north yorkshire county council Archives - Page 2 of 96

‘Unforeseen circumstances’ delay Oak Beck Bridge replacement — again

A starting date for a £1 million scheme to replace Oak Beck Bridge in Harrogate has still to be set.

North Yorkshire County Council planned to begin work in January last year after saying the current bridge on Skipton Road was in poor condition.

But in June last year, council bridges manager Philip Richardson said the scheme had been delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances” and it was still in talks with Yorkshire Water.

Ten months on, the Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council, which has replaced the county council, for an update.

In a statement that was identical in parts to the one issued last year, Mr Richardson said:

“We realise the importance of replacing Oak BeckBridge. Unfortunately, we have not been able to progress the scheme as quickly as we would have liked due to unforeseen circumstances.

“We are currently in discussions with Yorkshire Water about diverting a sewer to make way for the project. Please be assured that we will begin work as soon as we are able.”

The volume of traffic using Skipton Road is expected to increase after Tesco was granted planning permission to build a supermarket at the nearby junction of Skipton Road and Ripon Road.

When it was awarded the £1.1 million contract to demolish the bridge and build a new one, Leeds-based Howard Civil Engineering said the project would take 24 weeks.

Harrogate road to be closed until November

The closure of a busy road in Harrogate is to continue until November.

A section of road where Kingsley Road meets Bogs Lane has already been closed for five months to enable Redrow to carry out work at its 133-home Kingsley Manor development.

The closure, which prevents traffic using Kingsley Road and Bogs Lane as thoroughfares, has divided opinion.

It has also heightened fears about emergency vehicle response times as the route can be used as an alternative when Starbeck level crossing barriers are down.

North Yorkshire County Council issued a temporary prohibition of traffic order that came into effect on November 7 last year.

The order was for 12 months but at the time David Faraday, technical director for Redrow (Yorkshire), said “we don’t anticipate the works will take the full six months to complete”.

But signs have now appeared saying the closure will be active until November.

Kingsley Road, shortly before the road closure.

Mr Faraday said today:

“Unfortunately due to reasons beyond our control, essential works at the entrance to our Kingsley Manor development have been delayed. We informed the local authority of this and in January they granted permission for road closures to be extended until November 2023 in the interest of safety.

“We are pushing to complete the works, which include bringing new high voltage electricity cables to the site as quickly as possible so that the roads can be reopened. We would like to thank residents for their patience and understanding while the works are being undertaken.”

Knaresborough Road ‘saturated’

Local resident Clare Ayres said she was disappointed and wanted the road to re-open as soon as possible because it would ease “the saturation of traffic on Knaresborough Road” and surrounding routes.

Ms Ayres added:

“It won’t be long before they start building on the land on Kingsley Drive, which will mean more lorries and congestion. I’m also concerned about access for emergency vehicles.”

Cllr Chris Aldred, a Liberal Democrat who represents High Harrogate and Kingsley on North Yorkshire Council, said there was no obligation on Redrow to consult on the matter as the traffic order applied for 12 months.

He also said the developer had been obliging by maintaining a footway for pedestrians and cyclists, who would have otherwise faced a 1.4-mile diversion.

Cllr Aldred also said he supported moves to permanently close the road at the bridge where Kingsley Road and Bogs Lane meet. He said:

“It would stop the notorious Kingsley rat run, once and for all, so a further six months actually allows time to continue this experiment whilst the works continue.”

Government rejects cycling schemes in Harrogate and Knaresborough

Cycle schemes in Harrogate and Knaresborough will not go ahead after the government rejected the bids for funding.

North Yorkshire County Council applied for £3.19 million from the fourth round of the Department for Transport’s active travel fund.

It would have paid for segregated cycle routes on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate, a section of the A59 between Mother Shipton’s Cave and Harrogate Golf Club and a project in Richmond.

But the DfT allocated the £200 million to bids from other local authorities instead.

The council indicated in a news release last month it had been allocated £1.08m from the fourth funding round and been invited to bid for an additional £2.16m. But it said today it had actually not been awarded a penny.

The news is another blow for attempts to encourage cycling in the Harrogate district after phase two of the Otley Road cycle route was abandoned and traffic calming measures on nearby Beech Grove were reversed.

