North Yorkshire Council Archives - Page 124 of 163

Harrogate council staff strike averted after low ballot turnout

Harrogate council staff at North Yorkshire Council will not strike after there was a lower turnout in a ballot than what is legally required for industrial action.

Unison, which also represents school workers in the county, balloted members over pay for six weeks this summer.

The union argued council staff have lost 25% from their pay when measured against the retail price index, which is a measure of inflation, over the last 12 years.

It was asking for a pay rise of 2% above the RPI for 2023, which would have resulted in an increase of 12.7% per employee.

However, the the National Joint Council for local government services, which determines pay for council workers, has offered a flat rate increase of £1,925.

Despite 75% of members voting in favour of strike action there was a turnout of 31%, lower than the 50% required to implement a strike.

David Houlgate, Unison branch secretary for Harrogate, said there has been a “chronic underfunding” of local government for over a decade.

He said:

“Due to anti-trade union laws, we can only take industrial action in employers where we achieve a turnout of 50% or more (with a majority voting for action). We passed this turnout threshold in a number of employers but clearly not enough.

“The irony is that in many local elections councillors get elected on similar turnouts, but the Trade Union Act 2016 blocks pro-strike majority votes for action by insisting on a 50% minimum turnout.

“Strike action is always a last resort of course but is on the increase due to the cost of living crisis and year on year real terms pay cuts because wage increases do not match the rate of inflation.

“There has been chronic underfunding in local government now for the past 13 years impacting on service provision and leading to a recruitment and retention crisis. This is set to continue as long as pay continues to fall in real terms.”

Third consultation to be held on creation of Harrogate town council

People will be asked for their views for a third time about the creation of a Harrogate town council, councillors agreed yesterday.

It means the new council is now likely to form in 2025, a year later than originally planned.

Councillors debated proposals yesterday at a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council in Northallerton.

Officers had recommended that each of the proposed 10 wards in Harrogate, which are based on current North Yorkshire Council divisions, be represented by two councillors per ward on the town council with the exception of Saltergate, which would have one councillor.

This followed a public consultation that overwhelmingly backed this arrangement.

However, Conservative councillors have raised concerns about two councillors representing one ward and instead backed a proposal to use single councillor wards based around the 19 former Harrogate Borough Council boundaries.

Conservative councillor for Oatlands and Pannal, John Mann said accountability to residents would be better served by single councillor wards.

He said:

“These arrangements will be with us for many decades to come and we need to get it right.”

Conservative councillor for Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, Michael Harrison, said he had not detected any appetite in Harrogate for the creation of a town council, particularly as it was still not clear how much the council would cost or what it would do.

It has previously been suggested by the council that residents would pay between £40 and £60 on top of their council tax each year to cover as yet undetermined services.

Cllr Harrison said:

“I don’t understand what the rush is. It’s got to be absolutely right. Let’s pause and think about this a bit longer, although I am mindful of continual consultation and cost.”

At the meeting, several Liberal Democrat councillors said they wanted to stick with the original proposals and suggested ignoring the wishes of the previous public consultation would risk undermining democracy.

The areas in Harrogate which would fall under the new town council.

Cllr Monika Slate, Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange and New Park, said:

“We’ve spent time and money consulting the public and they have spoken overwhelmingly to support the proposals put forward.

“We can’t keep asking the public questions and ignoring them when they give us an answer.”

Liberal Democrat councillor for Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone, Pat Marsh said:

“We asked, they’ve spoken, we now need to get on and deliver on what they responded to. We need to get on with making sure we get a Harrogate council in place ASAP, otherwise we’re letting people down.”

Councillors voted by 49 to 32 with three abstentions to consult the public on the town council being formed with single councillor wards based around the old borough council ward boundaries.

North Yorkshire Council will publish details of the next consultation at a later date.

Claim Ripon’s bid to control town hall and market square a ‘done deal’

A Harrogate councillor has claimed Ripon City Council’s bid to take control of the city’s town hall and market square is a “done deal” despite the process not being completed yet.

