Council cuts threaten Knaresborough’s Party in the CastleDanny Dyer ‘plaque’ erected in KnaresboroughCrowdfunder launched for Knaresborough’s Party in the Castle this summerHarrogate district leaders look ahead to 2025Knaresborough set for late night shopping

Knaresborough’s independent traders will stay open late for the next two Thursdays.

About 25 traders will welcome customers until 7pm on December 14 and 21 as part of an annual pre-Christmas boost for businesses.

Some hair and beauty salons, which regularly stay open late on Thursdays, will operate until 10pm.

Knaresborough and District Chamber organises the activity each year to help independent stores.

Chamber member and salon owner Kelly Teggin said:

“We have chosen a week night so not to clash with Christmas parties and Thursday was chosen as many of the hair and beauty salons open late so there’s a good number of footfall in town that evening.

“We have also chosen a night when the market’s not on so there’s plenty of free parking right in the town centre for shoppers.”

Knaresborough Christmas Market Weekend took place last weekend.

The town’s annual Christmas tree festival, which features about 70 trees individually decorated by community groups and businesses, is also taking place at  at St John the Baptist Church until December 23. Entry is free.

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Frustration grows over ‘rubble on the road’ saga in Knaresborough

Residents and businesses in Knaresborough have expressed exasperation at the length of time it is taking to resolve the collapsed wall on Briggate.

Traffic lights have been in place since a section of the wall came down more than two months ago.

The lights have caused frequent delays on a key route in and out of Knaresborough, with traders claiming it is deterring people from shopping in town.

North Yorkshire Council has said work will finally start on Monday — but lights are likely to remain for several months.

Local people do not understand why a pile of rubble is proving so difficult to deal with, and fear it will hamper Christmas trade.

Bob McRae, who has lived in Knaresborough for 40 years, wrote to the council about the issue.

He praised council leader Carl Les and corporate director for environment Karl Battersby for replying promptly but said he failed to understand why this had become such a big issue. He said:

“People are frustrated. It’s just a bunch of rocks that have been sitting there and it seems nobody can pick them up. There could have been a temporary fix to get the traffic moving.”

Mr McRae also questioned whether council officers in Northallerton understood the impact the situation was having on the town.

The wall collapsed in September.

Hairdresser Kelly Teggin agreed, adding:

“I don’t believe in this day and age nothing can be done to get both lanes back open as soon as possible.

“All other roadworks should have been suspended as soon as the wall fell in September.

“Town and trade is massively affected and it’s not going to change before the end of January, which is disastrous for our town.”

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‘We cannot avoid emergency works’

Mr Battersby said the work was more complicated than initially thought.

He said:

“We have been working hard to prepare plans to rebuild the collapsed wall on Briggate in Knaresborough, which is currently under two-way lights to protect road users and ensure traffic can move safely.

“Due to concerns of the residents with cellars – who were directly impacted by the collapsed wall – the works are now more complex than first anticipated.

“Work will start on Monday, November 27, under the existing two-way lights, and is due to be concluded in late-December. In the new year (date to be confirmed), further maintenance work along the rest of the wall will take place – again, under two-way lights – to ensure its future integrity is maintained.”

The traffic lights on Briggate.

He added:

“We also have an embargo on other road works in the local area during this time. However, it is worth stressing, we cannot avoid emergency works.

“We appreciate Knaresborough Christmas events are due to take place in the coming weeks, and this may cause some delays, but safety must come first. To help prevent any delays, we will be manually controlling the lights during the Knaresborough Christmas Market, to ensure the movement of traffic.”

 

Briggate roadworks likely to last ‘several months’ in Knaresborough

Business owners in Knaresborough have reacted with dismay to the news that roadworks on a main route into town are likely to remain for several months.

Temporary lights were installed on Briggate after a wall collapsed in September.

Two months later, the lights remain. But no repair work has taken place and residents and traders don’t know why it is taking so long or why the rubble cant be removed until work commences so traffic can flow freely again.

Parking in Knaresborough is notoriously tricky, and exasperated traders say this and a spate of recent temporary lights in town, including Briggate, is deterring people from visiting.

North Yorkshire Council has now said lights are likely to remain on Briggate for several months.

The roadworks on Briggate.

