No local schools due to close because of crumbling concrete

None of the schools facing closure in England and Wales due to crumbling roofs are in the Harrogate district.

The government said last week 104 schools in England and Wales would fully or partially close due to safety fears connected with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Raac, which is cheap building material popular between the 1960s and 1980s, has been compared to “chocolate Aero” because it contains pockets of air.

Children in North Yorkshire are due to go back to school tomorrow for the autumn term and the government has yet to name which schools are affected.

Stuart Carlton, director of children and young people’s service at North Yorkshire Council, said only one school in North Yorkshire was affected . He said:

“We are aware of one school in the county which has been constructed using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

“Scalby School in Scarborough has been asked to close the buildings affected. The school is required to make suitable arrangements to continue the education of their 1,000 pupils until safety work can be carried out.

“Scalby School is the only one in North Yorkshire on the current Department for Education list of 104 schools affected.”

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North Yorkshire Council to re-examine planning decisions by unelected officers

North Yorkshire Council officers have defended its planning service following a sharp decline in the number of development proposals being decided by councillors.

A meeting of the council’s transition scrutiny committee was told the authority was re-examining the balance between planning applications which could be made by unelected council staff and ones which went before the authority’s six area planning committees.

The authority’s planning service has been the focus of criticism by many councillors since it took over from the seven district and borough councils in April, with some areas seeing decreases of 60% in the number of decisions by councillors.

A recent meeting of all the planning committee chairs heard claims the council was only giving councillors the chance to decide upon developments it was legally bound to and had made its scheme of delegating decisions to planning officers “so tight that nothing’s really coming through”.

Harrogate councillor Philip Broadbank, a Liberal Democrat who represents Fairfax and Starbeck, told the meeting since April Harrogate borough had seen two planning meetings cancelled due to the lack of proposals being put before councillors and just one proposal being considered at other meetings.

He added that the move had led councillors to conclude that they were no longer closely involved with the planning process.

Cllr Broadbank said while 92% of planning applications had previously been decided by officers, it appeared the number being decided by elected members was getting fewer.

The meeting heard while much time was spent developing conditions which developers would have to adhere to to make a development acceptable, “sometimes it’s quite obvious nothing is done about enforcement to follow up if anything goes wrong”.

Cllr Broadbank said: 

“Elected members are there for a purpose. They are the ones who go round knocking on doors, they are the ones who need to be involved some of the decision-making that’s going on.”

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The meeting was told town and parish councils were “tearing their hair out” over the lack of or delays in enforcement action, often due to a lack of available legal support.

Committee members heard the Scarborough borough area had had no dedicated enforcement resource “for quite some time”, while Richmondshire was in a similar situation.

Grappling with change

Planning officers said councillors were able to call in contentious applications for committees to consider if there were sound planning reasons.

They said the council was examining where to focus its enforcement resources and legal support needed for an effective enforcement service.

Officers said they were “grappling with” whether the authority’s delegation system needed changing and that they were working to understand which proposals were decided by committees previously.

An officer underlined there had been no attempt to try to block some proposals going before councillors and officers were “trying to understand where those lines should be drawn”.

He added the authority would examine changing the balance over which planning applications should go before councillors.

The officer said: 

“The intention here isn’t to disenfranchise members. Members are a key part of this process.”

Council consults on new social housing plan for Harrogate district

A consultation on introducing a “choice-based” social housing system in the Harrogate district has been launched.

North Yorkshire Council is asking residents for their views on the proposal.

The plan comes as part of the authority’s move to introduce a single housing policy for the county.

From April 2025, the council must have a single policy and allocations scheme for North Yorkshire.

The initiative, which allows tenants to bid for homes advertised through the authority by housing associations, aims to give those on the waiting list more choice over where they live.

The authority set up its choice-based scheme, called North Yorkshire Home Choice, in 2011. However, it currently does not operate in the Harrogate district.

Cllr Simon Myers, the council’s executive councillor for housing, said:

“By creating a new social housing allocations policy we will create a single, unified social housing allocations scheme, which will be beneficial to all our tenants and applicants.

“However, it is important we get the views of our proposals for a new policy from all existing applicants on the current schemes, as well as our partners, and this consultation aims to do just that. We hope everyone will take part and attend the face-to-face sessions if they need more information.”

A consultation on the proposal will run until November 27.

You can have your say on the single housing policy here.

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Council refuses Harrogate apartment plan

North Yorkshire Council has refused a plan to demolish a former co-working space on Grove Road in Harrogate to build five apartments.

The application was submitted by planning agent David Birtles on behalf of an unnamed developer.

