4km of jubilee bunting goes up around Harrogate

The streets of Harrogate have been adorned with 4km of jubilee bunting to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

The bunting has been bought by Harrogate Business Improvement District, with help from Harrogate Borough Council’s Welcome Back Fund.

Leftover bunting will be given to businesses within the levy area free of charge.

Streets the BID has dressed in a mixture of red, white and blue, various colours and ‘jubilee purple’ are:

Businesses within Harrogate’s town centre pay the BID 1.5% of their rateable value a year on top of their usual business rates. Harrogate BID, which drives footfall to the town centre, brings in around £500,000 from local firms.

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Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, said:

“With the bunting now adorning town centre streets, Harrogate’s countdown to the Queen’s platinum jubilee has well and truly started.

“And whatever bunting is left over, we have separated in to 10m strips for businesses from with the BID levy area to put up outside their premises free of charge.

“In the next week or so, the hanging baskets with red, white and blue flowers, will also start appearing, giving the town a colourful, floral lift.”

Plan to convert former Harrogate taxi office into flat

Plans have been lodged to convert the former Airline Taxis office in Harrogate into a one bedroom flat.

The ground floor offices on East Parade are currently vacant after a liquidator was appointed to wind up the company in June last year.

A directors report to creditors, signed by Airline’s sole director Mohammad Suleman, said the company experienced a “significant decline” in turnover due to lack of travel during the first covid lockdown.

Now, plans have been submitted by developer Mr T Halliday to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the offices into a one-bedroom flat.

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Documents lodged to the authority say that the building would retain its existing features and the same floor area as the taxi company office.

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

Badgers delay approval of 133 homes at Kingsley Road

Final approval for 133 homes on Kingsley Road in Harrogate has been delayed whilst more badger surveys are undertaken in the area.

Redrow Homes won outline planning permission to build the development on appeal in August 2020 after it was initially refused by Harrogate Borough Council.

As part of the application, the developer submitted two ecology studies that found there were four badger setts in the area but only one or two were still actively used.

A previous ecological study undertaken in 2019 by a different developer found no evidence of badgers.

Members of Kingsley Ward Action Group (KWAG) bought a trail cam, which is a camera that is left outside and captures the movement of animals.

They claim their investigation found evidence of 11 badger setts, six of which are still active.

Badger activity

Badgers and their setts are protected by law.

Developers must have a licence from Natural England to remove or modify a badger sett.

This afternoon, councillors on the council’s planning committee met to discuss a reserved matters application that dealt with the appearance and layout of the homes.

However, the four-legged mammals dominated the debate.

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To the north of the proposed site are train tracks owned by Network Rail.

Dan McAndrew, the council’s principal ecologist, said most of the badger setts are more than 30m away from the site on land owned by the rail body.

Mr McAndrew said he was satisfied the developer had put measures in place to protect the badgers.

He said:

“Badgers actually do well in urban fringe areas, they are able to adapt to those conditions. The key issue is, where are the setts located and can they be maintained?

“The main sett will not be affected and will be left in place.”

However, John Hansard from KWAG said his group’s badger surveys were at odds with the developer’s surveys. He criticised the 2019 survey.

He said:

“If you know what you’re looking for, signs of badger activity were plentiful, clear and unmissable, so why were they missed or ignored?”

‘Somebody has got to speak for the badgers’

Both Sue Lumby, Conservative member for Coppice Valley, and Victoria Oldham, Conservative member for Washburn, cast doubt on the developer’s claims that badgers would not be harmed by the development.

Cllr Lumby said:

“Somebody has got to speak for the badgers and that’s what we are trying to do.

“This population of badgers would have lived here for generations. I’m very, very concerned why the 2019 survey didn’t find any badgers.”

Cllr Oldham added:

“On the assumption you do get licence from Natural England, what mitigation are you prepared to offer for remaining badgers to forage? You are going to put tarmac, concrete where they like to dig for worms, for setts. What are you offering? What wildlife enhancement will there be on this estate?”

In response, Mike Ashworth, on behalf of Redrow Homes, said

“A significant area of site will be undeveloped and landscaped, 30% of the site, a lot more than a normal housing estate. In there you’d have a combination of planting of trees, wildflower, shrubs.”

An unimpressed Cllr Oldham responded:

“Badgers don’t eat pretty flowers, they like to eat worms.”

