The boss of Harrogate Bus Company has said the government’s Bus Back Better strategy to make services more affordable and reliable will be “hollow” without more funding.

Alex Hornby’s comments come after council officials warned North Yorkshire would not get “anything near” the £116million it bid for from the scheme, which promises to “transform” services but has seen its budget slashed from £3billion to £1.4billion.

Mr Hornby, who is chief executive of Harrogate Bus Company’s parent firm Transdev Blazefield, said the scheme will be “insufficient” to fund all proposed improvements across the country, including those planned for Harrogate. he said:

“We felt the plans for Harrogate were ambitious with new bus priority on the main bus routes to make buses faster and more reliable – things us and our customers want, and what we know will attract more people on board.

“These plans are not new – they have been waiting for funding since before the pandemic – and we hope North Yorkshire County Council will continue to seek funding.

“We have worked solidly with the county council on their enhanced partnership, but it’s a bit hollow without funding for enhancements.”

The council will next month enter into a new “enhanced partnership” with bus operators in order for North Yorkshire to get access to funding for its proposed £116million Bus Service Improvement Plan.

The plan asks for £23million to build more bus lanes, £74million for other infrastructure improvements and £14million for support for services.

There are also proposals for a simpler ticketing system and better information on journeys.

Read more:

• Early morning train from Harrogate to Leeds cancelled
• Highways boss ‘confident’ Harrogate park and ride can still be funded

However, council officials have warned it was “unlikely” that North Yorkshire would receive all of the £116million it bid for and that there was a possibility it could get no funding at all.

Harrogate congestion

They said any funding received would be prioritised to areas where they believe it is needed the most, including Harrogate, which has some of the best bus services in North Yorkshire but still suffers with the worst traffic congestion.

Included in the plans is a park and ride pilot scheme for Harrogate, and officials expressed confidence that enough cash could still come forward for this.

They also said the on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track journeys in Ripon, Masham and Bedale would also be high on the priority list for financial support.

Separately, council officials said they were also confident about another bid for £8million of government cash to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet electric.

If successful, Transdev would contribute £11.5million towards the costs of buying 39 zero-emission buses.

A government decision on this bid is expected before the end of the month.

Mr Hornby said even without government funding, Harrogate Bus Company’s network has still improved in recent years as he also set out some of the areas that he believes should be prioritised for investment:

“New housing developers will help expand the network and we would encourage colleagues at North Yorkshire County Council to focus on improving the infrastructure and bus shelters, some of which are now well past their best.

“Our bus network in Harrogate has thrived without capital spending from the public sector thanks to our investment in the class-leading fleet on the 36, the first all-electric town network and in new and refreshed low emission buses elsewhere.”

Nominations have opened for candidates hoping to become one of the 90 councillors on a new unitary authority for the whole of North Yorkshire.

Elections to the new council will take place on May 5, with candidates able to put their names forward until April 5.

The move to a single council will mark a crucial time in North Yorkshire’s history and comes after the government announced in July that the area’s eight county and district councils would be scrapped in April 2023.

Elected councillors will represent 89 new divisions on North Yorkshire County Council for one year, before serving a four-year term on the new council.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, said the councillors would play a key role in shaping how public services will work in the future as he also urged residents to make sure they are eligible to vote.

“If safe communities and thriving business matter to you, or services like schools, social care, housing, planning, roads, waste management and leisure, then it is really important that you take part in these elections.

“The people elected will determine the vision and values of the new North Yorkshire Council from the beginning.”

Read more:

• Ed Balls discusses politics and stammering during Harrogate school visit
• New North Yorkshire Council chief executive planned for autumn

The opening of nominations follows Parliamentary approval of legislation for the new council to replace North Yorkshire County Council and the seven district and borough councils in Harrogate, Selby, Scarborough, Craven, Hambleton, Ryedale and Richmondshire.

The Structural Changes Order approved last week also enables parish elections to be held on the same day as the county elections.

Nomination papers must be completed by those wanting to stand as candidates in both the county and parish council elections. These papers are available from the district and borough councils.