It asked to raze the building and replace it with five two-bedroom flats built over three floors as well as six car parking spaces.

The building was most recently used as the Indieworx Collective co-working space before it closed in 2019.

According to planning documents submitted by architects Architecture One Eight, the unlisted building has “little merit” and a new stone-built structure would enhance the site and improve the Harrogate Conservation Area.

However, Rebecca Micallef from the council’s economic development team raised concerns about the loss of employment space in the town if the development went ahead.

She said: 

“There is a major shortage of suitable commercial accommodation for new and growing businesses across the Harrogate area – this is forcing businesses to relocate elsewhere and is acting as a real constraint to business growth and potential inward investment.”

The council’s assistant director of planning, Trevor Watson refused the plans for reasons including a “fussy” appearance which he said did not respect the traditional surroundings, its size causing harm to the neighbouring property and there being no parking bay or turning area for larger vehicles.

The developer can appeal against the decision.

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North Yorkshire Council launches investigation into rising number of empty homes

North Yorkshire Council has announced a probe into why the number of empty homes in the county continues to rise.

Cllr Simon Myers, the council’s executive member for culture, arts and housing, said it was “distressing” that 6,500 people were on waiting lists for social housing in a county where more than 3,000 properties were standing empty.

An officer’s report to a meeting of the council’s leading members highlighted how at the end of June there were nearly 900 empty homes in the Harrogate borough area and more than 700 in Scarborough borough, while there were 500-plus empty homes in the Craven and Hambleton areas.

Both Richmondshire and Ryedale had nearly 400 empty homes and there were more than 200 in the Selby area.

The investigation comes as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is at the report stage in the House of Lords, moves to reduce the minimum period councils can charge a premium for empty premises from two years to one year.

It is almost a year since North Yorkshire Council adopted a policy to implement a 100 per cent council tax premium for empty premises that have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for a year or more, from April next year.

The report added demand for affordable housing was set to rise as residents struggle with mortgage payments and rental costs, and fuelled by a forecast downturn in housebuilding completions, changes to planning policy, rising material costs and wider economic pressures linked to the cost of living.

The report stated: 

“Maintaining a robust affordable homes programme is essential to meet this future demand.”

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After being pressed on how the council intended to bring empty homes back into use, Cllr Myers told the meeting empty properties represented some 1.1% of housing stock in North Yorkshire, while the national average is one per cent and the average for Yorkshire and Humber is 1.6%.

He said: 

“It’s distressing when you have 6,500 people on housing waiting lists in North Yorkshire, to know that there are over 3,000 empty properties.

“In Yorkshire and Humber terms, we’re at the lower end of the scale. However, it is not something we want to read about when we know the pressures on people finding housing.”

Cllr Myers said causes behind the rise in empty properties may include the economy, leading to properties not selling quickly, and changes in legislation leading landlords to take properties out of the rental market.

He said the authority was having to develop a county-wide strategy as some boroughs and districts had tackled the issue, going as far as compulsory purchases, some did not have a strategy and only Scarborough and Harrogate had designated empty homes officers.

Pledging to “get to the bottom of it and work out a strategy about what can be done”, Cllr Myers added: 

“You can’t help but look at the waiting lists for affordable housing and consider the question of empty homes and think something has to be done here. So we’ve got our eyes on it.”

Abba and Queen tribute gig tonight begins new outdoor concerts in Knaresborough

Abba and Queen tribute bands will perform in Knaresborough tonight in the first of two outdoor concerts this weekend.

North Yorkshire Council is staging the events with partners in the grounds of Conyngham Hall.

The venue is not believed to have staged large outdoor live music events previously.

The council, which took control of the venue in April, agreed to trial live music as part of its outdoor programme of events.

Michael Leah, the council’s assistant director for environment, said:

“Friday night sees the 21st Century Abba and Queen tribute concerts come to our area for the first time produced by Chapterhouse who we have successfully worked with on previous outdoor theatre events.

“And on Sunday the space will be used to host the Paradox Orchestra performing 50 Years of Pink Floyd.

“We had hoped to host a further event on Saturday but unfortunately the organiser was unable to go ahead due to unforeseen circumstances.”

Electronic band N-Trance were due to headline Saturday’s cancelled 90s music festival.

Tickets are still available for both remaining events.

People are urged to bring their own seating on chairs or blankets and a picnic but alcohol is not allowed to be brought onsite. Food and drinks can be bought onsite.

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Theatre company Chapterhouse, which is organising tonight’s event, promised “hit after hit of arguably the greatest artists of all time” at “one of the most wonderful gardens in the UK”.

