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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Plans approved to convert ex-Harrogate shop and nightclub into flats

North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to create seven new flats on Harrogate’s Parliament Street.

The scheme will see the former Sofa Workshop unit, which is next to the now closed Bijouled store, converted to living accommodation.

The upper floor of the former Moko nightclub and office space will also be adapted to become flats.

The former Bijouled unit will be retained under the plans.

In documents submitted to the council, the developer, JC Robinson Ltd, said the application would cause no harm to the grade two listed building.

It added:

“Subject to further detailing of internal and external works including the design of new window and door openings to the exterior of the building, it is considered that the development can be undertaken without giving rise to harm to the significance of the listed building.”

Moko closed in 2019 and Bijouled ceased trading in February last year.

The former Sofa Workshop shut in April 2022 after the company entered administration.

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North Yorkshire Council increases library fines for first time in a decade

North Yorkshire Council has increased the fine for an overdue book at its libraries from 30p to 35p per day.

The council said it was the first increase in almost a decade and was being made “in the light of increased pressures on finances”.

The changes will only apply to adult library members and not children.

The price to print an A4 piece of black and white paper at the library has also increased from 10p to 20p. It remains 50p to print a page of colour.

In an email sent to members yesterday, the council said income from fines and other charges goes into the library budget and contributes to ongoing service delivery costs.

The maximum fine for one book is £8.

The email added:

“Charges incurred at our community libraries goes directly back to the groups managing those libraries and makes up a valuable part of the income needed to meet their running costs.

“To mitigate the increase and to help customers keep track of items on loan we will be introducing reminders about when books are due back.”

For details of all library charges visit the council’s website.

Last year, Harrogate Library was the most popular in the county with 177,629 visits.

Visitor numbers at other libraries in the former Harrogate district area were Knaresborough with 110,191, Ripon with 73,428 and Starbeck with 18,676.

In 2015, the running of 31 libraries in the county was handed to volunteers in the face of mounting financial pressures brought on by austerity.

In this model, the council’s library service continues to provide the infrastructure including books and public IT, as well as some paid staff support to ensure consistency across the county.

The community libraries account for just under 40% of active library users and deliver on average 50% of the total business for book lending and computer access.

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‘Unbelievably disappointing’ – cyclists respond to Victoria Avenue plans

A Harrogate district cycling group has described new plans to improve Victoria Avenue as “unambitious” and “unbelievably disappointing”.

North Yorkshire Council announced yesterday it had scrapped plans to create cycle lanes on the avenue in favour of other measures, such as new parking meters and making the Belford Road junction left-turn only.

You can read the proposals here.

The proposals include making it illegal to turn right from Belford Road.

The government body Active Travel England awarded the council £1 million in 2020 for cycling schemes, and £250,000 was allocated towards creating a cycleway on Victoria Avenue.

As recently as February this year the council said the cycleway was a “priority“.

So yesterday’s announcement that it would no longer happen due to “budgetary constraints” has not been well received, particularly as the funding will be spent on other measures to improve the road for pedestrians instead.

In an article on its website, the campaign group Harrogate District Cycle Action said the new scheme “does nothing at all for cycling”.

It added:

“Given that the successful bid for this funding was to build four ambitious cycling schemes, that is unbelievably disappointing.

“North Yorkshire has been making promises of ‘jam tomorrow’ for cycling for at least 10 years. It is always just about to deliver a meaningful cycling scheme, but then at the last minute it changes its mind.”

It cited the second phase of the Otley Road cycleway, the abandonment of Beech Grove modal filters, other undelivered Active Travel England-funded schemes and the watered down Harrogate Station Gateway as examples.

The group has urged people to respond to the consultation by calling on the council to change its mind and support cycling infrastructure.

Beech Grove, pictured from the end of Victoria Avenue.

It called on the council to make Victoria Avenue right-turn only at the junction with West Park to remove traffic from Beech Grove and said the proposed measures would have only marginal benefits.

It said:

“The new scheme for Victoria Avenue is unambitious, and all the cycling elements have been stripped out of it.

“Among other things, the council plans to spend the active travel fund cycling money on car parking ticket machines and a bus stop.

“Whenever we ask for improvements to the cycle network, we are told by the council that it is not possible due to lack of funding.

“Then when they do have funding for cycle improvements, they spend the money on a bus stop instead.”

Have your say

Consultation on the proposals ends on May 12. As part of this, an engagement session will take place from 5pm to 7pm on Tuesday, May 7 at the council office. The address is Stray Room, St Luke’s Mount, Harrogate HG1 2AE.

To comment, you can email Area6.Boroughbridge@northyorks.gov.uk using ‘Victoria Avenue ATF 2 Consultation’ in the title of your email or letter.

Or post comments to: NYC Highways, Area 6 Boroughbridge Office, Stump Cross, Boroughbridge YO51 9HU

 

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Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens set to become private road

A bid to close Crescent Gardens road in Harrogate to the public looks set to clear its first hurdle next week.

North Yorkshire Council has recommended councillors approve an application to install bollards and planters at either end of the road to prevent public access.

The move would involve the loss of 35 public car parking bays and could also eventually lead to the closure of the pedestrian footpath on Crescent Gardens.

Impala Estates, which bought the former Harrogate Borough Council headquarters for £4 million in 2020, submitted plans to close the road to the public last year.

The firm was granted planning permission to convert the building into offices, a gym and a restaurant / bar, and to construct a two-storey roof-top extension in May 2022. However, work has yet to begin.

The public parking bays lost would be retained for the private use of businesses using the building.

A 12-page report by case officer Gerard Walsh to councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee recommends they approve the scheme when they meet on Tuesday, May 7.

