Council investigates planning breach claims at 53-home Harrogate siteNorth Yorkshire Council is investigating an alleged breach of planning in a Harrogate field where 53 homes could be built.
North-east property developer Jomast has applied to build the homes off Knox Lane in Bilton. Councillors deferred the scheme for a third time this month amid concerns about land contamination.
Since then, the council has opened a probe into potential damage to trees within the tree preservation order.
The Stray Ferret has seen a letter from a council planning enforcement officer to a resident saying it is investigating and will provide a further update within 28 days.
When we approached the council about it, assistant director for planning Trevor Watson said:
“We can confirm that we are currently investigating a possible breach of planning regulations at that location.
“While that investigation is ongoing we will not be commenting further.”
The Knox scheme has received more than 300 objections amid concerns about its impact on a quiet corner of Bilton.
Sue Wrightson, of the Keep Knox Natural campaign group, which opposes the development, claimed field activity undertaken at the site this month did not conform with council guidelines on contaminated land.
Photos of the site
Dr Damian Bowen a toxicologist and local resident who has submitted a review of Jomast’s phase two contamination report, alleged the company had not addressed concerns raised about the reliability of its data.
In response to a request for comment on the council investigation, Stephen Courcier, planning consultant for the application at Jomast, said:
“We can confirm that the further site investigative works to the railway embankment took place over Thursday and Friday of last week.
“These further investigative works were specifically requested by the local planning authority.”
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Roadwork misery on Ripon Road due to end tomorrowRoadworks that have caused over a week of long tailbacks in the north of Harrogate will be completed tomorrow, ahead of schedule, the utility company responsible has said.
Works at the junction of Ripon Road and Coppice Drive started on June 19 and reduced one of the town’s main arterial roads to a trickle of traffic, moving in one direction at a time and directed by temporary three-way traffic lights — causing misery for motorists.
Northern Gas Networks said they were “part of our essential works programme to ensure the continued safe and reliable supply of gas to customers”, but added that the road would be cleared for two-way traffic on Thursday.
Mark Mawhood, operations manager at NGN, told the Stray Ferret today:
“Upon starting the work, we realised that there were some unforeseen engineering difficulties and we therefore sought an extension to complete the works until July 7. We are pleased, however, that, using a different technique, work has finished today. The filling in of holes and laying tarmac will be completed tomorrow and then all traffic management will be removed.
“Once again, apologies for any inconvenience caused and bearing with us. Safety is our first priority and works can sometimes take longer than anticipated depending on any problems that may arise. We have been working closely with North Yorkshire Council throughout the process and keeping them informed of our developments.”
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Harrogate town council set to be formed as 66% back the ideaPlans to create a Harrogate town council look set to go ahead after a second consultation revealed the majority of respondents support the idea.
Letters were posted to 35,583 homes in Harrogate inviting them to have their say on the subject.
The results, published today, reveal 65.5% said they were in favour of the move — which would lead to the creation of a new council tax charge.
However, just 1,698 responded, which represents just 4.7% of households.
North Yorkshire Council launched the second consultation as part of a community governance review in March.
Harrogate and Scarborough are the only parts of the county not to have a parish or town council.
The areas in Harrogate which are set to pay extra council tax to fund the town council.
The first consultation in Harrogate, which began in August last year and received only a 3.5% response rate, revealed 75% supported a town council — so support has waned.
In a report due before councillors on Wednesday, a recommendation will be made to refer the responses to full council later this year.
Cllr David Chance, executive councillor for corporate services at the council, said:
“The public consultations which have been carried out in the areas under review have shown that there is support among residents who responded to the consultation for town councils to be created for both Harrogate and Scarborough.
“Full consultations have been conducted to gauge the public’s opinions on the proposals, and the recommendation is now for a full council meeting to discuss the plans for the two new councils.
“If the decision is taken to introduce the town councils for both Harrogate and Scarborough, this will provide more democratically-elected voices for both areas to ensure that the views of local people are heard effectively to help us deliver key services.”
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Establishing a town council, with yet to be determined powers, is expected to create an additional annual council tax charge of between £40 and £60 for the homes affected.
The town councils would be formed for administrative purposes from April 2024, and the first elections would be on May 2, 2024, when councillors would be elected for a reduced term of three years. Elections would then take place every four years from 2027.
The parish would be divided into divisions, based largely on the divisions that now apply since North Yorkshire Council was established in the spring.
A total of 19 members would be elected to the town council.
