Concern about inflation on £68.8m Kex Gill road scheme

Concerns have been raised about what impact inflation might have on the overall cost of the A59 Kex Gill new road scheme between Harrogate and Skipton.

Council officials first said the Department for Transport-funded scheme would cost £61.6 million but this rose to £68.8m last year due to inflationary costs, with the council covering the £7.2m shortfall from its reserves.

Since last summer, inflation has remained high and at a meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s Skipton and Ripon area constituency committee last week, Andrew Murday, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale,  asked Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, who would pick up the bill should costs increase again.

Cllr Murday said:

“One can assume a fair amount of overspend on that project due to cost of raw materials.

“Can we have an explanation on how that overspend might be met?”

In response, Mr Smith said he had not heard about any overspend.

He added:

“I was focused on getting that money locked down which it was earlier in the year.

“I haven’t had representation from the council that more money is required.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting, Cllr Murday said inflation should be a “worry” as construction on the new road progresses.

He said:

“Projects do overrun. There is wage inflation for the people who work there, the cost of raw materials, stone and energy requirements.

“I don’t know how much of that was taken into account when the money was awarded.

“It’s worth worrying about the increase in costs and how they are going to be met.”

A North Yorkshire Council spokesperson said the project is not currently running over budget.

Last month, contractors completed clearing an area next to the A59 between Harrogate and Skipton ahead of building a new three-mile stretch of road.

The A59 is a key link for North Yorkshire but the section that includes Kex Gill has had a long history of landslips which has caused lenghty diversions for motorists and extra costs for the council.

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Ripon councillors call for safety measure at ‘dangerous’ city centre junction

Ripon councillors are calling for new safety measures to be put in place near a city centre junction where four accidents have occurred in two years.

Concerns were raised at Monday night’s full city council meeting about the junction of Fishergate and Old Market Place, where a pedestrian was involved in an accident on the morning of September 1.

Councillor Eamon Parkin said:

“There have been four accidents here in two years and something needs to be done.”

A number of measures to make crossing the road safer for pedestrians were discussed, after Cllr Pauline McHardy proposed a zebra crossing be installed by North Yorkshire Council.

She said:

“This is a dangerous place for people to cross, but we could make it safer at little expense by putting white paint on the road.”

Councillors Barbara Brodigan and Andrew Williams, who represent Ripon on North Yorkshire Council, said the council doesn’t install zebra crossings any more.

Cllr Williams also said:

“The installation of a Pelican (light controlled) crossing  would cost thousands of pounds and be unlikely to be approved.

“We do, however, need to ensure that people can cross the road safely and I recommend that we ask North Yorkshire to put signs on posts at the approaches to the junction that say ‘Beware Pedestrians Crossing’.”

Councillors agreed to write to North Yorkshire Council requesting that new measures be put in place to make the junction safer.

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Harrogate Mojo plans bar extension

Mojo in Harrogate has submitted plans to extend its bar area.

Voodoo Doll Limited, which trades as Mojo, has tabled the proposal to North Yorkshire Council which would see additional seating downstairs and upstairs.

The plan includes converting current commercial office space on the first floor into additional seating space.

In documents submitted to the council, the company said the move would help to cope with demand at the bar.

It said:

“The proposed extended customer floor space seeks to address demand and reflects the success of the business in Harrogate and as such will positively contribute to the character and vitality of the town centre.”

Drawings of the first floor extension, as coloured in red.

Drawings of the first floor extension, as coloured in red.

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

The move comes after Mojo was granted an extension to its opening hours at its Parliament Street bar until 6.30am. A council licensing committee approved the move in March.

At the time, Martin Greenhow, managing director of Mojo, told councillors that part of the reason for extending the hours was so the business can recover from the covid pandemic.

He said:

“One of the reasons that we’re here asking for these extra hours is that the business has found challenges since we have returned.

“We have accrued an awful lot of debt in just getting through lockdowns.”

The Mojo chain also has bars in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Nottingham.

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Harrogate’s Rudding Park expansion approved

Councillors have approved plans by Rudding Park Hotel and Spa near Harrogate to a build a new golf clubhouse, family hub and four tennis courts and reinstate a walled garden.

North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee met in Northallerton this morning to consider the application, which the resort said will result in an additional 75 full-time jobs and lead to an extra £14.3 million being spent in the local area every year.

Planning documents said the current clubhouse was originally built as a temporary facility but had outgrown its useful life and “considerably discredits the course”.

The new two-storey building will include swimming pools, restaurants, a gym and changing rooms.

How the new clubhouse will look.

Another visual of the new clubhouse.

Simon Mackaness, owner of Rudding Park, told councillors the scheme would secure the future of the business.