Danielle Bartley, who opened The Hungry Caterpillar kids cafe on High Street in September, said just getting in to work from her Calcutt home “takes ages” because of the lights. She said:

“Parking is a massive issue in Knaresborough. A lot of customers pull up outside and say ‘where can I park?’

“I’ve been surprised since we opened how busy Knaresborough is. There’s a lot going on. If you get that much footfall there needs to be something better put in place for parking. It’s also dangerous.”

Rebecca Lombardi, from The Clothing Store of Knaresborough on High Street, has started offering free deliveries to help people who struggle to get into town.

Ms Lombardi said long-term lights near the leisure centre had caused problems during summer and the recent spate of roadworks, especially Briggate, added to the woes. She said:

“We have a really big problem with parking and it puts people off coming into town. People are so busy these days and if they want to nip somewhere they want somewhere to park.

“It’s a challenging time for retailers with the cost of living and every customer counts. It feels like everything is against you as a business.”

Two months after the wall collapsed, the rubble remains.

Hairdresser Kelly Teggin, who has campaigned for better parking Knaresborough, said she didn’t understand why the rubble from the wall couldn’t be removed until work began. She added:

“Most businesses and residents want the road cleared as soon as possible.”

North Yorkshire Council highways area manager Melisa Burnham said:

“We have temporary lights on Briggate as a result of the wall collapse. Work to repair the wall and ensure the safety of the structure will start in the next few weeks. This work is likely to take until Christmas, after which we will carry out maintenance on further parts of the wall, so signals will be in place for several months.”

Ms Burnham said emergency gas works at Abbey Road and Blands Hill had also caused disruption recently, but this was “unavoidable”.

Ms Burnham added the council had “asked Northern Gas Network to man the lights at peak time to minimise the disruption”.

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Electric vehicles charging points in Knaresborough car park causing ‘significant harm’

A Knaresborough business owner has claimed 10 electric vehicle charging points installed in a car park have caused “significant harm” to the town and are driving shoppers away.

A petition signed by over 500 people protesting against how EV infrastructure has been introduced in Knaresborough was debated by North Yorkshire Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee in Harrogate today.

Ten of the 56 regular parking bays in the town centre Chapel Street car park were turned into electric vehicle-only spaces with charge points at the end of 2022 by Harrogate Borough Council.

A further 12 spaces were given over to EVs in Conyngham Hall’s car park on the outskirts of the town centre but the charge points there have not yet been switched on.

However, at Chapel Street there have been reports of the spaces reserved for EVs laying empty, which has caused consternation to traders particularly on market days.

A statement was read out to councillors on behalf of hairdresser Kelly Teggin who launched the petition. The statement said:

“Like any market town there’s a recognition of the need for transition and charging points are attractive to residents and tourists if introduced at the right time and place.

“However, in this case, implementation of changing points at Chapel Street car park and at Conyngham Hall have been badly-handled in terms of consultation and choices made. They’ve caused significant negative impact on traders in the town centre, attractiveness to visitors and increased congestion.”

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A report prepared by officers ahead of the meeting said just five vehicles a day were using the charging spaces at Chapel Street.

But the council forecasts that after five years this will have increased to 22 cars a day and by year eight it will be 30 cars.

Electric vehicle EV Chapel Street car park parking

Electric vehicle charging bays in Chapel Street car park.

Dedicated EV bays require traffic regulation orders to restrict access to EVs only, which according to reports the spaces at Chapel Street do not have.

Matt Walker, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Knaresborough West who supports the petition, said any non-EV motorist who had received a ticket for parking in the reserved spaces should contact him as he would be “happy to defend and get those revoked”.

Arnold Warneken, the Green Party councillor for Ouseburn and an EV driver,  said he was “shocked and surprised” the council decided to put the spaces in Chapel Street, which is one of the town’s busiest car parks.

But he warned against an increasingly hostile movement against EVs on social media. He added:

“I’m totally behind having EV charging points. There’s an anxiety that infrastructure is not in place for people that drive EVs but there’s a movement out there that’s anti-EV”.

Paul Haslam, the Conservative councillor for Bilton and Nidd Gorge, said there was a “lack of understanding” about EVs but he hoped North Yorkshire Council used the changes in Knaresborough as a “learning opportunity on how we can do it better next time”.

Cllr Walker proposed a motion with nine different points, including a call for a full review into parking in Knaresborough and an assertion that the EV infrastructure had been implemented poorly in the town. It passed by six votes to four.

