North Yorkshire Council Archives - Page 127 of 163

Ripon on track to run local assets previously controlled in Harrogate

Ripon appears to be in a strong position to take control of local assets, such as the town hall and market, which were previously run by Harrogate Borough Council.

North Yorkshire Council, which succeeded Harrogate Borough Council on April 1, has invited town and parish councils to submit expressions of interest to run local services.

It is part of the Conservative-controlled council’s double devolution agenda in which more assets and services are run locally.

The approach has sparked interest in Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Masham, where some were aggrieved for years about decisions being made in Harrogate.

Ironically Harrogate does not yet have a town council so is excluded from the process and will continue to have its assets, such as Valley Gardens and Harrogate Convention Centre, run from Northallerton.

Ripon Town Hall

North Yorkshire Council leader Carl Les has revealed 12 expressions of interest have been received from town and parish councils so far.

Up to six will be chosen this autumn to put forward full business cases. Final decisions are expected in spring next year before assets are transferred to successful bidders later in the year.

A list of town and parish councils to have submitted expressions of interest has not been published but Ripon in known to be among them.

Cllr Les told the Stray Ferret he would be amazed if Ripon wasn’t selected to be one of the pilot areas. He told the Stray Ferret:

“Ripon was one of the first out of the blocks on double devolution. It is one of the keenest parts of the county. I’ll be amazed if Ripon isn’t in there.”

Tory alliance

The relationship between the ruling Conservatives on North Yorkshire Council and Cllr Andrew Williams, an independent who represents Ripon Minster and Moorside on North Yorkshire Council has been in sharp focus this month.

Last week Cllr Williams became one of three independents who joined a political alliance with the Conservatives.

The alliance strengthens the Conservatives’ grip on the council, after a recent defection meant it had precisely half of the 90 councillors.

It followed North Yorkshire Council’s decision to select Ripon as one of five pilot areas for new community networks.

The developments have sparked concerns from independent and Liberal Democrat councillors about whether the Tories promised taxpayer-funded favours, including double devolution deals, in return for political support from the independents who joined the new Conservatives and Independents Group.

Cllr Les and Cllr Williams both denied the allegation. Cllr Les said double devolution talks had taken place for months before the new group was formed last week.

Has Ripon been undermined by Harrogate?

Cllr Williams said there had been “no seedy back room arrangements” and he remained an independent who would vote as his conscience allowed, rather than a Tory puppet.

He said he joined the alliance because there was no prospect of the 45 non-Conservative councillors of different political groups on North Yorkshire Council being able to agree a budget and form an administration. He added:

“Ripon’s best interests will be served by having an alliance with the majority group. I stand for the benefit of Ripon rather than any political party.

“There can be a perception of whatever, I don’t care quite frankly, as long as Ripon gets a double devolution deal.

“There has been woeful neglect of the city for years by Harrogate Borough Council and I’m determined Ripon will fare better under the new local government arrangements.

“I stood on a pro-Ripon ticket. That’s my job — to stand up and fight for Ripon.”

Station Gateway objectors ‘from Australia’ were Harrogate residents using VPN, claims resident

A resident has rejected a “sarcastic” suggestion from a councillor that hundreds of people as far away as Australia signed a 2,000-strong petition opposing the £11.2m Station Gateway scheme.

Instead, he said they were people in Harrogate using a virtual private network (VPN) to disguise their location.

In May, an online petition calling on the controversial active travel scheme to be scrapped was presented to North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative executive.

But at a meeting later that month, the council’s executive member for corporate services, Cllr David Chance, claimed people from outside of Harrogate were signing the petition in order to boost its numbers.

He described the petition as “bogus” because internet protocol (IP) addresses attached to the petition, which reveal a computer or mobile phone’s location, showed 20% were from areas outside of Harrogate.

He said on May 30:

“I’ve been through it in detail. They come from Canada, South Africa, Australia and Scotland. I’m sorry, the petition for me is slightly bogus in that respect.”

Cllr Chance’s comments provoked Harrogate resident Barry Adams to submit a statement to the council’s executive at a meeting this week.