To be able to vote you must be on the electoral register by April 14. Those who are signed up will receive polling cards or letters which are being sent out from the last two weeks in March.

Voters who are not able to get to their local polling station on May 5 can apply to vote by post or proxy.

A chief executive for the upcoming North Yorkshire Council is due to be in place by autumn this year.

The move to a single council will mark the biggest change to local government in North Yorkshire in almost 50 years.

The existing county council and seven district and borough councils will be scrapped to make way for North Yorkshire Council.

This week, senior councillors agreed on an implementation plan for the new authority, which will come into place in April 2023.

As part of the plan, a new senior management board and chief executive will be appointed as part of an open process.

The document before senior councillors said:

“For all posts, but critically those with senior management and leadership responsibilities, it is critically important that the new council has the right people at the right level doing the right things and behaving the right way.”

Details of salary and roles at the new council have yet to be published. 

Current county council chief executive, Richard Flinton, received a total pay packet, including allowances, of £179,431 in 2019/20, according to latest transparency figures published by the authority.

Read more:

• Harrogate can be economic driver for North Yorkshire after devolution, says council chief
• Roadmap to new North Yorkshire Council will ‘hold feet to the fire’ on promise of better services

Four other senior officers also earn more than £100,000.

Meanwhile, almost all remaining staff will then be transferred across on April 1, 2023, as all services from bin collections to business support, and social care to highways, come under new control.

North Yorkshire councils chief executive salaries:

• Richard Flinton, North Yorkshire County Council – £179,431
• Wallace Sampson, Harrogate Borough Council – £115,277
• Justin Ives, Hambleton District Council – £132,676
• Mike Greene, Scarborough Borough Council – £112,892
• Tony Clark, Richmondshire District Council – £98,702
• Paul Shelvin, Craven District Council – £105,669
• Janet Waggott, Selby District Council – £109,767
• Stacey Burlet, Ryedale District Council – £105,504

*Figures are based on each council’s latest transparency information.

Key decisions on the new council, such as its location, decision making and economic strategy, are set to be made after the May elections.

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, was one of several members of a new executive board that approved the implementation plan for the new North Yorkshire Council.

He said while he previously supported a rival vision for two new councils split on an east/west basis, he believed the plan would ensure the single council meets the overall aims of saving money and streamlining services.

Cllr Swift said:

“Today we have got a document in the public domain which I find extremely exciting because it starts to lay out the principles of what the new council can be.

“This is a document which can be used to display with confidence the plans that our councils have, but it will also keep our feet to the fire.”

Elections for the new North Yorkshire Council will be held on May 5. and the deadline to register to vote is April 14. You can register to vote here.

A decade-long bid to join two bridleways on the rural edges of Harrogate could finally come to fruition this year. 

North Yorkshire County Council is consulting on a creation order, which would enable it to join up bridleways 61 and 129 in the Crimple Valley. 

The link between the two would be created via a stretch of former railway line on the Rudding Park estate, which its owners agreed could be designated a bridleway in 2014. 

Sue Rigby, who represents the Byways and Bridleways Trust and has been involved in the Opening Up Crimple Valley campaign from the outset, told the Stray Ferret: 

“The whole point of the Rights of Way Network is that it is a network and it makes sense. It’s a much-needed and historic route and it was there long before any of us. 

“Particularly for riders, they are extremely brave to use the roads around there. The riding school takes disabled children out too. To have somewhere for them to go rather than into the road is so important.” 

The current proposal, which would create a circular route, has been widely supported by walkers, horse riders and countryside organisations. However, it has been held up because of a piece of land, measuring just a couple of metres wide, which would be needed to create the final link. 

The owner has so far refused to give permission for the bridleway to cross the 2m stretch of land. People using bridleway 61 alongside the Crimple Viaduct continue to find the path comes to an abrupt halt before it joins the former railway. 

Bridleway 61 (blue) and bridleway 129 (orange) could be joined by a stretch of former railway line on the Rudding Park estate (green) despite objections over a short stretch of land (red).