There is still no final decision on the £11.2 million Station Gateway, which would improve cycling around the train station.

It also appears to leave wider plans to create a connected, segregated cycle route from Cardale Park to Harrogate town centre in tatters.

North Yorkshire County Council’s Conservative executive member for highways and transportation, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:

“We are inevitably disappointed that our ambitious £3.19 million bid to enhance facilities for cyclists and pedestrians through the fourth round of the government’s active travel fund has not been successful.

“We believe we put forward strong proposals for the three schemes.

“We are seeking detailed feedback from Active Travel England so we can understand the reasons behind their decision. We hope to work with them to progress schemes in these areas and elsewhere in the county successfully in future.”

Harrogate Borough Council to be abolished today

Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished at the end of today after 49 years of existence.

The council, along with six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council, will be replaced by North Yorkshire Council from April 1.

The move comes as part of the biggest shake-up in local government since 1974.

It means North Yorkshire Council, which will employ 11,500 staff, will be responsible for all council services in the district, including bin collections, planning, licensing and highways.

The change will also see the district represented by 16 councillors, instead of the current 40 on the borough council plus more on the county council.

Among those councillors stepping down are Richard Cooper and Graham Swift, the leader and deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council respectively.

‘We will be locally-based’

The new leaders of the unitary council have pledged the new authority will be local, despite being based in Northallerton.

Speaking ahead of the takeover, Richard Flinton, the new chief executive of the council, defended the authority from criticism that it was too remote.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“We will have locally-based managers who have a strong understanding of the issues in their areas.”

The authority’s leadership says while one safeguard against parochialism on the new authority would be in its executive members representing communities from across the county, another is by retaining its headquarters in Northallerton.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.

Mr Flinton said:

“If our headquarters was in Harrogate or Scarborough then there might be more of a concern that we would be focused on that as the council view of the world.

“Being in a fairly modest market town mitigates against that.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative leader of the new council, defended the decision to create 90 councillors to cover the entire county – rather than the current number of 319 which cover different councils.

He said:

“Representation by numbers doesn’t work. What matters is if you’ve got energetic people in the cohort of 90. The great benefit of reducing from 319 is that we have saved £750,000.

“I think we’ve got enough members to represent the people and continue the political process. You don’t have to go to a parish meeting to understand what’s happening in that parish.”

Business Breakfast: ‘Bed bug dog’ proves a hit as pest event returns to Harrogate

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The fourth in our series of networking events, with Banyan Bar & Kitchen, is a breakfast event on April 27 from 8am.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

More than 500 professionals have been in Harrogate for a pest control conference for the first time since early 2020.

PPC Live, hosted by the British Pest Control Association, shared the latest innovations in the industry with visitors from across the UK and Europe.

Held at the Yorkshire Event Centre, it included a demonstration by Brian Leith and Benji the dog, showing how they can identify a bed bug infestation.

Lauren Day, events manager at BPCA said:

“We were delighted to be back in Harrogate and networking with visitors, sponsors and exhibitors from across the industry.

“PPC Live gave visitors the chance to get hands-on with new pest kit, meet the people designing and distributing the latest in pest control technology and of course see interesting demos like Benji the bed bug detection dog in action.”

Harrogate firm secures first council wellbeing award

A council-run workplace wellbeing scheme has given the first level of accreditation to a Harrogate business.

Pemco, based in Starbeck’s Spa Lane, signed up to the Workplace Wellbeing Award through the public health team at North Yorkshire County Council.

The scheme gives businesses a framework to ensure staff welfare is made a high priority.

For Pemco, which offers management support and training services to other companies, this has meant hybrid working, modern office facilities, and team-building events. The company has also committed to not contacting staff by email outside working hours.

Holly Astbury, a partner at Pemco and the company’s wellbeing lead, said:

“The award process has been a fantastic opportunity for us to focus on our employees’ health and wellbeing.

“The support from the Workplace Wellbeing team at the council has been invaluable, especially the opportunity to carry out an in-depth health needs assessment, which gave us an insight into our employees’ needs and allowed us to tailor an action plan to suit them, rather than guessing in the dark about which interventions to implement.”

