Letters Archives - Page 8 of 8

Stray Views: recycling rules make recycling difficult

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. See below for details on how to contribute.

Malcolm’s history walks are a real treat

How fortunate we are to have local historian, Malcolm Neesam, who is so interested in the history of Harrogate that we can all enjoy two virtual walks with his knowledge of the town.

The walks are beautifully set up on the best website I have seen with maps, photos and information clearly displayed. A real treat!

Thank you, Malcolm!

Audrey Culling, Nidderdale

Recycling rules don’t make recycling easy

I queued to get into a recycling depot with a fridge in a trailer. No trailers were allowed but I managed to get rid of it anyway.

Maybe I just fell foul of a rule that has been in place for a while, but I wonder how North Yorkshire County Council expects people to get rid of bulky items, which either won’t fit n a small car or are too dirty. Garden clippings, for example, which are too numerous for the fortnightly garden waste collection or too wet and leafy to decently burn yet will go into the large recycling skips.

Trivial but infuriating.

Pete Dennis, Harrogate

We are lucky to have birdsong – do your bit to keep it going

Many of us living in or around towns such as Harrogate and Wetherby and surrounding villages may not realise just how lucky we are to still have nesting and breeding swallows, house martins and swifts.

Unfortunately, they are all suffering declining numbers. These birds are nest site faithful, returning year after year. Swifts actually live in colonies that will have taken years to build.

This all means that if their nests or nest holes and crevices are knocked down or blocked up, it can be the end for them as there is often nowhere else to go.

So this is a plea to everyone to help look after these birds: keep the sounds of summer going by helping to keep Yorkshire skies full of the happy chittering and screams of these birds: help by keeping their old nests and put up more swallow/house martin nest cups and swift boxes if you possibly can.

Friedy Luther, Spofforth

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: one-way proposals spark safety concerns in the Saints

One-way traffic safety concerns

I fully support the changes specific to Oatlands Road, including the 20mph speed limit, double yellow lines along the Stray and additional safety crossings that will improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. But I am really not sure if speed bumps help. Experience in St Winifred’s Road shows that people tend to accelerate between them.

However, I do not support the introduction of one-way controls at St Winifred’s Road and St Hilda’s Road.

Under this proposal, all traffic from Oatlands wishing to enter St Hilda’s Road, St Catherine’s Road and St Ronan’s Road (about 180 properties) must travel down St Winifred’s Road or approach along St Catherine’s, St Hilda’s or St Leonard’s roads from Hookstone or from Wetherby Road at St Winifred’s Avenue where there is already a real pinch point.

Traffic will still be allowed to enter St Winifred’s Road from St Winifred’s Avenue but not allowed to exit onto Oatlands. This means any delivery drivers and visitors will have to do a three-point turn. Refuse collections will need to be re-routed.

From 8.30am every morning there is only single file traffic for the full length of St Winifred’s Road due to parking on both sides of the road by Harrogate hospital workers.

Cyclists most certainly will not have a safe passage from St Winifred’s Avenue to Oatlands, having to cycle against one-way traffic and three-point turns.

I have tried to envisage what will happen at school drop-off and pick-up time. Many driveways at the Oatlands end of St Winifred’s Road are already blocked by cars waiting to pick up children. Imagine delivery and other drivers having to turn around in these circumstances with many schoolchildren passing on the pavements.

There are real safety and environmental concerns raised by the one-way proposal and surely an in-depth and professional study should be undertaken before this proposal progresses further.

David Leah, St Winifred’s Road, Harrogate

Bilton’s iron bridge was once wooden

I just have to write a small note for those of us who are now quite elderly and who lived in Bilton in their youth. What you now call the iron bridge was known as the wooden bridge as it was, of course, made of wood. It was not dark and gloomy but light and airy and a wonderful place to stand and spot trains!

On another note, thank you for the Stray Ferret. I live in the United States and miss my dear Yorkshire and Harrogate in particular very much so my daily dose of local news brings me great comfort.

Bridgett Parrette, United States

Harrogate needs wardens

As a resident of Harrogate I would love to see some wardens dedicated to keeping the town and park areas free of unsociable behaviour, unsuitable clothing for town wear and littering.
What are the chances of you taking up the cause?

