Could Harrogate be the home of the new North Yorkshire Council?

As the formation North Yorkshire Council edges closer, questions have been raised over where the new authority should be based.

From April 2023, North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and the six other district authorities will be abolished and replaced with a new council.

A decision has yet to be made on where the new North Yorkshire Council will be based.

North Yorkshire County Council is based at County Hall in Northallerton, which is the hot favourite to be home to the new unitary authority.

But Harrogate’s modern Civic Centre has been suggested as an alternative. Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, told a Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting this month that Harrogate’s Knapping Mount had a case.

He said:

“It’s still not decided where the new council will be and it could be Harrogate. It would certainly have the best office facilities in North Yorkshire.”

No decision will be made on the location until after the May local government elections. So what are Harrogate’s prospects and what is at stake?

Harrogate or Northallerton?

The location of the new authority will be one of the key decisions that councillors make in the coming 12 months.

Ninety councillors will be elected to North Yorkshire Council, covering 650,000 residents and 32,000 businesses across England’s largest county.

The location of the new council matters because most key decisions will be made there.

Across North Yorkshire, Harrogate is the highest populated town with 75,070 people. The town itself is one of the two main urban areas in the county, along with Scarborough, and benefits from transport links, a vibrant hospitality sector and various public facilities.

North Yorkshire County Council offices in Northallerton.

It also has a modern council facility. The Knapping Mount headquarters, which staff moved into in July 2020, is purpose-built for local government. It is designed to accommodate 500 staff.

The council said the building cost £13 million. However, the Stray Ferret investigated the overall cost of the move from Crescent Gardens and put the figure closer to £17 million.

County Hall in Northallerton was built in 1906 and has served as the headquarters of various local governments in North Yorkshire, including North Riding County Council up until 1974.

The grade II listed building underwent a £500,000 refurbishment in 1999.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council. Picture: NYCC.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council. Picture: NYCC.

Conservative Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, told the Stray Ferret that it would make sense for the new council to remain at county hall.

However, he added that the authority does plan to implement local office space for staff and a “double devolution” agenda for local decision making.

He said:

“It will be for the new council to decide. But there is a lot of jobs in Northallerton.

“It would not make sense to move from Northallerton.”

The sentiment is echoed by Liberal Democrat Cllr Philip Broadbank, who represents Starbeck on the county council. He said:

“There is a high chance it would in Northallerton because it is more central.

“The Harrogate council has been mentioned, but it needs to be central.”

But for Independent Cllr Stuart Parsons, the future needs to be based around regional decision making.

Cllr Parsons, who represents Richmond on the county council, said the council needed to be “trimmed” and decision-making should be spread around the county.

He said:

“I suspect they [the council[ see themselves where they are. But no one has thought to ask if that is sensible.”

Why does the council’s location matter?

Much of the criticism over the new council is that it is too remote.

The county is scattered in terms of populations, with an estimated 160,830 people in the Harrogate district compared to 55,380 in Ryedale.

Having such a large county makes the headquarter issue even more important.

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For example, if a planning decision relates to Starbeck the issues are more likely to be understood by council officers based in Harrogate than in Northallerton

Cllr Parsons said there needed to be a plan for how “double devolution”, which would give powers to local areas, is distributed.

“There needs to be a short, medium and long-term plan. We are nowhere near that.”

What happens now?

County council leaders have said a decision on where the new council will be based will not be made until after the May elections.

Currently, an implementation board made up of senior council officers and an implementation executive, which includes cabinet members from across the county, is working through proposals.

Once the new councillors are elected, decisions will be made on matters such as location, planning, senior management committees ahead of North Yorkshire Council coming into operation in April 2023.

Foster carers sought in Harrogate district — with lure of £41,000 earnings

People in the Harrogate district are being urged to consider a change of career to become foster carers — with the lure of payments and allowances that can add up to the equivalent of £41,000 a year.

North Yorkshire County Council said this week it was seeking more foster carers, and that the role came with “highly attractive rewards” as well as the satisfaction of helping children from the most challenged backgrounds.