Design lead Andrew Liddle said:

“Flexible working has made a massive difference to mine and my family’s routine. It takes away a huge headache of having to pick the kids up from school before work finishes.

“The monthly team meals are great for us all to catch up together, as well as the social events outside of work like the picnic and quiz night.”

Established in 2010, Pemco currently has a team of seven, and is recruiting as part of its expansion plans.

NHS places to be lost as Ripon dental practice closure announced

A dental practice offering NHS care in Ripon is set to close in three months’ time.

Bupa’s practice on Finkle Street will shut its doors on June 30, with the national company citing a lack of dentists to provide care.

The Finkle Street branch has provided NHS and private dental care. The Bupa Clock Tower practice in North Parade is unaffected, as are Harrogate’s Raglan Suite and Bupa Dental Care in East Parade – but none of these is accepting new adult NHS patients.

Finkle Street is one of 85 across the country to be closed, sold or merged over the coming months. As well as problems with recruiting, Bupa said rising costs influenced its decision.

Bupa Dental Care general manager Mark Allen said:

“As a leading dental provider in the UK, our priority must be to enable patients to receive the care they need.

“For the majority of affected practices, this decision will allow commissioners to procure local providers for the NHS contract, tailoring services and investment to the needs of the local community, thereby providing a better opportunity for patients to continue access to NHS dental services.”

Bupa said it will hand back its dental contract in Ripon to the NHS, allowing commissioners to find a new provider for NHS dental services.

However, the issue of NHS provision has already raised concerns in the Harrogate district.

It was raised in the House of Commons last month when Daisy Cooper, MP for for St Albans, said only half of children in North Yorkshire had seen an NHS dentist last year.

Last month, the chairman of North Yorkshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee, Cllr Andrew Lee, said he had raised the issue of NHS dental access in the county with the government.

The NHS website does not list any practices in the Harrogate district as accepting new adult patients for NHS treatment. Only two – Bupa’s Clock Tower in Ripon and Boroughbridge Dental Centre – are shown as taking new patients aged under 18 on the NHS.

Previously known as Oasis Dental Care, the Finkle Street practice had five surgeries and employed six dentists, a hygienist, seven dental nurses, a practice manager and two receptionists when the Care Quality Commission last inspected in 2016.

Bupa has not confirmed how many jobs will be lost as a result of the closure, but said it would redeploy staff “where possible”.

Mr Allen added:

“We fully understand the impact today’s decision has on our patients and our people within these practices. This decision has not been taken lightly and closure is a last resort.

“Despite our continued efforts, the dental industry is facing a number of significant and systemic challenges that are placing additional pressure on providing patient care, in particular recruiting dentists to deliver NHS dental care.

“This decision enables us to focus our efforts on high-quality, continued sustainable care for patients across our wider portfolio.”

Harrogate Neighbours opens care home in Boroughbridge

Not-for-profit care provider Harrogate Neighbours has opened a care home in Boroughbridge.

Heath Lodge Community Haven is a 31-bed home providing residential and dementia care.

The site was previously a North Yorkshire County Council-run care home called Springfield Garth.

Harrogate Neighbours acquired it as part of a swap agreement that saw the council take over the voluntary organisation’s former 28-bed Heath Lodge care home on Pannal Ash Road in Harrogate.

Harrogate Neighbours hopes its Boroughbridge home will eventually offer the same services as those provided at The Cuttings, its 55-flat development in Starbeck that includes domiciliary care as well as meals on wheels to older and vulnerable people living nearby.

It spent £500,000 refurbishing the York Road site with the help of Yorkshire interior design firm Design Tonic, which donated furniture and staff time to help create a warm and welcoming environment for residents, relatives and staff.

Design Tonic advised on colour palettes to create a calming and comfortable atmosphere and refurnished the ground floor bedrooms with fresh paint and new curtains and carpet. It also re-designed the entrance area using splashes of gold and built a feature reception desk.

Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours said:

“We can’t thank the wonderful team at Design Tonic enough. As a not-for-profit organisation, we rely on the generosity of local businesses.

“The staff, residents and relatives have all commented on how fantastic the entrance area looks – we’re so grateful for all their hard work.”