Knaresborough could get country’s first water-powered EV charging stationKnaresborough is in line to receive the country’s first water-powered electric vehicle charging station.
North Yorkshire Council plans to install a hydro turbine to power vehicles parked at Waterside Car Park, alongside the River Nidd.
The council successfully bid to the government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure scheme, which funds schemes by local authorities in England to install charge point infrastructure for residents without off-street parking.
The River Nidd is within metres of the car park.
A council spokesperson said:
“The reason it has been chosen is to pilot rolling out EV charging points in areas with high grid connection costs.
“While Waterside car park in Knaresborough is not as grid-constrained as some, it is the ideal site to pilot due to the weir, flow rate of the river and landownership with that stretch of the river and car park belonging to the council.”
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The spokesperson added:
“Hydroelectric power should be able to reliably provide power throughout the year except in extreme droughts and each site is looking to have a secondary renewable generation capability, either solar or wind if appropriate.
“The renewable sources will provide power to a large battery system and which will then be able to charge up to five vehicles at once.
“Full costs are to be determined once the procurement process has been completed.”
They added “as far as we are aware it will be the first one in the country” and the likely installation date was next year.
Traders fear lost revenue
Empty electric vehicle charging stations in Chapel Street Car Park.
The roll-out of electric vehicle charging stations has proved controversial in Knaresborough
Ten bays have been installed in Chapel Street Car Park in the town centre but there is rarely more than one or two in use.
This has infuriated some traders, who say they are losing business on Wednesday’s busy market day because customers in non-electric vehicles struggle to park.
They have called for some electric vehicle bays to be available to all vehicles until demand for the charge points catches up with supply.
Twelve EV bays have been installed at Conyngham Hall Car Park but are not yet active and the bays have been coned off to all motorists. None of the five bays planned for Waterside Car Park have yet been created.
Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, said hydro turbine-powered charging bays at Waterside Car Park were “really positive” but he shared concerns about the allocation of parking bays in the town.
Cllr Matt Walker
Cllr Walker said:
“The council needs to make sure these spaces can be used by people if they are not being used by people with electric vehicles.
“If they are sat empty it benefits nobody. Businesses are losing out on customers and the council is losing out on thousands of pounds of revenue.”
Cllr Walker said he had been told by the council the situation would be reviewed.
Council’s 20mph review ‘kicking can down the road’North Yorkshire Council‘s decision to refuse blanket 20mph zones across the county in favour of a speed limit review has been described as “kicking the can down the road” on road safety.
Councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee requested default 20mph zones in November 2022.
However, rather than accept the request the council has now said it will draw up a speed management strategy to “guide a countywide review of speed limits across towns, villages and rural road”.
Council officials said they did not support area-wide or default speed zones on the grounds that “each area will be considered on its own merits”.
Cllr Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive councillor for highways, said the proposal would “deliver real improvements” across the county.
He said:
“The new council is taking an ambitious, proactive approach to setting speed limits, built on evidence and community empowerment.
“This will move away from setting limits in a piecemeal fashion, where we look at one road in one location at a single point in time.
“By taking a strategic view of a town or village we will ensure speed limits there are effective and be able to identify positive changes in partnership with local communities.
“We cannot review all locations immediately, and resources will need to be prioritised, but our approach will deliver real improvements across all parts of the county over time, addressing concerns, improving safety and saving lives.”
But Cllr Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat chair of the area constituency committee, said the move would only delay the implementation of 20mph streets further.
She added that a speed management strategy, which the council says will take six months to draw up, was not needed to implement zones immediately.
Cllr Marsh said:
“It is an issue that affects the whole of North Yorkshire, they have got to address it.
“Get the 20mph zones in first and then monitor them. It really is just kicking the can down the road.”
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The council intends to undertake a series of planned speed limit reviews which will be “underpinned” by the speed management strategy.
It added that the move would “generate a rolling pipeline of safety improvement schemes for delivery”.
However, Cllr Arnold Warneken, Green Party member for Ouseburn, said the proposal lacked ambition and described it as “another delaying tactic”.
He said:
“There is no real substance to the North Yorkshire Council proposals. Whilst I was told to be patient as there was a comprehensive review taking place and the report would reflect this I was, and it does not, so now we have yet another example that the executive know better and show shallow concern and fake listening to the people they represent.
“We cannot keep putting off taking action to make our roads safer for everyone, we cannot keep putting off taking action to protect our environment, we cannot keep putting off taking action that will prevent life changing injuries or worse still fatalities. If not now, when?”