He said:

“As owners, this application presents our family’s commitment to securing the long-term future of the site. The plans have been subject to much discussion with officers and consultees. It presents a unique opportunity to build on our past successes and provide high-quality facilities.”

The buildings will be constructed to the BREEAM ‘excellent’ environmental standard to put them in the top 10% of new buildings in the country.

Andy Brown, the Green Party councillor for Aire Valley, praised the scheme’s eco credentials.

He said:

“All too often we see developers pay lip service to biodiversity, sustainability and good design. I looked at this with a critical eye on those issues and was happy with what I saw.”

Green belt concerns

Rudding Park is a sprawling 300-acre estate three miles south of Harrogate. But because it sits on green belt land, planning policy only permits development in “very special circumstances”.

Neil Swannick, the Labour councillor for Whitby Streonshalh, said the positives did not outweigh the harm of building on the green belt.

He said:

“The economic benefits for the area are substantial, I recognise that, but will I support the building of a county club on the green belt? No, I won’t.”

However, Andrew Lee, the Conservatives and Independents group councillor for Appleton Roebuck and Church Fenton,  argued the strict tests for building on green belt had been met.

He said:

“Yes, it’s in the green built but Rudding Park is an important local site and they’ve demonstrated a commitment to sustainable development.

“The economic benefits mean more jobs for the local area, a £14m additional boost to local economy and securing the site for future generations and users. Taking all those things into account, I’m comfortable that the impact on the green built has been sufficiently mitigated.”

Councillors voted to approve the application with conditions by 12 votes to 1.

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Harrogate district motorists could face new fines

Motorists who drive in cycle lanes, fail to obey no entry signs and misuse box junctions in North Yorkshire could face tougher action.

Currently, moving traffic offences in the county are only enforceable by police.

But North Yorkshire Council is considering securing new powers available to local authorities to enforce moving traffic offences on the county’s roads.

It follows a 2019 survey by the Local Government Association, which revealed 67% of local authorities said the police did not actively enforce any moving traffic offences in their area.

A total of 90% said that they would use civil enforcement powers if they were available, primarily to ease congestion and improve road safety.

The Conservative council has now asked people to share their views on a proposal to introduce traffic enforcement at a yellow box junction on the A19 in Selby.

This would be the first location in North Yorkshire where the council would use new powers to crackdown on driving offences — but others could follow.

Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways and transport and the Conservative candidate to be mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said:

“We are seeking to take tougher action to tackle dangerous driving on North Yorkshire’s roads.

“Using new powers, we have the chance to enforce offences such as driving in cycle lanes, failing to adhere to one-way systems and no entry signs, entering yellow box junctions and failing to give priority to ongoing traffic.

“By adopting these enforcement powers proportionately in problem areas, we hope to improve road safety for all road users, reduce congestion, emissions and journey times, and allow North Yorkshire Police to focus resources elsewhere.”

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Cllr Duncan said the Selby consultation would help it decide whether to apply to the Department for Transport for new powers.

The Traffic Management Act in 2004 introduced civil enforcement of traffic offences in England and Wales.

The act was laid before Parliament in 2022, granting local authorities’ powers to enforce minor traffic offences.

For local authorities to be granted these powers, they must apply to the DfT by October 25, highlighting at least one area that needs to be consulted on and submitted as a pilot scheme.

The Gowthorpe junction in Selby.

The Gowthorpe / Scott Road junction in Selby has been identified following concerns about vehicles entering the box junction on the A19.

If the application for the pilot is approved, traffic enforcement on the junction would be enforced from early next year. Similar enforcement action could then be introduced in other North Yorkshire locations.

The council said in a statement any income generated through traffic offences would be ring-fenced to pay for road improvement projects, public transport schemes or environmental campaigns.

You can take part in the consultation, which closes on October 23, here.

 

Plan submitted to convert Knaresborough mill into banking hub

A plan has been submitted to convert part of a grade-II listed former Knaresborough mill into a banking hub.

Cash Access UK has lodged the plan for the building on Kirkgate in the town.

The mill was built in the 18th century and was most recently used as a tile showroom.

The developer plans to convert the ground floor of the former mill into a banking hub, which will offer a counter service operated by the Post Office where customers of all major banks and building societies can carry out regular cash transactions.

It will also provide a community banker service where customers can talk to their own banking provider about more complicated issues, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

The company identified the former mill as its site for the banking hub in June.

At the time, Gareth Oakley, chief executive at Cash Access UK, said:

“We know the new banking hub has been eagerly anticipated by the local community and so we’re delighted we’ve now been able to secure a fantastic location for you in the heart of the community.

