Letters Archives - Page 7 of 9

Stray Views: Beech Grove LTN is ‘expensive folly’

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Low Traffic Neighbourhood is expensive folly

As someone who lives adjacent to the Beech Grove LTN, I must say I have rarely seen such expensive folly. The council seem intent on installing ever more restrictive road barriers simply to, as effectively as possible, funnel more and more traffic onto Lancaster and Queens Road.

All of this to give around 60 cyclists a day the most cossetted and relaxing trip into town. Seemingly, by the council’s own admission, there is no evidence that cycling traffic will meaningfully replace motorists on local roads. Especially so, in the depths of winter, as they face icy cold, driven rain.

As a leisure cyclist I am inherently supportive, like most people I suspect, of reducing the use of cars where it makes sense to do so. As far as I can see though this is not that. This appears to be virtue signalling with no meaningful impact on future car use and with material detriment for residents.

The principal achievement of the LTN, as far as I can see, is to make it more hazardous for the large numbers of children walking to and from Western Primary and Harrogate Grammar School each day. They are put at risk as they try to cross tentatively between often inappropriately fast-moving cars, rat running from south of town to Otley or Leeds Road.

If we want to get people out of cars and using alternate forms of transport, we need to look more closely at who those car drivers are, why they are driving and how we make it easier for them to do otherwise. Shoehorning additional, random, road furniture onto small roads to deliver ineffective trophy projects is not the answer.

I would simply ask the council to stop, stand back, think and reflect, and then look for genuinely considered ways of improving all forms of transport around Harrogate. Until that happens all they are doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul. As a concerned parent I would be more than happy to contribute to the thinking on the best way forward into 2022.

Carl Howard, Queens Road

Harrogate apply for city status?

Instead of complaining about the previous Housing Minister’s decision, why don’t the Harrogate councillors get a grip and apply for city status in view of the massive expansion of our “town”?

John Holder, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Stray Views: Valley Gardens was the perfect place for Xmas market

Valley Gardens was perfect place for Christmas market

I’ve just walked up through Valley Gardens from town and want to say that the sun colonnade is the perfect place for the artisan market! It’s sheltered, on hard paving, atmospheric and includes so many stalls.

What an improvement on the overcrowded, muddy Montpelier location. Well done Harrogate Borough Council!

Jenny Thompson, Harrogate

Bikes aren’t an option for many older people

Last week’s letter from Malcolm Margolis makes many comments regarding clear and clean streets for the elderly to walk around in traffic free conditions but fails to tell the elderly how to easily come into Harrogate town centre from outlying districts without coming by car. Most of the elderly have no bus or train services and riding bikes is not an option.

Nor does he mention how we carry our purchases home. His last comment, ‘I believe it’s time to stop HGVs from using many of our urban streets without restriction day or night’, destroys his credibility. Some 90% of goods are delivered by lorries and have been for the past 50 years. How else does he think shops can be supplied ?

Brian Hicks, Pateley Bridge

The council needs an app so more people can report accidents

I recently fell over a raised paving stone in the Valley Gardens sun colonnade and broke my arm, bruised my face and split my lip. I telephoned Age Concern to ask if there is a mobile or iPad app to report incidents to the council as I think it would have been very useful.

In Australia, I have been told that there is an app called Snap Send Solve to report such as accidents as well as falling trees and potholes.

Does anyone know of the existence of a similar app in the UK?

For older people and people living on their own, this type of technology would be very useful.

The app forwards details of an incident or accident to the correct council by simply pressing a button.

Any information on this subject would be gratefully received.

Jane Blayney, Harrogate

Stray Views: Harrogate needs more prominent speed signs

“Why can’t we have more speed limit signs up?”

The accident (featured in the Stray Ferret) is just one of many to come. I have been trying for the last 3 years to make the police in Harrogate, plus the Harrogate council, know of the massive problem with people speeding in this town.

Believe me it’s not nice when you are walking to town on Leeds Road towards Betty’s and many cars are passing you by at over 60 mph on 30mph road right next to where I am walking on the sidewalk.

I have asked to have signs put up to say this is a 30 mph road as there is only one sign up at the whole of Leeds Road and the response I got was that because this is a Restricted Road they can’t put sights up, what does this even mean? If you driving anywhere in the UK on the road where there is 30mph and you are doing 35 mph you will get a penalty as this is the law so why is it different here?

