Third consultation begins on Harrogate town council

A third consultation has been opened on plans to create a Harrogate town council.

The town council would be formed for administrative purposes from April 1, 2025, and the first elections would be on May 1, 2025.

North Yorkshire Council has said residents could expect to pay between £40 and £60 on top of their council tax each year to pay for the new council.

Harrogate and Scarborough are the only part of North Yorkshire which do not have a parish or town council.

Harrogate was due to get its own town council this year but it was delayed for a year after councillors asked to redraw the ward boundaries.

Officers had recommended that each of the proposed 10 wards in Harrogate, which were 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.

But Conservative councillors raised concerns, including Cllr John Mann, who represents Oatlands and Pannal. He said accountability to residents would be better served by single councillor wards. 

He told a council meeting at the time:

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

Cllr Chris Aldred, a Liberal Democrat councillor subsequently told the Stray Ferret the concern over ward arrangements was a “red herring” and later urged the council to speed up the process.

Cllr David Chance, the council’s executive member for corporate services, said in a statement yesterday:

“The public consultation already carried out has shown that there is widespread support for town councils to be created for both Harrogate and Scarborough.

“We now want to get the wards right so are asking for views on that before the end of this month. Then we can take a final decision to introduce the town councils which will provide more democratically-elected voices for both areas which is vital as we deliver key services.”

You can take part in the consultation here.

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‘Our home is ruined’: residents face up to aftermath of Knaresborough floods

Residents in Knaresborough are facing up today to the aftermath of last night’s floods, which affected about 30 homes.

Firefighters battled for two hours to pump water from homes and some residents even used buckets to remove water from their houses.

We ran a live blog last night and have followed up concerns — denied by the council — that the state of the drains played a part.

Today, we visited Knaresborough to speak to some of those whose homes were flooded.

Outwardly, the town appeared to be back to normal, with little sign of the impact of the storm. But the homes of those affected tell a very different story.

‘It feels pretty desperate’

Ann and Richard Briscoe, who live in St Margaret’s Gardens, said the house they have lived in since 2007 had been ruined.

A holiday let attached to their home, which was being rented out, was also affected.

Ms Briscoe said the rain began around 5.30pm. She contacted her daughter about the “size of the rain drops” just before their garden and downstairs flooded.

She said:

“By around 6pm, the manhole cover in our garden started to lift and just three minutes later water was coming over the front door. By 6.30pm, our entire lounge was flooded.”

The tenants in the holiday cottage, who had to relocate to Scarborough, began piling chairs and sofas on top of tables to limit the damage as much as possible, the couple added.

The flooding at the door and outside their home.

Besides the inconvenience, the storm will have a considerable financial impact on the couple. Ms Briscoe said:

“The carpet is absolutely soddened, and I suspect it’s sewage water because a lot of the water came from the burst manhole.

“We’ve contacted our insurance company, but we’ll have to cancel a lot of our holiday let bookings. I don’t know how much it’ll be, but that will be a real loss of income for us.”

The couple said neighbours and family members rushed to their house to help, with some lifting furniture onto bricks to prevent it being soaked.

Firefighters arrived to assist the Briscoes, but the couple said “most of the water had dispersed at that point”.

They, along with many others, feel the state of Knaresborough’s drains was a key factor.

Ms Briscoe said:

“I feel as though our home is ruined – I mean it feels pretty desperate.

“The drains are definitely an issue and whoever is going to fix them will get my vote.

“We just need help getting these drains sorted out. At our age, we can’t have this hanging over our head.”

Cllr Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents a part of Knaresborough, said he agreed the drains were a contributory factor — although the council has denied this.

Cllr Walker has also been part of a joint emergency response involving the emergency services, North Yorkshire Council and Knaresborough Town Council, which led to four people being found alternative accommodation. Welfare checks are being carried out today.

However, the couple said they did not receive any offers of alternative accommodation last night.

Ms Briscoe added:

“They can notify us that our bins will be emptied a day late, but where is the message offering us help in this situation?”

One of the flooded rooms.

‘Stuff was floating through our house’

Firefighters pump water from the home.

The Robinson family, who live on Dentdale Drive in the Eastfield area of the town, were forced to evacuate their home last night.

Nichola and Mark Robinson told the Stray Ferret they had gone to watch their son play cricket at Knaresborough Cricket Club yesterday afternoon.

