Knaresborough leisure centre opening delayed again

The opening of Knaresborough’s new leisure centre has been delayed again.

North Yorkshire Council originally planned to open the £17.6 million Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre when Knaresborough Pool closed at the end of summer.

But the opening was put back until November because of what the council described as “an unavoidable delay involving the new electrical supply to the building”.

In a fresh update today, the council said the scheme had been delayed by another month and was now due to open in early December.

Work on the pool is continuing.

How the site currently looks.

Nic Harne, the council’s corporate director for community development, said:

“We have been informed by the contractor that due to complex mechanical and electrical works at Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre taking longer than anticipated there will, unfortunately, be a slight delay to its re-opening.

“We now anticipate that the newly refurbished centre will be open to the public in early December.”

A council spokesperson said the delay had not increased the cost of the project.

It means people in Knaresborough will be without a pool for at least three months.

The leisure centre, which is being built next to the former pool, will include a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.

Once the old pool has been demolished, a play area will be installed in front of the new facility.

The activity pool

Brimhams Active, the council-owned company that manages leisure services in the Harrogate district, uploaded some photos of the leisure centre site today, which we have shown in this article.

The former Harrogate Hydro, which is also operated by Brimhams Active, reopened in September as Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre after a £13.5 million refurbishment.

Councillor Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West, said:

“Having no pool in Knaresborough for an additional couple of months will add cost for young families during this cost of living crisis who will have to take children to Starbeck Baths or the Hydro.

“I will be asking the council for £1 swimming admissions for all children for the first month when the new Knaresborough pool finally opens.”

Cllr Walker added he was disappointed not to have been informed of the news before the media and called on the council to “improve its poor communication with elected members across Harrogate and Knaresborough”.

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North Yorkshire councillors set for 10% pay rise

Councillors in North Yorkshire are set to vote on whether to give themselves a £1,500 pay increase.

North Yorkshire Council‘s independent remuneration panel has recommended the 90 elected councillors’ annual basic allowance is increased from £15,500 to £17,000.

The 10% uplift, along with other increases for councillors with special responsibility allowances, will mean council tax payers have to foot an extra £145,000 each year.

North Yorkshire councillors are already among the highest paid in the country. A report by the four-person independent remuneration panel lists them as the fourth-best rewarded in a table of 18 local authorities. If councillors accept the proposed increase, only councillors in the table from Leeds and Birmingham will receive higher basic allowances.

Panel chair Keith Trotter said the increased workload caused by the creation of North Yorkshire Council, inflation and the cost of living as reasons for the recommendation.

Mr Trotter said:

“Councillors volunteer for their roles. They are not employees and are not paid at a commercial rate for their time. However, the allowances should not be set at a level which acts as a disincentive to conscientious performance of duties, or which does not reflect the considerable time commitment required for the role.

“Setting a fair and proportionate basic allowance and special responsibility allowance that reflects the workload of councillors in the newly established council has been a complex task.

“The allowances paid in similar local authorities have been reviewed and inflation, cost of living pressures and public sector pay rises have also been taken into account, as have submissions from councillors themselves about their current and future workload.”

The proposed £1,500 increase in the annual basic allowance from £15,500 to £17,000 will result in an increase in the total annual amount paid of £135,000.

The proposed two per cent increase in the special responsibility allowances paid, with the exception of sessional payments to chairs of the licensing sub-committees, will result in an increase in the total annual amount paid of £10,514.

Mr Trotter said:

“I acknowledge that in absolute terms this may be seen as an increase in payments to councillors, but it is important to note that the increased burden upon councillors as work previously undertaken by 319 councillors is now undertaken by 90.

“This increase is also in the context of savings of £714,621 made in 2023/24 and in being 0.01 per cent of the overall council budget of £1.4 billion.”

‘Allowances should not be a barrier’

Carl Les

North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative executive will consider the panel’s proposals on November 7 before the full council votes on whether to accept them on November 15.

Council leader, Cllr Carl Les, whose special responsibility budget for leading the local authority looks set to rise from £39,654 to £40,447, said:

“The level at which allowances are set should not be a barrier that could prevent anyone from standing as a councillor, regardless of such things as age, personal circumstances and employment.

“It will be up to each councillor to decide, at the full council meeting in November, whether to take all, some or none of the proposed allowances.”

North Yorkshire Council was created on April 1 to replace the eight county, borough and district councils in the biggest reorganisation of local government in the county since 1974.