A spokesperson for Sunday’s Pink Floyd event said:

“We hope on the back of the success of our concert this Sunday that we are able to book orchestra events at Knaresborough Castle, Valley Gardens and other council-owned properties in the near future.”

Former Harrogate offices to be converted to care accommodation

North Yorkshire Council has approved plans for a former office block in Harrogate to be converted into care accommodation.

UBU Northern Life Care Limited, which is based in Harrogate, tabled the proposal for the offices on Haywra Street near to the town centre.

The plan will see the building converted into six flats for community care purposes.

A two-storey extension at the rear of the property will be converted into a facility for staff to use in order to provide 24 hour support to residents.

In documents submitted to the council, the developer said the accommodation was require because of rising demand for care.

It said:

“The current office facilities have evolved during the covid crisis with reduced requirement for fixed base offices to run the company, but with an increased demand and lack of supply of care accommodation in the area due to the general cost of properties suitable for use.”

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Council paid out £385,000 in pothole compensation claims last year

North Yorkshire Council paid out £385,000 to motorists last year in insurance claims due to cars being damaged by potholes and road defects.

However the amount has fallen sharply from the year before when £1.03 million was spent on compensation by the highways authority.

The figures were published in the council’s quarter one performance report, which was discussed at a meeting of the Conservative-run executive in Northallerton yesterday.

Motorists are able to claim compensation if they are able to prove that damage to a car was caused by a pothole on council roads.

During the last financial year, 282 new claims were received which is the second lowest amount since 2012/13.

David Staveley, the Conservative councillor for Settle and Penyghent, said it was a “myth” that councils are paying out millions a year in claims.

North Yorkshire has one of the largest road networks in the country with over 9,000 km of roads and the council’s executive member for transport and highways, the Conservative Keane Duncan, said:

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Cllr Duncan said:

“In terms of dispelling the myth of millions of pounds being made out in compensation, the annual figure is around £375,000. For a highway network the size of ours, we’re quite comfortable with that figure.”

Figures supplied to the Local Democracy Reporting Service show there were 3,714 reports of potholes across North Yorkshire in 2022/23, the highest number since 2018/19.

During last year, the council spent almost £6.5m repairing roads in the Harrogate district and £2.5m in Craven.

Rachel Daly and Erling Haaland win player of year awards

Harrogate-born Rachel Daly was named PFA women’s Players’ Player of the Year last night.

The Aston Villa and England player was chosen from a shortlist of six at a ceremony at the Lowry Theatre in Salford. Chelsea’s Lauren James was named Young Player of the Year.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland took the men’s award at the same event. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka was named Young Player of the Year.

In a tweet last night, Daly said she was “feeling beyond grateful” to have won the award, which was voted for by her peers.

https://twitter.com/RachelDaly3/status/1696619128289644693?s=20

It is the latest success for the former Rossett School student, who in just over a year has won Euro 2022 with England, won the Golden Boot for being the Women’s Super League top scorer and played in the World Cup final.

Daly’s achievements have, however, been completely overlooked by North Yorkshire Council, which still has no plans for a civic honour.

The Stray Ferret is backing Killinghall Nomads‘ campaign for this to change. Daly started her career with the club. You can sign a petition supporting this here.

Rossett School, which has said it will rename its sports pitches in honour of its former pupil, has also joined calls for the council to recognise Daly.

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Station Gateway: Council won’t have to repay government if project is scrapped

North Yorkshire Council will not have to repay government money it spent on consultants for the Harrogate Station Gateway project if it is scrapped.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed in June that the council had paid global consultancy WSP more than £2 million to draw up its business case and undertake designs for the Harrogate active travel scheme.

All costs so far incurred on Station Gateway, including the consultants’ fees, have been paid for by the council and reimbursed by the government through its Transforming Cities Fund.

But, according to a council spokesperson, the government would not ask for the money back, which is one less headache for the under pressure authority when it comes to the troubled project.

The gateway has been in the works for years but is now in major doubt after North Yorkshire Council said earlier this month that it had “rescinded the decision to proceed” with its proposals due to a legal challenge.

In a statement, the council said it would not be proceeding at the moment to avoid “further costs and delays” after a judicial review was launched by lawyers acting on behalf of Hornbeam Park Developments over the way the council consulted residents and businesses.

A report will go before the council’s Conservative-run executive next month with recommendations for what happens next.

At a meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative-run executive last week in Harrogate, council leader Carl Les said it was a “matter of some urgency” that the gateway report is published and chief executive Richard Flinton said this would likely be ahead of an executive meeting on September 19.

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