Design Tonic founder Amanda Cook, said:

“Working with Harrogate Neighbours and seeing first-hand the impact the transformation has had on residents and staff is why we do what we do.

“We work with a number of local charities that we align ourselves with and it’s great to share our expertise and give something back – particularly when we know what a huge difference it makes.”

Heath Lodge Community Haven received a ‘Good’ rating in all areas following a recent Care Quality Commission visit.

Otley Road to be closed for cycle route improvements

Otley Road in Harrogate will be closed for five nights next month while remedial works are carried out to the cycle path.

The work follows a review of the project by North Yorkshire County Council and contractor WSP after its completion last February.

The company had been asked to carry out improvements, including carriageway resurfacing, but this was delayed until after CityFibre installed new fibre broadband infrastructure earlier this year.

Now, dates have been set for the remedial work.

Otley Road will be closed between Cold Bath Road and Harlow Moor Road every night from April 24 to 28, from 7pm to 3am.

The Stray Ferret asked the council for full details of the work to be carried out, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

The news of the planned works follows an announcement from the council that it was scrapping the second phase of the three-part cycle lane scheme.

The first phase, which saw shared and segregated cycle lanes installed on Otley Road between Cold Bath Road and Harlow Moor Road, has come under fire since its construction. As part of a joint project which also aimed to widen the junction between Otley Road and Harlow Moor Road, it cost more than £2.2m.

Pedestrians have said the shared paths do not feel safe, while cyclists said it did nothing to encourage more people to cycle.

As a result, the council said it is reviewing plans for schemes to encourage active travel and would not be extending the cycle route to Beech Grove, as originally planned.

Speaking last month, the council’s executive member for transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:

“Our proposal to consider an alternative package of sustainable transport measures demonstrates how we are listening to public feedback. Halting construction of phase two allows us the opportunity to prepare new measures with local input and support.

“The constraints of Otley Road meant it was always going to be difficult to meet government cycle infrastructure design standards without infringing on the Stray, widening the road or removing trees.

“We consulted on a number of options, but these were not fully compliant and attracted criticism. Cyclists have expressed concerns that the proposed cycle way would not encourage more cycling due to its design, while pedestrians said they were concerned about their safety.

“Given the concerns, it is right that we think again and explore alternative measures to promote walking, cycling and use of public transport.”

Plan approved for new classroom at Harrogate district primary school

Plans have been approved to build a new permanent classroom at Great Ouseburn Community Primary School.

The school on Main Street in the village was established in 1884 and currently caters for 96 pupils.

North Yorkshire County Council applied to itself for planning permission to demolish an existing pre-fabricated classroom that was built in 2013 in order to replace it with a larger and permanent building.

The current prefabricated classroom is 88 square metres whereas the new building will be more than twice the size at 177 square metres.

The council’s planning and regulatory functions committee met this morning in Northallerton and approved the application.

The plans also include the removal of a tree, landscaping works and a new astroturf sports pitch.

This new unit will be made up of two teaching classrooms that will share cloakroom space and toilets between them with separate teaching storage rooms in each classroom. Each classroom will provide a minimum of 30 spaces for children.

A report to councillors ahead of the meeting said although there will be a new sports pitch some grass areas used by children for play will be built upon.

It called this “unfortunate” but said the proposed development would improve the school teaching capabilities as well as cater to the current number of students attending the school.

There were 20 letters of support and three objections.

Councillors asked for the new builds to be resited, solar panels to be added and for the removed tree to be replaced with three semi-mature trees.

Friends of Great Ouseburn School has launched a crowdfunder to raise £75,000 for the project.

It says the council will fund part of it and the school will pay the rest. Work is expected to take place during the summer holidays.

It says:

“We are a small village school, but have grown in numbers to almost double the size that we were four years ago. It is brilliant to have a happy, thriving school, but the rapid increase has come with some issues. We have two classrooms that are too small for a full class and we have been trying to find a solution to this for a couple of years.

“The most vital part of this is the extension of existing classroom space and installation of toilets that will allow our nursery and reception age children to access their own toilets.”

Fears for vulnerable families after changes to Harrogate district children’s centres

Concerns have been raised about vulnerable children and families missing out on vital support in the Harrogate district.

