Ripon’s new city-wide bus service, which launched today, has guaranteed funding for the next four years and the prospect of more to follow.

From today, the current Ripon services – RS1 Lark Lane, RS2 Lead Lane and RS3 Gallows Lane – will increase in frequency and see routes extended, as well as operating on Saturdays.

A new route, numbered RS4, will serve North Bridge.

Andrew Williams, Independent city council leader and the North Yorkshire Council member for Minster and Moorside, told the Stray Ferret:

“We have been able to make this happen with the support of the new unitary authority, in addition to section 106 monies from retail and residential developments in Ripon and money from the city council’s contingency fund.

“Looking beyond the first four years, we will be seeking further section 106 contributions to support the service as more residential schemes, such as West Lane, come on stream.”

The new service will be run using buses from Dales & District Travel and North Yorkshire Council.

Fellow Independent councillor Peter Horton, who chairs the city council’s transport committee, said:

“Ripon’s residents have been telling us for years that they want an improved inner-city bus service and after a great deal of detailed discussions, first with North Yorkshire County Council and now the new authority, it has come to fruition.

“We hope that people will become regular users of  this sustainable means of transport.”

Today’s changes

RS1 has a new timetable and route via Bishopton Lane, Ash Bank Road and Lark Lane which extends via the bus station to St Michael’s Retail Park for the M&S Food Store. It will depart hourly from 7.15am to 6.15pm with additional journeys between the bus station and St Michael’s Park twice hourly.

RS2 and RS3 have a new timetable with an earlier bus at 7.40am and a later bus at 5.35pm Monday to Friday. The daytime service has new times and will run Monday to Saturday.

RS4 is a new route from the bus station to North Bridge via North Street returning via Magdalen’s Road. There are three journeys per day Monday to Saturday.

The services will be run with buses from Dales & District Travel and North Yorkshire Council, with a single journey costing no more than £2 and pensioners with bus passes travelling free. More details are available from www.northyorks.gov.uk/businfo

Pic shows: Cllr Andrew Williams (centre) with his daughter Lilly-May, with Cllr Peter Horton (left) and Paul McMillan, one of the team of drivers providing the new service.

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New signs have appeared at Knapping Mount in Harrogate to mark this month’s momentous change in local government.

Harrogate Borough Council was abolished at the end of last month and replaced by North Yorkshire Council.

North Yorkshire Council also replaced six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council to become the unitary local authority in the county.

Signs marking the change have gone up at the Civic Centre at Knapping Mount in Harrogate.

The Civic Centre used to be the centre of local government in the Harrogate district but it now one of many offices controlled by North Yorkshire Council, whose headquarters are at County Hall in Northallerton.

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A developer has reaffirmed that a site mooted for 53 homes in Harrogate has been thoroughly tested for ground contamination — but this has been disputed by a local toxicology expert.

North-east developer Jomast‘s plans to build at Knox Lane in Bilton have been met with opposition from local residents who have raised concerns about the proposals with contamination proving to be particularly contentious.

The application has been before Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee twice in the last six months.

It was deferred on both occasions as councillors were not not satisfied the land had been thoroughly investigated for toxic materials.

This is because some of the site was previously part of a railway that pulled hoppers and tankers for the gas works in Bilton.

Asbestos was used for installation on steam trains and there are also concerns that tar from coal could still be toxic, posing a threat to future residents.

Knox Lane

However, the developer’s agent, Stephen Courcier, told councillors at a meeting in February that testing for contamination took place across the whole site, including the proximity of the former railway tracks, and showed no “significant levels” of contamination.

But councillors weren’t convinced and ordered the developer to undergo more testing before a decision was made.

After the meeting, Mr Courcier sent an email to the council that has been published on the local authority’s planning portal. It says there would be “no benefit” to further sampling.

He wrote:

“The railway line and its immediate locality were subject to seven exploratory excavations. Therefore, the consultants have advised that the former railway line has been comprehensively assessed.

“Nevertheless, the consultants have produced the attached note that clearly highlights the extent of the testing carried out in proximity to the former railway line and their findings.”

Mr Courcier confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Friday the developer’s position on the contamination report had not changed since the email was sent on March 31.

Railway lines

However, a local toxicology expert who lives in the area said he was not satisfied with where the samples were taken from on the former tracks.

Dr Damian Bowen said:

“The land contamination report advises that the proposed development site, including the former railway has been comprehensively tested. Samples taken for contamination analysis however do not target the area of the former railway lines.

