am still waiting for the £350m per week from Europe for the NHS that he promised on the side of a bus during the European referendum campaign.

But did Archbishop Welby suggest these sins should be the basis of BoJo’s penitence?  He did not.  Rather he was passing judgement on the Prime Minister’s motives and performance throughout the Covid-19 crisis.  When I heard this on the car radio I felt a flash of real anger and was halfway through shouting at the dash that “Justin Welby is a complete…(insert expletive of your choice here)” before I was able to get a grip of myself and not vocalise the last and profane word in the sentence.   God forgive me.  I think He will, after all Mr. Welby is just a man, not a politician and should respect the notion of the separation of church and state.

Covid-19 has tested our generation and its government in ways we did not imagine nor plan for.  Have we responded faultlessly as a people to the privations of the pandemic?   We have not.  Has the government’s performance been perfect, or even consistent?  It has not.  With now over 100,000 UK fatalities and one of the highest death rates in the world, come the inevitable public enquiry there will be much warranted criticism and, that horrible and over-used political phrase, “lessons learned”.  However, the United Kingdom led the world in rolling out mass testing and now leads the world in rolling out mass vaccinations.  We should be rightly proud of both.

My radio incident occurred on Thursday when I was driving to have my own Covid-19 vaccination (I’m on the clinically vulnerable list).  On arrival I was met with kindness, tender care and ruthless efficiency.  My heart jumped for joy when I saw that I was to receive the Oxford vaccine; home grown, developed on established and proven technology and with an efficacy of greater than 90%.  I was admitted early, because there had been more than a few “no shows” (yes, really; people are not showing up for their scheduled vaccinations).  In fact I found the whole experience strangely emotional; this is a long way from over, but I felt, for the first time, the relief and joy that the prospects exist for a return to some form of normality.

My hope is for a “new normal” in which we (individually and collectively) take our justified share of responsibility and confront the truth; our Covid-19 death rate is one of the highest in the world because our rates of obesity and related, avoidable chronic conditions are among the highest in the world.

A new normal in which extremes of perspective are voiced less vehemently and receive less attention:  One in which we can congratulate a government for its accomplishments while constructively criticising its failures.  One in which we can thank our national government for its vaccination planning and foresight and turn up to receive our dose so that it does not go to waste.  One in which we can thank our local government for choosing the common good of the environment over the narrow profit of business.  Kinder and better.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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Council warns against driving to Harrogate district beauty spots

Harrogate Borough Council has told residents not to drive to beauty spots for exercise in a bid to reduce coronavirus infection rates.

The council said in its latest newsletter that driving to Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Fewston and Swinsty reservoirs, and Stainburn Woods “is not acceptable.”

All are popular spots for district residents to visit, with many likely to drive there over this coming weekend.

However, those that do are running the risk of a fine according to the borough council.

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North Yorkshire Police is also actively approaching people in the car parks and asking them where they are from.

Graham Hebblethwaite, chair of Washburn Parish Council, told the Stray Ferret:

“It has calmed down quite a bit now. The police are going into the car park, talking to people and finding out how far they have driven.

“I do fear that when the better weather returns that people will be back in their droves.”

The council’s newsletter, under a section called ‘exercising within the rules’, said:

“The lockdown laws do allow you to get out for daily exercise, but you must stay local to where you live. Please start and end your exercise from home.

“In the context of the lockdown, “local” means staying inside the boundaries of your village or town and not travelling somewhere to take a stroll or walk the dog.

“Driving to the other side of the district, into the Nidderdale AONB or to either of the national parks is not acceptable. If you do, you run the risk of a fine.”

We also requested clarification from North Yorkshire Police, which can hand out fines, and were sent a comment from Superintendent Mike Walker:

“If someone has travelled multiple miles to exercise, an officer has the option to encourage adherence or enforce the regulations.

“We do not expect people to travel multiple miles in a car to exercise in North Yorkshire.”

How much Harrogate council taxpayers could be paying in 2021

Harrogate district taxpayers could face paying a council tax bill of more than £2,000 this coming year.

Officials at Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner are set to decide on their proposals in February.

In total, if approved, the final bill for the 2021/22 financial year would come tot £2,007.17 – a 3% increase on last year.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said there had “never been a more difficult time” to ask the public to pay more for council services.

Each authority has tabled an increase in its share and will vote individually on its proposal.

A breakdown of the potential council tax bill for Harrogate district in 2021/22.

A breakdown of the potential council tax bill for Harrogate district in 2021/22.

Local town and parish councils will also levy a parish precept on the bill..

In Ripon, local councillors decided to freeze the precept for 2021/22 meaning residents will pay £71.89 to the city council.

Meanwhile, Knaresborough Town Council has agreed a 1.99% increase in its precept to around £25 for a band D property.