Mr Adams argued there was an “odd anomaly” whereby IP addresses were shown on the petition rather than the person’s postal address if they were using a VPN.

A VPN replaces a user’s actual IP address to make it look like they’ve connected to the internet from a different location and they are used for privacy or security reasons.

Mr Adams said:

“Two people I know who most certainly live in Harrogate had their addresses displayed on the petition as Sunderland.

“It seems to confirm that the councillor who announced in a sarcastic manner that he’d rigorously checked the petition and that it proved 20% percent of the signatures lived outside Harrogate area was quite wrong.

“Surely there must be some way in which these misleading discrepancies, fabrications and exaggerations can be taken into account as they are extremely misleading.”

However, Cllr Chance dismissed Mr Adams’ theory and reaffirmed his position that the petition included a large number of signatures from outside of the town.

He said:

“I wasn’t being disrespectful at all. I pointed out that 20% of the signatures were indicated as being from outside of North Yorkshire. It’s as simple as that.”

West Yorkshire Combined Authority is currently considering a business case submitted by NYC regarding the scheme.

If WYCA approves it later this summer, a contractor will be appointed with building work set to begin before the end of this year.

Consultants paid £45,000 for failed Harrogate Convention Centre bid

Consultants were paid £45,000 of taxpayers’ money on a failed bid to secure £20 million to upgrade Harrogate Convention Centre.

The government rejected Harrogate Borough Council‘s application for funding, which would have gone towards a planned £49 million redevelopment of the convention centre, in January.

The failure of the bid, which was made to round two of the Levelling Up Fund, means the future of the ageing venue remains unclear.

It subsequently emerged Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished at the end of March, paid consultants £45,000 as part of its submission to the government.

Cllr Derek Bastiman, the Conservative executive member for open to business at North Yorkshire Council, which succeeded Harrogate Borough Council, told the Stray Ferret the Levelling Up Fund presented “a significant opportunity for government investment in the area” and “a detailed bid was made to secure money for the Harrogate Convention Centre”.

Its failure has led to questions about what went wrong and whether future funding bids could improve.

Why did the Harrogate bid fail?

The convention centre bid was one of five made in North Yorkshire for a total of £122 million from round two of the Levelling Up Fund.

The only one to succeed was a £19 million application for a scheme in the Richmond area at Catterick — in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency.

In response to questions from Cllr Mike Schofield, an independent who represents Harlow and St George’s on North Yorkshire Council, Cllr Bastiman said government feedback “centred around the value for money aspects of the bids and sections where more detail would have been beneficial”.

He added:

“We have also taken lessons learned from a review of other successful bids.”

Cllr Bastiman revealed £796,000 was spent on consultants for the five applications, including the convention centre.

The government is expected to publish details of round three of the Levelling Up Fund this month, which could see another bid for convention centre funding.

Cllr Bastiman told Cllr Schofield:

“There is uncertainty as to how the next round of funding will operate including confirmation as to whether those areas previously successful and in receipt of levelling up funds will be eligible to bid.

“If eligible, we will need to review the detailed guidance before considering which projects for the North Yorkshire area would be prioritised to increase the likelihood of success.”

Tories in Harrogate call for slimmed-down town council

Two Conservative councillors have called for the proposed number of people elected to a future Harrogate Town Council should be reduced from 19 to 10.

Cllr Sam Gibbs put forward the idea on behalf of himself and Cllr Michael Harrison at a meeting of the council’s standards and governance committee in Northallerton yesterday.

The two would also like to see councillors elected to a single council without wards, which they believe would allow the new council to work more effectively and not replicate the work of North Yorkshire Council councillors on issues like potholes and streetlights.

North Yorkshire Council is developing proposals to create town councils for Harrogate and Scarborough, which are the only two unparished areas in the county.

Officers have 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 with the exception of Saltergate, which would have one councillor.

But Cllr Gibbs, who represents the Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate division, said he was skeptical of the new council’s potential size, which he said would be “unwieldy”.

He said:

“A smaller number of councillors would be more desirable. It’s important if we create a parish council we get this right.”