Parents and professionals have told the Stray Ferret changes to children’s centres, including the health visiting service, have led to a decline in the support available.

Mum Jen Earl said the support on offer after her son was born in April 2020 was a fraction of what it had been following the birth of her daughter in September 2018.

She said the difference is apparent when looking through her children’s record books, which showed regular checks at health visitor drop-in sessions for her daughter, but barely anything for her son. She said:

“I really missed that input. I didn’t have anywhere to go. You could ring the health visitor and leave a message and sometimes it would be two weeks before someone would phone back. Really, the type of questions you’re asking, you need a quick response.”

She used to attend a weekly breastfeeding support group in central Harrogate in 2019, where there was “always a friendly face and you could ask questions”. She also went to workshops about weaning and baby sleep.

She added:

“It’s so sad when I think of all the first-time mums who have missed out.

“It must be so frustrating for the health visitors because they went into their profession to support mums and babies in that initial phase. To not be able to do those basic things like weighing babies must be hard.”

Bilton Children’s Centre is based on the site of the former Woodfield Primary School

Mum Emily Clough, whose son was born in December 2020, said all her contact with the health visiting service was positive and useful, but she still suffered because of the lack of face-to-face opportunities.

“I felt supported by them directly, although there was no weigh-in, no face-to-face clinics – there was no social space. That’s what was missing for me.

“I’m glad I didn’t have any real long-standing challenges in breastfeeding or my son didn’t have any drops in weight. We didn’t have any concerns, but had those clinics been on, I would have taken him to be weighed.

“By default, that would have initiated other conversations.

“When I say I didn’t struggle, in hindsight I struggled in terms of being really isolated.”

One perinatal mental health professional, who asked not to be named, told the Stray Ferret local services were already seeing an impact from the reduction in face-to-face health visiting support.

She said she had worked across North Yorkshire for several years and the Harrogate district had previously had the best mental health support in the county, such as through the Mums in Mind support group.

Since covid, she said, there had been a rise in demand for perinatal mental health services. She believes this is because opportunities to spot problems at an early stage are no longer available.

She said:

“A lot of our referrals came from health visitors and midwives. That has significantly dropped. They’re just not out there seeing those women.

“We’re seeing people a lot more in crisis now than we ever did before.”

She added the impact of the changes had also affected health visitors, who she said were no longer able to carry out their roles as effectively as they wanted. She added:

“It’s just complete devastation and absolutely heartbreaking.”

‘Blended approach’

North Yorkshire County Council, which is responsible for support to families including the health visiting service, said children’s centres across the Harrogate district remain open.

Cllr Janet Sanderson, executive member for children and families, said:

“The majority of our children centres are now open and delivering targeted activities to children and their families where a need has been identified. The way we deliver activities has evolved as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Over the past two years, the Early Help service has redesigned the delivery of activities to support children and their families, moving to a blended approach of virtual and face-to-face activities.

“This has enabled the delivery of countywide virtual activities which families are able to access from their home, reducing the need for the number of premises.”

The council has already announced it will consult on the closure of five children’s centres across North Yorkshire, including Pateley Bridge, which have not been used since the pandemic. If that closure goes ahead, the facility is likely to be used by St Cuthbert’s Primary School, based in the same building.

Cllr Sanderson said the council was working alongside voluntary and community groups to develop activities in their areas. She said the Get Going Grant scheme had been used to support 93 groups in the last year.

Meanwhile, she said NYCC had invested in a programme to support parents with their mental health and it was also being used in schools and early years settings to increase access.

A Grow and Learn project was being run with libraries to deliver activities to support children’s early communication, she said, adding:

“As part of this work, we have developed a training programme which is accessible to all services working with children and families, including the voluntary and community sector.

“That enables agencies to access training to support them with their Early Help offer to children and their families.”

Ms Sanderson said virtual health visitor drop-in sessions had been available online since last summer instead of face-to-face sessions, while the new model of delivery also included sessions on topics including breastfeeding, weaning and other infant advice.

She also said any families with concerns can call the 0-19 service from Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, on 0300 303 0916.

Have you been affected by the changes to children’s centres and the health visiting service? Email us or call the newsdesk on 01423 276197.

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‘Blended approach’