County council says Bilton housing scheme ‘should be refused’

North Yorkshire County Council has said the layout of a 53-home development in Bilton is ‘not acceptable’ and the plan should be refused unless the developer agrees to pay for the widening of Knox Lane.

North East firm Jomast wants to build the homes on a field on Knox Lane in an application that has been reduced from 73 homes.

The county council, which is in charge of the Harrogate district’s roads, has submitted a response to the application as part of the consultation process.

It warned the development does not comply with standards it sets around roads and new housing schemes.

The section of Knox Lane where the homes would be built is narrow and leads towards a popular beauty spot.

Residents have long argued the road is unsuitable for any extra traffic the homes would bring but the developer’s transport report concluded the development would not lead to congestion.

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Paul Roberts, the county council’s highways officer, wrote to Harrogate Borough Council last week and said the development should be refused unless changes are made to Knox Lane as well as private roads within the site.

He wrote:

“The highway authority therefore advise that the application should be refused unless further information is provided by the developer. The layout of the site is not acceptable and will need to be amended to comply with the highway authority guidance/standards.”

Mr Roberts said Knox Lane should be widened to 5.5 metres with a two-metre footpath.

He added:

“This work shall be implemented as part of the project and if the application is approved implemented under a S278 agreement with the highway authority which the authority may wish to lead on.”

Residents’ concerns

The Stray Ferret met a group of Bilton residents in February who raised their concerns about the development and its impact on local roads.

With the busy Skipton Road nearby, and Knox Lane itself a narrow thoroughfare, Bob Wrightson said the roads surrounding the development would soon be gridlocked.

Mr Wrightson said:

“Fifty-two houses — a lot of people have cars, which has not been addressed. There might be another 100 cars using these roads and it will be gridlock.”

In February, Jomast and planning consultants Spawforths issued the following joint statement to the Stray Ferret:

“The planning application is supported by a number of specialist technical reports, including a transport assessment, which demonstrates the proposed development would not lead to any additional congestion of the local roads.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will decide on the application.

Polling stations open as Harrogate district votes for new council

Polling stations across the Harrogate district opened at 7am this morning as elections take place for the new North Yorkshire Council.

The unitary authority, which comes into existence on April 1 next year, will replace North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council.

Councillors elected will serve on North Yorkshire County Council for its final year and then a further four years on North Yorkshire Council.

The political make-up of the council, which will be determined today by voters, will shape services for 600,000 people in North Yorkshire over the next five years.

A total of 310 candidates are contesting 90 seats in the county.

Polling stations close at 10pm tonight and results will be announced tomorrow.

The Stray Ferret will attend the declaration of results and provide full details as they happen.

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Harrogate district goes to the polls tomorrow

People in the Harrogate district will go to the polls tomorrow for perhaps the most important local elections for almost 50 years.

Voters will shape key services for 600,000 people in the county by deciding the political make-up of the new North Yorkshire Council.

The unitary authority, which comes into existence on April 1 next year, will replace North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council.

Councillors elected tomorrow will serve the final year of North Yorkshire County Council and then a further four years on North Yorkshire Council.

It represents the biggest shake-up in local government in North Yorkshire since 1974, when the current structure of local government was introduced.

Tomorrow’s elections will see 310 candidates contest 90 seats in 89 electoral divisions.

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The Conservative Party, which currently controls North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council, is fielding candidates in all 90 seats. There will also be 67 Labour and Co-operative Party candidates, 48 Green Party candidates, 45 Liberal Democrats and 45 Independents. The remaining 15 candidates will be from a range of other smaller parties.

Richard Flinton, the county returning officer for the election who is also the chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“This is an opportunity for everyone who is registered to vote to help decide on who they want to represent them at what is a defining moment for North Yorkshire.

“The importance of these elections is hugely significant, as it not only lays the foundations for the decision-makers for the new unitary authority, but it also paves the way for a devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York.”