The area constituency committee is, however, only an advisory body to the Conservative-controlled council.

Knaresborough traders set to escalate electric vehicle parking row

Traders in Knaresborough look set to escalate their battle with North Yorkshire Council over electric vehicle parking.

Last night’s Knaresborough and District Chamber meeting discussed the possibility of legal action because of concerns about the legitimacy of the consultation as well as the impact on businesses.

It also heard a petition calling for change had passed the 500-signature threshold, which means it will be discussed by the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee.

The Liberal Democrat-controlled committee is an advisory body to the council so it cannot change laws but it can put pressure on the council’s Conservative leadership.

Ten electric vehicle charging bays were installed in Chapel Street Car Park shortly before Christmas last year.

Hairdresser Kelly Teggin told the meeting businesses were fed-up at the sight of seeing most of the bays empty while petrol and diesel cars struggled to park, particularly at weekends and on Wednesday market day.

Her petition, which has been displayed by several businesses in town, calls for some of the bays to be made available to all vehicles until demand for electric vehicle charging catches up with supply.

Kelly Teggin and Steve Teggin at the launch of the petition.

Ms Teggin said:

“These bays are still not being used. They are still empty and the town is suffering. Everyone is absolutely fuming. Businesses have had enough and are talking about legal action.

“Something needs to be done now, not in six months time.”

Councillor Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West, agreed the situation was inadequate and supported calls for a meeting between local business and residents and council to resolve matters.

Cllr Walker added he understood the council had signed a seven-year contract with a company to provide electric vehicle charging bays in North Yorkshire and was reluctant to change anything through fear of being in breach of contract.

He also said he had also been told there was no date yet for activating the eight electric vehicle charging bays at Conyngham Hall.

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Those bays remain coned off to all vehicles, meaning most of Knaresborough’s 18 electric vehicle charging bays are frequently empty.

This is costing the council parking revenue and driving away shoppers in a notoriously difficult town for parking, said Ms Teggin.

Chamber members said they had been unable to ascertain from the council whether petrol or diesel cars would receive parking tickets for parking in the empty electric vehicle charging bays or even whether electric vehicles that weren’t charging were entitled to park there.

There are no signs in the car park explaining the situation.

Some members even floated the idea of leaving their cars in the charging bays as a test case to see if they received a ticket.

Ms Teggin said:

“The whole idea of this is to stop pollution yet people are driving round and round Knaresborough to park and then leaving. It’s insane.”

Council agrees to meet Knaresborough traders for electric vehicle parking talks

Traders in Knaresborough are to hold talks with North Yorkshire Council in an attempt to resolve the dispute over electric vehicle charging stations.

Ten charging stations were installed late last year in bays previously available to all vehicles in Chapel Street Car Park.

Most are frequently empty, while customers in petrol or diesel cars struggle to find spaces, particularly on Wednesday market days and Saturdays.

The issue has incensed some business owners who say they are losing customers and the town is losing parking revenue.

A petition calling for some of the 10 EV charging stations in Chapel Street Car Park to be made available to all cars is available in five shops.

The petition has attracted more than 500 signatures, which is the threshold for ensuring the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee debates the subject.

To keep up the pressure, hairdresser Kelly Teggin asked the council to attend a meeting with town centre businesses.

Kelly Teggin

Kelly Teggin

Ms Teggin said:

“Businesses are absolutely fuming but they also want an amicable resolution to this.

“I’ve had another two customers this week say they won’t come back because of this.”

She emphasised traders supported EV parking, but supply currently out-stripped demand.

Barrie Mason, assistant director for highways and transport at the council, said its electric vehicle infrastructure strategy demonstrated its commitment to tackling climate change.

Mr Mason added:

“We are in correspondence with local councillors and campaigners around electric vehicle infrastructure in Knaresborough and would welcome a meeting.”

He added there was a need for a publicly accessible charging network for people who didn’t have access to charging at home.

Asked why the council chose to install the charging stations in the most central car park, where many older shoppers park, he said:

“Chargers were never intended to be installed in York Place car park as there is a covenant on the land and the town centre is an air quality management area, so we want to encourage people to use their electric vehicles there.

“Also, the grant is primarily aimed at residential charging, and in the area surrounding Chapel Street Car Park there is no access to off-street parking.”

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