Commercial waste could be banned at council tips in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire Council is considering whether to ban people depositing commercial waste at all of its household waste recycling centres.

It is one of a range of options being considered as part of cost-saving measures.

Other ideas include restricting the number of trips vans can make to the centres and banning people who don’t live in North Yorkshire from using them.

The options, which would affect sites at Penny Pot Lane and Wetherby Road in Harrogate, Dallamires Crescent in Ripon and mobile sites in Pateley Bridge and Boroughbridge, are due to go out to consultation.

Penny Pot Household Waste Recycling Centre

The Penny Pot Lane tip.

A council decision notice last week announced plans to consult on changes, which it said would “avoid the need to reduce the service but do impact certain site users”.

The Stray Ferret asked the council why it was proposing changes, what the options were and the likely cost associated with them.

In a statement, it replied:

“To help make savings and improve the service they provide, North Yorkshire Council is looking at various changes at household waste recycling centres.

“This includes limiting the use of HWRCs to North Yorkshire residents only, limiting the access for commercial-like vehicles as well as changes to commercial waste.

“Around 15 per cent of visits are not made by North Yorkshire residents. Limiting the use to the county’s residents could generate savings of about £140,000 every year and would align with neighbouring authorities.

“The council is also proposing to limit access for commercial-like vehicles (including those in a van or pick-up). Figures show 93 per cent of visitors in a commercial-like vehicle make less than 12 visits per year. Limiting these vehicles to 12 visits could bring savings of about £370,000 and could reduce congestion at the sites.

“Before implementing these changes, people will be asked to share their views on the proposals, as well as whether they support commercial waste continuing to be accepted at HWRCs.”

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According to the council’s website, commercial waste is currently accepted at all of its centres except Wetherby Road in Harrogate.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow announced in June that households would no longer have to pay to get rid of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres.

DIY waste is now treated the same as household waste, saving tip visitors up to £10 per sack of rubble or sheet of plasterboard. 

North Yorkshire Council said this would cost £889,000 and force it to look for new ways of saving money. 

Last month, the Local Government Association, which is a membership body for councils, warned the change could mean tip closures and reduced hours in some council areas.

 

Council to pay costs over Harrogate office block conversion appeal

A developer has been awarded costs after successfully appealing a decision to convert a former Harrogate office block into flats.

Bramhope Property and Investments Limited tabled the proposal to North Yorkshire Council to convert the former office block off Clarence Drive known as Simpson House into 12 two-bedroom flats.

It would have seen the ground, first and second floors converted.

However, the authority rejected the plan in May this year on the grounds that the flats would not have enough natural light.

The developer took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes.

As a result, government planning inspector, N Teasdale, approved the plans after finding “no substantive evidence to demonstrate that the rear of the building would be in near constant shade/stygian gloom”.

The inspector also awarded costs against the council in a decision notice published this month.

Mr Teasdale said:

“It is not unreasonable for the council to raise concerns about the management of the trees through the prior approval process and the impact of the trees on the proposed development which informed its decision given the close proximity of the trees.

“It is also not unreasonable for the council to raise concern regarding the contents of a technical study. However, the council’s officer report fails to provide justification for this particularly taking into account the overall methodology used and findings of the study. 

“No technical critique has been made of the submitted assessment to support their concerns and inaccurate assertions about the proposals impact were therefore made.”

The inspector found that “unreasonable behaviour resulting in unnecessary or wasted expense” was demonstrated and awarded costs against the council.

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Decision day approaches for £630,000 Ripon city centre resurfacing scheme

Ripon will discover later this week if a £630,000 road resurfacing scheme will be included in North Yorkshire Council’s capital funding programme for delivery next year.

City councillors have been calling for many years for the sets of paving blocks on Market Place East and Market Place West, which have become damaged and uneven, to be removed and replaced with a tarmac surface.

At last night’s full city council meeting, leader Andrew Williams, told members:

“The North Yorkshire highways team is preparing designs in anticipation of allocated funds to resurface areas of the road network surrounding Market Square.

“It is being considered for funding as part of the wider capital funding programme and if approved will see a scheme delivered next October.”

Tarmac patches have been put in place on some of the worst affected areas of the city centre roads.

Cllr Williams, who represents the Minster and Moorside division on North Yorkshire Council and is a member of the the Conservative and Independent Group, added:

“I’ve been in regular communication with the highways team about the proposed scheme and the process is going to take a little longer than hoped for and will cost more than initially anticipated.

“This is due to the fact that site investigations carried out by highways engineers, showed that the sub core under Market Place East is sand and every time it rains the road surface moves.”

The need to put new foundations in place before the new tarmac surface can be laid has seen the projected cost for the scheme rise from £500,000 to £630.000.

North Yorkshire Council has confirmed that in preparation for the proposed scheme, necessary site investigations have already started and will commence further later this month.

This will involve road closures on separate days of Market Place East and Market Place West and a traffic management plan associated with the works will be communicated to the local stakeholders and the public, once dates are finalised with the contractors.