At a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council in Northallerton today, Cllr Chris Aldred, who represents High Harrogate & Kingsley for the Liberal Democrats, asked Conservative council leader Carl Les why he was recently quoted in local media saying he “would be amazed” if Ripon wasn’t selected for the double devolution pilot — even though final recommendations are still to be brought before councillors.

Cllr Les’s comments, which were made to the Stray Ferret earlier this month. followed the decision by independent Ripon Minster & Moorside councillor Andrew Williams to join a new Independents and Conservatives group on NYC.

Cllr Williams, who is also leader of Ripon City Council, has previously denied a deal has been struck with the Tories to shore-up the party’s control in Northallerton in return for Ripon being selected in the pilot.

Cllr Aldred said:

“Care to expand on your apparent certainty that Ripon City Council will be successful in its bid? On what criteria? Is it in fact, a done deal?”

Cllr Les responded:

“Chris, I think you’re seeing conspiracies where there are none.”

He added:

“I can confirm Ripon City Council has a bid and an officer panel is in the process of evaluating bids and a report will be brought forward to the executive in August.

“I have not and will not be involved in evaluation of bids. My comments were in recognition of track record of delivery by Ripon City Council, its well-known ambition for the area and for being so quickly out of the traps. That’s why I said I would be amazed. I stand by that comment.”

Cllr Les said that 12 bids from town or parish councils have been received with up to six moving forward to the pilot stage, which are expected to begin next year.

Another Harrogate Hydro delay appears to rule out summer holiday swimming

Harrogate Hydro looks set to stay closed throughout the school summer holidays after another delay.

The Hydro closed in April last year for what was supposed to be a nine-month refurbishment costing £11.9 million.

But the scheduled re-opening in January this year did not happen and in its latest update in May, North Yorkshire Council said the cost of the scheme had risen to £13.5 million and customers would be welcomed back in August.

That suggested families would be able to use the swimming pool for at least some of the summer holidays, which start next week and end on September 4.

Brimhams Active, the council-controlled company that operates leisure centres, is now advertising the re-opening.

Its adverts say the Hydro, which will be renamed Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre, is now “anticipated to open early September 2023”.

The news will be a blow to families as the school holidays start next week.

The Stray Ferret asked the council if it could confirm the re-opening date and explain the reason for the latest delay. We also asked if the new £17.6 million Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre was still due to open in November.

A council spokesperson said it would provide an update after a site visit with contractors today.

Council leader apologises for saying only 129 bin collections missed

The leader of North Yorkshire Council has apologised after incorrectly stating just 129 bin collections were missed in the first 100 days of the new authority.

North Yorkshire Council took over responsibility for waste collections from the seven former district councils, including Harrogate, on April 1.

Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative leader of the council, said today that out of 5.6 million collections across the county since April 1, just 129 were missed in that time.

He said:

“We hope that there will be even fewer missed bins as we move forward as even one missed bin collection is important to that household.”

However, Cllr Hannah Gostlow, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough East, questioned the accuracy of the figure at today’s meeting.

Cllr Gostlow said:

“Talking with my colleagues across the former Harrogate borough and hearing from my own residents, I understand that there has been a much higher than normal missed general, garden and recycling waste bins.

“Unfortunately it also includes assisted bin collections.”

Cllr Les apologised when it was established the figure was wrong, but added he was unable to provide Cllr Gostlow with the correct figure today.

He added that the information in his statement today was given in “good faith”.

Cllr Les said:

“I will establish that figure in due course. I will send you a written answer and circulate it to all members together with the verified figures.

“As I am wrong, I apologise.”

Taxi drivers fear criminal prosecutions amid North Yorkshire Council ‘error’

Taxi drivers say they are living in fear of facing criminal prosecutions after North Yorkshire Council’s move to unify the trade left them “plying for hire illegally”.

The council has been warned by a consultant working for taxi drivers that it has been reported to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after failing to acknowledge it had made an error when attempting to change where taxi drivers can work earlier this year or to take any remedial action.

It follows a taxi industry expert claiming in its rush to introduce a single area for taxis across the county, the council had not followed the legal procedure to create a single hackney carriage licensing.

