Opening of new road at A59 Kex Gill delayedHarrogate to Skipton bus service to resume this weekendA59 to re-open at Kex Gill on SaturdayA59 likely to reopen at Kex Gill next weekKex Gill: public drop-in session to be held in HampsthwaiteA59 Kex Gill closure has cost council £1.8m so farCouncil gives Kex Gill update

North Yorkshire Council has given an update on work to repair the A59 at Kex Gill.

The road, which is the main route between Harrogate and Skipton, closed suddenly on February 2 when a crack appeared on the verge.

Repair work costing £750,000 began on April 15.

Karl Battersby (pictured above), the council’s corporate director of environment, said in a 57-second video yesterday it was still hoped the road would re-open by the end of June.

He said:

“We know this has caused significant disruption and we acknowledge that in a different environment that we’d have got on site quicker to do these repairs.

“But we’ve had to do a number of survey works to make sure what we do doesn’t cause us a problem in terms of the current road but also doesn’t cause a problem in terms of the new road being constructed.”

Machinery on site

Mr Battersby said a piling rig was putting large metal poles into the side of the road to stabilise it. The road will then be resurfaced.

He added:

“We will be doing weekend working and extended day working to try to keep within that deadline.”

Irish construction firm Sisk, which is carrying out the nearby £68.8 million three-mile realignment, was appointed to oversee the repair work, with Ivor King carrying out the piling.

The crack was caused by a landslip which the council attributed to wet weather but some residents have claimed it is due to the impact of the realignment on the landscape.

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Mayoral candidate makes compensation pledge regarding A59 Kex Gill closure

Independent candidate Keith Tordoff has said he will aim to pay compensation to businesses affected by the A59 closure if he becomes mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

The main route between Skipton and Harrogate has been shut since February due to a landslip. It’s led to a lengthy diversion through Ilkley and Otley with the road not likely to reopen until June.

Last month the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited Dalesway Cafe near Skipton. Owner Kate Bailey described the current period as “heartbreaking” for her business. The closure has led to a £2,000 decrease in earnings, forced her to cut the opening hours and led to four members of staff being let go.

Other businesses that have been affected include Mackenzie’s Farm Shop in Blubberhouses, The Outside Inn near Harrogate, Billy Bob’s Parlour near Halton East and The Devonshire Arms in Bolton Abbey.

However, this month North Yorkshire Council poured cold water on any hopes of businesses receiving compensation and instead said it would offer “general business advice” to those affected.

Mr Tordoff, who is a former police detective and previously owned The Oldest Sweet Shop In The World in Pateley Bridge, told the LDRS that he plans to create a mayoral fund which businesses could apply for compensation from.

He said wealthy people, businesses and charities would pay into this pot of money that would be used to invest in the region.

It would be separate from the £18 million a year the mayor will get from the government and he hoped to raise £5m for the fund in his first year.

Mr Tordoff said he has already emailed Ms Bailey about her plight. He said compensation would likely be a “nominal” one-off amount but would show “that somebody actually does care”.

He said:

“My heart goes out to the business affected. It’s been an absolute disgrace. There are huge detours and the signage is terrible. There are so many issues. If I am elected, I’ll be fighting on their behalf.

“I will access funding and try and support them. There’s no guarantee, but as a small business owner myself it’s appalling what they’ve put up with.”

Alternatively, Mr Tordoff said he could also launch a crowdfunding campaign where individuals could pledge money that would be redistributed to affected businesses.

He accused North Yorkshire Council of “incompetence” regarding the closure.

Regarding compensation, the council’s corporate director of environment, Karl Battersby said earlier this month:

“We appreciate that the closure of the A59 is having a significant impact on businesses, commuters and residents, and we sincerely apologise for this disruption.

“There is no legal requirement under the Highways Act to pay compensation as a result of disruption caused by highways works, but we are doing all we can to complete the repair as quickly and safely as possible.

“In the meantime, we are speaking to individual local businesses to see if they would like general business advice. We will keep the public updated as work progresses.”

The York and North Yorkshire mayoral election will take place on May 2. The candidates are as follows:

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Coffee shop on A59 calls for Kex Gill business support

A coffee shop owner has called on North Yorkshire Council to provide financial support for businesses affected by the ongoing A59 road closure at Kex Gill.

Mark Trickett, who owns the Outside Inn at Menwith Hill, said turnover had fallen to a third of its usual level due to the reduction in traffic.

The road is not due to reopen until at least the end of June, prompting Mr Trickett to call on the council to provide financial support to companies whose futures are at risk.

He and wife Teresa bought the site, which was previously the Millstones, in 2022. He said last year — its first full year of trading — went well.

But the sudden closure of the main route between Harrogate and Skipton on February 2, and subsequent appearance of ‘Road Closed’ signs, have massively reduced traffic and hammered trade at the time of year when it is usually taking off.

He said the Outside Inn was more vulnerable to the closure than some other nearby businesses because it relied heavily on daytime passing trade but he felt everyone affected deserved support. He said:

“We were going really well and this is absolutely murdering us.”

