Cycling signs on Otley Road are ‘temporary measure’

The company rolling out fibre broadband infrastructure across Harrogate has reassured residents that replacement pavement markings are only temporary.

CityFibre said the bicycle signs on Otley Road should be replaced within the next two weeks with a more permanent finish.

The paths were dug up last month to install fibre optic broadband cables as part of a district-wide project.

The trench was filled with tarmac, which partially removed the markings for the shared cycle path. A can of white spray paint was reportedly used by workers to mark up what was previously in place.

Kim Johnston, regional partnership director at CityFibre, said:

“The restoration works are ongoing, with the current cycle marking a temporary measure. We expect work to be completed on or around April 18, dependant on permit approval.

“We would like to thank residents for their patience and reassure them of our commitment to leaving the area in the same way we found it. Works on Otley Road are part of our £46m full fibre rollout in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon, which is set to future-proof the area’s digital infrastructure for decades to come.”

According to the North Yorkshire Council roadworks map, CityFibre is expected to return to the area from April 11 to 18 for the work, with temporary traffic lights to be used around the junctions of Harlow Moor Road and Pannal Ash Road.

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Separately, North Yorkshire Council had previously said the road would be closed between 7pm and 3am from April 24 to 28 for remedial works to the cycle route.

It has now confirmed that daytime work is also expected to take place between Monday, April 24, and Wednesday, May 3, from 7.30am to 5pm.

The work had been due to take place last year, but was delayed until after the CityFibre project was complete.

Melisa Burnham, North Yorkshire Council’s highways area manager for Harrogate, said:

“CityFibre have agreed to reinstate the cycle route and any associated lining back to appropriate standards. Officers are in discussion with CityFibre to ensure this is addressed.

“After phase one of the cycle path was completed, the need for some remedial work was identified. That included resurfacing junctions between Otley Road and side roads, to the tactile paving and grass verges. It was also recognised that additional signs and street furniture were needed.”

‘Inspiring’ new £85,000 vision for Ripon remains unpublished — two years on

A report outlining a new “inspiring and innovative” vision for regenerating Ripon has not been published — more than two years after it was announced.

Harrogate Borough Council advertised a 12-month contract to draw up a masterplan for the city in December 2020.

But Ripon city councillors have discovered through a Freedom of Information request that no formal report for the Ripon renewal project has been produced yet.

The Stray Ferret reported in August that work on the masterplan had been paused due to negotiations over the £85,000 contract awarded by Harrogate Borough Council to Bauman Lyons Architects.

At that time, Trevor Watson, Harrogate Borough Council’s director of economy and culture, said he did not know when the project — originally scheduled for completion last February —  would be finalised.

But he added the aim was to finish it before the launch of the replacement North Yorkshire Council, which comes into being on April 1.

He said:

“We are in dialogue with the consultants and it is very difficult to say when that conversation will be concluded.

“But it will be our intention to bring the project forward in that timeframe.”

At Monday’s full meeting of Ripon City Council, leader Andrew Williams, said:

“Both ourselves and Ripon BID, have been trying to obtain a copy of the consultants’ report and now we have discovered through  a response to the FOI request we submitted to Harrogate Borough Council that no formal report has been produced.

“As we don’t want the work carried out to be a waste of time and money I propose that we ask Harrogate to report on where the consultants had got to, as this could be helpful for the future in areas such as seeking grant funding.”

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Councillors agreed unanimously for the request to be sent to Harrogate Borough Council and for it to be copied to Councillor Carl Les, the leader of North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton.

North Yorkshire County Council and the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership were, along with Harrogate Borough Council, co-funders of the project. which aimed to create a vision for the future of Ripon that would help the city to win funding for infrastructure, planning and community projects.

A consultation was held in 2021 with residents, businesses and community groups which highlighted problems in the city.

These included not enough things for young people to do, traffic in the market place and a lack of affordable housing.

There were also calls for better traffic management on Low Skellgate and Westgate, and a new green route linking the Workhouse Museum and Ripon Cathedral.

Why is there so much paint on the pavements in Harrogate town centre?

Anyone visiting Harrogate town centre recently will have noticed colourful doodles on footpaths by Station Parade, James Street and Cheltenham Parade.

It’s not a conceptual art project and has an important purpose, according to North Yorkshire County Council who painted them.

Paint is sometimes added to footpaths before roadworks take place to help engineers identify underground services such as water pipes, electricity cables or broadband.