The couple said there were “bright skies” until lightning halted play.

Ms Robinson said:

“We just sat in the car while there was lightning waiting for the coaches to say whether the match would go ahead. Then the rain came in at around 5.30pm and the match was called off, so we set off home.

“The rain was absolutely torrential – it was horrendous driving home.”

By the time they arrived home, the water was already above their ankles.

Ms Robinson said the rain was so heavy she could “barely see” it had run into their house. She added:

“Mark called to me, ‘the water is in the house’ and that’s when I realised it was already about a foot-high against the wall and garage door.

“The first thing we thought was the electricity, but luckily it been taken out by the storm.

“Mark went into the house and our lounge was just completely flooded. Stuff was floating through the house.”

The height at which the water reached is evident on the wall.

The couple said the fire brigade arrived at around 7pm to pump out water.

Ms Robinson also feels the state of Knaresborough’s drainage system and new housing developments could be to blame:

“Our home is destroyed. The smell is unbearable, and our furniture is ruined.

“There is an overarching problem with drainage infrastructure in Knaresborough. Everyone is saying the drains need sorting out.

“So many new homes have been built, I don’t think the drains can cope with the sheer amount of housing and no improved drainage systems. It worries me that it could be a potential cause of the problem.

“We have a new-build estate behind us and if there has been no improvement on drains, where is the water supposed to go? Water was bubbling up through the grass.

“The road was like a river. If a car came down, waves were forming.”

The couple also said they too were not offered alternative accommodation by the authorities and instead stayed with family nearby.

Mark and Nichola Robinson’s home after the flood.

Chain Lane drop-in session

North Yorkshire Council said in a statement this afternoon:

“The agencies involved in supporting the communities impacted by flash flooding in Knaresborough last night (Sunday) are out on the ground again today, including Knaresborough Town Council and North Yorkshire Council.

A range of help, advice and support is available via a community drop-in centre supported by Chain Lane Community Hub, Chain Lane, Knaresborough, HG5 08S.

“There are also highways crews out inspecting local drains to see what debris has been swept into them by the intense rainwater.

“Ready for Anything volunteers are also coming to help on site.”

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Grants totalling £1 million available for small businesses in North Yorkshire

Businesses in North Yorkshire have the chance to apply for £1 million in funding through a new package of capital grants.

Small and micro businesses can apply for the small business grant scheme, administered by North Yorkshire Council through thennational government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The scheme is focussed on increasing business growth, productivity and resilience. Grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 are available.

This is the second round of funding, following the first round in the last financial year which saw £750,000 awarded to businesses across the county.

Micro businesses, with less than 10 employees, and small firms with less than 50, can access free support through the business advisory teams at the council and the York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub, which provides business support.

There are more than 32,700 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises alongside 90 large businesses in the county.

Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative council leader and the chair of the shared prosperity fund board in North Yorkshire, said sole traders, start-ups, home businesses and social enterprises, as well as landlords and people looking to diversify their farm businesses and limited companies, were among those welcome to apply.

He added:

“This time we have allocated an even larger funding pot to the scheme to enable it to be bigger and better and have used learning from last year to improve the application process.

“Our ambition is to see a broad range of applications which seek to make long-lasting improvements to our small and medium businesses across the county.”

To aid businesses with their applications, the growth hub with partners at the social enterprise Enterprise Cube has organised two webinars on writing a business plan and a cash flow forecast which will take place on May 16 and 17.

Carolyn Frank, development manager at the York and North Yorkshire Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“This scheme has provided a practical way that the local authorities have been able to work together with us and other partners to unlock government funding and get it directly to businesses in our area, to help them to innovate and grow.”

The closing date for applications is Friday July 12. To find out more click here.

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Knaresborough floods ‘not related to condition of drains’, says council

Last night’s flooding in Knaresborough was due to the sheer deluge of rain rather than the state of drains, North Yorkshire Council said today.

About 30 homes were affected by flooding last night and some people had to be found emergency accommodation. This prompted questions about whether better maintained drains would have helped.

A statement this morning issued by the council on behalf of agencies involved in last night’s emergency response said 32 millimetres of rain fell in an hour, which is the equivalent of about an inch-and-a-quarter.

It said:

“The flooding related to the volume and speed or heavy rainfall and is not related to the condition of the drains.

