Paul Haslam Archives - Page 3 of 4

Call for urgent review of new bins after dog poo bags litter Jennyfields

A councillor has called for an urgent review of litter bins in the Jennyfields area of Harrogate after reports of dog poo bags piling up.

North Yorkshire Council has removed three bins close to Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre — formerly the Hydro — and replaced them with two larger bins.

The old bins were situated in areas used by walkers and dog owners but the new ones are alongside main roads.

This makes them easier to empty but less convenient for people using the fields around the leisure centre to use.

Consequently litter and dog waste bags are being left to pile up.

Councillor Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents the area on North Yorkshire Council, said the new bins were designed for dog waste and general waste and are emptied by household waste collection crews rather than requiring a separate collection.

He added:

“These have been successfully rolled out in the other villages I represent after some initial teething problems.

“I am however aware of the specific concerns raised in Jennyfields and have asked for an urgent review of the number and siting of the bins.”

Dog owners are discarding dog waste where the bins used to be on the fields rather than carry it to Ripon Road.

Jennyfields residents have contacted the Stray Ferret with their concerns since the new bins arrived last week.

Elizabeth Horner said:

“I live near the Hydro fields and the amount of rubbish from having no bins in area has got disgusting.

“Sadly I’ve counted 15 bottles on the field today.”

Dog walker Diana Salama added:

“I have spoken to seven other dog walkers who regularly walk their dogs at the Hydro. All were puzzled and confused as there is nowhere to easily dispose of poo.

“One lady commented that to go up to the main road meant a long detour and putting the dog on a lead and she would not do this.

“Two were confused and had ended up taking poo home but had no intention of doing this ongoing. Two had left poo bags where the bin used to be.”

She added:

“No one felt the new concept was effective for dog walkers even though it’s clearly better for the council.”

Ms Salama said there was particular anger at the removal of the bin next to the basketball court.

The field near the basketball court.

The Stray Ferret spoke to several dog walkers in the area this morning who agreed. They said the amount of litter and dog waste in this area, where young people congregate, was worrying.

We asked North Yorkshire Council why the change had been made and whether any consultation had been carried out.

However, a spokesperson said the officer responsible was currently on leave and therefore it could not comment.

New bins being rolled out across Harrogate district

The new bin policy is being rolled out across the Harrogate district. About 250 small bins are being replaced by larger ones.

Dog walkers in nearby Knox expressed concerns in June when the change was implemented there.

Photo of Knox resident Maxie Schiffmann looking into a green wheelie bin for dog waste that North Yorkshire Council has placed near her front gate.

Maxie Schiffman-Rowinski has complained to the council about the new dog waste bin in front of her house in Knox.

Paul Haslam, a Conservative who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge on the council, said the situation would be reviewed at the end of next month.

Cllr Haslam said the new approach freed up time for the street cleansing team to do other jobs, such as sweep streets.

He added it was also more environmentally friendly because the larger bins contained wheelie bins that could be emptied by machines whereas the smaller old bins contained plastic bags that had to be replaced regularly.

Council backs bid for River Nidd bathing water status

North Yorkshire Council has backed a proposal to designate bathing water status to the River Nidd.

The motion was brought by Cllr Paul Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, which called on the authority to support the campaign.

If designation is successful, government agencies would be obliged to take action to improve water quality at Knaresborough Lido. This would also improve water quality on a much wider stretch of the river.

The campaign comes after reports of numerous bathers falling ill last summer.

Cllr Haslam said:

“Knaresborough and the Nidd are one of the many jewels that North Yorkshire is blessed with.

“Knaresborough relies on the river to contribute to the local economy and wellbeing of the population in the form of riverside cafes, recreation on the river with regular bathing at the Lido.”

He added:

“It’s important that people can swim and enjoy the river without risks to their health.”

Councillors voted to support the proposal at a meeting in Northallerton yesterday.

Nidd Action Group and Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, are leading the campaign.

Following the vote, Mr Jones said he welcomed the support from the council.