Both Market Place East (main picture) and Market Place West will be resurfaced next autumn if the scheme receives the go-ahead.

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Daughter of man, 90, killed on A61 calls for ‘horrendous’ road to be made safer

The daughter of a 90-year-old man who was killed when he was knocked down by a car is calling for better safety measures to be urgently introduced on the stretch of the A61 Ripon Road where he was hit. 

Lucjan Wilk had just got off the number 36 bus when he was struck by a Ford Fiesta travelling towards Killinghall on Monday night (November 6). He sustained multiple serious injuries and died the following evening in Leeds General Infirmary. 

Polish-born Mr Wilk lived with his daughter, Paulina, and her husband in a house near the bus-stop.

She told the Stray Ferret: 

“This road is just horrendous. People come flying down that hill – I don’t think anyone does less than 50mph, and many go a lot faster than that. 

“There’s also no lighting between Harrogate and Killinghall, and not even any on Knox Mill Lane. It’s so dangerous. 

“I don’t think they put the bus-stop in the right place at all.” 

Paulina is now calling on North Yorkshire Council to reduce the speed limit to 30mph between Harrogate and Killinghall, to install proper lighting, and to introduce other traffic-calming measures, such as speed-indicator display signs. She said: 

“It’s a big problem, and I’ve asked the council for more lighting here before, but nobody’s listening. It’s like we don’t exist.” 

Mr Wilk, who came to England with his family in 1978, had lived with Paulina and her husband ever since his wife moved into a care home three months ago.

He had taken the bus into Harrogate every day since then to visit his wife, to whom friends say he was devoted. 

Paulina can see the spot where her father was struck from her kitchen window. She said: 

“I have to pass it every day on my way into town, too – there’s no escape.  

“My dad was a wonderful person, and unbelievably fit for 90 years old. It’s so unfair – he didn’t deserve to die like that.” 

In tragic twist of irony, Paulina used to live on Leeds Road, where she was very concerned about speeding cars “using it as a racetrack”.

She moved to her current address because she thought it would be quieter. She said: 

“I complained to the council about the speeding there, and they contacted me and sympathised, but that was the end of it. A police officer even told me that sometimes it takes a tragedy, like someone’s death, to make them do something. Well, that tragedy has happened now, so I hope something will be done.” 

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Historic Harrogate building to be converted back into a home

A former stately home in Harrogate dating back to the 18th century will be converted back into housing after being used as offices.

North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to convert the grade II listed Bilton Court on Wetherby Road into a single home.

Built in 1740 and close to the Great Yorkshire Showground, it’s described in planning documents as being a “jewel in the crown” of Harrogate.

The building is currently used by local firm Geoplan as its main offices but because of the increase in working from home since the covid pandemic, documents submitted by Townscape Architects say it is “no longer needed, practical or economical” to be used by the business.

Two side extensions were added to the building in 1820 and a chapel was built in 1889.

A futher extension will be built to be used as a garage and garden room and a warehouse building that is part of the site will also be converted into a separate home.

Documents add: 

“It is proposed to convert the property back into a dwelling which we believe is more befitting of a property of this nature and will preserve and prolong the life of the building as it was first designed.

“Overall, because the property was initially designed as a residential property it lends itself well to being converted into one now. As a result a light touch approach was used with as little intervention as possible.

“This means the heritage asset will disturbed as little as possible. Where new additions are made the intention has been to make them as obvious as possible to ensure they don’t confuse and detract from the heritage asset.”

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Council plans extra care housing scheme for Cardale Park

North Yorkshire Council has proposed building an extra care housing scheme on land at Cardale Park in Harrogate.

The authority purchased the three-acre site in on Beckwith Head Lane in January 2022 for £1.8 million.

The land was previously owned by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the district.

Now, the council has launched a survey on creating an extra care housing scheme on the site.

Extra care housing is specialist housing designed for older people. It offers help with personal care and household chores and is designed to give residents independence.

The authority said the project could become an “asset to the local community” in light of the extensive housebuilding planned for the west of Harrogate.

In its survey, it said:

“We acknowledge that the site, at present, is fairly remote, however, the proposed plan for local development includes building over 1,200 new homes, a primary school, a cricket pitch, a football hub and community woodland space, creating a vibrant surrounding community hub, with the extra care scheme becoming an asset to the local community, providing affordable housing for older people in an idyllic rural location.”

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The deadline for the council’s survey is November 29.

The land was previously given approval for a 36-bed mental health facility on the site, following the closure of Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Unit, which helped adults with mental illness.

However, those plans were dropped in 2019 and inpatients on the unit were sent to Foss Park Hospital in York instead.

Criticism after no one attends council’s ‘democracy in action’ meeting

Senior North Yorkshire councillors have rejected criticism after no members of the public attended a meeting of its top committee, which was held 55 miles from its headquarters.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive meeting at Selby Civic Centre lasted less than 10 minutes before the Tory-led authority’s leader Cllr Carl Les closed proceedings to the public to discuss the confidential terms of a deal to sell four hectares of land at Gatherley Road, Brompton-on-Swale, near Richmond.