Further surveys

Mr Ashworth revealed the developer received permission from Network Rail last week to survey the land above the site for badgers.

After councillors rejected the council’s recommendation to approve the scheme, committee chair Cllr John Mann proposed deferment pending the publication of the badger survey, which councillors agreed to unanimously.

Flood fears halt 61-bed Knaresborough retirement home

Developers behind plans for a Knaresborough retirement home have been told to make the building smaller and move it further away from the River Nidd.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee today deferred a decision on the proposals for 61 extra care apartments near Grimbald Bridge after continued concerns were raised over flooding and the impact on local health services.

This was despite the Environment Agency and flooding specialists at North Yorkshire County Council raising no objections.

The developers, Adlington Retirement Living, also said there is “no record” of the site flooding and have agreed to pay £40,000 to help fund expansions at GP surgeries in the area.

However, local people claim the River Nidd has overflowed at the site as recently as February.

Resident Steve Benn told a meeting today:

“Although pictures on the planning portal show the land dry, the debris on the bank indicates that the site has recently flooded.”

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Mr Benn also claimed there are photos of the site flooded, but council officers said they have not seen any evidence.

Kate Broadbank, case officer at the council, said:

“We haven’t received any verified information that contradicts the applicant’s information which states the river did not overtop its banks on the site in either historic events or more recently in February.

“Irrespective of what has happened in the past, both the Environment Agency and the Lead Local Flood Authority are satisfied that the application provides acceptable mitigation.”

‘Overload’ health services

The Wetherby Road development was refused last year before councillors voted for a deferral in March when the NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) lodged an objection.

The CCG previously said it was “extremely concerned” that another care facility in the area could “overload” local health services.

However, this objection has now been withdrawn after the £40,000 payment from the developers was agreed.

As well as this, Adlington Retirement Living have offered to pay for a new footpath connecting Grimbald Bridge as well as upgraded crossings after road safety concerns were raised by residents.

These proposals have been agreed in principle by highways officials at the county council.

‘It is too large’

Speaking at today’s meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh said the retirement home amounted to “overdevelopment” of the site and that it should be reduced in size “considerably”. She said:

“It is the numbers that are being asked for on this site which are problematic.

“It is too large. If they want to do it, I would like to see them cut the numbers down considerably and move that building further away from the river.”

A revised application is now expected at a later date.

Frustration after fourth attack on rare Ripon building

Policing in Ripon has come under the spotlight once more, following the fourth vandal attack in 14 months on a rare listed building owned by the city council.

Though the Cabmen’s Shelter on Market Place East, is located just yards away from a CCTV surveillance camera,  nobody has been arrested, charged and prosecuted for damaging the historic building’s windows and door.

A possible reason for the lack of success in bringing the vandal or vandals to justice, emerged when the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, told the Stray Ferret that Harrogate Borough Council’s CCTV surveillance team charges police across the Harrogate district, £57 per hour for checking through and supplying footage.

Cllr Parkin, said:

“When I personally reported a vandal attack on the shelter, I was told by the police that I needed to give a precise timeframe in which the vandalism occurred, which is clearly ludicrous.

“Residents and visitors naturally assume, as I did, that the CCTV cameras covering Market Square and other parts of the city, are our constant guardians, watching over us 24 hours a day, while being a vital tool in spotting criminal behaviour and assisting in the arrest of those involved in violence or vandalism.

CCTV at Market Place North Ripon

The CCTV camera at Market Place North, Ripon

‘Confidence further eroded’

“Once I realised  that there is no point in contacting the police if you can’t provide exact timings, my confidence in the standard of policing in the city was further eroded and I and other candidates out canvassing across the city in the run-up to last week’s election, discovered that dissatisfaction with the police in Ripon is widespread.”

Cllr Parkin, added:

“I also feel exasperated and sickened in the knowledge that an already deficient service is further impacted by Harrogate Borough Council’s commercialisation of CCTV surveillance, ironically operated by HBC’s housing and safer communities team.”

What does Harrogate Borough Council say?

The Stray Ferret asked HBC about the £57 per hour charge levied to pay for the team at the council’s centralised surveillance unit to look through and provide recorded footage, to help police with their enquiries.