The planning application would see the road running between Swan Road to the west and Montpellier Road to the east closed. Block paving would be installed on the road in front of the building to “form a clear pedestrian connection between the building and the Crescent Gardens park opposite”, the report said.

If approved, the Secretary of State for Transport could then issue a stopping up order extinguishing the public right of way.

The report said:

“Officers consider that the proposed development will have a minor positive impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area and no significant impact on the setting of nearby listed buildings.”

It added:

“The council’s highways team have no objection to the proposed development subject to proposed conditions requiring the submission of a bollard and access management plan, a construction phase management plan, and provision of a tactile pedestrian crossing at the junction of Crescent Gardens / Swan Road to improve the pedestrian facilities on the remaining highway.”

The view from the Swan Road junction.

The report said the loss of parking bays “is not a significant concern and would not warrant refusal, as there are sufficient alternative on-street parking facilities nearby, in addition to an abundance of available off-street parking options in the town centre”.

But Harrogate Civic Society, which lodged one of seven objections, said:

“Loss of public access to the parking spaces on the road would compound the previous loss of parking beside the Royal Hall.

“Crescent Gardens is important as a highway for two-way traffic to ease the passage of vehicles to Ripon Road and to and from Swan Road and the Duchy estate etc. The fact that a route other than Crescent Gardens exists is not a reason for stopping up this right of way.”

The planning committee will vote whether to accept Mr Walsh’s recommendation.

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Still no re-opening date for new Knaresborough playground

There is still no re-opening date for the new playground at Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre.

North Yorkshire Council opened the £17.5 million leisure centre in December last year. It said at the time the Fysche Hall Field Play Area alongside it would open in January.

It briefly opened in February but closed after just a few days due to flooding. More than two months later it remains closed.

Cllr Matt Walker, who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, gave an update yesterday after visiting the site with fellow Liberal Democrat Cllr Hannah Gostlow, who represents Knaresborough East.

Cllr Walker said they had a “very productive” meeting with the council and developers, and added:

“They have accepted there are still lots of snagging issues and we sent them home with a very long list to address. This included fixing the inadequate drainage at the playground that is still causing water to pool and stopping the opening.

“Sadly we weren’t give a timescale and I’ve escalated to senior staff to get it resolved. I will be insisting that the council does not pay the final bill until all the issues are resolved.”

The leisure centre, which is run by council-owned leisure company Brimhams Active, has a six-lane 25-metre swimming pool, a slide, and a 60-station fitness suite.

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Light pollution policy to protect Nidderdale dark skies

North Yorkshire Council is set to adopt a policy designed to prevent light pollution in Nidderdale.

Astronomers commissioned by Nidderdale AONB — which has since been renamed Nidderdale National Landscape — in spring 2022 found the night skies in the north west of the area, including Upper Nidderdale and moorland near Masham, are some of the least affected by light pollution in England.

With this in mind, the council drew up a Nidderdale AONB-specific supplementary planning document for its Harrogate District Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can occur.

The policy was first devised by the former Harrogate Borough Council in February 2023. Senior councillors on North Yorkshire Council are now expected to adopt the plan.

The document, once adopted, will be used as a “material consideration” by councillors when deciding on planning applications in the area.

Among its key objectives include introducing a “zoning scheme” to protect the darker skies in Nidderdale.

It also recommends that external lights in the darkest zone, which includes Upper Nidderdale, should only have 500 lumens, which is a measurement of visible light to the human eye.

The document adds that light pollution from farm and commercial buildings is “the most obvious source” of light pollution in the darkest zone of the AONB.

Senior councillors will be asked to adopt the policy document at an executive meeting on May 7.

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Housing scheme in Knaresborough set for refusal

Revived plans to build eight flats off Stockwell Road in Knaresborough look set to be refused.

Paul Franklin applied to demolish an existing property at 13 Stockwell Road and build six two-bedroom flats and two one-bedroom flats on the site and adjoining land. Parking and landscaping would also be included.

North Yorkshire Council case officer Emma Walsh has recommended councillors on Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee refuse the application when they meet next week.

Mr Franklin submitted plans to the council last year for nine flats on the plot. But those plans were withdrawn after about 30 residents and Knaresborough Town Council objected, citing concerns the development would be “overbearing and will overlook neighbouring properties”, create parking problems and increase congestion.

The Stray Ferret has followed the issue closely and met residents on site in June last year to hear their concerns and to seek Mr Franklin’s response.

He told the Stray Ferret at the time the scheme would “provide local people a quality and sustainable place to live and enjoy Knaresborough”.

In its response to the consultation on the latest plans, the town council said it “sees no reason to change its objections from the previous applications at this site”.

It added:

“The increase in traffic from this site will have a negative impact on the overall traffic in the area and impact on parking around the St Margaret’s area that already experiences difficulties.”

Ms Walsh’s report said the site is within the development limits of Knaresborough but added the apartment block would be “visually cramped due to the limited width of the site, between St Margaret’s Road and St Margaret’s Gardens”.

It said:

“The development would appear as a visually incongruous addition to the street scene which does not respect the pattern of development.”

The land where the flats would be built.

The report also cited concerns about how close the building would be to neighbours’ homes on St Margaret’s Road and St Margaret’s Gardens as well as “an unacceptable impact on highways safety”.

The report concluded:

“The scale, form and massing of the development would fail to adequately safeguard the character of the street scene.”

Twenty-seven letters of objections were sent to the council.

Councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled planning committee will decide whether to accept Ms Walsh’s recommendation when they meet at the Civic Centre in Harrogate on Tuesday, May 7.

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