I mean this must be the only town in the UK where people can drive at this crazy speeds and get away with it. To me it looks like unless someone dies here, they will do nothing about this.

Even though when they put up a temporary speeding camera a year ago, they caught 200 cars speeding in just one hour.

The only reason no one died in this recent accident is because it happened at 2am in the morning.

Regards

Pauline, Harrogate

“Time people in favour of the Gateway plan came forward”

The question is often asked, “How should we reduce the vehicle traffic in Harrogate Town Centre?”. To me that is the wrong question. The real question is how can we reduce all vehicle traffic? We need to reduce vehicle traffic everywhere.

We need to travel less. Less journeys. Shorter journeys. And shift towards busses, trains, cycling and walking.

Why? Well because with a bigger population and increasing traffic we are polluting the global atmosphere and causing climate change.

The Gateway plan is something I welcome. It’s time that views in favour came forward, and I think there are plenty of reasons to favour the Gateway proposals. It will bring the centre of Harrogate back to being pleasant. Pleasant to walk, pleasant to cycle and pleasant to shop.

As a Knaresborough lad my first memories of Station Parade were being intrigued by the big statue. I was five years old, and my eldest brother carefully explained who Queen Victoria was and why her statue was there. There was two-way traffic then, it was 1959, but there was not a lot of traffic. It was a nice place to be. Another memory was in the late sixties and I was cycling as a young teenager. By then there was more traffic and the car was king.

Move forward through the nineteen nineties and the two lanes in one direction were becoming like a race-track, with pedestrians at various places waiting to cross. Not a nice place at all. So the thought of a single lane, one-way for drivers in Station Parade is very pleasant. No more cut and thrust with cars accelerating to stop the car alongside from getting past.

Being able to cycle either way will be pleasant, and with bus and railway stations being so close there will be so many ways to arrive at this pleasant area. With no traffic on James Street it will also become a pleasant area to wander, with more shops to browse and buy. This certainly seems the way forward to me, and should benefit everyone.

Andrew Willoughby, Knaresborough

‘We need to plan for a largely care free future’

Just wanted to say how much I support the comments made in the letter last week regarding the Station Gateway redevelopment and the potential for change it represents.

I continue to be amazed at the volume and speed of traffic in and around the town. We need prominent speed signs, a 20mph town wide zone, speed enforcement cameras and many more pedestrian controlled crossings.

We need to plan for a largely car free future with more reliance on public transport, cycling and walking.

Peter Whittingham, Harrogate

Stray Views: Let’s get behind the Station Gateway

Station Gateway is best thing to happen to Harrogate for years

The Station Gateway plans are the first glimmer of hope I have felt in my seven years of living in Harrogate town (aka ‘my car’s bigger than your car’ Town).

A glimmer of hope that we just might have a lovely, friendly, safe, human, caring, bustling, fun town buried somewhere here. Buried beneath the surging, charging, horrific madness that is currently ‘our town’.

We have dual carriageways with parking down both sides. The humans lurk, unwanted, forgotten, ignored, often frightened, on a little strip of tarmac potentially a mere few metres from where they want to be. As for cycling. You’d have to be mad.

Nowhere have I seen a town so well-suited to walking, running, cycling and generally playing out, that instead chooses to destroy itself in deference to its rich, entitled, car-addicted populous.

The Station Gateway is just the start…

Ruth, Walker, runner, cyclist, mother and musician of Harrogate

Ripon needs a First World War walking tour

I read with interest your article about the installation of the memorial at Hell Wath nature reserve, which was the site of the WW1 army camp in Ripon.

I was born and grew up in Ripon and have spent a lot of my adult life there, but I had to ask a fellow walker for help to point me in the right direction to find it when we went to have a look at it. It would have been far easier if you had included directions on how to find it in your article.

It would also have been useful to have had more information there about the camp at Hellwath and its significance to WW1 history.

A walking route pointing out points of interest would be both interesting and educational to all age groups. Perhaps some of those metal figures could be placed in key areas of interest. Considering the great lose of life in WW1, it would be a fitting tribute to those that served and were billeted there. Most families were touched in some way by the war at the time, mine included.

Geoff Fletcher, North Stainley

Time to deal with these dangerous gases

It’s been common practice for some time now to vent to the surface gases from land that has previously been a landfill site.