A council spokesperson said:

“CCTV across the Harrogate district, which is owned and managed by Harrogate Borough Council, has on-going infrastructure and running costs.

“As well as the costs to maintain the service, there are also costs associated with a CCTV control room, staffing and the on-going safe storage of footage.

“Should anyone wish to obtain a copy of any footage, this would require an appropriate individual reviewing it first, followed by providing the footage securely along with a witness statement. All while adhering to the Data Protection Act 1998.

“Therefore, any third-party that wishes to view and use any CCTV footage – such as an insurance company, enforcement agency or the police – is charged to do so.”

Response from Ripon police

Insp Alex Langley, who heads Ripon’s neighbourhood policing team, said:

He said:

“I understand the frustrations and concerns of the community on this damage issue and it is totally unacceptable for this damage to be repeated.

“There is CCTV in location and the footage is of excellent quality when zoomed in and an operator is following a suspect. The challenges that HBC face when operating cameras is that the district has many cameras that require monitoring.”

The Cabmen's Shelter and the CCTV camera

Our photograph shows the proximity of the Cabmen’s Shelter to the cctv camera located at the junction of Market Place South and Kirkgate

Incidents that go undetected

Insp Langley added:

“The control room at Harrogate has numerous operators at peak times covering these cameras, but sadly incidents like this can occur undetected.

“If there is another incident ongoing at the time that the operator is viewing elsewhere then matters can be unchecked and unnoticed. If a suspect stands at distance from the shelter and throws stones they can easily remain undetected and unsighted.

“The location is in the centre of Ripon, opposite a pub, taxi rank and very busy car park yet we never seem to have any witnesses and always discover the damage days after it has occurred.”

He added:

“I am really frustrated with the minor damages and unacceptable conduct of a small handful of local people that cause misery and issues for everybody else.

“What we have found is that when tackling issues of ASB (anti-social behaviour) by increasing patrols, resources and presence It does deter or displace people into other areas of the City where the Police presence is not as high or prominent.

“This is a constant and on-going battle to try prevent and deter ASB and damages such as this from occurring. We are currently working in partnership with local people and the community and we have just recently set up the Ripon Community Alcohol Partnership to try tackle alcohol associated issues.”

Insp Langley encourages anybody with concerns about policing issues in Ripon to attend a public meeting at new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre on Monday May 16. The meeting starts at 8pm.

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Ripon Cathedral plans St Wilfrid 1,350th anniversary commemorative stone

Ripon Cathedral has unveiled plans for a commemorative stone to mark the 1,350th anniversary of St Wilfrid’s church.

The stone would be installed at the cathedral to mark St Wilfrid and his “long lasting influence” on the city.

Ripon Cathedral has submitted the plan to Harrogate Borough Council as part of a listed building application.

According to documents submitted to the authority, the stone would be made from black polished limestone. 

It would include Wilfrid’s date of birth and death and stars which were his insignia.

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The stone would be installed inside the cathedral just before entering the Quire in order to give it “suitable prominence”. It would also be in a position which reflects the east end of Wilfrid’s original Anglo-Saxon church.

In documents submitted to the council, the cathedral said:

“The key aim of creating and placing the stone in the location proposed is to activate the deep history of this place and to acknowledge and celebrate the profound impact of the life of St Wilfrid in creating the church from which our cathedral grew.

“Part of his great legacy of places created to the glory of God with a shared spiritual heritage that continues to resonate with people to this day.”

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

Stray Ferret’s election coverage attracts record audience

The Stray Ferret’s live election blog on Friday attracted the highest daily traffic ever to the site.

A total of 23,000 unique users logged on to the site on Friday, generating 65,000 page views.

Of these, 26,000 were for our live election blog, which provided regular updates from the count on a dramatic day of local politics.

The Stray Ferret provided the most comprehensive coverage of the historic election for the new North Yorkshire Council, profiling all candidates in the 21 Harrogate district divisions, as well as staging a local hustings event that put readers’ questions to candidates.

Tamsin O’Brien, director of the Stray Ferret, said:

“One of the reasons the site was founded was to increase interest in local democracy and the large blog following shows just how many people are engaged in political issues.

“We look forward to providing detailed political coverage of the new North Yorkshire Council as it comes into existence in 10 months time, replacing Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.”