Mark Mackaness, owner of the Rudding Park estate, who has worked with the council and local supporters to plan the bridleway link, expressed his frustration that the process had taken so long and was still not complete. 

“This is a tragic example of maladministration and waste of public funds over the eight years since the creation order was first made.” 

Ms Rigby said everyone involved was very grateful for Mr Mackaness and the Rudding Park estate’s generosity. Now, she hoped the struggles of the last decade could be set aside and the aim could finally be achieved.

“People lose faith in the system when things don’t work, especially with something as obvious as this. But we are now all positive and hopeful for the future.”

‘Long-standing issue’

Michael Leah, NYCC’s assistant director for travel, environmental and countryside, said: 

“We are currently carrying out a consultation to inform a decision on whether to make a creation order under s26 of the Highways Act 1980. 

“If made, the order would record a short length of bridleway to connect bridleway no 61, which runs under and alongside the Crimple Viaduct, with bridleway no 129, which runs along a section of old railway line and was dedicated as a public right of way by the Rudding Park Estate. 

“This has been a long-standing issue, and a decision will be made once all views have been considered as part of the consultation.” 

The consultation currently being held over the creation order closes on Tuesday, March 22. Anyone who wants to take part can email their views to NYCC’s definitive map officer Ron Allan at ron.allan@northyorks.gov.uk. 

Read more:

• Future of Ripon’s Hell Wath nature reserve generates heated discussion
• What is being filmed at Crimple Valley viaduct?
• Controversial Crimple Valley homes plan withdrawn

North Yorkshire County Council officials are still confident that a park and ride in Harrogate can be funded despite cuts to government funding.

A park and ride scheme is among the measures proposed by the county council as part of a series of transport initiatives to reduce traffic and ease congestion.

Two locations in Pannal on the 36 bus route were identified as possible sites.

On Tuesday, county council officials warned that it was “unlikely” that the authority would receive all of its £116 million bus improvement bid from government – which would help to fund the scheme.

But Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for highways, told a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee that he was still confident that there would be enough funding for a park and ride scheme.

He said:

“The various interventions following the Harrogate Congestion Study and the Harrogate Transport Improvement Programme are every much prioritised in our bus services improvement plan.

“Even if we get reduced funding, which is likely, I am confident that there will be money there for the various interventions that we want to make in Harrogate including a pilot for park and ride.”

Read more:

• Free school cycling lessons to be ended in North Yorkshire
• Otley Road cycle route progress ‘appalling’, says cycle group
• Harrogate still a ‘top priority’ for bus improvements despite funding warning

The news comes as the county council bid for £116 million worth of funding to improve bus services in North Yorkshire.

The county council unveiled its Bus Service Improvement Plan in October with proposals for more bus lanes, cash support for existing and new services and a simpler ticketing system.

But, the government wrote to councils in January highlighting how its £3 billion budget to “transform” bus services had more than halved to £1.4 billion.

Hope that electric buses bid will be successful

Separately, the county council has also bid for £8 million of government cash to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet electric.

If successful, the company’s parent firm Transdev would contribute £11.5 million towards the costs of buying 39 zero-emission buses.

Cllr Mackenzie told the area constituency committee that he remained confident of being successful in receiving the funding.

He said:

“I remain fairly confident about that [the bid]. We ought to hear something about that by the end of this month, that was originally the deadline given to us.”

A new roadmap for the creation of a single council for the whole of North Yorkshire will “hold feet to the fire” on the promise of better services, a senior Conservative has said.

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, was one of several members of a new executive board that today approved an implementation plan for the new North Yorkshire Council set to take over from April 2023.

He said while he previously supported a rival vision for two new councils split on an east/west basis, he believed the plan would ensure the single council meets the overall aims of saving money and streamlining services.

Cllr Swift said:

“Today we have got a document in the public domain which I find extremely exciting because it starts to lay out the principles of what the new council can be.