The £11.2m Station Gateway scheme is arguably the biggest infrastructure project to come to Harrogate in decades and the sheer scale of the project means there is now “gateway graffiti” splattered in front of many shops, cafes and restaurants.

NYCC said the paint is semi-permanent and will wear off, but it could still be there during Harrogate’s busy Christmas period.

North Yorkshire County Council’s assistant director of highways and transportation, Barrie Mason, said:

“The markings are necessary to identify underground services as part of the planning work for the proposed Harrogate Gateway scheme, if the decision is taken for the project to go ahead, and is routine practice to help avoid problems in many situations where contractors will be working.

“The paint is semi-permanent and will wear off over a matter of months but care is taken to keep its use to a minimum.”

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When will work start on the Station Gateway?

The project is still yet to be given the final green light.

A third round of public consultation recently ended.

But last night, Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation at NYCC, told businesses that work is likely to start next year if councillors approve it.

Cllr Duncan also discussed whether inflation will increase the final cost of the project.

Under-fire infrastructure plans for west Harrogate will cost taxpayers £25,000

Two key planning documents which have been hit by delays and dismay ahead of a huge urban expansion in west Harrogate will cost taxpayers £25,000, it has been revealed.

The West Harrogate Parameters Plan and a delivery strategy set out how the area’s infrastructure and services will cope with 4,000 new homes.

They have been produced by Harrogate Borough Council, which has worked with North Yorkshire County Council, housing developers and consultancy firm Hyas.

After being forced to defend the plan and announcing delays for the delivery strategy, the borough council has now confirmed Hyas will be paid £25,000.

The council also said the delivery strategy will be signed off in autumn – more than two-and-a half years after a government inspector ordered the creation of the plans.

David Siddans, secretary of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, said he has been frustrated by the “snail-like progress” of the plans and that he has “little confidence” they will address concerns over areas including traffic congestion which is already a major problem.

He said:

“We are concerned that reorganisation of local government, lack of money and pressure from developers will force developments through with inadequate infrastructure, leaving the community to pick up the pieces.

“At the very least the combination of the parameters plan and infrastructure delivery schedule should address the massive growth on the western edge and go some way to mitigating against existing problems.

“In other words things should be no worse.

“We remain unconvinced that this will be the case.”

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Howard West, chairman of Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council, said:

“It remains to be seen whether the £25.000 spent will prove cost-effective.

“As all matters have been handled without serious interim consultation with stakeholders, we won’t even know if Hyas’s recommendations have been followed.”

Once complete, both the delivery strategy and parameters plan will be used together to shape decisions on how west Harrogate will cope with 2,500 new homes – although as many as 4,000 properties are set to be built in the wider area by 2035.

There are proposals for two new primary schools and four playing pitches, as well as two new local centres for shops and health services.

Land has also been designated for other businesses, as well as new cycle lanes, footpaths and bus routes.

As part of the delivery strategy, a review of existing infrastructure is being carried out ahead of the document being published in draft form during a public consultation.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson described Hyas as a “specialist town planning, master planning and place-making consultancy” firm which was commissioned “based on their experience of other complex development schemes”.

The council spokesperson said.

“The cost of this specialist consultancy is £25,000,

“The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy document is part of their commission and is a joint piece of work – in collaboration with the borough council, county council and promoters – to provide the long term co-ordination of infrastructure across the west Harrogate sites.

“The document will be signed-off in the autumn as it requires the input from a piece of work regarding transport mitigation which won’t be concluded until then.”

Housing Investigation: infrastructure at breaking point?

The Local Government Association says it “can’t be emphasised strongly enough” that quality infrastructure must be the starting point of any good Local Plan. 

But Harrogate didn’t have a Local Plan for six years. Thousands of homes were built, yet there was no strategic plan for vital services such as schools and healthcare. 

Mike Newall lives in a cottage on Whinney Lane – until recently, a quiet rural street on the west side of Harrogate. 

The Pannal Ash area is now though surrounded by new development and faces the prospect of thousands of new homes over the next few years – changing the face of where he lives forever. 

He is clear that both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council have so far failed to ensure that residents will be able to access vital services when the housing is eventually built and asks: 

“Where is the social infrastructure?

“Apart from a new primary school on Whinney Lane, where are the thousands of new residents going to get GP and dentist visits? Local surgeries and dentists are full. A normal appointment at Mowbray Square medical centre takes two to three weeks. 