“Instead, testing was conducted either side of the embankment, across the open field. Furthermore, analysis was not conducted for all samples taken. The developer has provided no justification as to the inadequacies of the testing strategy. You certainly can’t find anything if you’re looking in the wrong places.“

The email from Mr Courcier to the council also asked if a quick decision could be made on the plans.

He suggested North Yorkshire Council’s first Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee this month was a potential option.

However, this request was made too late in the day to be considered for the meeting on April 25, according to the council.

North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director of planning, Trevor Watson, said:

“We can confirm that a submission was made on behalf of the applicant on March 31.

“This was received too late to be considered at April’s Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee meeting.

“Once the submission has been assessed by officers, a report will be prepared and presented to the planning committee at a later date.“

Tory-run North Yorkshire Council has accused the Department for Education of “extremely slow” action and unfair funding of school spaces for vulnerable youngsters with special educational needs.

An officers’ report to leading members of the council highlights the government awards the county just 61% of the national average figure for special schools building schemes.

At the same time, the council faces a shortfall of about 100 places from September and 350 places over the next three to five years.

The report states using DfE data and criteria for specialist provision funding, North Yorkshire ranked 118th out of 150 councils.

Officers said this academic year had seen “a very marked increase” in requests for pupils to be assessed for SEN.

So while 700 new assessments had been a reasonably stable level for a number of years, forecasts of the likely number of requests for this year were between 980 and 1,090.

In addition, the report states resources available to the council to invest in key maintenance projects have reduced significantly in recent years, so North Yorkshire Council only receives about £6.3m to maintain 200 schools.

Exacerbating this, all of the council’s applications to secure government rebuild programmes at its special schools have been unsuccessful.

Officers said capital funding from the government for high needs pupils had been “significant but disappointing in comparison to other authorities”.

Pupils in Kensington and Chelsea get five times more

They said they had “significant concerns” about how the DfE allocated £88 per pupil in North Yorkshire compared to £483 per pupil in Kensington and Chelsea.

The report states several schools are in pressing need of repairs and Welburn Hall School, near Kirkbymoorside, has been identified as being “at risk of catastrophic buildings failure”.

However, the report states the authority has insufficient funding to tackle “significant concerns about the suitability and condition of our special schools”, adding its “overarching priority with the limited capital resource envelope available is to respond to create more classroom spaces”.

The report adds although the DfE approved the council’s bid for funding to create a Special Free School four years ago, the latest estimated opening date for the school was 2025.

The officers wrote:

“Whilst we were successful in securing the Selby Free School through the DfE Special Free School programme, DfE’s delivery of the school has been extremely slow.

“This is disappointing given that the 100 places that the school will create are urgently needed to address overlap capacity shortfalls and provide access to a local provision to families from the Selby area.”

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A government spokesperson said delays in delivering the proposed new Selby school had included reaching agreement with the council for its contribution to the access road and abnormal works, and an unsuccessful procurement of a contractor to build the permanent school.

The spokesperson said it had strived to distribute high needs provision capital funding fairly and efficiently between local authorities based on both their size, and their share of estimated growth in demand for high needs provision between academic years

She added:

“Every child deserves to have access to education that meets their needs. Our recent improvement plan will reform the support system for children with special educational needs and disabilities, prioritising earlier intervention and creating consistent high standards across the country.”

There are hopes Ripon City Council could be running Ripon’s town hall and market place by April next year, according to the council leader.

The council submitted an expression of interest at the end of last month to North Yorkshire Council to be part of a “double devolution” pilot scheme that would see it take control of some of the city’s key assets.

These were previously owned by the abolished Harrogate Borough Council before being handed to the new unitary council on April 1.

If successful, council leader Andrew Williams, who also sits on the North Yorkshire Council as an independent, says the pilot scheme in Ripon could be up and running in time for the next financial year in April 2024.

North Yorkshire Council will choose six pilot schemes from across the county after considering each expression of interest.

Cllr Williams told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he believes Ripon’s bid is one of the most ambitious submitted to the council and they have a “proven track record” of delivering services after previously taking over the lease of Hugh Ripley Hall from HBC.

He said the city council would commit to refurbishing and repurposing the town hall, which he said had been neglected by the old Harrogate-based authority.

“Quite clearly there’s been no investment in the building for years. It hasn’t been painted in 20 years and vast areas are laying idle so there may be a mix of things could be done.

“It’s a blank canvas but we think it could be used to generate economic activity in Ripon. It could be used as a museum to display Ripon’s historical artificats and I’d like to see North Yorkshire Council use it as a customer service point for residents.

“Part of the building could also be converted into rentable office space. Something needs to be done but we know there’s plenty of potential.”

