A vigilante has taken action against the council’s decision to eliminate apostrophes from Harrogate district road signs.

The move comes after North Yorkshire Council last week told the Stray Ferret it will abolish apostrophes from road signs after a new sign was installed on St Mary’s Walk.

The new sign, which read ‘St Marys Walk’, sparked concern among local grammar guerrillas – and it seems someone has now taken matters into their own hands.

Shortly after it was installed, someone, armed with a piece of black tape, drew an apostrophe on the new sign, which now reads ‘St Mary’s Walk’ (pictured).

(L) the new sign before being corrected. Another sign nearby (R).

The council said the new format was being adopted by other councils across the country, but it proved less than popular with local residents.

One man, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Stray Ferret last week:

“I do not feel I have been consulted about the council deciding to use poor English language.”

Another upset resident commented on the Stray Ferret’s Facebook post:

A similar initiative happened in 2014 – which saw a similar fate.

The Guardian reported at the time that Cambridge City Council’s decision to abolish apostrophes led to a backlash from “self-declared defenders of grammar” who used marker pens to fill in missing apostrophes on road signs.

Read more:

• Council eliminates apostrophes from Harrogate district road signs
• Drivers face delays as four-week Pannal gasworks start

(Image: Yolk Farm and Number Thirteen)

From dutifully separating plastics and glass for recycling, to thrifting second hand clothes and furniture, there are many small ways we can be kinder to the planet.

As consumers it can feel we can only go so far; extensive research suggests that it is businesses that need to adopt more environmentally conscious methods.

And it’s not only the larger enterprises; while the 2017 Carbon Majors Report revealed that just 100 companies have been the source of 71 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, smaller businesses also have a part to play.

But investing in a greener approach can be costly and time-consuming, especially when plans have to be applied retrospectively to the way a company operates. However, there are plenty of thriving independent businesses that have embraced sustainability from the offset, leading the charge when it comes to greener business practices – especially here in North Yorkshire.

‘I think Knaresborough is quite eco-conscious as a community’

For Sarah Ward, founder of Number Thirteen in Knaresborough, owning her own coffee shop was a dream she’d always held. However, it wasn’t until she moved to New Zealand for a year and experienced their café culture that her vision took on a more environmentally friendly approach.

She explained:

“New Zealanders are very eco conscious anyway, and I noticed that the UK was a bit behind the times in aspects of sustainability, especially in the hospitality industry.”

However, it was important to Sarah that sustainability was an integral cog in the wider machine of running of a café, in order to normalise choosing greener alternatives.

“I wanted to try to create a business that had a focus on sustainability, without shoving it in people’s faces. I wanted it to be engrained in the day to day running of the business, making it work for the business rather than against it.”

(Image: Number Thirteen)

Since Number Thirteen opened in 2018, Sarah estimates they’ve sold over 500 of their own reusable takeaway cups, with many of those customers returning regularly for their caffeine fix.

“Some quick maths will tell you that even if those 500 customers used that cup only once a week, that has stopped 26,000 disposable cups ending up in landfill or being incinerated every year. That’s 156,000 cups since we opened six years ago.

“Many customers use their cups daily, most of them not purchased at Number Thirteen, so that number is unquestionably much higher.”

While she believes that customers primarily seek them out as a coffee shop, the fact that sustainability unpins the operation is an added bonus to many – and encourages them into a greater awareness of the environment in their own lives.

She explained:

“Most customers visit us because we have a good reputation as a local coffee shop, but once they are through the doors and see all the different ways we try to be better for the planet, I think it makes them want to return.

“We have lots of customers commenting on our pre-loved crockery and retro ephemera, taking them back to bygone days, as well as our home compostable takeaway cups or the fact that we use glass milk bottles from a local dairy, making our coffee 100 per cent plastic free.”

Number Thirteen’s efforts certainly haven’t gone unnoticed; this year they were recognised with a Sustainable Business accolade at the Stray Ferret Business Awards.