“Yorkshire Water is investigating concerns regarding sewage around St Margaret’s Gardens.”

Speaking on behalf of the agencies involved, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service station manager Dave Dixon said as part of the statement:

“In the space of two hours from around 6pm last night an extreme localised weather event saw the equivalent of 32 millimetres of rain per hour fall in Knaresborough. The speed and volume of heavy rain led to flooding in some properties and overwhelmed local drainage systems for a period of time.

“Knaresborough Town Council and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service led the response on the ground ensuring people were safe. The town council has a robust emergency response plan and this was put in place ensuring people were safe and where appropriate electricity supplies were turned off.”

It added:

“Two vulnerable households were evacuated to temporary accommodation, some other people chose to leave themselves but most chose to stay because the water had not entered their property or they preferred to go upstairs to safe space.

“Four fire appliances attended the scene, along with North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Council staff.

“I would like to thank all those involved in last night’s response  and to reassure local residents that the agencies involved will also be on the scene this morning to follow up on damage and any assistance anyone may need.”

High Bridge drains concern

Cllr Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council and is also a town councillor, has been part of the emergency response.

Cllr Walker told the Stray Ferret 25 homes on Orchard Close and six properties in the St Margaret’s area were flooded.

He said most residents chose to stay at home or stay with relatives or friends but a family of three were found accommodation at the Knaresborough Inn and one older male was found council accommodation.

Cllr Walker said the town council was undertaking welfare checks on Orchard Close today and was finding out what other support was available.

He added he thought the state of drains was a contributory factor, particularly at High Bridge, which was among the worst affected areas by flooding.

He said:

“We have raised concerns about blocked drains on the A59 going from High Bridge to Henshaws on a number of occasions and and nothing is done about it.

“It’s a district-wide frustration. The council needs to review why this has happened and it’s my view that the drains were a contributory factor.”

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Questions raised after Knaresborough floods

Some people were forced to evacuate their homes last night after flash floods hit Knaresborough.

An intense storm hit the town and some nearby villages at about 6pm last night, with reports that two inches of rain fell in two hours. Remarkably, many nearby places stayed virtually dry.

The Stray Ferret published a live blog last night giving updates on the situation.

One person commented on our Facebook post relating to the article that they were forced to book their parents into a hotel because of the state of their home.

Two other people posted their homes were also uninhabitable. One said:

“Our downstairs is destroyed, at least a foot of water has run through the whole of the downstairs and ruined everything, the drains just couldn’t cope with the sheer volume of the water and how quickly it came down.”

Another said:

“My parents’ bungalow was completely flooded under a foot of water, have had to move them out, its completely uninhabitable for them, everything completely ruined.”

Cllr Mat Walker, who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, said on the thread:

“I’m aware that a number of homes in Knaresborough have been flooded. I’ve activated North Yorkshire Council’s major incident response team who are working with Knaresborough Town Council to ensure those affected have accommodation to stay in tonight.”

Cllr Walker told the Stray Ferret he was aware “a number of people have been evacuated” and he would seek an update from the council ‘s major incident response team this morning.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident report this morning said it received calls for almost two hours from 6pm last night of flooding in the Knaresborough area.

“Fire appliances from Knaresborough, Harrogate, Tadcaster and Acomb responded and assisted various premises affected by flooding, by pumping water away when they could, cleaning up work and transporting vulnerable people to places of safety.

“North Yorkshire Council and local council resources also assisting with the aftermath, together with police.”

However, the sheer volume of rain caused chaos, with one person saying they had to rely on neighbours with buckets to help them remove water from their homes.

Many comments today are questioning the state of the town’s drains.

We will continue to cover this issue today by putting questions to North Yorkshire Council. If you were forced to evacuate your homes last night please get in touch by emailing us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk or send us a direct message on Facebook.

Pic: The view over High Bridge outside Mother Shipton’s last night.

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Free gym classes for children in Harrogate and Knaresborough this month

Children and young people can access free fitness classes in Harrogate and Knaresborough this month.

The move comes after North Yorkshire Council said this week it hopes to encourage young people to “get active” following statistics released by Sport England.

In a press release, the council said the data showed 2.2 million young people do less than 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

To tackle the problem locally, the authority is offering free fitness classes throughout May at the two Brimhams Active-run leisure centres, which reopened last year following a multi-million-pound revamp.