“This is a document which can be used to display with confidence the plans that our councils have, but it will also keep our feet to the fire.”

Major change

The move to a single council will mark the biggest change to local government in North Yorkshire in almost 50 years, and will mean the existing county council and seven district and borough councils are scrapped.

It is linked to a devolution deal with government which said millions of pounds in funding and decision-making powers could only be devolved to North Yorkshire if a unitary system is introduced.

North Yorkshire County Council had proposed the single council plan, while the district and borough councils except Hambleton, which rejected all options on the table, made a bid for two councils split on an east/west basis but failed to win government support.

Read more:

• Harrogate can be economic driver for North Yorkshire after devolution, says council chief
• Business owners to quiz Harrogate council leaders over devolution

These opposing views were described as an “elephant in the room” at today’s first meeting of the new executive board which is made up of 17 county, borough and district councillors from across North Yorkshire.

But members said they were willing to put their previous preferences aside in order to plan for the transition to the new council.

The implementation plan sets out how elections to the new council will take place in May, followed by the appointment of a new council chief executive by autumn and a corporate management team by January 2023.

Residents will be a priority

Almost all remaining staff will then be transferred across on April 1, 2023, as all services from bin collections to business support, and social care to highways, come under new control.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, told today’s meeting that while the transition of services and staff would be a challenge, the needs of residents would still be a priority.

He said:

“We are trying to create a strong council that will be able to meet the huge challenges that will hit the communities of North Yorkshire in the years ahead.

“There will be further austerity and that will need to be tackled by local government and other public services.

“We are finding there are growing numbers of people that need the protection of council services and we expect those challenges to rise over the coming years.”

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to resurface the whole of Bogs Lane.

Previously, the council said it would only lay fresh tarmac on the stretch of road from the Forest Lane junction of Knaresborough Road to Henshaw’s College. Work began last week.

The road, just off the main A59 Knaresborough Road, is in a busy residential area that has been affected by numerous new housing schemes.

However, following requests from resident Malcolm Binks and Starbeck Liberal Democrat councillor Philip Broadbank, the county council has now agreed to resurface the whole stretch of road.

Cllr Broadbank said that this will now include the section from Henshaw’s College to the low bridge that connects Bogs Lane to Kingsley Road.

He said:

“The road’s been in a very poor condition for a long time. It beggared belief the county council didn’t decide to do it until now.”

The councillor said the resurfacing work should be completed by the end of this week.

Read more:

• 18-month road closure order begins on Starbeck’s Bogs Lane
• Bogs Lane to be resurfaced next month

Traffic problems are expected this week when the principal route to and from two of the Harrogate district’s busiest business parks is closed for two days.

Between 7.30am and 5.30pm on Thursday and Friday, an eight-tenths of a mile section of Melmerby Green Lane, between the A61 and Barker Business Park, will be shut for carriageway repairs.

The daytime work on those days presents a huge headache for heavy goods vehicle drivers because the so-far un-signed detour route from both business parks will inevitably mean drivers will have to turn left towards the village of Melmerby on a road which has a 7.5 ton weight limit on it.

The weight limit sign on the approaches to Melmerby

HGV drivers making deliveries at both business parks were scratching their heads when the Stray Ferret visited. One said:

“I haven’t a clue where the diversion route will take me, but if I have to turn left and head towards Melmerby, the size of my lorry means I will have to break the weight limit.”

Another HGV driver said:

“This is a crazy situation, Thursdays and Fridays are two of the busiest days of the week for deliveries.

“Why couldn’t they have planned the roadworks at night, like they did with the work on the Ripon bypass bridge?”

North Yorkshire County Council’s highways team, says:

“Drivers will be able to follow a diversion route to avoid Melmerby Green Lane while the work is in progress and there will also be advance notifications on the A1.”

Within 100 yards of the Potter Space business park is the weight limit sign

NYCC’s highways area manager Melisa Burnham, said:

“We appreciate there will be some disruption involved and have done everything possible to minimise that, with a fully-signed diversion and advance warnings on the A1, particularly aimed at HGV drivers who may be heading to the business park.