The government has stipulated that a new unitary authority is a key requirement for any devolution deal for North Yorkshire, which could see an elected mayor with new powers.

Polling stations will be open across the county from 7am until 10pm tomorrow.

More details about the new electoral divisions and the May 5 county council elections are available here.

 

Knaresborough junction set for four weeks of roadworks

Drivers are warned to expect delays in Knaresborough for the next four weeks as roadworks start today.

Temporary traffic lights will be in place on the junction of Chain Lane, Wetherby Road and York Road.

North Yorkshire County Council is carrying out remedial work and replacing the kerbs at the junction.

Work will start today, May 3, and last for four weeks.

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The move comes after the road recently had temporary traffic lights for two weeks while Northern Gas Networks carried out work on the junction.

The gas distributor for the north of England replaced metal pipes with newer plastic versions.

It said in a press release the work would “ensure a safe and reliable supply of gas to customers now while getting the network ready to transport alternative greener fuels such as hydrogen in the future”.

A1(M) junction 47 upgrade at Flaxby completed

Long-term work to upgrade junction 47 on the A1(M) at Flaxby has now been completed.

The project, to improve infrastructure before more houses are built in Knaresborough and Green Hammerton, is at least £2.3 million over budget and took seven months longer to complete than planned.

The original budget was £7 million. This had increased to £10 million by September and the final cost has yet to be revealed.

The A59 corridor has been identified in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, as an area of rapid increase in residential and business growth.

Work on the junction began in September 2020 and this week became fully operational. The traffic lights have been switched on for the first time and all lanes are now open.

Three of the four slip roads, on and off the roundabout, have been widened to increase capacity.

Traffic signals are now in place on the roundabout to manage traffic flow and a T-junction has been added between the A168 and A59 to help drivers on the York side turning onto the A59.

A lane has been added to the west of junction 47 between the A1 and Flaxby roundabout so there will be two lanes in each direction between those two roundabouts.

Rapid growth

Barrie Mason, North Yorkshire County Council’s assistant director for highways and transportation, said the rapid growth in the area meant the works were essential.

He said:

“This important scheme has the aim of supporting the future growth and prosperity of Harrogate and Knaresborough. We anticipate significant residential and commercial development along the A59 corridor, resulting in many more people using this key link road.”

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The council attributed the delays to the discovery of great crested newts, which must be legally relocated, covid and poor ground conditions.

Mr Mason added the traffic lights will need to be monitored to ensure the timings are right and reduce queueing. He has asked motorists to be patients whilst the final adjustments are made.

The project has been supported by £2.47m from the government’s Local Growth Fund, secured by York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, along with contributions from the county council, National Highways and developer Forward Investment LLP.

David Dickson, chair of the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership infrastructure and joint assets board, said:

“This project is a real boost for the York and North Yorkshire economy. By improving east-west connectivity, the much improved junction unlocks the opportunity for further economic growth across the region.”

Baroness Masham removes posters after Tory complaint

Swinton Estate owner Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, who is standing as an Independent in next month’s local elections, has removed some roadside posters after Conservative complaints.

In a sign of the election campaign hotting up, the Stray Ferret received an anonymous message today saying the Skipton and Ripon Conservative Association had alerted Harrogate Borough Council to ‘a breach of political campaigning rules’.

The message said Ms Cunliffe-Lister, whose formal title is Baroness Masham, had breached the rules by erecting the signs on roadside verges maintained by North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority.

When we contacted Ms Cunliffe-Lister today she said she had just spoken with Harrogate Borough Council and had agreed to remove some posters following a “minor misunderstanding of the rules”.

She said she had permission from a landowner to put signs up on private land but the council had explained that “some posters are on the highways verge rather than private land”. She added:

“It was a minor misunderstanding of the rules. I thought I had permission from the landowner.

“I’m new to all this — I haven’t taken part in elections before and it was down to my misinterpretation of the rules. We all have to obey the rules, which is why I will remove them.”