Number Thirteen at the Stray Ferret Business Awards 2024

In the future, Sarah would love to explore further ways that sustainability could be embraced by not only her business, but the wider community.

She added:

“I would love to set up some kind of commercial composting scheme involving all café businesses in the town. As a lot of takeaway coffee cups are only commercially compostable rather than home compostable, it is difficult to recycle them properly.

“However, setting up this kind of scheme takes a lot of negotiation, compliance and cooperation from both businesses and the public, as well as local authorities, so it’s not something that is achieved overnight.”

“We source all our produce from within a close a radius as possible from our own back door. All our amazing free range eggs and some of our fresh produce are even grown on site, meaning lower food miles.

“93 per cent of everything we sell comes from within 30 miles, which is better for the planet and for the local economy too.”

(Image: Yolk Farm)

It’s not just human colleagues that are pursuing the environmentally friendly agenda; Yolk Farm has three ‘waste warriors’ in the form of their Kunekune pigs, who consume an estimated two tonnes of fruit and vegetable waste from the farm shop per year.

(Image: Yolk Farm)

Three candidates hoping to be the first Mayor of York and North Yorkshire were in Harrogate this week for an environment-themed hustings.

It was organised by charity Zero Carbon Harrogate with Felicity Cunliffe-Lister (Liberal Democrat), Keith Tordoff (Independent) and Paul Haslam (Independent) answering questions on topics including cycling, energy, climate change and trees.

The other three candidates chose not to attend due to other commitments. These were Keane Duncan (Conservative), David Skaith (Labour) and Kevin Foster (Green).

Around 50 people attended the hustings at the Wesley Centre which was chaired by Zero Carbon Harrogate chair Jemima Parker.

Station Gateway

Many in Harrogate have grown frustrated with the pace of change around encouraging people out of cars, with some viewing the £12.1m Station Gateway scheme as a prime example of how politicians have watered down grand ambitions around cycling and walking.

One person asked a question about the troubled project and called on the new mayor to “stand up for the greater good” on active travel rather than “caving in to the small minority”.

Mr Tordoff described the gateway scheme as a “disaster” and a “vanity project”.

He said:

“There has been disjointed planning and thinking at the council. If we’re doing cycle schemes they need to last longer than a few hundred metres like at Otley Road. We need a bit of common sense.”

Mr Haslam, who is an independent councillor but was a member of the Conservatives on North Yorkshire Council until he decided to run for mayor, blamed a technical error during the consultation which led to the legal challenge from Hornbeam Park Developments.

He added:

“The Station Gateway should have had a better solution for the active travel.”

Ms Cunliffe-Lister, who sits on the council as a Lib Dem, said there had been “really, really poor decision-making” in Northallerton with leaders unwilling to accept the blame.

She said:

“They’ve relied on consultants to hide behind and absolve responsibility. It’s so underwhelming, it’s more than disappointing.”

Transport

Ms Cunliffe-Lister said she is pledging to extend the popular Nidderdale Greenway to Pateley Bridge and would introduce an integrated transport system, where buses and train timetables work together.  She’s also the owner of the Swinton Park Hotel and said encouraging greener tourism would be key to her approach as mayor.

The council has flirted with the idea of a park-and-ride system for Harrogate for many years which Mr Tordoff said he supports. He also said cyclists should have better storage for their bikes and the police should take the theft of bicycles more seriously. He added:

“Some people don’t bother reporting them when they’re stolen.”

Active travel schemes in Harrogate have been divisive and Mr Haslam said it’s important that “we take everyone along with us”. He is also a proponent of a one-ticket system for all modes of transport and said buses must be more reliable so people can trust that they will arrive on time.

Energy

There’s been a massive increase in housebuilding across Harrogate in recent years and all candidates agreed that more should be done to make homes more energy efficient.

They also called for increased investment into skills so young people could be trained in building the homes of the future as well as retrofitting old properties, with well-paid jobs keeping talent in the county.