He said:

“I am grateful to North Yorkshire councillors for backing this campaign. Bids to designate areas as official bathing water are substantially strengthened by having the support of the local authority.

“I know some seek to make party political points about this issue. I hope that this overwhelming cross-party support brings an end to this. Positive action is what is needed and I am working with local residents, businesses, community organisations and the Nidd Action Group on the bid.

“Success is never a guarantee but I am optimistic and this support from North Yorkshire Council is an important milestone.”

Council’s new dog poo policy causes a stink in Knox

A change in the council’s bin regime is seeing dog-waste pile up by the roadside, according to local residents.

Over the last week, North Yorkshire Council has removed the familiar red dog-waste bins from Knox, which is on the north-west edge of Harrogate. In their place, they have put green wheelie bins, but not all in the same positions as the bins they replace.

Knox resident Maxie Schiffmann-Rowinski said:

“They’ve put a wheelie bin right outside our house, and now it’s filling up with dog poo and it really stinks in this warm weather.

“All of us living down here are pretty angry about this. This lane is very popular with dog-walkers, and some who don’t know about the green bin are just leaving their dog-poo bags on the ground where the dog-waste bin used to be.

“I’ve complained to the council via their online form, but had no reply.”

Asked about the move, Karl Battersby, North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of environment, told the Stray Ferret the bins had been removed following a service review, and that the council was being guided by good practice outlined by the Waste and Recycling Action Partnership in its Right Bin, Right Place study.

He said:

“The newer bins have a larger capacity and house a wheeled bin. This means they are efficiently emptied by our larger wagons, reducing the risk from manual handling individual bags. With the greater capacity, fewer bins are required which helps to reduce street furniture, particularly in locations where two bins may have been placed close together.

“This and other new bins will be emptied less frequently due to the increase in capacity, but they will be emptied as often as required, taking seasonal variances into account.

“The replacement bin at the end of Knox Lane was planned to be further down the lane, in close proximity to existing street furniture. We will check it’s correctly positioned.”

Composite image of, on the left, a new bin placed at the end of Knox Lane in Harrogate by North Yorkshire Council, and, on the right, bags of dog faeces doscrded by dog-walkers in the place where the old dog-waste bin used to be.

The council has installed a large new bin at the end of Knox Lane… but some dog-walkers have yet to get the message.

Paul Haslam, the North Yorkshire councillor serving Bilton and Nidd Gorge, said he was party to the decision-making process that led to the policy change, but that it had not been implemented as he had imagined it would be. He said:

“This looks like a well-intentioned project that’s gone wrong. I agreed with the principle behind the plans: to make it easier by using more machinery, which in some cases would result in changes of locations and frequency of emptying.

“But it’s quite obvious that the way it’s turned out is not ideal – there are not enough bins and some of them are in the wrong place.”

North Yorkshire Council’s Mr Battersby said that the bin replacements in Bilton and Knox would be followed by others in Harrogate.

He said:

“Surrounding parishes have already had the work completed, and Bilton is the first of the urban areas to start and receive the new bins.”

But Cllr Haslam said the policy needed to be reviewed and that’s what the council would do. He said:

“I’ll be meeting with street-cleansing officers on Monday and we’ll be going over the whole of the Bilton and Knox area and seeing how it can be improved.

“The council is not going to roll any more bins out until we’ve got Bilton and Knox right.”

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Power share bid fails at Harrogate and Knaresborough council committee

A bid to share the leadership of a North Yorkshire Council committee in Harrogate and Knaresborough has failed.

Conservatives sitting on the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee had proposed a shared chairmanship between their councillor, Paul Haslam, and Liberal Democrat Pat Marsh.

Cllr Sam Gibbs, Conservative representative of Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate, said:

“We’ve clearly got two very good, qualified candidates for this role. I know my LD colleagues are really fond of job shares. I was wondering if they’d be interested in job sharing this role over the next 12 months?