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

Cllr Gibbs also said residents do not have attachments with the current council boundaries that would also be used for the town council.

He gave the example of his own division, which was created out of a combination of the old High Harrogate and Low Harrogate wards and includes over 6,000 households.

He said electing councillors to one council area would allow for a more “strategic” approach to local democracy.

However, Monika Slater, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange and New Park, said she was not in favour of their proposals.

She said:

“The idea of having a single election for a handful of councillors representing the town as a whole is one I’m thoroughly against. The feedback I’m getting from residents is they are feeling a disconnect between themselves and North Yorkshire.

“They find it mysterious. They don’t really understand who is making decisions. Setting up a town council is about giving them that connection again.”

Cllrs Gibbs and Harrison also suggested an option whereby one councillor is elected per ward rather than the two that have been proposed by North Yorkshire Council and this was supported by independent councillor for Filey, Sam Cross.

However, there were warnings from Cllr Slater that if the council decided to change how the town councils are formulated there would have to be a third public consultation which could confuse residents and risk delaying the process.

Councillors voted on Cllr Cross’ recommendation to create one-member wards in Harrogate and Scarborough based around the previous district council ward boundaries.

With the votes tied 3-3, the chair of the committee, Conservative councillor Clive Pearson voted in favour so it was carried.

It was only a recommendation, however, and a final decision to create a town council has not been made yet.

A full meeting of North Yorkshire Council will debate the proposals at a meeting on July 19.

Bar owner beats council in court to create ‘cool place’ on Cold Bath Road

A Harrogate bar owner will be raising a glass or two after successfully appealing alcohol licence restrictions that he says would have made trading from his Cold Bath Road premises “impossible”.

Dave Swallow received a licence for his bar, AAA, in November, but it came with conditions.

Harrogate Borough Council said he had to build a barrier to separate his forecourt seating area from the pavement; he had to build a lobby as a sound-proofing measure; and he could only serve alcohol till 9pm.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I couldn’t comply with those conditions as well as the building regulations and the fire regulations all at the same time. It was just physically impossible.”

So he took North Yorkshire Council, which assumed all Harrogate Borough Council’s functions on April 1, to court – and won. He no longer has to build the barrier or the lobby, and may now serve alcohol from 12 noon till 11pm, as is the norm for bars and pubs in England.

He said:

“I’m elated. The waiting is over, the amalgamation of work and stress has lifted and I’ve cleared that hurdle.

“Now I’ve got a long list of things to do to make sure I comply with the remaining licence conditions, but that’s fine – all bars have to do that. The main thing is, we’re serving now!”

AAA, pronounced triple-A, is a bar that also sells vinyl records and merchandise from another of Dave’s ventures, clothing brand Audio Architect Apparel. He said he wanted to create “a nice, cool place where people can come to listen to good music on a good sound system, drinking good drinks”.

He added:

“We’re getting in more vinyl by the week, and we’ll soon be serving breakfast, lunch and sociable, picky stuff in the evenings, such as charcuterie and cheeseboards.

“We’re taking on more staff and we’ll be having an opening party on July 14. After months of waiting, this court victory means we can finally move ahead with our plans.”

Scrapping household waste charges will cost taxpayers £889,000, says council

North Yorkshire Council has said a government policy change designed to reduce fly-tipping has left it £889,000 out of pocket, forcing it to look for new ways of saving money.

Last month, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow announced households would no longer have to pay to get rid of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres, such as those at Penny Pot Lane and Wetherby Road in Harrogate and Dallamires Crescent in Ripon.

DIY waste will now be treated the same as household waste, saving tip visitors up to £10 per sack of rubble or sheet of plasterboard. The change, which enjoys widespread public support and was lobbied for by organisations including the National Farmers’ Union, is due to come into effect later this year.

But North Yorkshire Council, which is one of the third of English local authorities that still charge for household DIY waste, told the Stray Ferret there was little evidence the move would reduce fly-tipping, although it could mean cuts elsewhere.