Mr Haslam said renewable energy should go hand-in-hand with housebuilding and said he would encourage a more energy-efficient social housing stock. He said: “We have houses with a huge footprint, they should all have solar panels.”

Ms Cunliffe-Lister said “we have a great wealth of natural capital” in North Yorkshire so the county should be able to generate more of its own electricity.

According to the website Electricity Production (https://electricityproduction.uk/in/yorkshire/) around half of North Yorkshire’s energy has recently come from biomass like at Drax’s Selby plant. Ms Cunliffe-Lister said she was the first hotel in the UK to have a biomass boiler in 2006.

Mr Tordoff said he was in favour of housebuilding on brownfield sites to protect green fields. He added he favoured modular homes that can be built quickly with a much lower carbon footprint than traditional bricks and mortar homes.

Trees

Harrogate and Ripon have grabbed negative national headlines in recent years due to controversial planning applications that involve chopping down trees.

Decisions on Harrogate Spring Water’s expansion and Ripon Cathedral’s new annexe could be made this summer.

Ms Cunliffe-Lister emphasised her credentials as a landowner and hotelier and said Swinton Park has committed to increase forestry by 50% over a 20-year period. She said her business had planted 30,000 new trees.

Mr Haslam said cutting down trees should be minimised and only in exceptional circumstances such as when they are diseased. Two years ago, the Woodland Trust was forced to fell hundreds of larch trees in Nidd Gorge due to disease. Mr Haslam added:

“A single tree is worth £250,000 in carbon sequestration.”

Mr Tordoff said he viewed cutting down trees as “vandalism”. He was the only candidate to criticise the two controversial planning applications. He added:

“We’ve got to protect trees”.

The election to be mayor of York and North Yorkshire will take place on May 2. For more information click here.

A full list of candidates are as follows:

• Conservative – Keane Duncan.
• Labour – David Skaith.
• Liberal Democrat – Felicity Cunliffe-Lister.
• Green Party – Kevin Foster.
• Independent – Keith Tordoff.
• Independent – Paul Haslam.

Read more:

• North Yorkshire Council issues ‘call for sites’ for new planning blueprint
• Otley Road cycleway in Harrogate to be extended 

Traffic to our site and app soared this week — not, alas, because of our painstakingly assembled mayoral candidate interviews — but because of an influx of celebrities in Harrogate.

Firstly, James Bond star Pierce Brosnan was spotted drinking in the Fat Badger. A colleague was gutted to later discover she was there at the same time, and even more gutted when she found out four days later she’d missed him again at Rudding Park.

Then Morrissey added to his elusive magic by being photographed on a remote street called Cut Throat Lane in Shaw Mills, which seemed about as likely as the Otley Road cycleway expansion being revived — which then proceeded to also happen this week.

Perhaps the only quirkier story was the news that it’s now council policy to eliminate all apostrophes from road signs. I’ve been canvassing reaction, which you can read here.

Rachel Woolford, who owns fitness venture North Studio on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate, was catapulted into fame this week when Lord Sugar hired her on The Apprentice, which led to another spike in traffic on Thursday night.

Here’s a story worth keeping an eye on: North Yorkshire Council issued its ‘call for sites’ this week as part of the process to draw up a new planning blueprint for the county. Where the boundaries are drawn will have huge significance for years to come.

Finally if, like me, you’ve eaten at the The General Tarleton at Ferrensby, once a well known foodie hotspot, you may have noticed it was put on the market this week after being closed for several months.

Read more:

• Dog owners urged to be ‘vigilant’ amid reported ‘poisoning’ at reservoir near Harrogate
• Crime author who solved Ripon mystery revisits school mural 50 years later
• E-cigarette shop opens in Knaresborough

When transport chief Cllr Keane Duncan announced last year phase two of the Otley Road cycleway had been scrapped, it appeared to signal the end of the project.

It therefore came as a surprise this week when Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association‘s spring meeting, attended by North Yorkshire Council officers, heard the scheme had been revived.

So what has changed and is the prospect of extending the shared route for cyclists and pedestrians a welcome step forward for active travel or a costly folly?