Cllr Williams also said the city council would look to tidy up the market place and could use surplus revenue from car parking charges towards the refurbishment of the town hall.

Improvements to city centre public toiliets, which also formed part of the council’s expression of interest, would also make the city more appealing to tourists and businesses, he added.

“There’s grass growing out of the market square, such as been the poor maintenance of it.

“We believe collectively as a city council that we can draw more visitors to Ripon and bring businesses to the city centre. If the city looks smart and going places people are more likely to spend money here.”

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The new North Yorkshire Council is beginning its annual surface dressing programme — but it doesn’t include any roads in the Harrogate district.

Hundreds of miles of roads across England’s largest county are to be treated this spring and summer.

The work makes roads more skid-resistant and waterproof. It also prevents potholes, and can extend the life of a road by up to 10 years.

Cllr Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative executive member for highways and transport, said £8 million of surface dressing would be carried out this year — £2.6 million more than last year.

But Harrogate is the only district in North Yorkshire not to be included in this year’s programme.

Work is due to begin mid-April in the Hambleton, Selby and Scarborough districts.

It is due to carry on in Ryedale and Richmondshire in May and finish in the Craven district in early June.

Cllr Duncan said:

“Careful prioritisation of works, additional investment and close cooperation with our contractors means we will be delivering an extra £2.6 million worth of surface dressing schemes this year, the equivalent of an extra 60 miles.”

In this year’s Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt awarded North Yorkshire £6.5 million from a £700 million fund to tackle potholes.

Details of North Yorkshire roadworks are available here.

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Cyclists have expressed concern about the future of active travel in the Harrogate district after funding for two schemes was rejected.

The Department for Transport’s active travel fund last month turned down North Yorkshire County Council’s bid for £3.19 million.

It would have paid for segregated cycle routes on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate and on the A59 in Knaresborough between Mother Shipton’s Cave and Harrogate Golf Club.

Coming on the back of the county council’s decision to scrap phase two of the Otley Road cycle route, it has left plans for a connected, segregated cycle route between Harrogate train station and Cardale Park in tatters.

It has also raised questions about whether the council can deliver on active travel schemes despite the rhetoric.

Harrogate cycling campaigner Malcolm Margolis said

“The future for investment in cycling in Harrogate is clearly grim if the council is unable to attract government funding.

“It will only do that if it shows that it can deliver, which it has repeatedly failed to do for many years.

“That’s one of the reasons why the Station Gateway project must go ahead, not only that it would greatly improve the town centre, but that it shows the council has the capacity to turn successful bids to improve the public realm into successful changes on the ground.”

Cycleways on Station Parade are a key feature of the Station Gateway.

Read more:

• Cycling signs on Otley Road are ‘temporary measure’
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Kevin Douglas, chairman of Harrogate District Cycle Action, agreed next month’s expected gateway decision was now of even greater significance given the legacy of failed cycling schemes. He said:

“If the council can’t attract government funding then it isn’t looking good for cycling.

“The government is reducing funding for active travel so it will be more difficult to succeed with bids and without a track record it will be doubly difficult.”

The Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council, which has replaced the county council, has said it will abide by its Liberal Democrat-controlled Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee’s gateway decision on May 30.

‘Immense challenges’

Cllr Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive member for highways and transportation on North Yorkshire Council, said the local authority remained determined to “rebalance transport” in the town and would “not be dispirited” by Active Travel England’s rejection.

He said:

“We know the immense challenges the town is facing in terms of congestion, air quality and road safety. Unless the new North Yorkshire Council takes action to address these problems, they will only get worse.

“Rebalancing transport and promoting more sustainable travel is essential, but with limited financial resources and often vocal opposition, this is not always easy to deliver in practical terms.”

The Otley Road cycleway

Cllr Duncan added:

“The Otley Road corridor remains a challenge, but I stand by the decision to step back from phase two of the cycleway to allow local councillors to consider alternative options.

“And of course, it will be local councillors who will determine the hot topic of gateway once and for all. They will give their verdict and I will respect this. I feel this is the fairest possible approach.

The Stray Ferret asked Active Travel England why it rejected North Yorkshire County Council’s bid.

A spokesman said it couldn’t go into detail until the successful applicants were notified after next month’s local elections. They added:

“Each bid we have received has undergone a robust assessment process that considered a range of criteria. Feedback is being provided to authorities with unsuccessful bids over the next few weeks.

“Active Travel England will support local authorities in designing and delivering schemes that meet national standards for safety and accessibility.”