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A spokesperson for Skipton and Ripon Conservative Association said it had “flagged up” the issue on Friday because “you can’t put posters up on county council verges”.

Asked if it was happy with the action Ms Cunliffe-Lister intended to take, the spokesperson said:

“As long as they have been removed that’s absolutely fine.”

The signs were put up just outside Ripley on the B6165 road to Pateley Bridge.

Elections to the new North Yorkshire Council, which will replace North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, take place on May 5.

Ms Cunliffe-Lister is standing against Conservative Margaret Atkinson, who currently represents Masham and Fountains on North Yorkshire County Council and Fountains and Ripley on Harrogate Borough Council, and Liberal Democrat Judith Hooper.

The Stray Ferret has contacted Harrogate Borough Council for comment.

County council agrees to take part in government adult social care funding pilot

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to take part in a pilot for a government system to fund adult social care.

A meeting of the county council’s executive heard becoming one of the country’s first five local authorities to take up the government’s charging reforms programme would create a series of uncertainties for the council in an area which already accounted for almost half of its budget.

Nevertheless, officers underlined that if the new system was not working for the authority there would be opportunities to pull out of the pilot.

Although it will be up to the incoming North Yorkshire Council to make a final decision over joining the Trailblazer pilot, after receiving the unanimous support of the outgoing executive the scheme is likely to see numerous measures brought in.

Everybody who is receipt of care will have the right to have an account where the total cost of care over their lifetime is capped.

An £86,000 cap on the amount residents will need to spend on their personal care is set to be introduced in North Yorkshire from January next year, nine months ahead of elsewhere.

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Also, the point at which people become eligible to receive some financial support from their local authority, will rise to £100,000 from the current £23,250.

The council’s social care executive member Councillor Michael Harrison said it was important North Yorkshire helped shape national policy as it had a disperate care market, with 235 care homes spread across England’s largest county.

However, he said the authority did not know if the changes would entail a huge bill for the council as it remained unaware of how many people currently receiving care in the county funded it themselves.

Alongside uncertainties surrounding the information technology needed, the council remains unclear about the impact on the care market there is a risk to the council in that it could cost more than has been budgeted for.

However, Cllr Harrison said it was clear the new system was weighted more heavily in favour of residents, and particularly those with an average amount of savings, than the government.

He added: 

“It would be a bigger leap in the dark if we weren’t involved in the pilot. There is undoubtedly going to be some unknown consequences and hopefully they will be flushed out during the pilot. 

“It also means we are shaping national policy. This is really important that councils with rural areas rather than urban ones with a straightforward care market where the council is the biggest client help shape the system.

“In North Yorkshire we have a huge say in the market, but there’s so many self-funders, the market will take its own course. If it works the benefits are brought to North Yorkshire residents earlier than the rest of the country.

“This is definitely a step forward but there is still a lot of stress in the care sector. We still think more needs to be done to raise the profile and the conditions of those working in the sector to make it more attractive to people.”

Harrogate district primary school places: Majority of parents get first choice

The vast majority of parents have got their child in to their first choice primary school in the Harrogate district, new figures reveal.

Primary school admissions statistics for entry in September show that 96.6 per cent of children have been given their first preference.

The figures published by North Yorkshire County Council also show that 99.5 per cent of pupils got one of their five preferences.

However, some parents have been left disappointed.

Nicola Njie’s daughter missed out on a place at her first choice school of Killinghall and her second of Hampsthwaite. She was offered her third choice of Bilton Grange, which she says is closer to where she lives, but she works full-time at a nursery in Killinghall.

She plans to appeal against the decision, but said she had to explain to her daughter that she “probably wouldn’t be going to school with most of her friends”.

She said:

“I will appeal and see what happens.”

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Stuart Carlton, the county council’s corporate director of children and young people’s services, said every effort was made to accommodate the families’ preference of school for their child.

He said:

“The handful of children not offered one of their families’ school preferences were offered a place at their local school.