“We’ve heard them in previous meetings suggest such things and think it’s a really good idea, so let’s see if they’re keen to follow through on this occasion.”

The proposal caused some confusion, with the council’s democratic services manager Daniel Harry saying no other committee had had two chairmen before on an NYC committee or at North Yorkshire County Council before it.

However, he said there was no legal reason it could not happen, as long as the terms were clear, such as chairing alternate meetings.

Cllr Arnold Warneken, who is not a committee member but attends the meetings as Green party councillor for Ouseburn, said:

“I know I’m not allowed to propose anything or vote, but I’m going to ask a question: do the candidates both agree that they would do that?”

Cllr Pat Marsh, who represents the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone division and was leader of the Liberal Democrats in opposition at Harrogate Borough Council, responded:

“No, I’m not happy to share that. Sorry.”

Committee members were then asked to vote on whether the post should be shared. The five Conservatives all voted in favour, but were defeated by the seven Liberal Democrats who opposed the plan.

Instead, Pat Marsh was elected as chairman with seven votes in favour and five abstentions.

A bid for Cllr Haslam to be elected as vice chairman was also defeated by six votes to five with one abstention. Cllr Monika Slater, the Lib Dem representative of Bilton Grange and New Park, was chosen instead by seven votes in favour to none against and five abstentions.

Cllr Marsh is also chair of the planning committee for the area, where Cllr Haslam is vice chairman. Three other Liberal Democrats and two further Conservatives also sit on that committee.

Harrogate councillor appointed county’s climate champion

Conservative councillor Paul Haslam was appointed as the North Yorkshire climate champion at a meeting yesterday.

His role will involve encouraging positive action over the climate crisis in North Yorkshire in the same week that an IPCC report said only drastic action can prevent “irrevocable damage to world.”

Cllr Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge on North Yorkshire Council, has been a proponent of climate change policies and the need to protect the environment since becoming a councillor on the now-abolished Harrogate Borough Council in 2014. He was nominated for the climate champion role alongside Green Party member for Ouseburn, Arnold Warneken.

Councillors then made pitches about why they are best-suited before members voted again.

Cllr Warneken said:

“My adult life I’ve been campaigning for the climate.

“In my workplace, in my private life. I’ve committed my ambitions to see a better place for all of us to live. I don’t really care who saves the planet, as long as they get on with it.

“My credentials are I won’t politicise this, I will do it purely from what I think is the council’s best approach to ensure their commitment to climate change is secured. If you slice me in half, you’ll see climate change like a stick of rock.”

Cllr Haslam said:

“The fight to mitigate climate change is vital. It’s the mission of this generation.

“I’m persistent, some might say relentless. I will use this role to engage and educate the discussion around climate change and enable and empower people to fight this change.

“I believe I have the anger and courage, curiosity, and expertise, to not only champion but embed climate change in this council. For this community, this country and in a small way, the world.”

Councillors initially took a vote on the two councillors sharing the position, but it was narrowly defeated after many Conservative members voted against it.

When voting for who should take up the single role, councillors voted for Cllr Haslam by 46 to 38, with 3 abstentions.

Cllr Paul Haslam

What is the council doing to tackle climate change?

Nearly all council services emit carbon emissions, from street lighting to getting rid of waste, heating schools and care homes. The council is the largest employer in North Yorkshire and is a significant landowner, which means it has the power to affect change.

In January the council published a draft climate change strategy that includes ambitions such as becoming carbon neutral by 2030, increasing walking and cycling as well as planting 37,000 hectares of new woodland by 2038.

But it has been criticised for its response to the climate crisis after it finally declared a climate emergency last year, three years later than other nearby councils in Harrogate, York and Darlington.

Council leader backs River Nidd bathing water campaign

The leader of North Yorkshire Council has said he will back a proposal to designate bathing water status to the River Nidd.

Cllr Paul Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, asked Cllr Carl Les whether he would support the application at a full North Yorkshire Council meeting in Northallerton today.