It said the level of payments meant it was possible for recruits to opt out of their current careers for a change of life that also made a difference to the community.

About 310 fostering households in North Yorkshire provide a range of types of foster placements on behalf of the county council.

Candidates are found by Fostering North Yorkshire, which provides training and access to a fostering social worker. Back-up is also available from other specialist carers and fostering staff.

Harrogate foster carer Annette said:

“Fostering is so rewarding and it feels wonderful to watch the children develop and know what a difference you have made — it really does change lives.”

‘We were apprehensive at first’

A couple called Aisha and Chris became foster carers after their children left home for university. Aisha had worked with children in residential care so she had a suitable background.

She said:

“I have to admit we were quite apprehensive in the run up to the first young person who joined our family as we weren’t sure exactly what to expect or if we would know how to handle it.

“Now, looking back, I am so glad we made the move into specialist care. There have certainly been difficult times and we have heard about some really disturbing things that young people should never have to go through.

“But the change and growth in the children we have looked after, when they are offered a stable, caring, environment, is incredible to see.”

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Recruitment drive

Fostering North Yorkshire Service Manager Alan Tucker said:

“Fostering North Yorkshire is always keen to hear from those with an interest in becoming involved in any type of fostering and the service is currently running a recruitment drive for specialist carers – we hope to recruit at least four additional specialist foster carers across the county.

“Specialist carers will already have significant experience of working with or caring for young people who have experienced early childhood trauma that can lead on to challenging behaviour in later life. Due to the demanding nature of the role it also comes with a generous allowance of up to £41k per annum.”

North Yorkshire County Councillor Janet Sanderson, executive member for children’s services, said:

“Any kind of fostering is a great way of helping society as well as specific young people, but specialist foster carers give an even more special service.

“That is why we need people who have experience, either working with or caring for young people with complex needs.

“The people we are looking for will be caring and compassionate, but with the ability and wherewithal to offer the intensive support the young people in their care are likely to need.

“This is not a role to under-estimate and that is reflected in the remuneration we are able to offer.”

More information is available here.

New moves to improve cycling in North Yorkshire

A local authority facing a huge demand to increase cycling infrastructure has revealed it is mapping all non-public right-of-way cycle routes for the first time to make it easier for people to swap their cars for bikes.

North Yorkshire County Council’s highways team is set to produce a cycling route map spanning England’s largest county while also examining moves such as segregating road users as sweeping Highway Code changes are introduced to make cycling easier and safer.

The announcements follow the authority being inundated with proposals for cycle route schemes from residents and community groups after the authority received £1m from Department for Transport Active Travel Fund last year to improve the infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

Despite numerous calls for action to enable active travel in rural areas, the council said it would focus the funding on large towns, such as Harrogate, as greater populations meant better value for money.

Harrogate currently has cycling routes planned for Otley Road and Victoria Avenue in Harrogate and Harrogate Road in Knaresborough.

A meeting of the county’s Local Access Forum this week heard safety concerns continued to be a major factor in determining whether people chose to cycle and that the government was trying to discourage segregating cyclists by using white lines, “given that white lines don’t do anything to protect cyclists”.

Instead, highway officers said, the authority was now moving towards physically segregating cyclists and motorists, but it was a more expensive than simply using white lines and would “not happen overnight”.

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The forum’s chairman, Paul Sherwood, said action was needed to improve roads for cyclists. He said:

“Is the highways section of the county council aware of the incredibly dangerous situation of the appallingly maintained roads in which cycling is extremely hazardous in the way the roads are at the moment?”

Funding from developers

Officers replied that the roads were subject to a scheduled programme of inspections and the council was looking to gain extra funding through property developers’ contributions for safety improvements. The meeting heard the availability of funding could increase when the forthcoming unitary authority controls most of the county’s planning matters.

The meeting was told it was hoped a county-wide map of non-public right of way routes would make it easier for cyclists to plan.

An officer said:

“We recognise it is not that easy to find out where those routes are. We are moving towards making that more accessible.”