Uncertainty over council funding

The hike in council tax comes as local authorities face a strain on resources amid the coronavirus pandemic and uncertainty over future funding.

Gary Fielding, corporate director of resources at the county council, told councillors recently that there “had never been more uncertainty than there is at the moment” for councils.

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Meanwhile, Cllr Les told an executive meeting of the county council that there had never been a tougher time for the council to make a decision on increasing council tax.

He said:

“I don’t think there has ever been a more difficult time for us to do this exercise.

“Never have our services been more needed, but equally never has the economy and society been under such pressure.

“So we really need to get the balance right between what we need to deliver in services and what the community of North Yorkshire can afford to pay for those services.”

He added that the council will continue to lobby government for fairer funding following a decade of cuts to local authority grants.

The pandemic has forced councils to think more carefully about finances.

So far, the county council has spent £80 million responding to covid. Meanwhile the borough council faces a £5.9 million cost due to losses in car parking and leisure centre revenue.

This has left officials proposing to hike council tax and dip into reserves to balance the books.

The county council plans to use £8.2 million of its own funds to offset a shortfall next year, but officials have warned it cannot continue to use its reserves in the long run.

North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner will make decisions on their budgets next month.

RECAP: Harrogate council rejects Pinewoods bottling plant expansion

Harrogate Borough Council is voting this afternoon on controversial plans by Harrogate Spring Water to expand its bottling plant in the Pinewoods.

The 12-person planning committee is meeting virtually from 2pm to debate the proposals, which could see trees felled. A report to councillors recommends deferring and approving the application.

The issue has received 372 objections and 29 in support. Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury has been vociferous in her opposition.

The Stray Ferret will be posting live updates from the meeting so keep refreshing this page.

3.49pm – Councillors vote to refuse Harrogate Spring Water’s bottling plant extension

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee votes to refuse Harrogate Spring Water’s proposal to extend its bottling plant further in the Pinewoods.

3.26pm – Application is “on the front line to save the planet”

Cllr Jim Clark says the planning application is on “the front line” to save the planet.

He said:

“This is a dreadful proposal.

“This is the front line in the fight to save the planet. I know it may not seem like it from where we sit in our studies.”

3.20pm – Plan is contrary to policy to “enhance the natural environment”

Cllr Pat Marsh says the application is contrary to planning policy to “enhance the natural environment”.

Councillors will shortly vote on the officer’s recommendation.

3pm – “We do everything we can to be part of the community,” says Harrogate Spring Water

Cllr Jim Clark, committee member, asks the company if it will commit to “being a good neighbour” after concerns from residents.

Robert Pickering, of Harrogate Spring Water, says “we do everything we can to be part of the community”.

2.45pm – Harrogate Spring Water agent says “it’s not as simple as plastics versus trees”

Stuart Natkus, agent for Harrogate Spring Water, tells the committee that councillors need to remember that the application already has planning permission.

He adds that the application is “not as simple as plastics versus trees” and says the company has done “way more” ecology than any other application he has worked on.

2.36pm – Pandemic shows importance of green spaces, says Pinewoods Conservation Group chair

Neil Hind, chair of the Pinewoods Conservation Group, tells the committee that the reasons to approve the bottling plant extension “just don’t stack up”.

He adds that the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have shown the need for open spaces.

Mr Hind said:

“The pandemic has shown the importance of our green spaces. There are many reasons why this should be rejected.

“The reasons given to approve this just don’t stack up.”

2.31pm – Ward member speaks against the proposal

Cllr Sam Gibbs, ward member, says residents in his area would be affected by the application.

He says:

“I struggle to see how approval of this proposal can in any way be in the best interests of the people we represent.”

Cllr Gibbs adds that he told residents he would do “everything he could” to protect the greenspace that the land represents.

2.22pm – Councillors begin to discuss bottling plant extension

Mark Williams, case officer for the application, explains the application to committee members.

He says outline permission has already been granted. Councillors are told the application is to vary a condition for the further extension. A final application for reserved matters would have to come back to the committee.

2.05pm – Council benefit from land “not a declarable interest”

The council’s legal officer explains that the fact that the council benefits from the land the plant is on is not a declarable interest for councillors.

Peter Atkinson, legal officer at the meeting, said it was not a declarable interest “as far as members are concerned”.

2pm – Meeting starts

Cllr John Mann, chair of the planning committee, opens the meeting which is being streamed live onto YouTube.

1.50pm – Planning committee prepares to hear Pinewoods plan

Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee are preparing to make a decision on the controversial plans to expand a bottling plant in the Pinewoods.

The Stray Ferret has published a series of reports this past week on the issue, including an intervention by TV presenter Julia Bradbury and how the borough council benefits from the plant.

