Pothole payouts fuel concerns about state of Harrogate district roadsResurfacing to begin on Monday at Ripon’s largest car parkParking spaces will be temporarily reduced in Ripon from next week while resurfacing work is carried out at the city’s biggest car park.
Work on the 193-bay Cathedral Car Park starts on Monday and is scheduled to be completed by February 11.
Signs say that over the three weeks, there will be ‘restricted parking’ available.
Other public car parks serving the city centre are at The Arcade, Market Place North (except on Thursdays) Victoria Grove, St Marygate and Marshall Way retail park.
Plea for wider bays
Before local company A. E. Duffield begins the £85,000 contract, Ripon City Council has reiterated its call for spaces on the car park to be widened to accommodate the larger vehicles that many people now drive.
At Monday evening’s city council meeting, members were told by town clerk Paula Benson that Harrogate Borough Council had not as yet responded to correspondence about the request for enlarged spaces.
It agreed to make further contact with Harrogate Borough Council after council leader Andrew Williams said:
“With the work due to start next week, we need an answer from them.”
The call for spaces to be increased in size came at the city council’s December meeting, when Councillor Pauline McHardy said:
“Modern vehicles are wider and with the current size of the spaces, people find it difficult to get in and out of their cars.”
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Cllr McHardy’s call for enlargement was seconded by Councillor Chris Davis, who told the meeting:
“The bays are narrow and I’ve often found it difficulty to find a parking space that my car will fit in.”
Councillors voted unanimously to make the request to Harrogate Borough Council.
Long and short stay
The Cathedral Car Park is used by drivers for long and short stays and in the contract notice for the work, Harrogate Borough Council said the site had become worn and hazardous to members of the public.
It added:
“Over the years the current surface of the car park has become pot-holed, with large areas of loose tarmac resulting in trip hazards to members of the public, and claims for vehicle damage.”
The contract is for a complete resurfacing of the car park, and to increase the number of parking spaces to 206, along with 10 disabled bays.
The council will also require the contractors to undertake trunking and ductwork in preparation for the installation of electric vehicle charging points.
Morrisons refuses to pay for repair after Ripon mother’s carwash ordealA mother and her young children had a frightening experience in the car wash at Morrisons in Ripon recently.
Seven-year-old Arthur and Hector, who has recently turned three, were in their child seats in the back of Helen Mars’ car.
She feared that the boys would be injured, when the rear windscreen wiper arm and blade was ripped off by a roller.
Mrs Mars told the Stray Ferret:
“With the metal arm entangled in the roller, it was crashing against the rear window.
“It was close to where Arthur and Hector were sitting and I was worried that it would smash the glass.”
Ripped off by car wash rollers – this photograph, showing the missing rear windscreen wiper, was taken by Mrs Mars after the incident at Morrisons
Before driving into the car wash in her Suzuki Alto, Mrs Mars put a long polythene sheath over the rear windscreen wiper arm and blade.
She said she received it when she paid for the car wash and followed the instructions given by a member of staff in the petrol station shop.
When problems occurred, Mrs Mars followed written instructions at the car wash by sounding her horn over and over again. But no member of staff came to her immediate aid.
With the car wash still part way through its cycle, Mrs Mars re-started the car’s engine and drove out.
It was only then that staff came forward.
Mrs Mars, who lives in Kirkby Road said:
“A manager at the store saw the damage that had been done.
“He apologised and said that Morrisons accepted liability for what had happened.
“I was assured by him and another manager I subsequently saw, that I would be reimbursed for the cost of the repair work.”
That cost £75, but Morrisons has refused to pay.
The Stray Ferret contacted the supermarket giant to seek the company’s response to what Mrs Mars said.
No response has been received at the time of going to press.
However, Mrs Mars has provided an email dated April 26 received from Morrisons’ insurance team.
The email said:
“Having investigated the matter no evidence was found to suggest that it was our car wash that caused the damage to your car.
“The car wash was in good working order with no problems or other incidents reported on the day of your visit.
“Stores are unable to advise customers we will pay them the costs to repair without a full investigation.”
It added the equipment was not faulty and the company was “unable to consider your claim further”.
The Stray Ferret visited Morrisons on May 3 and May 4 and discovered the car wash was closed, awaiting repair. It has since reopened.
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Mrs Mars, who was initially offered £20 by Morrisons ‘as a gesture’ is still awaiting any form of payment.
She said:
“The incident caused the children distress and now, whenever we go out in the car, Hector says, ‘not the car wash mummy’.”
Pateley’s Harefield Hall determined to survive a year of blowsElaine Little was looking forward with optimism to 2020, which was shaping up to be a record year for Harefield Hall.
The four-star country guest house in Pateley Bridge, with its restaurant, bar, 14 en-suite rooms and bunk room for groups of cyclists and other travellers, had record bookings.
Then came covid and the first lockdown in March, which proved to be just the precursor to nine months of stop-start misery for the hall, which once belonged to the Archbishop of York.
Ms Little, the director of the hall, told the Stray Ferret:
“Just as we prepared to come out of the first lockdown and were getting ready for re-opening, a cloudburst on 28 June devastated the building.
“The rainstorm was so severe that the gutters and fall pipes were overwhelmed and the ingress of water damaged ceilings, furniture and carpets.”
The insurance claim is still to be resolved, as the pandemic has delayed the settlement processes.
The damage caused in June meant the hall could not reopen in July. Accommodation and restaurant bookings were lost, as were bar takings.
Harefield Hall once belonged to the Archbishop of York.
The premises remained closed until mid-October, then within a fortnight of reopening the second lockdown in November, effectively wiped out the pre-Christmas trade.
Now the third lockdown has dealt another huge body blow. Ms Little said:
“We’ve gone from crisis to crisis, unable to make any money to cover our overhead costs and trying to survive on a small discretionary grant and a bounce-back loan, that will need to be repaid.
“It’s so ironic, because at the beginning of 2020 we had record bookings – more than 50 per cent up on our previous best year.”
In spite of all this, Ms Little is determined that a rainstorm and three lockdowns will not blow her and her remaining team of four off-course.
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She said:
“In business, you must remain positive and focused and we are determined to turn things around because we have total belief in what we are doing here.
“We hope a similar change of fortune is not far away for other small businesses in the Pateley Bridge area – some of whom are among our suppliers.”
Amid the countless calls to insurers and suppliers, Ms Little is looking to the future.
She sees potential in attracting more cyclists who are seeking hospitality and an overnight stay at Harefield, with its woodland and riverside setting.
Nature lovers, looking for the abundant variety of birds that are attracted to Nidderdale’s natural environment, also offer business opportunities, as does the opening later this year of a self-catering holiday cottage within Harefield’s grounds.