The meeting heard the authority would be taking into account the HIghway Code changes, in which cyclists are encouraged to cycle in the middle of the road, but the changes were unlikely to impact on the design for cycling infrastructure.

Councillors were told the council would examine schemes such as one introduced in parts of York where bollards have been placed at the side of the road to segregate cyclists and motorists, which had increased safety for cyclists while the narrowing of the road had slowed traffic.

New gritter tracker shows which roads in Harrogate district are being treated

An online gritter tracker for North Yorkshire has been launched to help drivers plan their journeys.

The service by North Yorkshire County Council shows people in real time where gritters are being deployed on the authority’s priority routes and where they have been during the preceding 10 hours.

Any gritting will disappear after 10 hours to avoid confusing previous treatments with recent or current ones.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, said:

“The online gritter tracker is a further tool to help people to make informed journey planning decisions with confidence, particularly during wintry conditions. It gives more detail than ever before, allowing people to see where gritters are and which parts of the network have recently been treated.

“This is a bespoke service that has been developed in-house specifically for North Yorkshire. It is no small feat to develop a system to track up to 80 gritters and all the data they generate.

“We are confident that from day one it will provide a useful service to people travelling in the county, but we are keen to hear from those who use it about any refinements that could improve it further.

“By launching it during this winter, we hope to receive feedback on live situations, which we will be able to review over the summer. Ahead of next winter, we will be able to introduce any enhancements to ensure it provides information that is as full and accurate as possible.”

You can view the online tracker here.

The online gritter map showing the roads treated in Harrogate in the previous 10 hours.

The online gritter map showing the roads treated in Harrogate in the previous 10 hours.

True grit – facts about North Yorkshire gritters

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Long-awaited Otley Road cycle lane opens to safety concerns

The first phase of the much-anticipated cycle lane on Otley Road in Harrogate was completed today amid safety fears by a cycling campaign group.

North Yorkshire County Council has now completed the initial stretch from Harlow Moor Road to Arthurs Avenue. It is the first of three phases on Otley Road.

However, the junction with Harlow Moor Road has given Harrogate District Cycle Action group cause for concern.

Kevin Douglas, chairman of HDCA, told the Stray Ferret the cycle route was a “step forward” overall but the junction failed to meet safety standards:

“We can see that they have widened the junction for cars. It is great news for drivers but that was not the point of the scheme.

“In its current form I do not think it meets the minimum safety standards.

“The council is planning to widen the path at the junction by using land owned by Yorkshire Water which would improve the situation but until then it is too narrow.

“Overall I see this as a step forward. The sooner we have cycle lanes that connect houses on the edges of town with the town centre the better.”

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North Yorkshire County Council has been working closely with Mr Douglas and other local cycling groups as part of the consultation process.

Much of the route is shared with pedestrians.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, told the Stray Ferret:

“There has been some criticism about the fact that it is shared access with pedestrians and cyclists, but that has always been part of the design.

“I have had many conversations with Mr Douglas. He is concerned about the pinch point at the Harlow Moor Road junction but we are going to resolve the issue. It’s a fair assessment.

“We have reached an agreement with Yorkshire Water so we can widen that path. I cannot give a date on when those works will start.”

Construction of the second phase, from Cold Bath Road to Beech Grove, is due to start in April. There is still no timescale for phase three, which will connect to Cardale Park.

Mr Mackenzie also raised the prospect of eventually extending the cycle lane to Beckwithshaw. He told the Stray Ferret it would likely receive funding due to the number of housing planned for the area. Developers, as part of planning consent, would be expected to fund the route.

Council predicts loss-making Brierley Group will return to profit

North Yorkshire County Council is predicting its trading arm will bounce back into profit this year after reporting significant losses.

The county council’s leadership has said while the overall profits of The Brierley Group remain lower than anticipated, the in-kind “shareholder value” of the companies to the public purse in the year to April, through savings, would be almost £6 million.

A meeting of the shareholder committee of the council, which has embraced a “culture of commercialism” to help protect frontline services, heard The Brierley Group was forecast to recorded turn last year’s £639,000 loss into a £268,000 profit for the 12 months to April.