Following a furore over Scarborough council’s confidential deal over the Alpamare water park in 2013, which could cost its successor council £8m, opposition councillors said the meeting should have been better advertised and more transparent.

Cllr Les told the meeting it was intended to hold more executive meetings away from County Hall in Northallerton and while two Selby-specific items had been moved from the meeting’s agenda, it was “felt it was still important to come on our peripatetic journey”.

After rubber-stamping Department for Education childcare funding, the meeting, which had seen several senior Northallerton-based council officers travel to Selby specifically for the meeting, was closed to the public just nine minutes and 40 seconds after it was opened.

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Following the meeting, opposition councillors questioned how the meeting had been advertised, with Selby councillor and Labour group leader Steve Shaw Wright stating even the town council had been unaware of the meeting.

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllt Bryn Griffiths said having no members of the public attending was “very disappointing” given the resources used staging the meeting in Selby.

Richmond councillor Stuart Parsons, leader of the council’s Independent group, questioned whether the meeting had displayed democracy in action and if there could have been more transparency over the land deal.

He said: 

“Why is it top secret? 

“There are commercial issues attached to it, but you can write a report without referring to named businesses, so at least the public know what is likely to happen to their property and what the risks are.”

Responding to the concerns, Cllr Les said the meeting had been advertised to members and the session in private had only involved the confidential terms of the deal.

He said: 

“I would have preferred to do it openly but with commercial matters you can’t.

“We are doing the right thing moving the executive meeting around the county. We will be doing one at least every two months to make sure we get round all the six previous areas in a calendar year.”

Pump track could replace BMX track in Pateley Bridge

Pateley Bridge Town Council is considering the installation of a pump track.

A pump track is a hard-surfaced circuit that uses the natural bumps and bends in the land to help cyclists and scooter riders generate momentum, would replace the existing BMX track on Millennium Green.

Local resident Will Askew put the idea to the council during September’s meeting – adding he would be “happy to project lead” if it came to fruition.

Suzanne Smith, clerk to the council, said:

“Councillors feel the best first step is the feasibility study to ensure that the whole project is viable. As there is already a BMX track there, hopefully it will be.”

A survey would then be sent to local residents to see if there is sufficient demand for the track.

Wetherby pump track

As the sole trustee of the Pateley Bridge Millennium Green Trust — the charity that manages the land — the council would need to raise money to fund the project.

Mr Askew told the council it could cost anywhere between £30,000 to £50,000, but grants and funding may be available.

North Yorkshire Council recently announced a pump track could also be installed in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.

The track, which could be installed by April, would replace the existing pitch and putt golf course.

The council is running a six-week consultation on the project until November 30.

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Developers silent over planned Harrogate Starbucks

Developers behind a former Leon restaurant in Harrogate which was due to become a Starbucks have remained silent on the scheme.

North Yorkshire Council approved plans to change the signage around the Wetherby Road site to Starbucks branding in August but the building remains closed.

Permission was given for a total of 20 signs, just over half of which would be illuminated, including totem signs, menus and directional signs around the drive-through.

Leon, which opened last June, closed its doors on April 2 with the loss of around 20 jobs.

It was operated by Blackburn-based EG Group, which also runs Starbucks franchises as well as brands including KFC and Greggs.

The Stray Ferret asked EG Group for an update on the project and whether it had confirmed an opening date, but received no response by the time of publication.

We also asked Starbucks whether it had a potential launch date for the new store.

In response, a spokesperson for the company said:

“I’m afraid we don’t comment on pieces of planning application.”

Currently, the building has been empty for seven months and has been stripped of its Leon branding and signage.

The coffee brand has only one existing presence in the Harrogate district, on Cambridge Street in the town centre.

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20mph speed limit proposed for Harrogate’s Woodfield Road

North Yorkshire Council has proposed new road safety measures for Woodfield Road in the Bilton area of Harrogate.

The project, funded through the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s AJ1 project road safety fund, will see the introduction of traffic calming measures, including speed cushions and a 20mph speed limit.

Cllr Paul Haslam, a Conservative who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, told the Stray Ferret the measures were being taken “for the safety of children” ahead of the former Woodfield Road Community Primary School re-opening.

There school, which closed at the end of last year, is due to reopen as a secondary school for 80 autistic children in September 2024.

The former Woodfield Road Community Primary.

Cllr Haslam secured a £20,000 budget for the road safety project and a spokesperson for the council said “the cost will be within the £20,000 fund”, with exact costs “still to come from contractors”.

The council hopes the project will be completed before April 2024.

The scheme follows another major road safety package unveiled by the council in September to create an extensive 20mph zone in the Pannal Ash and Oatlands area of the town.

The proposed area for the new zones included seven Harrogate schools. These are Harrogate Grammar School, Rossett Acre Primary School, Rossett School, Ashville College, St Aidan’s Church of England High School, Oatlands Junior School and Oatlands Infants School.

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