Councillors volunteer for their roles so they are not officially paid but receive an annual basic allowance, which according to the panel compensates for their time and “conscientious fulfilment of duties”.

 

County-wide zone has damaged taxi businesses, says Ripon councillor

Some taxi drivers have seen their businesses damaged due to the implementation of a single hackney carriage zone for North Yorkshire, according to a councillor.

Cllr Barbara Brodigan, Liberal Democrat councillor for Ripon Ure Bank and Spa, delivered a 238-strong petition to North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative executive this morning that protests against the abolition of the previous seven zones which covered each former district council area.

The changes came into effect on April 1 and means drivers can now operate across the county, rather than being limited to areas such as the former Harrogate district.

But Cllr Brodigan said it had resulted in drivers flooding into urban areas such as Harrogate while rural villages and market towns had been left without taxis.

As part of the petition, residents were surveyed on the impact of the new single zone. Cllr Brodigan claimed one person was overcharged by £20 because a taxi driver got lost and that vulnerable residents are “wary” of drivers they don’t recognise.

Cllr Brodigan said:

“In Harrogate they are having to find extra spaces due to the influx of taxis. Over supply of taxis in hotspots are leaving rural and market towns empty.”

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Despite the single zone already being operational, a report that went before the executive said there had been a mistake in relation to the abolition of the previous seven hackney carriage zones.

Councillors were asked in the report to retrospectively confirm the abolition of the zones again to provide “emphatic clarity to its position”.

However, Ripon-based Richard Fieldman, who represented 70 hackney cab drivers, urged councillors to delay the decision as legal advice he received suggested the decision should be made during a full meeting of the council and not by its executive.

Mr Fieldman said: 

“There’s a straightforward statutory process and North Yorkshire Council failed to follow this process.

“On behalf of those I speak for I ask you not to compound an already bad position by passing an illegal position but instead refer the matter to full council for full consideration.”

In response, Cllr Greg White and the council’s chief legal officer Barry Khan both said they were satisfied that the executive had the right to make the decision.

The executive then voted unanimously to confirm the abolition of the seven zones and to create the single county-wide zone.

Final approval granted for 390 homes near Ripon

Council officers have given final approval to a major 390-house development near Ripon.

Housing developer Taylor Wimpey will oversee the scheme, which will be built on land off Whitcliffe Lane.

The former Harrogate Borough Council initially rejected the proposal in 2017, but the decision was overturned by the government’s Planning Inspectorate.

Councillors deferred the scheme to officers for approval in February 2022.

Now, North Yorkshire Council has given the development the final go-ahead after discussions over internal access at the site.

A report by Andy Hough, planning officer at the authority, said “a lengthy negotiation” had taken place with the developer over the road network and consultation with the council’s highways department.

The site layout for the West Lane development, as submitted to

The site layout for the Ripon development.

Councillors had initially raised concern over the development and its impact on the countryside and the nearby Fountains Abbey.

At the time, Cllr Pat Marsh described the plans as being “forced upon” the area following the appeal.

She said:

“The impact on these particular areas which include a World Heritage Site that we must protect are going to be there whether we like it or not.

“I feel strongly that these reasons for refusal still stand.”

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The proposals were initially brought forward by Britain’s largest housebuilder Barratt Homes before the developers pulled out of the scheme.

The government’s housing agency Homes England and developers Taylor Wimpey then struck an £89.5m deal to acquire the site in February 2021 and get the plans back on track.

The approved plans include 156 affordable homes, 42 bungalows, cycling and walking links, a new bus route and children’s play areas.

Historic deal will see Ripon end years of neglect from Harrogate, says councillor

A “historic” deal is set to unshackle Ripon from years of neglect by councillors in Harrogate, it was claimed today.

North Yorkshire Council‘s ruling executive agreed to set up a project team to oversee Ripon people taking control of Ripon Town Hall, the market place and car park, public toilets and the Wakeman’s House.

The assets were controlled by Harrogate Borough Council until it was abolished in April.

North Yorkshire Council agreed to trial local management as part of its commitment to what its Conservative leadership calls “double devolution”.

Councillor Andrew Williams, a member of the Conservative and Independents group who represents Ripon Minster and Moorside, praised the move at today’s meeting and launched an eviscerating attack on Harrogate Borough Council.

He said:

“This is for Ripon potentially a historic day in the building of a more constructive relationship with the unitary authority than it had previously with a rather fractured relationship that existed with Harrogate Borough Council.”