The business, which is situated along the A59, includes a 30-seat coffee shop and an 80-seat Sunday carvery restaurant that also caters for weddings. Mr Trickett also operates motorhome business Whittams from the site.

The couple employ 23 part-time staff and have had to let two go because of declining trade.

Mr Trickett outside the coffee shop.

Mr Trickett said:

“I understand the council is trying to resolve the situation. But if they know there is an issue and there is a likelihood businesses will close and people will be jobless, they should be looking at some sort of solution.

“If we only had the cafe and no reserves we would close tomorrow. Every day this lasts is costing us money.”

Mr Trickett, who has written to council chief executive Richard Flinton and Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith about the matter, said if support were not forthcoming he would contact other local businesses with a view to commencing joint legal action.

But the council appears to have ruled out providing any funds.

Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director of environment, said:

“We appreciate that the closure of the A59 is having a significant impact on businesses, commuters and residents, and we sincerely apologise for this disruption. There is no legal requirement under the Highways Act to pay compensation as a result of disruption caused by highways works, but we are doing all we can to complete the repair as quickly and safely as possible.

“Our contractors have started preparatory work and will be working extended daylight hours and weekends to allow the road to be reopened before the end of June.

“In the meantime, we are speaking to individual local businesses to see if they would like general business advice. We will keep the public updated as work progresses.”

When the Stray Ferret visited the Outside Inn today (April 11) and showed Mr Trickett the council’s response, he said:

“What advice can they give? People are suffering, we are losing trade and have had to lay off staff. Their business advice means nothing.”

Mr Trickett echoed the claims of those who think the council-funded work on the £68.8 million road realignment at Kex Gill caused the landslip that led to the road closure at nearby Blubberhouses.

The council has denied this.

Mr Battersby previously said:

“We have no evidence to say the works that they’ve done have caused this.”

He added “very wet weather” in the landslip-prone area had “accelerated what has already been happening and caused us that problem”.

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‘Wet weather not tree felling caused A59 to crack’, council says

Highways bosses have issued assurances the extended closure of the A59 for a further three months was caused by one of the wettest winters in a century, rather than the felling of hundreds of trees beside the route.

North Yorkshire Council’s director of environmental services, Karl Battersby, said while the authority’s contractors had cut down medium height silver birches close to the road as part of the £68.9m project to change its route at landslip-hit Kex Gill, the authority did not believe the trees removal was linked to the road cracking.

Mr Battersby was responding to concerns raised by councillors, just two weeks after the authority caused dismay by announcing the key east-west route would not reopen before the end of June to complete £750,000 of repairs.

The road between Skipton and Blubberhouses has been closed since February 2, leading to heavy congestion on the diversion route through Otley and Ilkley and some businesses losing thousands of pounds of trade every week.

Glusburn, Cross Hills and Sutton-in-Craven division councillor, Philip Barratt, told a meeting of the council’s transport and environment scrutiny committee the road closure was causing major problems in Ilkley and Otley, creating mile-long queues of traffic at peak times.

He said:

“I can’t stress how important it is that this route is solved as soon as possible. It’s a real blight on these communities.”

The A59 at Kex Gill.

The A59 will not reopen before the end of June.

The meeting heard claims the felling of some 20,000 trees had destabilised the route, but it is understood council officials believe the figure contractors cut down to be closer to 850.

Mr Battersby said the council had employed environmental consultants to examine the site’s geology and the authority had concluded the removal of the trees had not had a “detrimental effect in terms of water tables”.

He told councillors removing the trees had been unavoidable due to the location of the road.

Mr Battersby said:

“We’ve put in a 1.3km haul road to support the construction of the new road from crushed stone and we actually think that’s had a positive effect in terms of stabilising the land in that location.

“We have no evidence to say the works that they’ve done have caused this. We have had ten-mile landslips over fairly recent periods, and we think it’s largely the very wet weather that has accelerated what has already been happening and caused us that problem.”

Mr Battersby said the council was aware the roadworks were causing significant disruption for businesses and residents, but it had taken longer than expected to start repairing the large crack.

He said:

“It’s unavoidable unfortunately. For safety issues we just could not allow the road to remain open. We looked at traffic lights.

“The continual wet weather and the continual worsening of the carriageway has meant we’ve had to do some further work to make sure we got the right engineering solution to fix this.”

He said the council was looking at extended day working and weekend working to limit the road closure, but said another crack had opened up on the A59 and engineers were examining whether they could secure the road there with metal rods to avert a further closure.

Mr Battersby said:

“What all this underlines is how important it is to relocate the road. It’s the right thing to do, but clearly it’s a major engineering project.”

Nevertheless, Cllr Melanie Davis said she believed felling the trees had affected “the whole landscape” and even with a scheme in place to replace the trees, regrowing them would take several decades.

She said:

“It will affect the air quality, it affects how the soil is held together by the roots.

“If somebody wants to cut down trees then they’ve got to have a really damn good excuse as to why they do, no matter where because they are all valuable.”

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