“We are pleased to be carrying out work on Melmerby Green Lane and the road will be safer and better to use when it is complete.

More information is available on the roadworks map at www.northyorks.gov.uk/roadworks-map

Read more:

• Night time working to minimise disruption on Ripon bypass
• Double delay for Kirkby Malzeard road users

Harrogate will remain a top priority for bus service improvements, a council official has said despite warnings the region could be left with little or no funding from the government’s Bus Back Better scheme.

Michael Leah, assistant director for transport and environment at North Yorkshire County Council, told an executive meeting today it was “unlikely” the authority would receive all of the £116million it bid and there was a possibility it could get no funding at all.

This comes after the government wrote to councils in January highlighting how its £3billion budget to “transform” bus services had more than halved to £1.4billion.

Mr Leah told today’s meeting:

“The overall availability of funding has reduced and therefore expectation has dampened across the county.

“If we are to get a number, it will unlikely be £116million.”

Mr Leah explained that any funding received would be prioritised to areas where the county council believes it is needed the most, including Harrogate which has the worst traffic congestion in North Yorkshire.

Ripon and Masham also ‘high on list’ for support

He said the on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track journeys in Ripon and Masham, would also be high on the list for financial support. He added:

“If we were to not get any funding, there are still parts of our enhanced partnerships scheme which we could see through, such as better bus timetable information and more coordinated work with operators.

“It’s not just about the money.”

The county council unveiled its Bus Service Improvement Plan in October with proposals for more bus lanes, cash support for existing and new services and a simpler ticketing system.

Crucially, the aim is for services to cover the whole of North Yorkshire – something which has been described as an “enormous challenge” for England’s largest county.

It is hoped these targets will be also met through so-called enhanced partnerships where the county council will agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.

Electric buses

Separately, the county council has also bid for £8million of government cash to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet electric.

If successful, the company’s parent firm Transdev would contribute £11.5million towards the costs of buying 39 zero-emission buses.

Read more:

• Free school cycling lessons to be ended in North Yorkshire
• Otley Road cycle route progress ‘appalling’, says cycle group

The different plans are all part of the overall aim to solve Harrogate’s congestion woes by encouraging people out of their cars and onto public transport.

But the scale of the challenge can be seen in figures which show just 6% of short commuting trips within Harrogate before the pandemic were on a bus – and that this was decreasing year-on-year.

And while Harrogate is the most populated area in North Yorkshire and is being seen as a priority for investment, the county council has been urged not to forget other parts of the county, particularly rural communities.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, responded to say improvements to rural bus services have formed the “backbone” of the Bus Service Improvement Plan:

“There are huge challenges in providing affordable transport to a county as large as our own.

“But without question, one of the priorities we have is to improve bus services in rural areas, whether by traditional or more modern means as has been the case with YorBus.”

Harrogate library will close on Saturday for just over a fortnight to enable large-scale maintenance work to be carried out.

The project, which involves all three floors, includes remedial damp works, redecoration and the replacement of energy-efficient lighting.

The building will close at 4pm on Saturday and is scheduled to reopen at 9am on Monday,  April 4. Customers will be able to borrow additional books to cover the closure period.

North Yorkshire County Council, which is responsible for libraries, announced the news today.

Neil Irving, assistant director for policy, partnerships and communities at the council, said:

“These much-needed improvements will have lasting benefits to Harrogate library; one of our largest and busiest in the county.

“We apologise for the inconvenience it will cause to library visitors but we are encouraging people to come and borrow a selection of books to keep them going over the closure period.”

Read more:

• Refurbishment reveals ‘ghost sign’ of former Harrogate library
• Bilton and Woodfield Community Library closed due to flooding

The nearest alternative libraries are Starbeck Community Library, Knaresborough Library and Customer Services Centre and Nidderdale Plus Community Library.

You can also browse, reserve and renew items and access your library account online here or via the library app.

The work was previously scheduled to take place from January 22 to February 7.