 

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New Conservative Wathvale councillor puts young people at top of agenda

Amid the frenzy of Friday’s election results for the new North Yorkshire Council, a new Harrogate borough councillor was voted in.

Conservative Sam Green was elected to represent the Wathvale ward for the final year of Harrogate Borough Council before the authority is abolished in April 2023.

He beat his closest rival Liberal Democrat Chris Knight by 365 votes, while the Green Party’s Hannah Corlett came in third place.

Speaking after his by-election win, Cllr Green, who is 26-years-old and a former Harrogate Grammar School student, pledged to put young people at the top of his agenda.

He said:

“This is my first time standing for election, so I’m of course delighted to have been elected to represent the people of Wathvale.

“I’ll strive unceasingly to try to fulfil the trust and confidence that the people of Wathvale have placed in me and the things in which I believe.

“It is my ambition to encourage greater engagement by younger voters and to try and address the fundamental issues affecting our future generations, including a need for more genuinely affordable homes.”

The by-election was held following the resignation of Conservative councillor Bernard Bateman who held the Wathvale seat since 2016.

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Cllr Green, who owns a financial and real estate company in the town, is now the youngest of the borough council’s 39 members.

He added: 

“I know first hand from my peers that many young people simply cannot afford to remain in the rural villages and locations in which they have grown up in, in many instances due to the cost of housing or lack of suitable supply.

“This is a critical issue not only for these people and their families, but also for the future of the settlements themselves.

“Without fresh blood and ideas, villages and settlements slowly become less and less sustainable, with the resulting loss of services and facilities.

“Moreover, if our young people are then forced to move out of the borough to meet their housing needs in lower value areas, this creates a needless brain drain and will have several knock on effects across the borough.

“The answer is not simple, but this is something I feel very passionately has to be looked at properly and every viable avenue explored to try and address the issue.”

The turnout for the by-election vote was 38%.

Meanwhile, Conservative Nick Brown was voted in to represent the Wathvale and Bishop Monkton division on the new North Yorkshire Council in last Thursday’s local elections.

His victory was one of a few reasons to celebrate for the Tories, which loosened their grip on Harrogate by winning nine seats on the new unitary authority compared to 10 for the Liberal Democrats.

One Green Party candidate and one Independent were also elected in the district.

Tories appoint leader for new North Yorkshire Council

Former service station owner and ex-butcher Carl Les has been selected to lead the new Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council.

The Catterick councillor faced no opposition from the 46 other Tory councillors at the North Yorkshire County Council Conservative group’s annual meeting at Northallerton Methodist Church Hall yesterday.

Cllr Les, 72, is the current leader of North Yorkshire County Council, which is being abolished along with the seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, next year.

It means he will solidify his position as the most powerful politician in the Harrogate district and the rest of North Yorkshire.

Cllr Les’ name will be put forward as leader of the authority at the first meeting of its 90 elected members on Wednesday next week.

If, as expected, he is elected he will then go on to select councillors to serve on the authority’s decision-making executive.

It is not known whether any from Harrogate will hold senior posts. Harrogate-based Don Mackenzie, the executive member for access at the county council, did not seek re-election at last week’s election.

Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper also did not seek re-election and his deputy, Graham Swift, lost the vote in his division.

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Cllr Les has been at the helm of the county council since 2015, having sold his business Leeming Bar Services, near Bedale, to Moto the year before.

He has also played a leading role in a spectrum of influential bodies including North Yorkshire Youth, Welcome to Yorkshire, the Local Enterprise Partnership, Citizens Advice and the Police and Crime Panel.

Thirsk’s Gareth Dadd to be deputy leader 

After a challenge from a Conservative member who has not been named, the Tory group meeting saw Thirsk councillor Gareth Dadd elected as its deputy leader, a role which he has also held for seven years.

Gareth Dadd

Following the meeting, senior Tories said they hoped the decisions would end the district and borough councillor versus county councillor rivalries that have existed for decades within Conservative ranks in North Yorkshire.

Political commentators have described the pair as “pragmatic One Nation Conservatives who above all prioritise vulnerable people who are unable to help themselves”.

They have stated the top of their agenda is to ensure a smooth transition to the new unitary authority next May, squeezing out savings from the reorganisation and to get devolution.