“It goes to show that prior to HBC having a local plan, the council were hobbled and exposed.”  

Schools places 

Harrogate Grammar School, St Aidan’s and St John Fisher are some of the highest-rated comprehensive secondary schools in the north of England. 

The growing number of homes in the area has made the scramble for school places even more competitive, with high value placed on homes within the catchment area. 

A freedom of information request submitted by the Stray Ferret to North Yorkshire County Council reveals that every secondary school in the district is heavily oversubscribed, and the situation deteriorated from 2018-2020. 

Similarly, primary school places are at a premium. The data reveals 55 of the district’s 71 primary schools were oversubscribed for 2020. 

New primary schools have been included in plans at Whinney Lane in Pannal Ash and Manse Farm in Knaresborough, but in many cases where there are large housing developments planned, no new schools are proposed and the local primary schools are oversubscribed.

There are developments underway in the Kingsley Road and Granby triangle, as well as the Bellway and Persona developments on Skipton Road, with hundreds of homes between them. 

There are several primary schools in the area that could educate children from the new developments- all are oversubscribed, including: 

Doctors’ surgeries 

While a scramble for school places could affect Harrogate’s youngest residents’ start in life, a rapidly ageing population means there will also be a greater demand on the district’s health services. 

From the beginning of the Local Plan period in 2014, HBC forecasts a 54% increase in the local population of people aged over 65 by 2035 –that’s 18,720 more people– which will put GP practices in the district under increased pressure. 

But other than Homes England’s 1,300-home development at Ripon Barracks, none of the major developments with planning permission in the district proposes to build new healthcare facilities to accommodate them. 

There are currently 17 GP surgeries in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough and the district’s villages. 

But a 2020 NHS survey of GP practices found that the district’s practices did not score well for patients wanting to get a prompt appointment with their GP. 

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Just 44% of patients at Beech House surgery in Harrogate said they were able to speak to their GP when they wanted to. At Leeds Road surgery, that number fell to 39%. 

A spokesperson for NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), in charge of healthcare provision for the district, said: 

“North Yorkshire CCG is actively involved in discussions with the planning department at Harrogate [Borough] Council on all the large scale housing developments in the district so that the impact on local health services is taken into account and any appropriate funding is secured that can be used to provide additional clinical capacity within primary care.” 

Following a recommendation from the government’s planning inspector, Harrogate Borough Council is currently developing a “Parameters Plan” for the Western side of Harrogate, where 4,000 more homes are mooted. 

The intention is to consider sites as a whole in terms of infrastructure, public transport and sustainability, rather than a piece meal approach. But it’s been delayed which has left local residents group HAPARA very concerned. 

Developers avoided paying for infrastructure

One reason why so little appears to be done to improve infrastructure is developers have been able to get away without making enough financial contributions – thanks, in part to a lack of a Local Plan, which has weakened the council’s hand with developers.

With no Local Plan, it meant HBC had no roadmap for how the new housing would impact on infrastructure in the district. It meant developers were able to fall back on national planning policy which says a development “should not be subject to such a scale of obligations and policy burdens that their ability to be developed viably is threatened”.

As a normal condition of planning permission, the council asks developers to sign what is called a section 106 agreement to help pay for infrastructure that residents will use. 

For schools, the money could pay for bigger classrooms or more equipment.

But the Stray Ferret has learned through a freedom of information request that since 2014, Harrogate Borough Council has collected just £2.6m in payments from developers to help pay for schools, roads, health or public transport to cover the whole district.

Dr Quinton Bradley, senior lecturer in planning and housing at Leeds Beckett University, said developers in Harrogate have been able to use these viability assessments to argue their way out of paying.

Whereas if HBC had a Local Plan with a clear focus on infrastructure, it would have been more difficult for developers to do this.

He said:

“It’s money that should have come from developers and landowners, but the public taxpayer has to compensate because the developers didn’t pay it.”

The situation is so serious that the council has requested government introduces a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to supplement Section 106 agreements. This is because the council has identified a £98m shortfall until 2035 to pay for infrastructure, including £42m for schools. 

The cumulative effect of having no Local Plan has been significant, and it’s meant schools and healthcare facilities in the district have lost out on additional funds to service a rapidly growing population. 

 

If you have any comments on our housing series or are personally affected in any way get in touch on contact@thestrayferret.co.uk