The gas that is emitted is typically methane (CH4), which we know to be significantly more dangerous to the climate than carbon dioxide (CO2). Some studies rate it as 100 times more powerful a climate change gas.

There are sites in Harrogate that currently vent this gas to the atmosphere: Stonefall Park and parts of the Great Yorkshire Showground, amongst others.

Has the time come to deal with this harmful gas in a more environmentally friendly way?

Robert Newton, Pannal

Stray Views: Station Gateway ‘a waste of money’

Traffic concern over Beech Grove

Since the closure of through traffic along Beech Grove, the daily count of (mainly) cars using Victoria Road has increased by over 300%. The Project Engineer attributes most of this increase to cars driving southbound from A61 Ripon Road to A61 Leeds Road using Victoria Road as a cut-through thus avoiding the Cheltenham /Station Parade congestion.

There is now an experimental scheme, about to be installed, which will stop movements from Victoria Road to Otley Road. Hence the extra 300% of cars using Victoria Road will be pushed back on to Cold Bath Road and Cheltenham Parade which are already the subject of complaints about increased traffic.

Richard Wright, Harrogate

Station Gateway “a waste of money”

Having attended the consultation meeting on October 29, I left feeling that the general consensus of attendees was that the project was a gross waste of public money irrespective of the source of that money.

When asked the source and integrity of the data being used to support the scheme the project team spokesperson appeared more coy mentioning ‘social media’ and local surveys without being specific, although the council leader’s strong support of cycling was mentioned by an attendee. The council leader sees a vote of just over a thousand people (mainly cyclists) as being a significant majority vote in support of the planned cycle lane’s scheme incorporated in the Gateway project. The town’s population of over seventy five thousand seemingly being overlooked i.e. Less than 2% appear to support the introduction of many of the proposed changes.

It was indicated that forty thousand survey letters would be sent out shortly but the area of coverage was unknown.

Bearing in mind that the consultation was indicated to be the final opportunity for public comments to be made this seems a little late in the planning process.

In essence as a percentage of the total populace it seemed to highlight how few people were fully aware of the proposed project details or cost of it.

Comments expressed, as a generalisation, was the council do what they want anyway, appearing to endorse seeing the town as their ‘fiefdom’ without cognisance of the ‘silent majority’ Ie. those who are just too weary of the local politics and money wasting schemes over several years to further engage.

John Marsden, Harrogate

Spofforth homes would be a “disaster”

The site of Yorkshire Housing Ltd’s new development is on a green field site. The field is in a conservation area, and to quote the local news website, The Stray Ferret, “more than 300 people and organisations, including Natural England, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, have raised concerns about the scheme”.

As well as being in a beautiful setting (where my son and his family live), the roads and infrastructure are not suitable for the increased amount of traffic, not to mention the small bridge that spans the Crimple Beck, which is very narrow and cannot possibly take the strain of the extra HGVs vehicles that the construction would necessitate.

There does not appear to be any proper access/exit roads to the site? The increase of 72 cars plus, would turn this into an ecological disaster and a dystopian nightmare for the residents of the village.

Denis Ffoulkes Standing, Spofforth

Stray Views: Vaccine protesting parents should grow up

Vaccine protestors should grow up

These parents are stupid and putting their children’s lives at risk. We were all lined up at school in the 60’s for our BCGs and polio vaccines, which I am forever grateful for.

They should grow up and consider the more dangerous aspect of drug use in Harrogate than these vaccinations.

Susan Mitchell, Harrogate

Harrogate is a car park

I met someone recently who, upon discovering where I live, commented: “I went to Harrogate recently. It was a car park. The whole town was a car park. Is it always like that?!”

Perhaps Harrogatonians are so used to it that they see this as normal? It’s not. And it’s awful. There would be plenty of space for all – whether they wish to sit, walk, run, scoot, cycle or even drive – if we clear up the parking. For the brief period that James Street ceased being a car park it was a pleasure to negotiate. Yes there were still cars going down the middle however they were a minor inconvenience compared to the car park down both sides. At least we pedestrians could easily see the moving cars, and them us.

Cold Bath Road is horrendous because of the parking. Yes the moving cars aren’t great, but actually we’d all manage ok if the parking rights were removed. The street would buzz with life at the shops, bars, cafes and restaurants on both sides.
I cycle around Harrogate. I have been knocked off my bike once. Not by a moving car. By the driver of a parked car opening his door into my bicycle.