The cycleway was due to be built in three phases and form part of a safe, off-road cycling route from Harrogate Rail Station to Cardale Park, encouraging people to get out of cars in an area where 4,000 homes are being built.

Phase one, from Cold Bath Road to Harlow Moor Road, was completed late and over budget.

Phase two was supposed to extend east from Cold Bath Road to Beech Grove, eventually connecting to a yet-to-be-built cycleway on Victoria Avenue.

Phase three, extending west from Harlow Moor Drive to Cardale Park, was never officially abandoned but the political will to proceed appeared to have been sapped. So reviving it has attracted considerable debate in recent days, although the route will now only extend 1.1km up Otley Road to Harlow Carr.

The junction of Otley Road and Harlow Moor Road, showing where the cycleway would be extended.

Phase three will be funded by developers as mitigation for building homes in west Harrogate, whereas phase two was due to be funded by the council, which has struggled to secure funding for active travel schemes. This goes a long way to explaining why phase three is going ahead rather than phase two.

Also, unlike previous phases, there won’t be a specific consultation on phase three, limiting the prospect of dissent.

Hapara has distributed leaflets to residents about the plans and clearly isn’t a fan.

The leaflet says:

“The general view of this scheme is that it will not deliver any real benefits to mitigate against the high levels of traffic on Otley Road which is how it was sold when initially launched.

“If the intention is to get more people cycling, which is a perfectly sensible aim, this scheme appears to be an expensive way of delivering the objective. Perhaps a better option would be to publicise the existing network of cycle paths to a greater extent.”

Some residents at this week’s meeting agreed and said the money would be better spent on improving bus services.

But the leaflet drew a stinging rebuke from the campaign group Harrogate District Cycle Action, which fired off a series of tweets that accused Hapara of “misleading” statements.

It is v disappointing to see @HaparaHgt putting out an anti-Otley Road Cycleway leaflet https://t.co/FYUk5bgtJv
If you are anti-cycle infrastructure, you are in effect anti-more people cycling more often @NeilHind @walkbikescoot @HKLibDems @HarrogateGreens 1/ pic.twitter.com/UHlHHa49Gc

— Harrogate Cycle Action (@cycle_harrogate) April 17, 2024

For example, the leaflet said construction would result in the loss of five trees around the junction of Otley Rd and Beckwith Road, which Harrogate District Cycle Action said “would only be lost if the council widens the road to create extra lanes for motor vehicles”.

The cycling group also said the leaflet was wrong to say there was a “strong negative public response” to phase two because 104 people told a second round of consultation they were in favour of going ahead while only 83 were against, despite the comments by Cllr Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways, saying the project was shelved due to its unpopularity.

It concluded:

“Overall, the individuals steering Hapara are not serving or representing the residents of the local area well by taking such a hostile stance to cycling. Hapara should be working with the council to create the best cycle facilities possible in Otley Road.”

Speaking after Wednesday’s meeting, Hapara chair Rene Dziabas said:

“I am not opposed to cycling but I do think the whole basis on which this scheme was conceived was wrong. It was never going to provide the mitigation required on Otley Road.”

Cyclists are frustrated about the council failing to deliver on schemes in Harrogate and Knaresborough. While pleased to see progress, many share concerns that such a disjointed scheme on Otley Road will make a significant difference, particularly as without phase two it won’t form the holy grail of an integrated route around town.

Public consultation concerns

Cllr Mike Schofield not only has a political interest in the matter but also a personal one. As the independent North Yorkshire councillor for Harlow and St George’s, the cycleway is on his patch. He is also landlord of the Shepherd’s Dog pub on Otley Road, which the extended cycleway will pass.

The Shepherd’s Dog

Cllr Schofield said he had two concerns:

“Whilst I accept that appropriate legal requirements may have been satisfied I am extremely disappointed that no public consultation is to take place for the residents of Harlow Hill, Beckwithshaw and those who use the Otley Road corridor.