Linda Shackleton, Harrogate

Stray Views: Don’t turn the Stray into a beer garden

Don’t let the Stray become an uncontrolled beer garden

I am aware Harrogate Borough Council has said (subject to feedback from the Duchy of Lancaster) consideration is being given as to whether hospitality businesses can use limited parts of the Stray.

Whatever the proposal is, I object most strongly. When this was allowed last summer it was a most unpleasant experience having to battle your way through groups of people obviously influenced by alcohol.

The area of the Stray in question on Montpellier Parade looked a disgrace and gave the wrong impression of Harrogate. We do not want a proliferation of tables and chairs all over Montpelier Stray or indeed any part of West Park Stray.

Will the free and unhindered use and access to those parts of the Stray still be allowed for all and not just restricted to customers frequenting those particular outlets? And what about those that cannot expand onto the Stray?

The council should honour and uphold the purpose of the Stray Act. If it is ignored this time then it will inevitably happen again, which will open up a can of worms. Why should some hospitality outlets be treated differently to others who do not have such opportunities?

The Stray Act is in place for a good reason to safeguard the Stray against encroachment from all quarters. It protects and limits the use of the Stray so that it remains an intrinsic and a unique asset of community value for the benefit of the town and its visitors as a whole.

It is not for commercial exploitation and benefit by a limited few, especially as some uncontrolled beer garden.

What is the point of a law if it is broken when it becomes inconvenient to an individual or certain parties, including local authorities?

Why is the council therefore seeking a consultation on the interpretation of a law which is already in place? Is the council, as custodian of the Stray, incapable of making such a management decision?

Barry Adams, Harrogate

Consider making Parliament Street in Harrogate two-way

As a transport and distribution professional of over 50 years experience, it is obvious that one traffic lane on Station Road is going to massively slow traffic on this major Harrogate throughway. Two lanes are vital and an ageing population is hardly likely to be encouraged to bike to and through the town.

The problems will not be solvable until another way through the centre is opened up and perhaps looking at making Parliament Street two-way should at least be considered. With Debenhams going it is no longer the main street in Harrogate and two-way traffic would be the cheapest of all solutions.

Brian Hicks, Pateley Bridge

Councillor’s ‘wild’ covid death claims are inaccurate

Regarding the wild claims by this councillor, based on his experience as a funeral director:

1 Does he not know that the excess death figure is a verifiable guide as to how many deaths were from covid, not only for the UK but for every country in the world that records those statistics [most of them]?

2 There may be more — because influenza hospitalisations have dropped dramatically — as well as other illnesses. Hence associated deaths will have dropped.

3 Car accident deaths are very likely to have dropped because of months of lockdown.

Therefore the figure is likely to be actually more than the excess death rate.

Teresa Liddell Shepherd, Harrogate

Got 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: Harrogate’s army college brings discipline and opportunities

Harrogate’s Army Foundation College saves young people

I used to work at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate. People need educating on what takes place there. Some of these children don’t have great home lives, some want to make a career for themselves and do them and their families proud.

Education there is fab and does the world of good for the students that hated school and gives them a second chance. They leave there and go to phase two. Not one of them would go from there to a war zone!

I’m so glad people saw sense and kept it going as some of the junior soldiers may have gone down the wrong path without being able to join up. It creates a sense of achievement being able to join up at a young age, the proof is in the amount that join and stay in.

It’s a college with extra fitness and a little more discipline, what’s wrong with that?

Mrs Smith, Harrogate

Network Rail has questions to answer about tree felling

Your journalist reports that ‘some trees have been felled’ at Hornbeam Park. As a Harrogate resident living on Tewit Well Road, I want to report that all the trees have been felled. Tell it as it is, please.

We now have a situation where residents are having to prevent some of the young people of Harrogate putting themselves at risk and using this newly cleared area for their own purposes. When the line had mature trees, we may have the occasional leaf on the line, but we certainly didn’t have youngsters jumping over to sunbath, party etc.

I’m afraid Network Rail has a lot to answer for here. A poor ecological management decision has left local residents policing an area that was once a mature habitat for local wildlife.

Who was the ecologist who advised Network Rail? Are they not accountable for the habitat decimation that we have been left with? How can they say anything other than recovery will take years? Is Network Rail pleased with the result?’