The campaign comes after reports of numerous bathers falling ill last summer.

Cllr Les said today:

“I am very happy to support that, I think it is a key issue for this council.”

He added he would back a motion by Cllr Haslam on the matter, which is due to be brought before a meeting in July, and “do whatever we can to further that cause”.

The application is due to be submitted to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs this year.

Nidd Action Group and Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, are leading the campaign.

Mr Jones recently issued a plea for volunteers to help monitor water usage.

In a three-minute video on his Community News website in April, the Harrogate and Knaresborough MP blamed the Victorian-era sewage system, run-off from agricultural land and drainage from housing estates for polluting the Nidd.

He said:

“May this year is a critical time as it marks the start of the bathing season when evidence must be collected for the bathing water application that I’m leading.

“This campaign is building momentum but we can’t let it slide.”

North Yorkshire electric vehicle charging network ‘not fit for purpose’

The leader of the opposition on North Yorkshire Council has wished the authority “good luck” in establishing a comprehensive network of electric vehicle charging points after hearing the local electricity grid was “not fit for purpose”.

A meeting of the council’s executive was told the authority was so concerned about it impeding the establishment of the required 3,000 publicly available EV charging points by 2030 that the council was investigating using solar and hydro-electric solutions to provide power in some places.

Setting out a strategy to rapidly expand EV charging points, Cllr Keane Duncan, the authority’s executive member for highways and transportation, said the council was determined rural areas should not “fall behind”.

However, he said the rural nature of North Yorkshire and electricity grid constraints meant the county faced a relatively greater challenge in preparing for the switch to electric vehicles than elsewhere.

Cllr Keane Duncan

In addition, the relatively high proportion of properties in the county with no off-street parking – some 21% – would mean a greater demand for publicly available EV charging points than elsewhere.

The meeting heard while the council was developing on-street charging proposals it was focused on creating the publicly available EV charging points at “hub locations” where it would be convenient for residents and visitors to use them, rather than “tucked away in the corner of a car park”.

Executive members were told with £3.4m of funding already secured to expand EV charging points, the council had obtained more money than any other local authority in the country for the programme.

The council is also optimistic about landing a further £5.1m of capital and £500,000 of revenue funding to deliver on its EV charging network aspirations, but the meeting was told the lack of power grid capacity would be a key factor in the council’s ability to create an EV charging network.

Paul Haslam, a Conservative who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, warned the meeting the lack of availability on the power grid could “make a mess of our strategy if we’re not careful”.

The council’s climate change boss Cllr Greg White added:

“It’s great that we are going to have all these charging points, but are we going to have an electrical supply to these charging points to make them work because the local electricity distribution network at the moment doesn’t seem like it’s going to be fit for purpose.”

Wishing the council “good luck” in overcoming the challenges, Cllr Bryn Griffiths, the Liberal Democrat group leader, said the authority had reached “a drop in the ocean of where we need to be” in securing EV charging infrastructure, before receiving reassurances that the authority would consider changing planning policies to increase charging opportunities.

electric vehicle chargepoints (1)

The authority’s chief executive, Richard Flinton, told the meeting how he and leaders of North Yorkshire businesses had held talks with Northern Powergrid officials and the National Infrastructure Commission last week to tell them the lack of grid connectivity was damaging businesses.

He said the council had been regularly lobbying the electricity infrastructure firm to develop capacity on the grid.

Mr Flinton added:

“We are startlingly aware that when we move into post-2030 the requirement that cars are going to be non-fossil fuel that there could be an impact on North Yorkshire, and even the transition period before we move entirely to electric fuel vehicles could be problematic for North Yorkshire if we don’t get this right.

“We are in the hands of others, but we are working very hard to make those other parties understand that we in North Yorkshire are very concerned about this and require their engagement on our issues.”

Northern Powergrid is yet to respond to requests for comment.

‘Badly let down’ Woodfield school closure confirmed

The 56-year history of Harrogate’s Woodfield Community Primary School is set to come to an end after councillors confirmed its closure today.