“Yes, residents can make their viewpoints known via the planning portal and searching through the planning application documentation but that can be like wading through a minefield whereas a simple consultation would make it more accessible and easier for residents.”

He added:

“I also have concerns around the developer funding, my worry being that developers of sites that are not on the Otley Road corridor may seek ways of avoiding their financial commitment to the scheme and therefore leaving the residents of Harlow Hill and Beckwithshaw with a substandard and not fit-for-purpose scheme as we have in phase one.

“It seems to me so much is either still undecided, up in the air or being kept very secret.”

The Stray Ferret contacted the council requesting more details about the scheme, including why it had decided to revive it and the expected cost.

A council spokesperson said, as the highways authority, it was a statutory consultee in the planning application process and not the promoters of any of the off-site mitigation measures being offered.

Allan McVeigh, the council’s head of network strategy, added:

“The third phase of Otley Road cycle route has been progressed as part of developer-funded off-site works linked to the west of Harrogate planning applications, rather than a scheme promoted by the council.

“The planning application process will form the consultation, as is the case for all other off-site highway works put forward by developers. The timescale for construction will depend on how the applications progress and are determined.”

The cycle route is back on the agenda. But the route ahead remains unclear.

Read more:

• Otley Road cycleway in Harrogate to be extended
• Harrogate residents say they’ve been ‘kept out the loop’ on plans for 4,000 homes
• Harrogate business owner Rachel Woolford wins The Apprentice

There’s no need to travel to the Big Smoke to see what’s on at the National Theatre, instead you can feel as though you’re at the renowned theatre in London thanks to the luxury cinema chain’s live screenings at its regional premises.

An initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, it broadcasts live, by satellite, performances of their productions – and those of other theatres – to cinemas and arts centres around the world.

The programme began its pilot season in June 2009 with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. Two hundred more venues eventually showed the production internationally, resulting in a combined audience of around 50,000 people for this one performance.

The second production, All’s Well That Ends Well, was shown at approximately 300 screens.

Today, the number of venues that show NT Live productions has grown to approximately 700 with 11 million people watching them across the globe. Many of the cinemas also offer repeat screenings of popular productions which are termed as ‘Encores’.

Whether you’re watching Kit Harington go to battle in Henry V, or Phoebe Waller-Bridge delivering her solo tour de force in Fleabag, you’ll be at the heart of the action without the big trip down to London.

Did you know?

Most venues screen the productions live as they are broadcast, but due to time differences in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States venues in those countries, they show the recorded production some days later.

The actors on stage deliver their performances as they normally would any other night. But to make sure audiences watching in the cinemas have the best seat in the house, it tailors the position of its cameras to capture each production and works closely with technical teams to make sure every element on stage such as lighting, hair and make-up look as good on the big screen so it’s the next best thing to being there.

What National Theatre productions are on this month and next at Everyman Harrogate?

Harrogate’s Everyman is showing Nye, which details the story of Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan, the Welshman who has often been referred to as the politician with greatest influence on our country without ever being Prime Minister.

This is all thanks to his tireless campaign for the nationalisation of hospitals that eventually became the birth of the National Health Service in 1948.

Roger Evans (Archie Lush), Michael Sheen (Nye Bevan) and Sharon Small (Jennie Lee). Photography credit: Johan Persson

Written by Tim Price and directed by Rufus Norris, fellow Welshman Michael Sheen plays the title role which delves Bevan into his deepest memories and a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament, and fights with Churchill.

It’s a must-see minus the travel.

Tickets from £19.50, it runs for two hours 40 minutes at 6.45pm on April 23, and 1pm on May 8. Everyman Harrogate, Westgate House, Station Parade, Harrogate, HG1 1HQ.

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• The cherry blossom is in full bloom on the Stray, Harrogate
• Amber’s restaurant at Cedar Court Hotel in Harrogate opens to the public tonight
• Did you know there’s a hidden Spa Room in Harrogate’s Turkish Baths?
• Harrogate interior designers share their top spring trends
• The jobs to do in your garden right now
• Yorkshire Dales Monopoly edition revealed

Four people from the Harrogate district have set out on a coast-to-coast quadtandem challenge for charity.