Ian Conlan, of the 20s Plenty North Yorkshire campaign group, said:
“There is a far better evidence base to have a default 20mph to replace existing 30mph limits, and develop an exceptions process to decide where to have higher speed limits than 20mph in a few roads in towns and villages, but only where vulnerable road users are fully protected.”
Mr Conlan urged supporters to demonstrate outside County Hall in Northallerton on Tuesday next week, when North Yorkshire Council’s executive will discuss the matter.
Starbeck Baths to close at Christmas for £29,000 heating repair workStarbeck Baths looks set to be closed over Christmas for heating repair work costing £29,000.
North Yorkshire Council has commissioned a contractor to upgrade the controls for heating both the pool and the building.
Leeds-based Westminster Controls Limited is set to carry out the work during a “planned shutdown” of the facility over Christmas this year.
Nic Harne, the council’s corporate director of community development, said:
“The contract is to upgrade the controls responsible for heating both the pool and the building.
“The replacement controls will provide significantly better automation and efficient control of the heating and ventilation systems.
“The work is due to be carried out during the planned shutdown of the pool over Christmas.”
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The Stray Ferret has asked the council for the specific dates when the pool is planned to be closed but has not yet had a response.
It is due to be the second time this year the baths will shut for maintenance work.
The facility was closed for a month in April due to an “unforeseen mechanical failure”, which coincided with the Easter school holidays.
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.
At the time, it said an an air leak in the pool plant equipment caused poor water clarity led to the closure.
The pool reopened on May 11.
Gallery: Knaresborough’s midsummer party in the castleHundreds of people watched a free live screening of the Glastonbury festival in the grounds of Knaresborough Castle on Saturday.
The Party in the Castle saw friends and families turn up with their own food and drink and soak up the atmosphere in glorious weather.
Organised by volunteers from Knaresborough & District Chamber, the event proved hugely popular.
The chamber hopes it will be the first of annual community events in the castle, providing North Yorkshire Council grants permission to use the site.
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Lead organiser and chamber member Kelly Young said:
“We were bowled over with the level of support both before and during the event and the feedback from the Knaresborough community has been fantastic. There was an amazing atmosphere and the whole place was like a big family party.
“We feel so privileged to have been given the chance to bring the town together through music, against such a stunning backdrop as Knaresborough Castle. We also hope that the central location of the event, close to many local businesses, will have bought increased consumer spend to our community, as well as making it affordable for everyone to attend on any budget.”
Cllr Hannah Gostlow, who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, helped to fund the TV through her councillor’s Locality budget. A crowdfunding campaign also contributed to funds for the not-for-profit event.
Here are some images from the night by photographer Mike Whorley.
£3.5 million remediation work underway at Ripon leisure centre
Remediation works costing £3.5 million are underway at the Ripon leisure centre building which closed in late April.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for culture, leisure, archives and libraries, Jo Ireland, said:
“We can confirm the ground stabilisation works at the former Ripon Leisure Centre have now started.”
Hoardings and fencing have been put in place around the 28 year old leisure centre building.
He added:
“These works came about following the discovery of a void underneath part of the original leisure centre.
“The void is understood to have been present for a number of years and was discovered when the reinforced concrete slab, which provides the foundation for the new swimming pool, was cast.
“By addressing these historic issues, it allows us the opportunity to ensure future generations will be able to access modern sport and leisure facilities in their city for many years to come.
“Once the works have been completed the original leisure centre facility can be refurbished as planned – which includes an extended gym, two new activity studios, a spin studio as well as meeting facilities – and complement the 25 metre, six-lane swimming pool that opened last year.”
Work is scheduled to go on until spring 2024 and in the meantime a temporary gym will remain in use on the car park near the entrance to the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre.
The £300,000 facility, operated by Brimhams Active on behalf of North Yorkshire Council, includes Technogym equipment.
Customers are able to use the changing and shower facilities at the swimming pool as well as the sauna and steam suite. Group exercise classes continue to be provided at Hugh Ripley Hall.
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Calls for urgent action to stop North Yorkshire children vapingCalls have been made for urgent action to tackle children vaping across North Yorkshire amid an “explosion” in young people using e-cigarettes.
A meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee heard the authority’s annual health and wellbeing survey concluded more than one in three of children aged 13 to 15 years old had at least tried vaping, while 9% said they used them regularly.
Smoking of traditional cigarettes was continuing to decrease and the use of illegal drugs remained low, the meeting was told, but some children were starting to vape while still at primary school.