Living in a car park is no fun. I will move away when I can. To a town or city that isn’t a car park. Even in this country, they do exist.

Ruth Ker, Harrogate

Proportional Representation is a fairer system

The government has now introduced a new clause into the Elections Bill to remove a form of Proportional Representation (PR) from Mayoral elections in England in favour of the archaic system of First Past the Post (FPTP). The reason commonly given is “it works well”. It works well for who? For their party! Under FPTP a “majority” can amount to one vote. If voter turnout is low, that “majority” can be as low as 16% (e.g. Harrogate Bilton by-election 2021). To my mind this is a “lose”. How can it be a win? What post are we talking about?

Under a fair voting system, seats equal votes. It is common sense. Each seat should broadly equal the same number of votes. I am shocked to see democracy in England slither down the drain like this. In North Yorkshire the Conservatives would still probably hold a majority, but debates on policy would be richer and better informed if the views of voters from all parties were heard. The new North Yorkshire mayoral elections in 2023 would benefit from a richer more inclusive discourse rather than one party’s ideas only. PR is shown to work well in Scotland, Wales, current mayoral elections and in most modern democratic nations. So what reason could possibly hold for not using a fair voting system in mayoral elections, including North Yorkshire’s? Cllr Les recently stated on your website that the new single council authority should be accountable, inclusive and locally representative. Perhaps he could make this point to his party.

Louise Mauborgne, Glasshouses

Stray Views: Double yellow lines would solve Stray parking problems instantly

Double yellow lines would prevent parking on the Stray

Regarding the Oatlands no parking signs, such signage is not allowed under the Stray Act and is, therefore, technically illegal. However, so is parking on the Stray.

That said, we have been working with Harrogate Borough Council and have mutually agreed with the temporary erection of these signs as we have sympathy with their efforts to resolve the ongoing parking problems.

Over the past many years the Stray Defence Association has tried to get this situation resolved. We have always felt that the simplest solution would be a double yellow line down BOTH sides of the road. However, North Yorkshire County Council has flatly refused to do this, despite innumerable approaches.

Regrettably people seem to think they have an innate right to park wherever they choose. Sadly they do not appear to have the same recognition of the damage they do to the Stray all along there, together with blocking the cycle lane.

Frankly NYCC have been ridiculously uncooperative over putting in double yellow lines, the best and simplest solution all round.
Why is beyond comprehension as it would be a quick, simple and legally binding solution to the problem and could have been done 15-plus years ago.

As it is there has been endless damage to the Stray all along Oatlands Drive and the edges of Oatlands Stray and endless complaints from the cycling fraternity who, rightly, complain that their cycle lane is obstructed.

It is time that the law was enforced and this illegal parking was brought to an end. Perhaps this will make NYCC see sense and install double yellow lines.

Judy d’Arcy-Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association

End this parking confusion

Your photo of parking on Oatlands Drive gives an easy pointer to why people park as they do. They mistake the dotted line of the bike lane as an encouragement to put one side of the car within that line and one side on the verge.

It is compounded by there being a double yellow on the western side (with the bike lane markings) and nothing on the other side.

So, the council could fine people for having one side of the car on the Stray verge, but if they simply park wholly on the road, no offence against the Stray and no offence against parking? Their signs imply that parking on Oatlands Drive is not allowed.

Bob Hankinson, Harrogate

Councils need to stop these illogical projects

I continue to be surprised by the enthusiasm of North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council to spend taxpayers money on illogical projects which are universally unpopular with local residents and merely serve to exacerbate and concentrate traffic flows rather than keep them diluted.

Having already registered my opposition to the Beech Grove experimental traffic order, which has frustrated both drivers and local residents and has inevitably increased the flow of traffic down Victoria Road, Queens Road and Cold Bath Road, I am now surprised to see that NYCC will continue to create further problems by introducing a one-way system on Victoria Road.

This new plan, apparently intended to reduce traffic, is going to push even more drivers down Queens Road (where I live) and Cold Bath Road. Cold Bath Road is congested at the best of times but as soon as the schools go back (and indeed once office workers start to return) it will become unbearable.

Moreover, I dread to think what sort of impact the several thousand new houses they are building on Yew Tree Lane, Whinney Lane, Cardale Park and Otley Road will have on congestion. All the traffic created by these developments will flow down Otley Road and Cold Bath Road with no improvements to the road traffic routes.