Thebike ride along 170 mile Way Of The Roses began yesterday in Morecambe at 8am and is set to end tomorrow evening in Bridlington.

The team are raising money for Yorkshire Cancer Research and Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Their target is £5,000 and will be split between the charities.

On the way the team have passed through Pateley Bridge and Ripon, they stayed in Applewick last night and will dismount in York tonight.

The quadtandem is handmade using parts from four scrap bikes that the team found on scrap piles and Facebook marketplace, which have been welded together. The creation took a few months to complete.

The team is made up of Pete Wyldbor, riding in first position, Tom Hardy, in second, Ed Yates in third and Paul Abbott at the rear.

The team on their 170 mile ride

The team have honoury members in the form of their substitute rider, Ian Lythe, who will take over third position tomorrow, and John Marshall, the team’s top supporter and is at the ready with spare parts.

The team are all from the district, with members from Harrogate, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge and Scotton.

The challenge began as an idea from Mr Wyldbor, 40, who crafted the four-person bike. He revealed the inspiration behind the challenge was the 2006 film ‘Beerfest’, in a scene where five people ride one bike.

Mr Wyldbor said:

“I just thought I’d make one, just for something to do and it all escalated from there. It is a mad idea so I thought it would be good to put it to use for worthwhile charities. If we were doing it for the sake of it that would be nuts.

“We all know someone, friends or family who have been touched by cancer in the past and you really never know when you might need an air ambulance.

“None of us are cyclists and the weather has been against us, we are tired and the hills have been horrific, I will be scrapping the bike when we are done, but we are keeping going for good causes.”

The team at Morcambe, the start of their challenge

To donate to the team’s fundraiser click here.

Read more:

• Rivers charity seeks volunteers to join River Nidd improvement project 
• Harrogate RAF veteran receives 850 cards for 100th birthday

A charity in Pateley Bridge is recruiting volunteers to take part in a project to improve the quality of the River Nidd.

Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust received £500,000 from Yorkshire Water last year after the company breached its permitted level of sewage discharge into Hookstone Beck, in Harrogate. The incident in 2016 led to the loss of fish and invertebrates.

The trust has now joined forces with the Wild Trout Trust and Nidd Action Group to deliver the iNidd scheme to improve the river and is seeking volunteers.

Charlotte Simons, senior project manager at the trust, said:

“The £500,000 payment has enabled us to redouble our efforts in monitoring the health of the River Nidd and its tributaries, which will help us target our restoration plan.

“The appointment of a river enhancement project manager to oversee this iNidd workstream means that we have been able to start building partnerships and are now ready to recruit a cohort of volunteers, who will be specially trained to support the programme.”

The charity is looking for 20 people to join the riverfly monitoring programme and monitor aquatic invertebrate populations in a certain part of the river.

Volunteers will be required between May and September. No prior experience is needed.

Ms Simons added:

“Riverfly monitoring is a vital tool in establishing the overall health of a stretch of river, since testing the chemistry of the river water only offers a snapshot of actual pollution levels.

“Animals in our rivers respond to water quality throughout their whole life span with many aquatic invertebrates such as caddisfly and dragonfly larvae and nymphs not able to survive in polluted water, so their presence or absence is a very strong indicator of pollution levels.”

The trust said all training, equipment and protective gear will be provided.

To sign up, email jennifer.lee@ydrt.co.uk.

Read more:

• Masham school pupils don’t receive ‘acceptable standard of education’, says Ofsted
• Andrew Jones MP highlights housing estate problems in Commons debate

A Harrogate RAF veteran was flooded with more than 850 cards for his recent 100th birthday.

A Facebook group dedicated to the RAF launched an appeal to send Stanley Clark, who lives in Harcourt Gardens Care Home, 100 cards for his milestone birthday.