The study found some 5% of 10 and 11-year-olds pupils responded that they had at least tried vaping.
However, councillors were warned the vaping statistics in its Growing Up In North Yorkshire study were “woefully out” and the actual prevalence of vaping was likely to be much higher.
Earlier this year Dr Mike McKean, of the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, said vaping was becoming “an epidemic” among teenagers.
He said if the growth of youngsters vaping continued at the same rate, almost all children would vape within five years.
Dr Tom Cavell-Taylor, who is a governor at Ripon Grammar School, told the scrutiny meeting:
“I don’t think young people appreciate the dangers of vaping.
“Vaping was seen as a better alternative to smoking, but there is a bit of a health time bomb going on with vaping and I don’t think that message is fully appreciated with young people.”
Cllr Kirsty Poskitt, who is also a youth worker, added it was “not unusual for year five and six pupils to be vaping”.
She said:
“What I’m really concerned with is how fast the public health is getting out. I have conversations daily with young people that vape that have no clue that it is in any way dangerous.
“The parents see it as a much better, they taste and smell nice, they’re trendy, you’re not going to have that first hacking experience of cigarettes.
“It’s a huge explosion and it’s one of my biggest concerns with young people.”
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The meeting heard councillors call for the government to step up campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of vaping in the way that it has highlighted the risks of smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol or ban the sale of single-use vapes.
Councillors said by looking at the images in the windows of vaping shops alone, it was obvious children were being targeted.
The authority’s director of children and young people’s services, Stuart Carlton, said while he appreciated the immediate need to raise of the risks of vaping, it would be worse to launch a campaign that wasn’t accurate.
He said one of the issues with tackling vaping was that “the market moves really quickly”, so it was important to get messages precise.
Mr Carlton said:
“I would just ban them. I think they should only be available on prescription as part of a smoking reduction programme to adults only. That’s how you get them out of the system.
“Some of the things that are giving us the most concern aren’t the ones sold in shops, it’s the illegal market. These are black market vapes with cannabinoid additions which are causing horrendous incidents to children who experiment. You can do something about vaping, but then miss the thing that’s doing to most damage.”
The scrutiny committee was told public health officials were teaming up with a range of bodies, including the NHS and Trading Standards, to tackle the issue in a coordinated way.
Former stables and cricket pavilion to be demolished in Harrogate 480-home planSeveral derelict buildings including a cricket pavilion are set to be demolished in fields off Otley Road in Harrogate to make way for the 480-home Bluecoat Wood development.
The government’s housing agency Homes England is behind the housing scheme, which would cover 28 hectares of largely green fields. The homes would wrap around horticultural charity Horticap.
A mix of one, two, three, four and five-bedroom houses are proposed for the site. Homes England says 40% of the houses will be allocated as “affordable”.
An outline planning application was submitted last year but is yet to receive final approval.
However the developer asked North Yorkshire Council if it could demolish several buildings on the site and the authority confirmed this month that it can.
It means that five timber buildings associated with a former stables will be demolished as well as a small shed and a stone barn on the site.
A cricket pavilion formerly used by Pannal Ash Cricket Club will also be demolished.
However, under plans submitted by Homes England, the development is set to include a new cricket pitch on the site and the club will return to using it.
Documents state:
“The wider proposals for the Bluecoat Park site include a new cricket pavilion and cricket field, which will provide a new home for Pannal Ash Cricket Club and will allow them to return to the site.
“Alongside the proposed residential development and cricket facilities, a football hub is also proposed. These sporting facilities will provide much higher quality sporting facilities in this area, which will help encourage an active and healthy lifestyle.”
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The section of Otley Road approaching Harlow Hill is set to be transformed by up to 1,500 homes over the next decade.
The Bluecoat Wood site has been mooted for housing for many years and Homes England took it on after a previous plan fell through.
The former Harrogate Borough Council Local Plan, which is still binding, says that the Windmill Farm site on the other side of Otley Road can also be developed.
Plans for 770 homes and a new primary school were submitted last year by Anwyl Land and national housebuilder Redrow Homes. The site also includes space for self-build homes.
But there have been long-standing fears from residents that the services that people rely on will be put under further strain by the new developments.
The Western Arc Coordination Group is hopeful a council-led document called the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy (WHIDS) will go some way to ensuring investment takes place into roads, schools and healthcare before much of the homes are constructed.
But it’s faced a series of delays which has frustrated residents in the group.