‘More grass on market than centre court at Wimbledon’

Cllr Williams said Ripon’s poor relationship with Harrogate led the city council to formulate “ambitious and complex” plans to take control of assets. He added:

“They all interlink to develop the central area of Ripon, which has sadly been neglected for some time.

“If you look at the Wakeman’s House that we are hoping to take ownership of, no work has been undertaken on that for over 10 years. The lease income from the business in there has been spent elsewhere.

“Ripon Town Hall last had maintenance carried out on it in 2004 when the queen visited.”

The Wakeman’s House 

Laughter was heard when Cllr Williams added:

“The market place will soon have more grass growing on it than the centre court at Wimbledon.”

He then criticised the decision to close public toilets at 9pm when the city encouraged visitors to watch the nightly hornblower ceremony. He added:

“We firmly believe Ripon people know Ripon better than anybody else and know best how to make it a success rather than it currently is, which is underachieving its potential.

“The people of Ripon and the council are firmly behind the principle of double devolution.”

Cllr Barbara Brodigan, a Liberal Democrat who represents Ripon Ure Bank and Spa, told the meeting she endorsed Cllr Williams’ comments.

The executive agreed unanimously to proceed with the proposals.

Knaresborough also set for more local control

North Yorkshire Council invited town and parish councils to submit expressions of interest to run local assets in November last year.

Harrogate was excluded from the process because it doesn’t have a town council and moves to set one up have been delayed by local Conservatives.

Twelve parish councils submitted expressions of interest.

Knaresborough Town Council and Ripon City Council were among those selected to advance their proposals, with a view to formally taking over on April 1 next year.

Knaresborough bid to manage the markets and assets associated with managing the market, such as road closure signs and tables.

But Little Ouseburn’s proposal to take charge of grass cutting of the green area outside Broomfield Cottages.was rejected because it “did not evidence legal competence”.

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Knaresborough road closure signs put up ‘in error’

Signs for a road closure in Knaresborough have been removed after the council said they were put up “in error”.

Residents were braced for a two-week road closure of the B6163 Briggate after the signs appeared and North Yorkshire Council ‘s roadworks map indicated the highway would be closed daily between 7.30am until 5.30pm from yesterday until November 1.

The council said the road, where a wall collapsed last month, would be resurfaced.

The collapsed wall

But there was confusion when the signs disappeared and no work took place.

A council spokesperson has now said the signs were “installed by the contractor in error” before being removed. They added resurfacing was now due to take place in April next year.

Councillor Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West, said the wall needed repairing before roadworks could be carried out and he was trying to find out when work on the wall would begin.

Cllr Walker added:

“The signs were put in the wrong location — they were intended for High Bridge but had the wrong date on as that’s been delayed by a week.

“It all seems very chaotic and disorganised.”

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Harrogate’s rare historic items set to remain with local organisations

Councillors are set to approve new loan agreements for some of Harrogate’s rare civic items which include objects that date back to the town’s Victorian heyday.

Following local government reorganisation, the Harrogate Borough Council civic collection was transferred to the town’s charter trustees, which are 10 councillors who represent divisions in Harrogate.

The charter trustees now have responsibility for the collection of civic regalia, silverware, trophies and plaques, glass and crystal, books and scrolls and other historic items.

Currently the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, the Harrogate Club and Masham Town Hall have some items from the collection on loan which they hope to retain.

North Yorkshire Council said loaning the items out has provided more opportunities for the public to view the civic collection and has increased awareness of the town’s heritage and history.

Items held by the the Royal Hall Restoration Trust include the foundation stone trowel for Harrogate Library, a pump room cigarette box and a framed Tour de France yellow jersey signed by Marcel Kittel — winner of the first stage in Harrogate 2014.

The organisation also holds a scroll that was produced to mark a royal visit in 1894, the spade that cut the first section of the Bilton gas works railway in 1907 and a framed proclamation of King Edward’s accession from 1936.

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The charter trustees will meet next Monday at the Civic Centre when they are expected to renew the loan agreements.

They will also consider a finance report that notes how much the charter trustees have cost the public so far.

For the financial year 2023/24, there was a budget of £12,500 and a report says £5,000 has been spent on officer support from North Yorkshire Council.

A Harrogate Town Council was expected to take over the running of the town’s civic traditions next year but its likely creation has been put back until 2025.

This is to allow for another consultation that will ask the public about proposed ward boundaries and the number of councillors the new council will have.

New footbridge over River Wharfe proposed

Plans have been submitted to build a new footbridge over the River Wharfe to connect West Yorkshire with North Yorkshire.