Meanwhile, Harrogate Spring Water has said it welcomes the planning officers recommendations to approve the plan today.

Council to recommend Wetherby Road land for Stray swap

A plot of land at Wetherby Road has been recommended to be exchanged for grass verges on Otley Road and designated as Stray land.

Harrogate Borough Council carried out a 12-week consultation over three plots of land to replace the verges, which will be removed for a new cycle route.

A majority of those who responded backed the council’s preferred option to designate land on Wetherby Road next to the war memorial as Stray land in exchange.

As part of the Stray Act, a suitable plot of land must be offered in exchange. It follows lengthy discussions between the council and the Duchy of Lancaster over land to designate to the Stray.

The responses to the consultation are due to go before the General Purposes Committee this week. Councillors will be asked to recommend that the authority’s cabinet approves the land proposals.

In total, the authority received 443 responses to its consultation.

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Of that number, 214 respondents (49%) strongly agreed with the proposal to exchange the Otley Road verges to one of the three options outlined by the council.

However, 161 (36%) strongly disagreed with the plan.

Some agreed with the options, but felt the proposal “should be put back to residents once a decision has been made”. Others said they supported the move “as long as there is still enough pavement to walk down with a pushchair”.

As part of the exchange, the council outlined three plots of land for the exchange:

The area of land outlined in Harrogate Borough Council documents earmarked to be exchanged as part of the Otley Road cycle route.

In the responses, 246 (81%) agreed with the council’s preferred option of land at Wetherby Road next to the war memorial.

Those who agreed with the Wetherby Road plot felt it was “the most logical reason to form a continuous community resources” and “seems already part of the Stray”.

However, 14 agreed with the second option of verges at St James Drive and 45 supported the verges at Arthurs Avenue.

Some disagreed with the options outlined and said they did not want the Otley Road verges removed. Others said “the Stray should not be disrupted for cyclists” and questioned the need for a cycle route.

Residents were also asked whether they agreed with the council’s plan to amend the Stray bylaws to permit cycling on the Otley Road route.

A total of 235 strongly agreed (54%), while 162 (36%) strongly disagreed.

Councillors on the committee have been recommended to submit the proposed bylaw change to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

It comes as North Yorkshire County Council looks to press ahead with the cycle route on the stretch of road between Harlow Moor Road and Beech Grove.

The project has already been delayed and the negotiations over the Stray land have been a further stumbling block for the second phase of the scheme.

Harrogate homebuyers fear missing stamp duty holiday over search delays

Homebuyers in Harrogate fear missing the stamp duty holiday over the delays for land searches at Harrogate Borough Council.

The stamp duty holiday which ends on March 31 and could save them up to £15,000.

With thousands of pounds on the line some are turning to private firms, even after paying the council to do the land search.

Local authority searches, which check there are no hidden surprises for buyers, are an essential part of the home-buying process.

The council told the Stray Ferret:

“Current approximate timescales are around seven weeks. A figure we are striving to improve.”

“We are also increasing staff to approximately nine full time.”

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While the council acknowledges that the land search delays are high, some homebuyers claim they are see in much longer delays.

Mr Costar put a land search request into the council on December 4 and has been told to expect it back by April 28.

He says the buyer of his home put in a search request in early September and has not received it back yet:

“If we do not get this completed before the end of March we will have to pay £3,000 in stamp duty. It is not going to stop us but it is a lot of money.

“It’s nuts really. York and Leeds have nowhere near the same amount of waiting time as we do in Harrogate.”

The Stray Ferret first reported the delays in October when homebuyers first complained to us about the issue.

Back then Harrogate Borough Council said the average search time was just over three weeks.

Just over a month later the council had increased the expected search delays to seven weeks, the council says that figure remains today.

Strayside Sunday: Computer says ‘No’ (if you are a badger…)

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

The comedian David Walliams’ brilliant early-2000s Little Britain series of sketches in which a gormless, obstructive female bank clerk, shop assistant or council worker parrots an automated rejection of a loan, credit or welfare application were so funny because they captured one of the great frustrations of modern life:  The outsourced, de-humanised, jobsworth enabled, machine-based decision making of our times;  the imposition of an electronic barrier between the customer and unseen service provider; the replacement of an accountable human face with programmed software and technology.

Scroll forward almost twenty years and our good friends at Harrogate Borough Council have, in this spirit, added to their ever-lengthening list of “you couldn’t make it up” bungling howlers.  This week, the Stray Ferret reported that Harrogate resident and keen birdwatcher Bill Shaw, was shocked to find that his objections to Richborough Homes planned 95-dwelling development at Granby Farm had been heavily redacted on the council’s planning portal.