Councillors have called for tougher parking enforcement in towns and villages in North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire Council’s transport, economy, environment and enterprise scrutiny committee heard yesterday some visitor hotspot villages were examining how parking restrictions could be introduced as it was impacting on residents’ quality of life.

One elected member claimed “nothing seems to be done about people parking on pavements”, while others highlighted issues resulting from people parking in residential areas to avoid payments.

The meeting heard North Yorkshire has a forecast £3m annual parking enforcement surplus.

It also heard claims that an unfair proportion of the resources generated had been pumped into Harrogate-based projects in recent years.

An officer’s report to councillors revealed how the the lion’s share of the surplus had been used to reimburse bus operators for pensioners’ concessionary fares, boost the road repairs budget and improve the A1(M) junction 47 between Harrogate and York.

Councillors expressed concerns that while parking enforcement surpluses in some areas had been used to bolster general council “rainy day” funds, Harrogate Borough Council had put forward a lengthy wish list of transport and road projects for its area.

Committee chairman, Cllr David Staveley, a Conservative who represents Settle & Penyghent, said:

“It does feel slightly inequitable to other areas that have possibly contributed quite substantially to that fund. It does some of our areas are getting slightly short-changed.

“I think going forward we are one council. All residents should get a fair crack of the whip.”

Labour Cllr Melanie Ann Davis, who represents Selby West, said enforcement in Selby, which had received a “derisory” three per cent of the parking enforcement income, was “very poor” due to a lack of wardens.

She said:

“I think we need an assurance that there is going to be a new look at this to see that there is a much more uniform service.”

The meeting heard although the parking enforcement surplus had been collected from across the county, there had been an agreement that Harrogate and Scarborough councils be consulted on how it was spent.

Councillors were told while the authority’s position would remain focused on encouraging off-street parking to reduce congestion, the launch of the unitary authority and the unification of off-street and street parking responsibilities at the new council presented an opportunity to review policies and investment priorities.

The authority’s corporate director, Karl Battersby, said the surplus was currently being spent on an “eclectic mix” of legally permissable projects.

He added the review would examine the county’s “mixed bag of charges, policies, enforcement”, and links between parking and active travel. He said:

“Going forward we are going to have a proper look at what this budget should and shouldn’t fund.”

North Yorkshire Council has banned the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from staff devices over security fears.

The move means people working for the new council are not be allowed to use the app on any work devices.

Staff have also been “strongly discouraged” from using the app on personal devices that are also used for work purposes.

It follows the lead of parliament, which banned the app last month.

A council spokesperson said the ban came into effect from April 1, which was the council’s first day of existence.

TikTok has over 1.5 billion users around the world and allows people to create and share short-form videos.

However, there have been growing fears over what the company does with the personal data it collects from users.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has strongly denied allegations that it shares data with the Chinese government.

Assistant director of technology for North Yorkshire Council, Madeline Hoskin, said:

“North Yorkshire Council does not allow the media sharing app TikTok on any of its corporate devices and it is not approved to be used for any work purpose.

“In addition to this, we would strongly discourage any use of the app or website on personal devices that are also being used for work purposes.

“We have made this decision because both the TikTok app and the website collect a lot of personal and very detailed information that is stored outside of the UK, and though currently this data is predominantly used for targeted advertising, the volume and depth of the data being captured and stored poses a potential risk we do not believe is acceptable.”

‘Fundamental misconceptions’

A TikTok spokesperson said:

“We believe recent bans are based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok and our community around the world play no part.

“We remain committed to working with governments and partners to address any security concerns, but ask to be judged on facts, not fears, and treated equally to our competitors.

“We have already begun implementing a comprehensive plan to further protect our US and European user data, building on the principles of local data storage and introducing third-party independent oversight of our approach.”

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Starbeck Baths looks set to be closed for several weeks due to an “unforeseen mechanical failure”.

The Victorian swimming pool closed on Thursday last week. Its website says an air leak in the pool plant equipment caused poor water clarity.

The timing was unfortunate because of the ongoing Easter school holidays as well as the long-term closure of The Hydro in nearby Harrogate for a delayed £11.8 million upgrade.

Brimhams Active, which was set up by Harrogate Borough Council but is now run by North Yorkshire Council, manages leisure facilities in the Harrogate district.

North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for culture, arts and leisure, Jo Ireland, said:

“We are working with Brimhams Active to resolve an unforeseen mechanical failure.

“The situation requires the expertise of specialist contractors, and a work schedule has been set to address the issue.

“During the downtime, other important planned maintenance work will also be carried out to ensure the facilities are in top condition when the baths reopen.

“Although we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, we anticipate that Starbeck swimming baths will be back in operation by late May.”

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