Officers told the meeting the three months to September last year had seen “lots of ups and downs” so across the group after tax there had been a loss of £330,000 for the quarter, against a budgeted loss of £1,000.

They said the main reasons for the loss was the impact of covid-19 and struggles to retain staff.

Officers said while its educational services firm had been hit by unpredictable uptake of school meals, making it impossible to achieve the necessary economies of scale, he firm was looking at innovative ways of working “to build on that commercial success as we move into a post-covid world”.

The meeting heard roadworks company NY Highways, which launched in June last year, was set to generate a small profit, and its property services firm Align profits were expected to exceed budget and be ahead of pre-covid trading, while internet service firm NYNet had also seen a strong performance.

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However, councillors were told as its property developer firm Brierley Homes had three sites under construction at Pateley Bridge, Millwright Park and Marton cum Grafton, the group’s overall figures were being skewed by the length of time it would take to generate profits.

The meeting heard there had been challenges over getting labour and materials, which had hit the schedules, but the sites would start generating profits in the coming year.

‘A step in the right direction’

Officers said Brierley Homes were creating a business plan which would ensure a steady stream of sites and houses into the future to ensure it was regularly profitable.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said: 

“This is certainly a more encouraging report than we had a year ago, and even though the outlook for the year is less profit than we hoped for it is, nevertheless, a step in the right direction.”

Councillors heard the £5.9 million of “shareholder value” was equivalent to just short of a 2% increase in the authority’s council tax demand alongside improvements in services.

The meeting was told complaints over road maintenance had dropped since the launch if NY Highways, which was also more responsive to specific issues than previous contractors.

The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, said local authorities up and down the country were looking at The Brierley Group “with envy”.

He said: 

“We are at the cutting edge of local government when it comes to matters like this and I think it is something that we should celebrate more.

“So those doom-mongers who are forever criticising the performance of the group, and we have had them, perhaps ought to take that into consideration.

“Shareholder value isn’t just about the financial returns. It’s the performance to the council as client and ultimately to the residents that we serve.

“If we did not operate the Brierley Group we would not benefit from £6m-worth of shareholder value.”

Inquest to explore how Harrogate boy, 16, died in adult homeless hostel

An inquest will investigate how a 16-year-old Harrogate schoolboy, who was exploited by county lines drug dealers and struggled with mental health issues, died in a homeless hostel for adults.

Benjamin Nelson-Roux, a student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died in Harrogate on April 8 2020. His body was found by his mother, Kate.

The North Yorkshire Coroner’s Office held a second pre-inquest review in Northallerton today to review the evidence ahead of a full inquest.

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Jon Heath, senior coroner for North Yorkshire, listened to submissions from lawyers acting on behalf of the family as well as the various agencies involved in the case. Mr Heath said:

“In the full inquest I must consider the risk to Benjamin and the responsibility Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council had for him.

“He was placed in this hostel because it was staffed 24 hours a day. The hostel is for adults. Benjamin was 16-years-old. He was deemed to be ‘at significant risk of death’ just two days before he died.”

Mr Heath revealed that he would call 23 witnesses at the full inquest, which is due to be heard over 12 days on a date to be determined before July.

First section of Otley Road cycle lane due to be finished this week

Work on the first phase of the new Otley Road cycle lane in Harrogate is due to be completed this week.

North Yorkshire County Council blamed “severe weather” for delaying the completion of the initial section between Harlow Moor Road and Arthurs Avenue before Christmas.

Last week it said it would be completed by February 21 but in a further update this week it said it will be ready on Friday.

The Stray Ferret has been sent footage of a cyclist travelling downhill along the route towards Cold Bath Road last weekend.

Much of the route is shared with pedestrians, which was one of several points flagged up in a blog by Hedgehog Cycling, which says shared use is not appropriate on urban streets. Some businesses have expressed similar concerns.

The blog, which covers cycling in Yorkshire, also raises concerns about the width of the route in some sections, saying it measures 93cm in one area — below the 150cm minimum requirement.