“Families can preference any school, and are encouraged to preference up to five schools.

“Where a school is oversubscribed, the admissions criteria for the school determines the priority for places. In most cases, the deciding factor is the distance from home to school.

“We closely monitor developing areas to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to accommodate the children living in the local area.”

Mr Carlton said parents could appeal here.

Across North Yorkshire, there has been a slight increase of more than one per cent from last year to 96 per cent on the number securing their first choice.

Mr Carlton added:

“We wish all children who start primary school in September all the best and hope they enjoy a happy and exciting start in their new schools.”

Rodent droppings found in kitchen of Harrogate care home

A Harrogate care home has been put in special measures after inspectors found rodent droppings in the kitchen and some medicine practices were found to be “unsafe”.

The Care Quality Commission inspected Mary Fisher House care home on Cold Bath Road in February.

In a report published yesterday, the care regulator rated the home as “inadequate” and placed it into special measures.

The inspection found that parts of the home, which provides personal and nursing care for up to 24 people, had “not been well maintained and were unsafe”.

Bedrooms “smelt strongly of urine” and there was evidence of rodent droppings in the kitchen.

On occasions, residents had either been given medication late or had not been given any.

It said:

“Medicines practices were unsafe.

“There were occasions whereby people who used the service had received their medicines late or had not been given them, as there were none left. Sufficient and timely actions were not taken to address this.

“A medicines policy was in place, but staff practice was not always in line with this. Staff who administered medicines had not always been trained.”

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Inspectors also found that staffing levels at the home were unsafe, with some reporting that there “wasn’t always enough staff to meet their needs in a timely manner”.

However, the report did find that staff were polite with people at the home and “worked hard to try and meet there needs”.

‘Fallen below standards’

In a statement, the home said it regretted that it had “fallen below the standards expected of us”.

The home, which is run by Svivekcaregroup Limited, said:

“Areas for improvement were identified in the recent inspection and we are committed to working closely with the CQC and North Yorkshire County Council to ensure changes are made quickly to redress this situation.”

Rachel Bowes, North Yorkshire’s assistant director of adult social care, said: 

“The CQC inspection identified some serious failings but we are confident management at Mary Fisher House want to take swift and meaningful action to improve the service they offer.

“We fully intend to support them in that and look forward to seeing progress. We were also pleased to see the CQC report highlighted the fact that staff at Mary Fisher House worked hard to meet the needs of people in their care and people were able to speak freely when the inspection took place.”

Calls for ‘European-style’ waste collection in Harrogate district

Waste and recycling managers have been asked to consider introducing ‘European-style’ waste collection systems in North Yorkshire.

Under the proposed radical overhaul, residents in the Harrogate district could get central points to deposit their waste.

A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s transport, economy and environment scrutiny committee was told that the new unitary authority, which will begin in 2023, represents an opportunity to “work better in terms of waste minimisation”.

In some European countries, waste is deposited into a central skip buried underground with a post box-style top.

Councillors were told the scheme could benefit urban areas and where people live closely together, such as North Yorkshire’s coastal villages, but in rural areas there would be issues over where the skip was sited.

Officers commented while such a scheme would put an increased onus on residents to consider the waste they were producing, it would also be a “cultural shock”.

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Conservative councillor for Ribbelsdale, David Staveley, replied that 10 years ago, it would have been “unheard of” to have electric vehicle charging points, solar panels or ground source heat pumps in new-build homes.

He said with central waste skips residents would not have to find space for the growing list of separate bins.

Cllr Staveley said:

“It’s not good enough just to say people might get a bit shocked. People get shocked about a lot of things in life, but I think the world has moved on in the last couple of years and we are open to all sorts of new ideas.”

Conservative councillor for Harrogate Bilton and Nidd Gorge, Paul Haslam, said he supported a more “radical” approach to waste due to the amount of new homes being built in the county.

He said:

“I fully support a more radical approach, particularly as between now and 2025 there are probably going to be about 20% more houses built.”