Stray Views: Where can we go to escape the stresses of life in Harrogate?

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Selling of council land at Oak Beck

The council have now decided to flog off this last piece of green space in New Park. Apparently to provide a bit of dosh to prop up the
conference centre business in fear of Leeds grabbing OUR visitors.

Piece by piece this lacklustre council having spent lots of dosh on pointless and ineffective plans and schemes, now are evicting wildlife from the final vestiges of natural environment.

This is a lovely area of peace, where we can hear the birds, and listen to the beck gurgling it’s way (sometimes sewage as well).

Where are all these creatures to go? Where can we go to escape the stresses of life in Harrogate? Another rotten plan from a soon to be defunct council.

William B Thompson, New Park, Harrogate

Reduction in the Fire Service in Harrogate.

I have not seen the details of this proposal to fully comment.

However, since the Harrogate fire station was built some years ago and staffed with the suitable staff levels and appliances, Harrogate has expanded massively with additional housing and industrial units.

Just looking from my car driving into Harrogate by the A59 or by Penny Pot. Huge housing developments. Industrial units near the Army College. Even Killinghall has probably doubled in size with additional housing.

This is happening throughout the area.

Then there’s the condition of the older existing properties both housing , retail and business premises.
These properties will have been modified over the years and retail and business properties may well have not had proper upgrading of fire resistance ( work done on the cheap).

These older properties will have timber roofing members, floor joists which will be now tinder dry and with the change in climate, plus heating and other equipment not being updated, the fire risk will have increased quite a lot.

Remember the huge fire next to what was the North Eastern pub some years ago?

Any reduction will impact public safety.

So any reductions seem unwise!!

Allan Campbell, Harrogate

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Starbeck should support KFC expansion – a response

 William Powell makes some good points in his call for Starbeck’s KFC to be expanded, but he is wrong to dismiss the views of local people.

He is right that Starbeck is in a wonderful strategic position between Harrogate and Knaresborough, with excellent transport links. He is right that empty premises on our High Street are a bad thing.

He is right that Starbeck has a vibrant economy, but this is driven by the local residents of our diverse area who use these shops and facilities. But they are also impacted by those businesses, whether its litter, noise, traffic or a range of other issues that local people regularly raise with the Residents’ Association.

So the Starbeck Residents’ Association (SRA) asked people who live locally what they thought about KFC’s plans and others. And views were split. Some thought it was most important to fill empty premises. Others wanted a wider diversity of businesses on a High Street that already has plenty of takeaways. Both are right and not contradictory.

The SRA recognises that we cannot force particular enterprises into a particular area. That’s why we are in touch with the local Chamber of Commerce and others about what more we can do to promote Starbeck. It has a well used library, swimming pool, successful sports clubs and facilities like Belmont Park and a real sense of community, with numerous local voluntary groups attached to our vibrant church communities and many others.

So let’s be ambitious for our area. I know I’m not alone in being proud to live in Starbeck and together we can make it better.

Chris Watt, Chair Starbeck Residents’ Association

Four dogs rescued from hot car in Harrogate given back to owner

Four dogs rescued from a hot car in Harrogate today are fine and have been handed back to their owner after receiving treatment from a vet.

The Stray Ferret reported today that bystanders at Oak Beck Retail Park off Skipton Road had to smash a car window to free the dogs who were trapped for 40 minutes without even a window open.

Fortunately, there were vets working at the nearby Vets4Pets, which is inside Pets At Home.

A spokesperson for Vets4Pets said the labradors were given treatment and after a health check that showed they were OK, were handed back to the owner. They added:

“Touch wood we got to them in time”.

The article provoked a furious response from Stray Ferret readers on Facebook with many incredulous that the owner would put their pets’ health at risk during today’s sweltering heat.

It is not illegal to leave a dog in a hot car but owners are legally responsible for their pets’ health and welfare.

If a dog becomes ill or dies in a hot car, the owner could be charged with animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This could lead to a prison sentence and/or a fine.

The Stray Ferret understands a North Yorkshire Police officer attended the scene. We have asked NYP for a statement on the incident but are yet to receive a reply.

PDSA, the vet charity for pets in need, has an article on its website that advises people on what to do if you find a dog in distress inside a car.