Cllr Greg White, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for waste, said:

“We introduced charges for residents to dispose of soil, rubble and plasterboard at our household waste recycling centres in 2014 following a consultation in which residents stated they would rather pay a fee at sites than have to seek an alternative such as hiring a skip.

“This was implemented to preserve other services, many of which the council must legally provide. The abolition of charging means that many taxpayers will have to meet the costs of those few undertaking home improvements.

“We care passionately about minimising fly-tipping, but do not believe that the proposed changes will result in a significant decrease. We are not aware of any research that has found a link between charging for waste at household waste recycling centres and increased fly-tipping, which suggests that the removal of charges may not reduce fly-tipping levels. It’s important to remember that there is a large percentage of fly-tipped waste that can be disposed of for free at our household waste recycling centres.

“As a result of this change, we forecast that we will incur disposal costs of £586,000 and lose income of £303,000, creating a cost pressure of £889,000 which will force the council to look for savings elsewhere.”

Fly tipping at Priest Lane in Ripon.

Local authorities across England deal with well over a million fly-tipping incidents annually, according to government data, and it is estimated that fly-tipping and waste crime cost the economy £924m per year.

In an effort to tackle the issue, the government has consulted on reforming the waste carrier, broker, dealer regime and on introducing mandatory digital waste tracking. It is also developing a fly-tipping toolkit with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to help spread best practice among local authorities.

Jacob Hayler, executive director of the Environmental Services Association, the trade body representing the UK’s waste management industry, said:

“We welcome any measures that make it easier for householders to dispose of waste correctly and responsibly at their local household waste recycling centres, which in turn reduces the chance of it falling into the hands of criminals or being fly-tipped.

“The government clarified the law in 2015 that local taxpayers should not be charged for disposing of household waste at civic amenity sites – scrapping backdoor ‘tip taxes’. It has also repeatedly stated that councils should not be charging for such DIY household waste disposal either.”

Incidents of fly-tipping can be reported to North Yorkshire Council via its website.

Reduced speed limit at A59 Kex Gill to remain until September

A reduced speed limit on the A59 at Kex Gill is set to remain in place until September due to an “uneven road surface”.

North Yorkshire Council has introduced the reduction which sees the speed limit lowered from 60 to 40 miles per hour.

Officials at the authority said the measure had been implemented due to the stretch of Kex Gill Road being uneven.

It added that the speed limit reduction will remain in place until September when the road will be closed for two weeks and resurfaced.

Barrie Mason, assistant director for highways and transport at the council, said:

“We have introduced a 40mph speed limit on a section of the existing A59 at Kex Gill due to the uneven road surface. This will only be in place until we carry out a resurfacing scheme.

“A start date is yet to be confirmed but we anticipate early September, lasting for two weeks under full road closures with signed diversions in place. We will notify the public in due course.”

Highways boss defends North Yorkshire speed limit review

The councillor responsible for highways in North Yorkshire has defended a review into speeding amid concern the local authority is delaying the introduction of 20 miles per hour speed limits.

Campaigners, headteachers and local councillors have called for a timescale on bringing in 20 miles per hour speed limits in Pannal Ash and Oatlands areas in Harrogate.

But Cllr Keane Duncan, the executive councillor for highways at North Yorkshire Council, said today the authority would not support default 20 miles per hour zones within the county.

It will instead draw up a speed management strategy to “guide a countywide review of speed limits across towns, villages and rural road”.

Cllr Duncan said this “tailored approach” to road safety measures that would not delay road safety measures.

Hazel Peacock, of the Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign, and Dr Jennie Marks, of Pannal Ash Safe Streets, told the meeting 20 miles per hour limits in their areas were “urgently needed” and called for timescales on implementation.

Councillors on the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee passed a motion supporting the campaigners’ plea last year.

Earlier this week, leaders of 13 schools and education settings in Harrogate also backed the measure.

But it required the support of the council’s Conservative-controlled executive today.

Headteachers, councillors and campaigners united to call for urgent road safety measures this week.

In response, Cllr Duncan said measures were already being considered for the areas which are “not narrowly limited to 20 miles per hour limits only”.