Currently, there is a public right of way connecting the two banks of the river between Burley-in-Wharfedale and Askwith on the edge of the Harrogate district and walkers have to navigate a series of stepping stones.

But due to rising river levels and heavy rainfall the stones frequently become submerged, making the crossing impassable.

The plans have been submitted by volunteer group Burley Bridge Association, which says there have been hopes of building a bridge over this section of the Wharfe for 120 years.

A public meeting in 1896 voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bridge near Burley Weir to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee — but it is still yet to materialise.

The nearest road bridges are at Ben Rhydding and Otley although these are two and three miles away from the proposed new bridge.

Last year, Burley Bridge Association devised a new 42-mile walking trail trail called the Yorkshire Heritage Way to link Bradford with Ripon.

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It passes through the two UNESCO World Heritage sites of Saltaire and Fountains Abbey and also crosses the Wharfe using the stepping stones. The group hopes the new bridge will guarantee an all-year round crossing for people following the trail.

The Nidderdale AONB is also a supporter of the bridge as it would like to encourage more foot traffic into the area.

Burley Bridge Association estimates the bridge will cost £400,000 and it will be paid for through donations and voluntary sources.

The group said: 

“A reliable, safe, and weather-proof crossing will be of benefit to the entire local community who regularly use the stepping-stones to access walking and running routes, and to those who travel into the area to enjoy all that the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the adjacent Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have to offer.”

Plans have been submitted to both North Yorkshire Council and Bradford Metropolitan Council and will be decided at a later date.

Knaresborough father fights for autistic son to join twin brother at SEND school

A Knaresborough man has raised concerns following ongoing issues with North Yorkshire Council about his autistic son’s education.

Stephen Coe’s twin sons, Magnus and Felix, are both autistic and have been given an education, health and care plan (EHCP) – which supports those with special educational needs (SEND).

After completing mainstream primary school, Mr Coe hoped the 12-year-old twins would both be accepted into The Forest School, in Knaresborough, which only caters for those with special needs and an EHCP.

However, he was shocked to discover only Magnus had received a place.

Following an assessment of Felix’s standard assessment tests (SATs), North Yorkshire Council found him to only have mild learning difficulties and he was too able to attend a special educational needs and disabilities school, Mr Coe added.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“Magnus was accepted into The Forest School, and he loves it.

“The council, however, told us that Felix is too able to attend Forest, despite his SATs results actually being worse than Magnus’s.”

Mr Coe also said the council suggested Felix would be able to attend King James’s School in Knaresborough, despite the school saying it could not cater to his needs.

“I have had to take unpaid leave from work to look after Felix, as I refuse to send him to a mainstream school that has said since October 2022 that they cannot meet his needs, following multiple assessments there – a decision that, we as parents, support.

“King James’s has been honest and fair throughout.”

The Forest School has since told Mr Coe that it is now full and could not give Felix a place.

Felix has been out of full-time education since July this year. Although his father is trying to provide him with sufficient at-home education, he added “quite frankly, I’m not a teacher.”

Mr Coe added:

“All I’m asking is for my son’s rights to be observed – he needs stability.

“Other than the staff King James’s, not one person that has made this decision for him, has even met him in person.”

The council awarded £700 in compensation for “mismanagement of process” following a complaint by Mr Coe but he is now escalating it to a tribunal.

He will face the local authorities next February.

North Yorkshire Council told the Stray Ferret that “all SEND admissions follow the national requirements outlined in the SEND Code of Practice 2015.”

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Plan to build nine flats on on site of former Harrogate council building approved

A plan has been approved to build nine new flats on the site of a former council office in Harrogate.

The site at 18 Victoria Avenue was previously home to Victoria Park House, which was demolished in December 2021.

Planning permission was granted in late 2018 for an office building to be built by new owner Hornbeam Park Developments. The plans proposed using the original facade, and the stonework was retained to do so.

However, plans have been submitted by Long Marston-based Echo Green Developments, through agent Savills, to create nine residential apartments on the site.

The developer argued that attempts to market the building for office use had failed over a number of years.

Plans for apartments on the site of the old Victoria Park House

Plans for apartments on the site of the old Victoria Park House.

Now, North Yorkshire Council has approved plans for the flats to be built.

In documents submitted to the authority, the developer said the plan will help to meet the need for accommodation in the area.

It said:

“The proposal will be a high quality apartment building in keeping with the Victorian villa’s of the area which will revitalise the site and provides an enhancement to the public streetscape.

“The proposal will provide much needed residential accommodation to the area.”

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