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No start date yet for Harrogate’s Oak Beck Bridge replacement

North Yorkshire County Council said today there was no confirmed start date to demolish and replace a footbridge near Harrogate’s New Park roundabout.

The council previously said work would begin in January to replace Oak Beck Bridge, which it says is in poor condition.

The A59 road on which the bridge is situated is heavily used by traffic, especially by people visiting Aldi, B&Q and Pets at Home on the Oak Beck retail park.

The volume would increase if Tesco is given permission to build on the former gas works site nearby.

The council previously said work would take place from January until July this year and temporary traffic lights would be used throughout. The road will remain open to single-way traffic.

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On Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones’ Community News website, Matt Scott, the Conservative councillor for Harrogate Bilton and Nidd Gorge said last week a bridge engineer at the council had told him work would begin in April.

But a council spokesperson was unable to confirm this date when asked by the Stray Ferret and said the start date had yet to be confirmed.

Plans for the new Tesco include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road.

Specialist paramedics rescue woman who fell in Harrogate woods

Specialist paramedics rescued a woman who had fallen and injured herself in a Harrogate woodland.

Two Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) and a regular ambulance team attended reports of a fall at 11am just off Oak Beck Road, close to the retail park.

On arrival the paramedics secured the area and managed to get the patient out of the woods and into the ambulance.

The paramedics then took her to Harrogate District Hospital for treatment. It is unclear at this time what level of injuries the woman sustained.

A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said:

“We received an emergency call at 11.01am this morning to reports of a female who had fallen in the woods behind the retail park on Oak Beck Road in Harrogate.

“We dispatched an ambulance and the Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene and one patient was conveyed to Harrogate Hospital.”

The HART teams provide care to people in a hazardous environment that would otherwise be beyond the reach of NHS care.

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Skipton Road set for six months of disruption as new bridge plans approved

Motorists using Skipton Road will face six months of disruption after plans were approved to demolish and replace a footbridge near the New Park roundabout.

North Yorkshire County Council is behind the plans to replace Oak Beck Bridge, which the council says is in poor condition.

The road is heavily used by traffic, especially by people visiting Aldi, B&Q and Pets at Home on the Oak Beck retail park.

Works are set to take place from January 2022 until July 2022 and temporary traffic lights will be used throughout. The road will remain open to single-way traffic.

A council spokesperson said it would be able to say how much the works will cost once it has appointed a contractor.

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The bridge is close to where a new Tesco supermarket is proposed at the site of the old gas works.

Plans for the new store include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road.

A public consultation on the plans ended in October. A full planning application is expected to be submitted before the end of the year.

Fears 4,000 new homes in Harrogate could increase sewage in rivers

Building thousands of new homes in Harrogate could lead to more raw sewage ending up in the River Nidd, the Harrogate & District Green Party has warned.

A Stray Ferret investigation published this morning revealed Yorkshire Water released raw sewage into rivers and becks such as the Nidd, Ure and Coppice Beck for 36,000 hours last year.

Water companies are legally allowed to release sewage through overflow pipes when the sewage system becomes too full.

New housing developments are being built on Skipton Road and Penny Pot Lane.

With more developments proposed for Otley Road. it could mean over 4,000 new homes being built on the western side of Harrogate alone.

The Greens say Oak Beck, which runs from near Beckwithshaw, through the west of Harrogate and into the River Nidd, could suffer the brunt of this.

Oak Beck

Arnold Warneken, who is standing for the party in the upcoming North Yorkshire County Council Bilton and Nidd Gorge by-election, said more needed to be done to tackle the problem.

He said:

“Whose job is it to mitigate the negative impacts of housing developments on the environment?

“We would like to see that any developments in this area are built with consideration to the combined sewer overflows, that Yorkshire Water fixes long-standing issues, and ensures new housing developments do not exaggerate these issues.”

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Yorkshire Water said yesterday it is investing £137m in storm overflow improvements, investigation and increased monitoring by 2025.

“We are also investigating the environmental impact of 158 frequent spilling overflows as part of the Water Industry National Environment Programme.

“As frequency of spill does not necessarily equate to environmental harm and environmental permits do not set spill threshold limits, these investigations will be key to understanding environmental impact, and what action needs to be taken to resolve any impacts.”