The meeting also saw councillors Tom Jones, of Bedale, Tim Grogan, of Monk Fryston and South Milford, and Esk Valley member Clive Pearson appointed to serve as whips, acting as the leadership’s “eyes and ears” in the Tory group, which has seen its majority shrink by about 20 per cent.

When asked if the group’s whips would be busier due to the decreased majority, Cllr Les said:

“They will have work to do to make sure people are getting to meetings or whatever.

“Not only do we have a majority over all the other parties, albeit a slim one of only two, but not everybody who is not a Conservative is against the Conservative proposals. As I did for the previous five years I will be reaching out to other members and groups to work on a common agenda as we are all there to serve the people of North Yorkshire.”

Ripon’s new councillors to focus on roads, housing and crime

Ripon voters heralded in a new era at both city and North Yorkshire level when they went to the polls last week.

Independent Andrew Williams was elected to the new unitary North Yorkshire Council by a landslide in the Minster and Moorside division while Barbara Brodigan, standing for election for the first time, won comfortably for the Lib Dems in the Spa and Ure Bank division.

Prior to Thursday, Ripon’s north and south wards had been represented at North Yorkshire County Council by Conservatives Mike Chambers and Stuart Martin.

However, Cllr Chambers, who is also a member of Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet, lost his county seat while first-time Conservative candidate Thomas Averre saw the seat formerly occupied by Cllr Martin change hands in emphatic fashion.

Conservatives relegated to third

Cllr Williams, who has served as Ripon City Council leader since 2020, was elected with the largest majority of any candidate standing in the 21 Harrogate district divisions.

He took the seat more than 1,100 votes clear of second placed Lib Dem Thomas Cavell-Taylor, while Mr Averre finished third of the three candidates.

Cllr Chambers will, like Cllr Martin, remain a member of Harrogate Borough Council until its abolition in April, when the new unitary authority comes into being.

He finished third of the four candidates in the Spa and Ure Bank division, behind victor Barbara Brodigan and lndependent  Sid Hawke, who won his city council seat and will remain on Harrogate Borough Council until it ceases to exist.

Survey of Ripon residents highlighted the issues

Cllr Brodigan, who will be one of 10 Lib Dems from the Harrogate district on the new unitary authority, told the Stray Ferret:

“We surveyed Ripon residents earlier this year to ask them about the main issues they want to have addressed.

Cllr Barbara Bridigan

Roads that can cope with traffic associated with new homes is a priority for newly-elected councillor Barbara Brodigan.

“These were principally over-supply of housing in the city and lack of a suitable road infrastructure to accommodate the extra traffic generated by the new homes.

“In addition, there are major concerns about the lack of facilities for young people, which is seen as one of the reasons for the high incidence of antisocial behaviour in the city.”

The former teacher, who has years of experience working in Leeds with students who had been expelled from their schools, hopes her expertise in dealing with disruptive children can be put to good effect locally and at North Yorkshire level.

Ripon’s needs ahead of party politics

Cllr Williams said:

“We had a clear message that the needs of Ripon and its citizens come before party politics and that resonated with the voters.

“They told us on their doorsteps, that they are worried about rocketing fuel prices, the cost of living crisis, the dreadful state of roads and pavements in Ripon and the poor standard of policing in the city.

“During weeks of campaigning, we knocked on thousands of doors and it was clear from those that we spoke with that illegal parties at Number Ten was barely an election issue.”

Looking ahead, Cllr Williams added:

“We will seek to work with Harrogate Borough Council, while it still exists and North Yorkshire County Council in its present form, to see power devolved and community assets returned to Ripon.

“We will also look to address other outstanding issues – a key one being the need for rapid improvement of policing in our city, which is not fit for purpose.

“The city council made a formal complaint to North Yorkshire’s Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner, Zoe Metcalfe, in March and we are still awaiting her response.

“The anti-social behaviour  that has plagued Ripon for years, grew worse with the covid lockdowns and we will be focusing on a root cause, which is  the very poor provision by HBC and NYCC of facilities and activities for young people.”

In addition to Cllr Brodigan’s election to the city council for the Lib-Dems, other new faces are Independents Jackie Crozier, Tony Duncan, Stuart Flatley and Julie-Ann Martin-Long, who join fellow Independents Jo Bate, Chris Hardisty, Sid Hawke, Peter Horton, Pauline McHardy, Eamon Parkin and Andrew Williams – all of whom were re-elected.

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