Not impressed.

Charlie McCarthy
Local resident

Questions that need answering about Beech Grove

As a resident and local business owner of 11 years, I and many others strongly believe the Low Traffic Neighbourhood experiment on Beech Grove creates more congestion, longer car journey times and increased carbon emissions on surrounding roads.

Otley Road currently has major road works and the planned 20-week cycle lane construction will cause further disruption and congestion.

There are many unanswered questions for North Yorkshire County Council:

What is the overall aim of this Low Traffic Neighbourhood?
In the latest council meeting we were told that the cycling groups are being consulted to make these decisions. Why are the cycling groups being consulted and the residents and businesses, who pay taxes and rates, not consulted?
How do you measure success or failure?
What data are you collecting and where from?
Which company are you using to analyse this?
Did you count how many cyclists and motorists use the roads, before you closed them?
Is information collected during the same months of the year, so you can directly compare activity in all seasons and weather?
Is it the best time to do this during a lockdown?
Why did NYCC approve all the housing developments, each with 2-3 cars, when 84% of people expressed that Harrogate was congested in the 2019 survey?
What’s the projection of people who will swap their cars for bikes and what is this based on?
Far more people walk than cycle and yet the pavements are shocking, they are left for months after the Autumn leaves fall without being cleared and go untreated in ice and snow. How does this encourage people to walk?
Where is the evidence that there is an appetite for more cycling?

I have spoken to many residents and businesses and cars are critical for the school run, appointments, visiting relatives, holidays, tourism but, most importantly, to access businesses.

Cars are the lifeblood of many businesses and thousands of jobs depend on them. Banning them cannot be the only solution.

Lucy Gardiner, Harrogate Residents Association

Why is government spending so much on roads?

Why does this article about cuts to rural roadworks contrast that with the funding provided for the Station Gateway and active travel schemes?

It looks to me like it’s deliberately giving the impression that the former is being sacrificed in order to pay for the latter, which is completely untrue. The two things have nothing to do with each other.

I suggest it would be altogether more relevant to point out the government is spending over £27 billion on new roads, which will increase car use, development, destruction of the countryside and pollution (to which electric cars are at best a partial solution) while allowing our existing road network to fall into an ever worse state of disrepair.

Malcolm Margolis

Rossett, Harrogate

Stray Views: Harrogate needs to embrace traffic-reduction schemes

We must accept plans that reduce car use

Of course the Station Gateway plans for Harrogate will cause some traffic congestion, but how else do we move towards less use of the car?

As the population increases we cannot continue with today’s use of cars. The roads are not big enough, the car parks are full, and we have global warming threatening to melt the polar ice and flood many parts of the UK.

So I welcome a ‘one lane’ Station Parade with paving and plants and space to sit and chat. We need to make changes to make using a car less desirable. That’s why petrol and diesel are heavily taxed, and that tax needs to be increased.

We need to travel less, work nearer to home, work from home, shop nearer to home, go on holiday nearer to home. And when we need to travel, we will use walking, cycling, buses and trains. This is why some of the proposed changes today encourage cycling and do not cater for increased numbers of cars.

The change won’t happen overnight, and us older people might still use cars most of the time. The car will still have a place, but the car must not continue to dominate. It is interesting that my two grandchildren are in no hurry to learn to drive. They are both old enough to drive and have been passengers in cars all of their lives, but it seems they have a different view on things.

Andrew Willoughby, Knaresborough

Litter blights our beautiful Stray

The Stray is looking better and better now. But there is an amount of rubbish lying around, especially beside the green huts.

Could there not be a bin next to these huts? Also, why are some of the bins placed side by side, next to each other, leaving large areas on the Stray with no facilities at all?

And we older people would welcome more seats around the Stray, as well, please.

We hope for a sunny summer!

Sheila Macdonald, Harrogate

Repair the green shelters on West Park Stray

I travel on the West Park Stray on a daily basis and my heart sinks every time I pass the two semi-derelict shelters.

They have never had any repair or maintenance on them apart from being decorated in an awful green colour. What do visitors think when they encounter them? What were wonderful shelters have become, on Harrogate Borough Council’s watch, unsightly.