Children aged six to 12 can take advantage of the offer.

The council’s corporate director for community development, Nic Harne, said:

“We have a wide range of programmes and activities for children in all our leisure centres as we foster increased participation which is not only good for their health and wellbeing but encourages social activities too.

“Those classes range from our learn to swim programmes and junior gym sessions to our new music classes in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

“We also have a range of local sports clubs that deliver variety of sports and fun sessions in our swimming pools and sports halls.”

The council said the ‘Born to Move’ classes will offer sessions merging movement and play to “experience the joy and vitality of moving to music”.

One of the teachers, Zoe Murray, added:

“These are really great classes for getting young people into a group exercise environment and feeling really comfortable with it at a young age. All the kids have a great time.”

The offer is free throughout May and sessions will cost £5 thereafter. Born to Move classes will be broken down by age groups.

Sessions will be held on Fridays at 5pm in Harrogate and 10.30am on Saturdays in Knaresborough.

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Call to halt succession of North Yorkshire rural school closures

Liberal Democrats are calling on the Conservative-led North Yorkshire Council to place a moratorium on school closures until the first county-wide Local Plan development blueprint is adopted in 2028.

Members of the 14-councillor political group have tabled a notice of motion for the next full meeting of the authority later this month to highlight “the loss of key facilities from our communities” across North Yorkshire.

The motion follows the council repeatedly launching consultations over the closure of village primary schools, saying Department of Education rules leave it with little option but to recommend they close their doors despite communities developing action plans to rescue them.

Last autumn, the authority’s children’s scrutiny committee heard the succession of rural school closures was “only likely to get worse” with a looming oversupply of places, despite attempts to prevent an increasing number of schools going into the red.

Andrew Smith, the Diocese of York’s director of education, issued the bleak situation facing many communities in North Yorkshire as councillors were told some 16 primary schools had closed in the past six years.

Some of the closed schools include Drax, Horton in Ribblesdale, Rathmell, Ingleby Arncliffe, Swainb, Ings, Burnt Yates, Arkengarthdale, Clapham, Whitby, Kell Bank, Weaverthorpe, Baldersby St James, Harrogate, Hovingham and Skelton.

Councillors heard financial pressures on the county’s smaller schools were rising, with the average school deficit soaring from £16,400 in 2015 to £57,900 last year year.

Meanwhile, the number of primary school age pupils was set to fall in every area of the county except the Selby area and Craven.

The proposal underlines how the closure of rural schools in North Yorkshire has many significant negative social impacts on residents, communities and children – an observation which has regularly been raised by some prominent Tory members of the authority.

The motion states:

“The loss of schools and other associated infrastructure leaves villages without the necessary services to support families now and into the future.”

Liberal democrat councillor for Amotherby and Ampleforth division Steve Mason said:

“The recent news about the potential closure of St Hildas in Ampleforth, following the closure of Hovingham school last year highlights the need for NYC to step in to protect these valued services for the future.

“In the past five years alone we have lost 11 primary schools in North Yorkshire and no doubt more will follow. Clearly something is broken.”

Councillor Andrew Murday, who represents Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale, said the council had a responsibility to support the county’s many rural communities.

He said:

“Primary schools are a vital component of those communities and without them the community gradually collapses. We need the council to rethink its policy otherwise there will be progressive depopulation. Only last month we saw the loss of Fountains Earth School at Lofthouse. It should not be allowed to continue.”

The council’s Conservative leadership have been approached to comment.

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Readers’ Letters: Harrogate’s cycleway extension is an ‘extraordinary waste of public funds’

Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.  

 This letter follows news of the cycleway on Harrogate’s Otley Road being extended.

I’d like to echo the furore over plans to extend the cycleway. It is an extraordinary waste of public funds and has created more confusion and danger.

I walk it every day and I fear a cyclist using the path (perfectly legally) will plough into the back of me at 30mph. I’m reliant on their sense of speed, but I may hear the “whoosh” too late as my back is to them.

It’s the minority that cycle a little slower as they hit the dual area of pedestrians and cyclists – but it is not a road.

The joy of a stroll has been taken away. I can no longer amble along this route – it will be lights out for me if I do.

Then there’s the Prince of Wales roundabout. Most drivers don’t even indicate!  This only exacerbates the dangerous lottery of trying to cross the road.