“This brings us a significant step closer in being able to deliver improved access to cash services to individuals and businesses in Knaresborough.”

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Cash Access UK is owned and funded by 10 of the UK’s biggest banking providers: Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske Bank, HSBC UK, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest Group, Santander, TSB and Virgin Money.

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Ripon councillor likens trail hunting ban to 1930s Germany

A campaign pressing for a ban on trail hunting on publicly-owned land across North Yorkshire has been rejected after being likened to an act of the German government in the 1930s.

Members of North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative group and two Independent councillors who have formed an understanding with them voted to recommend the notice of motion not be supported when it goes before a full meeting of the authority in November.

After the vote by the authority’s corporate and partnerships scrutiny committee, Polly Portwin, director of the Countryside Alliance’s Action for Hunting campaign said it was “a victory for common sense”.

She said: 

“It would be morally wrong for any local authority to ban a lawful activity and we hope this ideological attack on the rural way of life is voted down at the next meeting of the full council.”

Labour councillor Rich Maw, who had proposed the motion, said the result had been politically motivated.

Cllr Maw said the law surrounding hunting was persistently being flouted across council land and that the League Against Cruel Sports had collated 29 witness reports of suspected illegal hunting, including eight incidents of cub hunting in the county.

He told members trail hunting was being used as a cover for illegal hunting, enabling “the inevitable chasing and killing of animals to be labelled accidental”.

Cllr Maw, who represents Weaponness and Ramshill, was accused of pursuing a “personal crusade”. He said: 

“As a council we have an opportunity, a responsibility to act. It is about recognising the current legislation is being abused.”

The meeting heard claims some 78 per cent of the public supported new laws on hunting to protect animals and called on the council to display a pro-active, preventative approach to animal cruelty, environmental damage and antisocial behaviour associated with hunting.

Labour group leader Cllr Steve Shaw-Wright said the council needed to support the will of the majority of residents.

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However, Damian Readman, a joint-master of the Derwent Hunt, told the meeting how the hunt accessed council-owned land “throughout the season” and that tenant farmers should be able to make their own decisions regarding the land for which they are responsible.

He said: 

“Trail hunting and hound exercising, which are both legal activities, are no different to any other lawful countryside pursuits like dog walking or mountain biking. Wild mammals are no more at risk from the hounds carrying out their lawful activities than they are from any other dogs.”

Tory members questioned the campaigners’ evidence and described the notice of motion as “utterly ridiculous”. They said there was “a danger of prohibiting lawful behaviour”, before claiming there was a “hint of the class war about it”.

After an hour of fierce debate in County Hall’s council chamber, its chairman Cllr Andrew Williams said the proposal would be “largely ineffective and unenforceable”.

He said those behind the proposal were trying to get the council involved in gestures and gimmicks that had no actual meaning.

The Ripon councillor added: 

“It’s a very slippery slope when we start imposing majority will preventing minorities from exercising perfectly legitimate legal rights. I point you to how Germany ended up in the 1930s when it went down a route of imposing majority will as opposed to minorities.

“It is for parliament to change law, not elected councillors.”

Council prepares alternative options to save £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway

Council bosses are preparing to submit alternative options for Harrogate’s £11.2 million Station Gateway project.

In a report due before senior councillors next week, North Yorkshire Council recommends coming up with a ‘descoped’ gateway scheme after the previous proposals were paused last month.

The report, which does not mention cycling once, said the revised scheme would retain the popular elements of the gateway.

It said it would focus on “a high quality pedestrian-focussed public realm scheme, with improved access into the bus station, and better traffic flow through co-ordinated signal timings”.

It added the Department for Transport, which funded the gateway through its Transforming Cities Fund, had “indicated initial support for a modified scope but have not yet formally responded”.

The council halted the scheme immediately after lawyers acting on behalf of local property firm Hornbeam Park Developments launched a judicial review.

Now it is hastily preparing new measures to prevent the funding from being lost.

Richard Binks, head of major projects at the council, said in the report:

“Other options could be to progress with the scheme originally conceived, either with the proposed Traffic Regulation Orders, but having objections considered at a public inquiry or alternatively revisiting some of the TRO proposals, such as not restricting loading hours; or to cancel the scheme in its entirety.”

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Councillors will consider the report at an executive meeting on September 19.

Council officers are then expected to bring further options for the gateway to an executive meeting in October or November.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways at the council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he remains hopeful the £11.2 million of government funding will be spend on a transport improvement scheme for Harrogate.

Cllr Duncan told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the scheme was “not dead yet”, but was “on life support”.

However, he added that the project will have to be altered for it to stand a chance of succeeding.

Knaresborough Town Council calls for 138-home scheme to be rejected

Knaresborough Town Council has called for a scheme to build 138 homes alongside a site of special scientific interest to be rejected.