Because of their leaning structure they are also becoming unsafe and could be lost to the town. Has the council any scheduled plans in place for refurbishment before the shelters fall down?

Ken Richardson, Harrogate

Stray Views: How many Harrogate parents got their first choice of school?

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.

The criteria for secondary school places

Come to Harrogate they say. Pay an inflated house price for the quality of local schools, low crime levels and green spaces.

Let’s face it, the majority of parents choose to live in Harrogate for access to outstanding schools. That’s why we moved here. But that is all well and good if you can actually access these schools.

When March approaches, parents continuously press the refresh button on their email to see if they live close enough to or have been committed enough to their faith to secure a place at the nearest ‘outstanding’ community faith school.

Disappointingly, this year the computer said No. My friends felt confident that their commitment to church, alongside their proximity to St Aidan’s would secure them a place.

Instead, they were offered their fourth choice, and although North Yorkshire County Council claim 90 per cent of children got their first choice school, I wonder how many children from Harrogate this applied to?

What frustrates even more, is when a child who lives less than a mile away is overlooked for a child who lives more than 10 miles away, even though both parents have shown the same amount of commitment to their faith. Surely the council have some environmental principles by giving places to those who can walk to school over someone who needs transport to get there.

As a family who show commitment to our faith, alongside paying an inflated price for our house, we are now not convinced that living here is worth both of these things.

Kate Tiffen, Harrogate

Simple, cheap ideas to boost Harrogate

Now is not the time for Harrogate to rest on its laurels. The old saying ‘a business stood still is a business in decline’ is true. It’s not until you live in the town centre that you realise just how many visitors we have every week.

Some places, like Glasgow and Liverpool, have changed dramatically over recent years, catching up Harrogate for attractions and facilities.

These and other towns are giving Harrogate stiff competition for the exhibition and events industry, which has been the lifeblood of the town for the last 50 years. Our hotels and the supporting service industries rely on visitors to survive but what have we done and what should we be doing to keep Harrogate ahead of the competition?

The simple photo opportunity picture frame at the top of Montpellier is a good example of catering for the tourists that didn’t break the bank.

We need 50 more suggestions as good as that and implement the best 20 ASAP. The following ideas have been thought of before but would still be an asset.

Illuminated fountains at the Prince of Wales Christchurch and New Park roundabouts – any one entering the town from North South East or West would be impressed with their visit even before they got out of the car.

Rename the town Harrogate Spa with welcome signs a mile or so before each roundabout saying Welcome to Harrogate Spa.

Having directed tourists to Bettys they were impressed by the war memorial area and commented how lovely it was – at night it’s black – why isn’t the column floodlit to form a centre of attraction that would enhance the overall impressions of the town?

The war memorial illuminations, along with stone cleaning the column, should be given priority. The council’s park department does a great job throughout the town. I am just concerned that if we don’t ring the changes quickly visitors to the the town will dwindle and so will we.

David Birtles, Harrogate

Birk Crag litter hero and villains

My family and I walked through the woods at Birk Crag on Sunday. I was really disappointed at the amount of litter, particularly beer bottles, drinks cups and cartons up there on the crags and in the woods.

I was wishing I had a bag and gloves, when we met a family whose son was picking litter for his Duke of Edinburgh Award. He cleared all the litter at the top of the crag. I went from cursing my fellow citizens to congratulating this family. Well done to them.

Perhaps those of us who care should follow their example.

To those who left the litter, take this advice: ‘leave only footprints, take only memories’. It’s only unspoilt if you leave it that way.

John Brown, Harrogate

Stray Views: Planters, pruning and the NHS Nightingale..

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.

We need to focus on the economy and move on

I fail to see why on earth we need a public enquiry into the nightingale hospital.

Has Cllr Jim Clarke and others forgot when covid took momentum we had to be prepared for the worst surely? It could have been overwhelming had the NHS not been able to cope and save peoples lives. What cost can you put on this?

Let’s move forward, concentrate on getting the economy back on track, support people less fortunate than others and not waste money on inquires. I often wonder if councillors understand what their real role is .

Mike Fisher, Harrogate

Are councils trying to deter visitors to Harrogate?

Are North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council deliberately trying to drive away visitors and shoppers with the constant downgrading or lack of maintenance and repair of the West Park Stray area?