A pelican crossing would surely be a fantastic safety investment and a tiny cost compared to the cycle path.

Shaun Bohan, Harrogate

I can’t help but feel the authorities just want a ‘quick fix’ for our roads…

This letter is in response to several stories about potholes and footpaths poor condition in the Harrogate district.

Further to your stories about the state of our roads and footpaths, one problem is the people repairing potholes have no idea how to do it properly.

It’s not the answer to just pour tarmac in the hole and ram it smooth. It should be dug out, a heavy base put in first, then a topcoat should be applied and sealed with hot tar. That’s how they did it fifty years ago and it worked.

I can’t help but feel the councils and government just want a quick fix to appease the likes of me…

Phil Turton, Harrogate

The plans for Victoria Avenue will only increase traffic in the town centre

This letter is in response to North Yorkshire Council’s decision to scrap plans to create cycle lanes on Victoria Avenue. The move means new measures, such as parking metres and making the Belford Road junction left-turn only, could be put in place. 

There is a simple first principle to managing traffic congestion for a town, which is to direct incoming traffic to peripheral car parks and then when traffic leaves, guide it back out without it passing through the town centre.  The current plans for Victoria Avenue seem to overlook this.

Tower Street has two public car parks with capacity for approximately 400 cars. Although there is signage to these car parks for vehicles arriving from the south, there is currently no signage as to how those vehicles should then exit the town.

The proposal to make the Belford Road junction with Victoria Avenue left-turn only will increase the number of cars that find themselves back on West Park, heading towards Parliament Street, then either cutting down Montpellier towards Cold Bath Road, or looping back round by the station.

There needs to be a sharper focus on the town centre map to plan exit routes from the Tower Street car parks.

Turning right out of Belford Road is actually optimal to take traffic away from the centre and maybe the infrastructure changes should make that easier and safer.

John Wann, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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Plans for extension at Knaresborough Waterside home approved

North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to demolish two outbuildings on Knaresborough’s famous Waterside to facilitate a housing extension.

The three-storey property is in a prominent location on Waterside Road, which runs along the banks of the river Nidd and is a popular walking route for tourists.

The owner of the home stated in planning documents that the outbuildings connected to it are in a poor state of repair and block sunlight from the rear windows.

They asked the council for permission to demolish them to add a new 2-storey extension to their home.

Larger plans for the extension were refused in 2022 and for a second time in 2023 after the council criticised its design saying it was “excessive” and would feel “oppressive and overbearing” to the adjacent property.

A third application was submitted earlier this year which the developer said addressed the previous reasons for refusal.

It said the design had been scaled back to reduce its impact on the neighbouring properties and the wider Knaresborough Conservation Area.

Documents added:

“The design aesthetic has been paired down in the latest proposal, removing the larger contemporary elements found in the previous applications. The new extension has a traditional form constructed from traditional materials but utilises contemporary glazing to maximise the amount of natural light entering the extension.”

The resubmitted plans received an objection from statutory consultee Knaresborough Town Council, which said the extension would cause “unacceptable issues of privacy” for the neighbours.

However, the changes satisfied a council planning officer who approved the plans on April 26.

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Council gives Kex Gill update

North Yorkshire Council has given an update on work to repair the A59 at Kex Gill.

The road, which is the main route between Harrogate and Skipton, closed suddenly on February 2 when a crack appeared on the verge.

Repair work costing £750,000 began on April 15.

Karl Battersby (pictured above), the council’s corporate director of environment, said in a 57-second video yesterday it was still hoped the road would re-open by the end of June.

He said:

“We know this has caused significant disruption and we acknowledge that in a different environment that we’d have got on site quicker to do these repairs.

“But we’ve had to do a number of survey works to make sure what we do doesn’t cause us a problem in terms of the current road but also doesn’t cause a problem in terms of the new road being constructed.”

Machinery on site

Mr Battersby said a piling rig was putting large metal poles into the side of the road to stabilise it. The road will then be resurfaced.

He added:

“We will be doing weekend working and extended day working to try to keep within that deadline.”

Irish construction firm Sisk, which is carrying out the nearby £68.8 million three-mile realignment, was appointed to oversee the repair work, with Ivor King carrying out the piling.

The crack was caused by a landslip which the council attributed to wet weather but some residents have claimed it is due to the impact of the realignment on the landscape.

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