However, after the post went global, he received more than eight times the anticipated amount – including one from King Charles III.

Mr Clarke, who joined the air force at just 16 as an electrical fitter in 1940, went on to become a servicing commando, RAF pilot and station commander. He served in North Africa and Europe before retiring in 1979.

The veteran woke up to birthday wishes from former service men and women from across America, Canada and Australia.

Mr Clarke said:

“I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who sent me these wonderful cards and gifts, this was totally unexpected and overwhelming but very much appreciated.”

He spent his centenary birthday enjoying afternoon tea alongside friends and family who had travelled from Australia and Canada.

Home manager at Harcourt Gardens, Adelina Pangilinan, also said:

“The cards just kept on coming, it was quite amazing.

“Nobody knew just how well the request would be received and it was absolutely wonderful to see the look on Stanley’s face when we delivered him the cards.

“It’s clear to see that Stanley, alongside all the other brave and admirable veterans are part of a very tight knit community and it’s wonderful see the support and admiration for him.”

Read more:

• Harrogate woman competes on Masterchef
• Harrogate residents say they’ve been ‘kept out the loop’ on plans for 4,000 homes

Residents have been “effectively kept out of the loop” on plans to build 4,000 homes in west Harrogate, a meeting heard this week.

About 10,000 people are expected to move into new homes being built on a patchwork of sites stretching from RHS Harlow Carr to Yew Tree Lane. 

Some have already been completed but construction has yet to begin on about 2,000 homes.

Frustration at how the process has been handled was expressed at Wednesday’s spring meeting of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association. 

Hapara secretary David Siddans said it had “always acknowledged the need for housing” but added “this must be supported by the right infrastructure” and he said residents’ concerns had not been addressed. He added:

“Four thousand homes on the west side of Harrogate were agreed four years ago and still we have no clear idea on the transport implications.

“We have found the whole process opaque, high handed and illogical.”

The ‘western arc’ of development areas in Harrogate. Image: HAPARA.

Mr Siddans said it was illogical in the sense that the planning process had been “turned on its head” because mitigation measures were being suggested before assessments and strategies had been carried out on key issues such as transport and healthcare.

He said:

“It’s rather like a doctor presenting a cure and some time later trying to find out what’s wrong with you.

“The whole process is led by developers who assess the impact they create and the remedies for them. Their focus, understandably, is on the bottom line. Therefore we look to the council to make their own assessments or at least to scrutinise.”

Mr Siddans added:

“I understand councils have limited resources but they should be doing this on behalf of the community.

“Yet we feel we have been effectively kept out of the loop because we are told it is ‘too complex’. All we get is a brief window to comment on the planning applications when they are published — that is the first time we get to see the impact.

“Maybe everything will be fine but the public deserves more openness.”

Hapara chair Rene Dziabas told the meeting, which was attended by North Yorkshire Council highways officials, 2,000 homes were due to built simultaneously on three sites. He added:

“It’s unbelievable. We have never seen anything like this before — to have work on 2,000 homes going on in one go is unreal.

Yew Tree Lane and Whinney Lane updates

The meeting also heard updates on other key issues in the area.

Mr Dziabas said phase three of the Otley Road cyclepath will go ahead, as reported by the Stray Ferret.

Regarding the former police training centre on Yew Tree Lane, where 200 homes are due to be built, Mr Dziabas said Hapara wanted to see a construction management plan adhered to.

He said the plan should include issues such as onsite parking to prevent lorries parking on Yew Tree Lane, conditions on noise and light pollution, proper onsite washing facilities for lorries “so they are not chucking up muck everywhere” and lorries avoiding local roads at school drop off times.

Final planning approval was granted in January, but Mr Dziabas said developer Vistry Group was still in the process of acquiring the old police training centre site.

Mr Dziabas said Hapara wanted to see the public right of way reinstated on Whinney Lane, but some lorries by developer Stonebridge were still using it.

Council officers at the meeting said Pannal Ash Road would be resurfaced and traffic calming measures would be installed, hopefully at the same time.