First we had derelict and much-loved shelters in need of repair. How long have they been an eyesore to visitors or through traffic, which probably wont want to return if this is the standard.

Now we have horrible timber planters blocking traffic on Beech Grove. Surely we are better than this in Harrogate.

Ken Richardson, Harrogate

Vicious hedge pruning a mistake

This year’s vicious hedge pruning has had a secondary effect; drivers are able to drive over verges with no fear of bushes and trees damaging their vehicles’ paintwork.

Lanes are becoming wider, the verges turn to mud and when it rains the deep ruts turn into torrents, wearing away the road edges.

I have lived in Blubberhouses for 26 years and the pruning has been excessive this spring.

Deborah Power, Blubberhouses

Making Oatlands one-way would harm St Aidan’s students

I have attended St Aidan’s High School for over five years and am now in year 12 in the associated sixth form.

I live in Wetherby, which mean I am required to get a school bus every morning.

Implementing a new one-way system on Oatlands Drive could have a devastating effect on my education and the education of all pupils of both St Aidan’s and St John Fisher’s high schools who get school buses.

Wetherby Road is notoriously busy and as a result I am often late for school. However, If a new one-way system is implemented, this will mean remaining on Wetherby Road until the Empress roundabout, which will probably add 20 minutes to my journey.

I get to school at around 8:55am. Adding 20 minutes to this will mean missing the start of period one, which will severely reduce the amount of teaching I am getting and therefore affect my A-level grades. The first 5-10 minutes is when most of the instruction is given for the lesson – missing this will therefore mean having to wait until the teacher is finished then having to get them to explain again, wasting both my time and theirs.

I have already missed a large amount of learning due to lockdown restrictions.

While I understand the motivation behind the one-way system, there are already usable bike lanes on Oatlands Drive and two wide pavements for pedestrians.

If this one-way system is allowed, it will not only be a waste of public funds that could be used to improve Wetherby Road or to provide technology for online learning to those less fortunate than I am. It will also have a negative effect on my learning in a year that is pivotal for my future.

Tom Adamson, Wetherby. St Aidan’s and St John Fisher’s Associated Sixth Form

Amazing treatment at Harrogate hospital A&E

My son broke his arm yesterday afternoon. We went to Harrogate hospital A&E. I would like to let everyone know that we were looked after fantastically, that the team were so helpful and that even on a Sunday evening at 10.30pm they operated on him. We had amazing aftercare in the Woodland children’s ward.

The doctor who first saw Oliver was saying goodnight to his work colleagues. He took one look at my son and said ‘I’m not going anywhere’, assessed the damage, administered pain relief and got the X-ray sorted. He stayed for an extra hour and a half to ensure my son was looked after.

Just a fantastic service and I can’t thank them enough.

Simon Wade, Langthorpe, Boroughbridge

Ripon Post Office moves to new premises

After more than 60 years in Finkle Street, there’s a new forwarding address for Ripon Post Office.

The team of four counter and mobile service staff headed by postmistress Amy Kaur, has moved to The Arcade, just off Market Place.

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, was on hand for the official opening yesterday and gave the new premises his stamp of approval.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“The post office provides services that are vital to the whole community, from people sending letters and parcels, to those collecting their pension or doing business banking.”

Photograph of the former Post Office premises in Finkle Street Ripon

The former premises in Finkle Street

Cllr Parkin, added:

“With level access from the street, it will be a lot easier for people with limited mobility and parents with prams and pushchairs to gain entry.

“I wish Amy and her team every success in their new location.”

The former post office premises had steps and no ramp and Mrs Kaur, said:

“We have been wanting to move for some time to a more accessible place.

“In addition to selling postage stamps, accepting parcels for delivery, paying out pensions, handling passport and driving licence applications and car tax renewals, we provide financial services ranging from travel currency to business banking and cash and cheque transactions.”

A key element of the service provided is also expanding – as the mobile post office unit managed by Gordon Royle now covers 22 towns and villages in the Ripon area, with the possibility of further locations to be added.

Mr Royle said:

“During the current coronavirus crisis, when many people living in rural communities remain isolated in their homes and unable to travel to Ripon, the mobile service has grown in popularity.”

As well as providing the full range of post office services, the new site also includes a value store.