Earlier this year opponents of the council’s proposed taxi policy had told a meeting of the authority’s executive it would lead to the clogging up of taxis in town centres while leaving sparse cover in rural areas, particularly for wheelchair users.

A meeting of the authority’s executive heard that while a working group of elected members with significant experience of licensing had made a series of recommendations which the council’s officers had “tossed aside like a pair of old slippers” and come up with a series of different proposals.

Before the launch of North Yorkshire Council in April, taxis were licensed by the seven district and borough councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, which meant hackney carriage taxis could only ply for hire on the ranks and in the streets in the area of the district council by which they were licensed.

In the weeks after vesting day, the new licensing authority oversaw all hackney carriage taxis being able to ply for hire on all the ranks and streets of any town in North Yorkshire.

It is illegal for anyone to ply for hire in an area for which they are not licensed. On conviction, a fine of up to £2,500 may be imposed.

Although hackney carriage taxi drivers do not expect the council would prosecute them for plying illegally, as the council has already decided it wants Hackney carriage taxis to be able to ply for hire throughout the area, drivers are concerned they might still face prosecution by the police, and fines from the courts on conviction.

Ripon cabbie Richard Fieldman, formerly a Harrogate Borough Council hackney carriage taxi driver, said drivers had only discovered the council had not followed the legal procedure after seeking a consultant’s advice.

He said the council was applying different rules to hackney carriage taxis licensed in different parts of the county, “even though we were now supposed to be one area, subject to one set of rules”.

Photo of Ripon taxi driver Richard Fieldman

Richard Fieldman, who runs his taxi in Ripon.

In a response to consultant David Wilson, of A2Z Licensing, the council said he had raised “important issues”, but added it did not agree it was facilitating the illegal operation of hackney carriages within its area.

A council spokesman said:

“The council has been clear through its communication, consultation and within the executive report that the council intended to create a single hackney carriage zone.”

Mr Wilson said as the council has failed to acknowledge its error and to take remedial action to comply with the current legal position, in the three weeks since the situation was brought to its attention in June, trade representatives were set to report the council to the ombudsman.

Mr Wilson said:

“Although admitting an error was made may be embarrassing for the new council and those licensing officers and lawyers involved, we are all human and make mistakes from time to time.

“What is important is that the council acknowledges its mistake and takes urgent action to comply with the law, restricting hackney carriage taxis to ply for hire in one of the former seven district council areas until such time as the council legally merges then into a single area.

“Members of the public can, however, be reassured that a hackney carriage taxi is insured, even if plying for hire illegally in an area in which it is not licensed.”

Ripon hackney carriage driver Katie Johnstone said:

“The time has come for the council to admit it has driven a coach and horses through taxi law and to get around the table with trade representatives to work out how this situation can best be resolved.”

In response, North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of environment, Karl Battersby, said:

“We have received the letter and are taking legal advice on the points raised. We will be responding as soon as we can.”

Council to pay additional £1m in North Yorkshire combined authority set-up cost

North Yorkshire Council looks set to pay an additional £1 million to set up a combined authority for the county and York.

The combined authority, which will be headed by an elected mayor, is scheduled to be launched in November this year.

It will include councillors from North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council and make decisions on matters such as economic development and transport.

So far, North Yorkshire Council has footed £582,000 worth of costs for consultation and staff redeployment to help set up the combined authority.

In a report due before a joint devolution committee next week, the council will be recommended to fund a further £1 million in costs ahead of its implementation in four months time.

The money would cover areas such as IT infrastructure, project management, human resources and contingency plans.

However, the council has said that it expects the cash to be paid back once government funding for the combined authority is released.

It said:

“North Yorkshire Council will continue to cash flow the implementation and set up costs of the combined authority on the understanding that these costs will be repaid once funding is released on creation of the combined authority in November.”

Councillors will discuss the funding at a meeting on July 24.

What is a combined authority?

A combined authority is a body set up for two or more councils to make joint decisions.

In this case, North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council would come together to make decisions on matters such as economic development and transport.