It’s all very well for public sector employees to sit around examining ways of maintaining their budgets and tinkering with local roads to divert traffic when it has no material impact whatsoever on their personal lives. But on the ground it will concentrate traffic down certain roads and your next initiative is going to worsen rather than improve this situation.

Surely NYCC and HBC have more worthy and important projects to spend taxpayers money on? A few of note might be:

1 Rejuvenating the town centre, which is a depressing day out now that many stores have closed and are unlikely to reopen. Surely more can be done to encourage businesses to take up empty retail space.

2 Cleaning up the litter problem in the town centre. Every morning I walk our dog through the town and the amount of litter gets worse and worse.

3 Showing more consideration for local residents by completing jobs which inconvenience thousands of people on a daily basis far more quickly. Two examples are: The 4/5 way traffic light at the top of Pannal Ash Road were in place for months during school term and created huge tail backs. There appeared to be no urgency whatsoever to complete the job. We then had a similar experience on East Parade with temporary traffic lights causing significant tail backs. The works, which finished on the Wednesday, were in place for two more days with no-one doing any work. I called up NYCC and asked why this was the case and the operator said that the traffic lights were still in place because the works were due to finish on the Friday. But the works had clearly finished on the Wednesday!

4 Improve the state of Harrogate’s roads which are appalling in parts.

None of the above reflects particularly well on NYCC or HBC. I am not alone in holding these opinions.

David Pickering, Harrogate

Doppelganger issues

Please could you congratulate John Plummer on being appointed Editor. I hope makes a great success of the role and enjoys it.

To avoid further shocks to my ageing system perhaps one of us should change our name?

John Plummer, Spofforth

Stray Views: Don’t make Harrogate Christmas Market like the others

Don’t make the Christmas Market like everywhere else

I cannot believe that HBC have sold out to a national company that apparently provides a box standard Christmas market of sugary junk from repetitive stalls rather than using all of the local independent retailers.

Clearly they will make more money from this venture, especially giving them ten days worth of sales. Why do they insist on changing Harrogate to make it the same as everywhere else, when it’s charm is that it is different and that is what draws visitors here?

Stephen Readman, Harrogate

Thank you to Knaresborough vaccine site staff

Our youngest daughter, who has an apprenticeship and is potentially exposed to the virus now, was really keen to get the vaccine.

Richard, who heads up the vaccine site, has been without doubt absolutely fantastic. He kept in constant communication with me, as the BBC actually announced the vaccine was available to all 16 and 17 years before the NHS had agreed to this. He contacted me to advise of available dates and times.

His staff were fabulous with my daughter who has a phobia of needles, the nurse who dealt with her, calmly explained about the jab, that it wouldn’t hurt and he would stay with her until she was ok – which he did. He was absolutely great with her.

I cannot thank Richard and his staff enough – they were all brilliant.

I’d like to add that the management of the site is unprecedented – they rarely have any vaccine left over at the end of the day – down to the skill, logistics and organisation of the team there.

I know they have been criticised in the past but this was completely unfounded. They are all great and doing a fabulous job. They are dedicated and should be applauded for what they are doing!

A really big heartfelt thanks from me!

Charlotte Riley, Harrogate

Stray Views: Let’s do more to help travellers

Let’s do more to help travellers

What a good idea for districts to provide stops for travellers en route to Appleby Horse Fair.

Having lived in the area for 80 years, I see the slight inconvenience of a couple of nights encampment en route or return as no problem.

Travellers have always stayed in the district. In my youth we had the fair at Boroughbridge. Traffic slowed to let the horses and caravans go along their slow and steady way. We have seen the steady decline in public houses over the years (a very English tradition) and we are in danger of losing our identity.

Yes, hold the travellers to account over how they leave the site and make arrangements for them to pay for a clear up, or block their exit if it is not done, I am sure they would comply as a safe stopover is better for all if put into place. Councils should think twice about costly court orders and put common sense into the mix.

Sandra Theobald, Harrogate

We need new blood on our councils

Councillor Carl Les talks about fairness but what people want to know is: by how much their bills are going to reduce and what economies he is going to introduce?

There is no mention of this and no plan so until he can produce this, it’s not convincing. We also need new blood in our councillors, not just a reshuffle.

Harrogate people also want to know that their payments are actually spent in the town and not elsewhere in the region e.g. our roads are bad and North Yorkshire County Council’s highways department has consistently dragged its feet about traffic improvements whilst locals have told them how to improve matters.