He added:

“Work on these measures is already in progress and nothing within today’s new approach to setting speed limits will delay work that is already ongoing nor prevent implementation of appropriate 20 miles per hour zones in Pannal Ash and Oatlands.”

Cllr Duncan added that proposals for the Otley Road sustainable transport package would go before the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee in September.

Meanwhile, further consultation on the delayed Oatlands feasibility study, which aims to cut congestion in the area, would be carried out later this year.

Temporary lights at Knaresborough’s Bond End to remain until Friday

Drivers are set to face delays at Bond End in Knaresborough until Friday.

Temporary traffic lights were installed yesterday by North Yorkshire Council.

According to the council’s roadworks map, the lights are necessary because scaffolding has been erected to enable roofing work to take place.

Motorists have taken to social media to report long delays at the notorious bottleneck.

The council website shows that the lights will remain in place until Friday.

Further roadworks at nearby Scotton are also due to last until Friday.

Ripon councillor rejects ‘Tory puppet’ accusations

Ripon independent councillor Andrew Williams has defended his decision to align himself with the Conservatives on North Yorkshire Council.

Last week, North Yorkshire’s Conservatives revealed that three independent councillors will form a Conservatives and Independents group to avoid the risk of the party losing overall control of the authority.

This is because the balance of power was finely poised with the Tories having 45 councillors — the same number as the opposition parties and independents when combined.

One of the councillors to join the alliance is Ripon Minster & Moorside councillor Andrew Williams, who was elected as a Ripon Independent in May 2022 with 1,453 votes.

But his decision was criticised by the Liberal Democrat councillor for Ripon Ure Bank & Spa, Barbara Brodigan, who told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that Cllr Williams had put party politics before the residents of Ripon and will now be a “Tory puppet” on the authority.

During last year’s election the Conservative candidate in Cllr Williams’ division registered only 334 votes and Cllr Brodigan said the the move was a “betrayal of the residents” who voted for him as an independent.

However, Cllr Williams defended his decision in an interview with the LDRS this morning and said the move was necessary to maintain stability on the council.

He argued his independence will be maintained and that residents voted for him to put the interests of Ripon first.

Cllr Williams said:

“There needs to be stability and governance on the council. With a £30 million budget shortfall to resolve and local government reorganisation in its infancy, the last thing that’s needed is complete chaos in the council chamber.

“That would suit the the Lib Dems fine, but it doesn’t do anything for local residents. I haven’t agreed to do anything else. The only commitment I’ve made is to join a group for the stable governance of North Yorkshire.

“Residents knew by voting independent I wouldn’t run the council, I would work to secure the best deal for Ripon.

“I will take each issue as it comes to council, my views of the world haven’t altered. I remain independent and not a member of any political party. I believe there’s an opportunity to influence the decision-making process in Ripon’s favour and I’ll press Ripon’s case as a consequence.“

Cllr Williams is also the leader of Ripon City Council which has put in a bid to run the city’s market square and town hall under North Yorkshire Council’s “double-devolution” pilot scheme. A decision on which bids are successful is expected next year.

Cllr Brodigan accused Cllr Williams of “taking the Tory shilling” but he denied that any formal deal had been agreed that would see Ripon City Council’s bid being chosen in return for supporting the Conservatives in Northallerton.

He added:

“It’s in Ripon’s best interests to have a councillor that can influence in Ripon’s favour. We have any number of issues that need addressing. I believe this is the best way of doing that rather than in isolation.“

Cllr Williams, who was a Liberal Democrat councillor on Harrogate Borough Council during the 1990s, described Cllr Brodigan’s criticism as “hypocrisy“.

He said:

“The hypocrisy of the Lib Dems to complain about somebody seeking to work with others to deliver for the local community is astounding as they are a party that believes in PR [proportional representation] and the inevitable necessity for a coalition of different political views for the benefit of local residents.

“I won’t take lectures off any Lib Dem. They sacrificed every principle they had in 2010 to enter the coalition. I have not sacrificed one single commitment to residents by joining the group.“

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Tory alliance

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Why did the Harrogate bid fail?

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