Mr. Shaw’s objections were not a matter of national or local security and they did not expose the names and secret activities of individuals in the sensitive employ of the state.  Rather, Mr. Shaw had made the point that Granby Farm is rich in wildlife; with roosting owls, feeding kites, setting badgers and buzzing bees about to be evicted from their homes in favour of upright and two legged animals.

It turns out that Harrogate’s planning department is now so resource strapped that an algorithm (defined by the way by Google’s own algorithm as ‘a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer’) has replaced the planning officer who used to read planning objections and, using their experience and discretion, mark out anything that might identify, embarrass or compromise concerned individuals.  The ‘redaction algorithm’ (how sinister is that?) got the bit between its teeth and blacked out any reference to Mother Nature and her bounties.  And, in what must have been one of most egregious displays of misplaced irony I’ve seen – because I can’t possibly believe they could have been serious – the council put out a public statement in which it said that “our redaction algorithm has been overzealous.”  I wonder if the redaction algorithm has been hauled into Richard Cooper’s office for a dressing down, told to “cool it,” or perhaps is in receipt of a written warning?

This episode is both comic and troubling.  As well as making us laugh it shines a light on the creeping ethical and practical dangers of replacing human with artificial intelligence.  Beyond making sure that the any algorithms we use actually work well, and in this case it most certainly did not, we need to ask the first principles question; does the use case sufficiently protect the principles of transparency and accountability that are fundamental to our democratic system?

When the future of our environment and wildlife is at stake, when our need for housing stock is urgent and when we must surely make nuanced and well-informed choices that balance the benefits and risks of these two competing factors, I want skilled, informed and accountable people and processes to assess the plans before them in light of any objections made.

In example after example Harrogate Borough Council demonstrates a willingness to bend the rules and ignore the spirit of accountability and transparency.  Having sat on its hands for four months following the damage caused to the Stray by the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire it ignored normal procurement and competition rules on the grounds of an ‘emergency’ and awarded contractor Glendale Services a sole source contract worth around £40,000.  Thank goodness the Stray has been repaired because I’m sure it will see a huge increase in foot traffic as a result of the Council’s sole source award of a £165,000 contract to an Ipswich based company, the Jacob Bailey Group, to build a new ‘destination management system’ (website) for Visit Harrogate.  This decision justified on the basis that we now face an economic ‘emergency.’

It’s been revealed too that the council spent £57,630 on a judicial review defence in respect of the decision to press ahead with the housing development at Green Hammerton, instead of Flaxby Park.  Having initially refused to say how much of our money they spent on lawyers defending a planning decision they made in our name; and having received a Freedom of Information request for their troubles, the offending number was finally revealed in a tweet.  The initial refusal to share the lawyer’s fees was justified with the absurd claim that lawyer’s fees should remain private.  What cobblers.  We have every right to know what the council spends on professional services so that we can make an assessment about whether they (we) received value for money.

And here’s the rub.  The council is spending taxpayer money.  Millions of pounds of it.  It is our right to know that it has been spent well.  It is our right to know who made the decision to spend it and why.  It is our right to be able to judge the decisions and actions of those who presume to govern and administer.  It seems to me this council will hide behind any old excuse to act as they please and combine arrogance and incompetence in equal and generous measure.

“Computer says no.”

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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Do you have a view on this column or is there a political issue you’d like Paul to write about? Get in touch on paul@thestrayferret.co.uk

Harrogate homeless units still not used this winter

Harrogate Borough Council’s temporary accommodation units for homeless people have still not been needed this winter, despite heavy snow and ice over the weekend.

The four yellow units were installed in Harrogate’s Tower Street car park at the start of last month.

Councils are obliged to provide accommodation for rough sleepers under the severe weather emergency protocol.

The protocol is usually activated by sub-zero temperatures but other forms of extreme weather, such as high winds, heavy rain and heatwaves can also trigger it.

A council spokesman told the Stray Ferret:

“The units have not been used because they were only ever there as a back-up, or perhaps to provide immediate shelter for someone presenting homeless at 2am, when sorting an alternative would be a challenge.

“We’ve not needed them as a back-up and no-one has required emergency help at 2am. It’s a positive that they have only ever been on standby.”

Some people have raised concerns about the suitability of the units for people but the council has defended their use and highlighted the fact they are heated and insulated.

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Cllr Mike Chambers, the cabinet member for housing and safer communities, told the Stray Ferret last month the units were “comfortable and appropriate for someone who needs some shelter for a couple of nights”, adding:

“Each of the shelters has windows, heaters and toilets. We have several hostels and we are an exemplar council for looking after homeless people.”

New government guidance this year warned of the dangers of coronavirus in night shelters. It also asked local authorities to consider “self-contained accommodation options”.