What we really need, is for Harrogate to become a city and control its own affairs — we are certainly getting to this size.

Until we do, our cash can be siphoned elsewhere with little or no say about it.

John Holder, Harrogate

Harrogate Christmas Market is tacky!

I’m glad the Harrogate Christmas Market has been declined permission.

Harrogate is supposed to be posh but the market, along with the Christmas decorations, make it really tacky.

Susan Monk, Harrogate

Stray Views: For goodness sake, save Harrogate Christmas market!

Council negativity towards Christmas market is affecting traders

The benefits to the town of the Christmas market are enormous and the increased footfall and spend attests to this. The market is close enough to the town centre for everyone to benefit.

Unfortunately, Harrogate Borough Council this year has decided otherwise. It is saying that “the event plan did not take into account the risk of overcrowding and necessary evacuation procedures, counter terrorism measures and the ongoing risk of covid”.

However this is not the case — the site is open with easy access to the outside, the council closes the roads and there are big concrete blocks at the top of the hill. It doesn’t get overcrowded — it’s less busy than indoor shopping centres, football stadia, nightclubs etc where people are in close contact for more than the guidelines of 15 minutes.

That the council was not in touch with the organisers prior to making this decision reflects very badly on them.

Organising an event of this nature takes a great deal of time and planning and attractions have already been booked, such as the reindeers and Father Christmas! It is very late in the year for stall holders to make alternative arrangements.

I am a local craftsman and rely on events like this to stay in business, and I am only one of many in a similar situation. The government policy at the moment is to get the economy moving again as soon as possible.

Harrogate Borough Council’s negative attitude is hindering this process.

Lyn Grant, Harrogate

Labour’s politics of envy over Julian Smith’s advisory roles

Thank you for giving us details of Julian Smith’s lists of advisory roles. He is obviously highly regarded by these organisations who value his skills and expertise, why otherwise would they recruit him?

The comments of ex-Labour candidate Brian McDaid are wholly inappropriate. MPs on all sides of the House of Commons have similar advisory rolls and provided they are recorded on their register of interests they are quite normal.

Might I add that I have had occasion to seek Mr Smith’s assistance on three occasions since he was elected as the MP for Skipton and Ripon and he has on all occasions responded promptly and met me locally at his regular surgeries.

His re-election suggests he is doing the job by the electors. The politics of envy will never be a worthy news item.

Brian Hicks, Pateley Bridge

Poor shopping, beggars… is it any wonder people are avoiding Harrogate?

Today I met with a friend from outside the area who was saying how much she used to enjoy coming in to Harrogate to shop but doesn’t come in any more.

The reasons given were so many empty shops, cheap discount stores on what was the upmarket street and beggars sitting and almost partying around the town.

I later walked up Parliament Street and in a doorway just before the old Debenhams store there were five people with drinks, sleeping bags etc and a mess on the pavement that appeared to be vomit.

Is it any surprise that people are becoming reluctant to come in to Harrogate? Do enough people care and if so what can be done about it?

Sandra Fielding, Harrogate

Low Traffic Neighbourhood is expensive folly

Harrogate apply for city status?

Read more:

Valley Gardens was perfect place for Christmas market

Read more:

Bikes aren’t an option for many older people

The council needs an app so more people can report accidents

“Why can’t we have more speed limit signs up?”

Read More:

“Time people in favour of the Gateway plan came forward”

‘We need to plan for a largely care free future’

Station Gateway is best thing to happen to Harrogate for years

Ripon needs a First World War walking tour

Read more:

Time to deal with these dangerous gases

Traffic concern over Beech Grove

Station Gateway “a waste of money”

Read more:

Spofforth homes would be a “disaster”

Vaccine protestors should grow up

Harrogate is a car park

Proportional Representation is a fairer system

Read More:

Double yellow lines would prevent parking on the Stray

End this parking confusion

Read more:

Councils need to stop these illogical projects

Doppelganger issues

Don’t make the Christmas Market like everywhere else

Read more:

Thank you to Knaresborough vaccine site staff

Let’s do more to help travellers

Read more:

We need new blood on our councils

Harrogate Christmas Market is tacky!

Council negativity towards Christmas market is affecting traders

Labour’s politics of envy over Julian Smith’s advisory roles

Read more:

Poor shopping, beggars… is it any wonder people are avoiding Harrogate?