But it hails the cycleway priority at side roads, such as Pannal Ash Drive and Hill Rise Close, as “the biggest improvement over previous North Yorkshire pavement cycling efforts”.

Another cycling group, Harrogate District Cycle Action, has urged people to hold judgement until the entire route is completed.

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What happens now?

Construction of the second phase, which will cover Harlow Moor Road to Beech Grove, is due to start in April. There is still no timescale for phase three.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council said:

We are aiming to complete phase 1 by January 28, and we hope to start phase 2 in April 2022. Phase 3 relies on developer funding from the west of Harrogate urban extension.

“Plans are currently being worked on, which will then lead to more detailed planning, including a feasibility study.”

A cyclist sent in this video of the cycle lane to give others an idea of what to expect. What do you make of the layout?

Harrogate residents campaign for hedgehog signs

Residents concerned about the number of hedgehogs being killed on a Harrogate street have applied for signs alerting motorists to the danger.

People on Forest Lane and Forest Moor Road petitioned Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones and North Yorkshire County Council. Hedgehogs are included in the list of animals vulnerable to extinction.

As a result, the county council has made its first application to the Department for Transport to install signs.

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Mr Jones, a Conservative who was a minister in the department when the warning signs were introduced, said on his Community News website:

“Biodiversity is important. That is why I want to back campaigns like this. Residents in the Forest Moor area have told me that injured, and more often dead, hedgehogs are a regular sight.

“If these signs just encourage motorists to pay that bit more attention in the area we can help reduce the numbers and do our bit to increase the vulnerable hedgehog population.”

Mr Jones said he “will be encouraging a quick and positive response”.

Harrogate Station Gateway could take a year longer to complete than expected

Work on Harrogate’s Station Gateway project could continue into 2024 — considerably longer than first indicated.

The scheme was given the green light by North Yorkshire County Council’s executive yesterday, paving the way for its implementation.

The Department for Transport, which is funding the initiative, had set a deadline of March 2023 for completion. Councils supporting it had said in consultation documents “it is anticipated that construction of the scheme will begin in spring 2022 for approximately 12 months”.

But North Yorkshire County Council, which is the lead partner on the scheme, said after yesterday’s meeting the Department for Transport had now advised the deadline could be extended into 2024.

A county council spokesman said:

“Although the Department for Transport set an initial completion date of March 2023, the department has advised that completion could extend into 2024.”

This could lead to longer-term disruption for businesses already concerned about the impact on trade, although the councils have said “we will aim to ensure all roads remain open to traffic at all times, and noise and other disturbance from the works will be minimised”.

What happens now with the gateway?

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive councillor for access, has hailed the £10.9 million gateway initiative as the “greatest investment in decades” in Harrogate town centre.

Key proposals include reducing Station Parade to one lane and the part pedestrianisation of James Street to encourage more walking and cycling.

Yesterday, senior county councillors gave their backing for the scheme to move to detailed design stage and for a final business case to be drawn up.

The final case will be submitted to West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which administers the funding for the Harrogate, Skipton and Selby schemes, which together are worth £42 million.

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Council bosses said the business case could be submitted by May 2022.

They added work could start on the Harrogate project “later this year”. They had previously indicated work would be underway by spring or summer but now appear to less specific.

Impact on businesses

The council backed the scheme despite considerable opposition from businesses and residents groups.

David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, told councillors that businesses had been “ignored” and that an economic impact study did not take into account the disruption on businesses.

He said:

“Does the economic impact study take into account the disruption delivering this Project will have on businesses already on their knees through to the ongoing impact of covid?”

Barrie Mason, assistant director of highways at the county council, responded to say officers were “reluctant” to make a final economic case while “designs were evolving”.

However, he added that the “foundation” of the council’s economic case had been shared with businesses and the public at a meeting organised by Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce in November 2021.

Mr Mason added:

“We delayed publishing a final economic case until after the consultation had been completed and any amendments could be taken into account.”

He went onto to say that the county council would “work closely with contractors” to minimise any disruption to the town centre by construction of the scheme.