It will be a separate body to North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council.

The closest example of this is West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which recently has led on the £11.9 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme, as well as similar schemes in Skipton and Selby.

The combined authority would be headed by a mayor who is directly elected by the public.

An election for the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire is set to be held in May 2024.

The Conservatives selected Cllr Keane Duncan, the executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire Council, at a meeting on Friday.

Knaresborough amusement arcade set to be approved

An amusement arcade looks set to open on the site of a former building society in Knaresborough.

The High Street gaming centre will be open to over-18s between 9am and 10pm.

North Yorkshire Council planning officer Sam Witham has recommended councillors approve the scheme when they meet next week — despite objections from Knaresborough Town Council and three residents.

They were concerned about noise, the impact on the High Street appearance and anti-social behaviour.

Carl Bearman, director of a company formed in January called Spectacular Bid, applied to change the use of vacant premises at 30 High Street.

The site, which is on the corner of Knaresborough High Street and Park Place in Knaresborough Conservation Area, was home to Yorkshire Building Society until March 2018.

Mr Whitham’s report to councillors says the location is within the primary shopping area of Knaresborough, complies with the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, and would not harm the character and appearance of the conservation area. It says:

“Subject to conditions, the proposal is acceptable with regards to its impact on neighbouring amenity, and in particular the impact of noise on the residential flats above the ground floor unit subject to this proposal.”

The report adds:

“The proposed use would bring about the re-use of the property and it is not considered that the use would be incompatible with the town centre location.”

One of the conditions attached to approving the scheme is that machines must not to operate at more than 25% volume.

Councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled 13-person Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee will decide whether to accept the recommendation to approve the scheme when they meet on Tuesday next week.

Harrogate district stately home to be converted into hotel

North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to convert the Harrogate district stately home Denton Hall into a 28-bedroom hotel.

The Grade I listed building, which dates back to 1778, is on the border of the district, between Blubberhouses and Ilkley.

It was designed by Georgian architect John Carr, who also designed Harewood House.

Since the 1970s, it has been used by engineering firm NG Bailey Group as a company training centre as well as for corporate events and weddings.

But current owner Denton Park Holdings Ltd, which includes members of the Bailey family, warned at a public consultation event in Denton village last year that without the ability to raise more income, the buildings would risk falling into disrepair.

Flats and a care home were considered before the owner decided to move forward with plans for the hotel, which were approved by council officers last week.

It means the main Denton Hall building will be converted into 28 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar, a games room and gym.

A former stables and coach house will be converted into four suites.

Planning documents attached to the application said a key part of the new owner’s intention for Denton Hall is to open it up to the public for the first time.

It said:

“Also of particular public benefit is that changing the use to a hotel will allow the public access into Denton Hall for the first time so that everyone has the opportunity to appreciate the significance of the heritage assets.”

The buildings are part of a vast 2,500 acre estate that includes working farms, mature woodlands, lakes, moorlands, a deer park and grouse enclosures.

£500,000 scheme in prospect to improve Ripon city centre roads

The long-awaited renewal of damaged and uneven roads that run alongside Ripon Market Square is finally in sight.

A scheme costing an estimated £500,000 is being drawn up by North Yorkshire Council’s highways department in readiness for public consultation this autumn, with the aim of being included in the capital programme for 2024-25.

City councillors have been calling for many years for the sets of paving blocks on Market Place East and Market Place West to be removed and replaced with a tarmac surface.

At last week’s meeting of the full city council, leader and North Yorkshire councillor for the Minster and Moorside division Andrew Williams, said:

“I’m pleased to report, following a visit to Ripon by North Yorkshire highways officials on June 16, they have confirmed that a scheme involving the lifting of sets and replacement with tarmac will be designed and then put out to consultation.

“I understand that the work will cost about £500,000 and will be included in next year’s capital programme.

“If all goes to schedule, work could start after next year’s Easter holiday.”

In recent years North Yorkshire Council has carried out temporary repairs by putting tarmac over the worst-affected sections, leaving the surface looking like a patchwork quilt.

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