Hay-a-Park gravel pits is regarded as an important breeding site for goosander ducks and protected Canada geese.

Plans have been submitted to build the homes on two fields currently used for grazing on the other side of Water Lane to the gravel pits.

Hay-a-Park gravel pits

In its submission to North Yorkshire Council, which will decide whether to allow the scheme, the town council said:

“This is one of the last open green spaces used by walkers, cyclists, horse riders and joggers where the countryside and clean air can still be enjoyed in Knaresborough and its loss will impact on the health and wellbeing of the residents of Knaresborough.”

The town council listed 15 reasons for declining the scheme, which include concerns about land contamination on the former landfill site and pressure on local GPs and schools.

It also said:

“Access to the site through Mint Garth/Stirling Chase/Old Penny Gate/Florin Drive is not a viable option as these houses were built with onsite parking for one car.”

A petition started by Andy Bell, a Liberal Democrat town councillor whose ward includes the proposed development, has attracted more than 500 signatures, which qualifies it to be debated by North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, which advises the Conservative-controlled council.

Cllr Bell said there had been six housing developments within about a 15-minute walk of Water Lane in the last five years and his main concerns about the latest proposal were the suggested access route through a housing estate and the proximity to the SSSI. He said:

“This development threatens our local environment by encroaching on precious green spaces that provide habitat for wildlife and contribute to cleaner air quality.

“The increased traffic will inevitably lead to higher levels of air pollution in an area that should be cherished for its fresh air and natural surroundings.”

A footpath goes across the site.

Cllr Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, has ‘called in’ the application, which means it will be determined by elected councillors on the planning committee rather than by an unelected council officer.

Cllr Walker told the Stray Ferret he had concerns about the SSSI, access and the design of the scheme.

He added calling in the application would enable it to be “fully scrutinised by council members in an open forum”.

Fields to housing? Dave Worner’s current view from home.

Dave Worner, whose home overlooks the proposed site, said:

“One of the main reasons we moved here was because it was on the edge of the countryside.

“I can sit and watch hundreds of people walking. It would cause significant harm to the surrounding area.”

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Site allocated for planning

Previous plans for 218 homes and 148 homes on the fields have been rejected.

However, the site is situated within the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where local development can take place.

A planning statement sent to the council by Cunnane Town Planning on behalf of applicant Geoffrey Holland, said the scheme would create 138 homes with associated access, parking, open space and a children’s play area.

“The proposal is for a mix of affordable and market dwellings of which 40% would be affordable and 60% would be open market.

Plans for housing on Water Lane in Knaresborough

How the scheme would look.

Because the site is in the local plan, it says the principle of development has been established and “there are no material considerations which would indicate that the development plan should be set aside” and “therefore planning permission should be granted for the scheme without delay”.

A design and access statement by Haines Phillips Architects sent to the council said:

“The submission now presents a well-balanced, landscape dominated proposal where front gardens are generous, dwellings are no longer cramped, parking or garaging no longer remote or dominant, and casual surveillance and street activity visible in all locations.

“It results in an environment that will give a sense of place and well-being for residents.

“It is considered that the proposal does not adversely impact upon other residents or existing neighbours, nor upon the SSSI.

“It is a proposal of benefit in terms of architectural design, landscaping and sustainability whilst providing a strong contribution to housing needs.”

 

Felled Harrogate oak tree defaced with graffiti

A felled oak tree in Harrogate has been defaced with graffiti which inaccurately claims it was killed for cyclists.

The tree at the junction of Bilton Lane and Woodfield Road was taken down due to its decaying condition last month.

At the time, the council said it was “regrettable” that the 300-year-old oak had to be felled.

The tree has now been defaced with graffiti, which says “killed 4 cyclists”.

It is unclear who is responsible for the graffiti or when it was carried out.

However, the message is inaccurate as council officials confirmed to the Stray Ferret that the tree had been assessed in June and its decaying roots meant it was a “risk to the public”.

North Yorkshire Council also claimed it is possible that work carried out by Northern Powergrid in April near to the oak on Woodfield Road in Bilton “would have accelerated the death of the tree”.

Jonathan Clubb, the council’s head of parks and grounds, said a “thorough examination” would now be carried out into the tree.

He said:

“It is always regrettable when we have to remove a tree and we do not do so lightly. However, after a detailed assessment of the risks posed, a decision was taken to remove this specimen due to its condition.

“Oak trees can live for centuries and this particular tree was around 300 years old.

“However, the extent of the root decay meant the stability of the tree may have been affected. Because of its location on a main road, the risk to the public was considered too great to allow it to continue to stand.”

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