The school in Bilton will shut on December 31 despite complaints that pupils and parents have been “badly let down” by education bosses at North Yorkshire County Council.

But the council claims it has “exhausted all options” to try to keep the school open after years of falling pupil numbers and an inadequate rating by Ofsted.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s executive today, ward councillor and school governor Paul Haslam repeated his objections to the closure which he blamed on an “unfounded allegation” about the school that was posted on social media several years ago. Cllr Haslam said”

“Today is a sad day. We have allowed social media and its consequent impact to close a perfectly good school.

“This cannot be allowed to happen to another school and it is only a failure if we do not learn from this sad event.”

Cllr Haslam, who represents the Bilton and Nidd Gorge division, added that the closure will “rip a large hole in this community” as he also called for a review into how it happened.

Paul Haslam

Stuart Carlton, the council’s corporate director of children and young people’s services, responded to say he “could not compel” other education bodies to discuss the issues around social media, but that he would meet with Cllr Haslam. He said:

“These are always very difficult decisions, but we have followed all the processes.

“The problem nationally of social media is one that isn’t unique to ourselves or particular schools here – it is something that plagues out across the country at times.

“I’m more than happy that I commit with my assistant director of education to meet with councillor Haslam and the chair of governors to talk through that point.”

Conservative councillor Annabel Wilkinson, the executive member for education and skills, also said the decision to close the school was made with a “heavy heart”.

Today’s decision comes after pupil numbers at the school dwindled from 155 in 2018 to just one earlier this month. Woodfield Primary School entrance

The inadequate rating by Ofsted inspectors came in 2020 and meant the school had to become part of an academy, however, it failed to one to secure its future.

Woodfield Community Primary School, which opened around 1964, then held merger talks with the nearby Grove Road Community Primary School, but these fell through.

Financial troubles have also hit the school, with debts forecast to reach almost £100,000 by the end of 2022/23 set to be absorbed by the county council.

The closure will also mean the Woodfield catchment area will be shared with both Bilton Grange Primary School and Grove Road Community Primary School.

Fate of Woodfield primary school to be confirmed next week

The fate of Harrogate’s Woodfield Community Primary School is to be confirmed next week after a recommendation was made to close it at the end of the year.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive will next Tuesday be asked to agree to the closure on December 31.

It comes after council officials said they “exhausted all options” to try to keep the Bilton school open after years of falling pupil numbers and an inadequate rating by Ofsted inspectors in 2020.

But parents say the school has been “badly let down” by the local education authority, while councillors have labelled the planned closure a “disgrace”.

The school reception

There was just one pupil on the school roll earlier this month after the closure plans were revealed in summer and parents were forced to start looking elsewhere ahead of the new term.

Ward councillor Paul Haslam, who is also a governor at Woodfield, said the sudden death of a former headteacher in 2018 led to instabilities at the school and that an “unfounded slur” on social media then caused an “exodus” of about a third of the pupils later that year.

He said in a letter:

“The school was exonerated of any wrongdoing and the correct safeguarding procedures were found to have been followed and to be in place by the local authority, as they were at the Ofsted judgement.

“What failed to happen was a restoration of the reputation of the school and difficulty in getting permanent, long term leadership.

“The school did not get enough support to come back from this reputational damage.”

Cllr Haslam also argued the school should not be closing because Harrogate’s population is growing and it had made good progress since the inadequate rating in January 2020.

But a report to Tuesday’s meeting said government legislation requires the school to close unless an academy sponsor can be found. Any school rated as inadequate is required to become part of an academy, but Woodfield has failed to find one to secure its future.

The school had also held merger talks with the nearby Grove Road Community Primary School, but these fell through.

If approved, the closure will mean the Woodfield catchment area will be shared with Grove Road and Bilton Grange Primary School.

The school’s debts, which were forecast to reach almost £100,000 by the end of 2022/23, will be absorbed by the council.

Contamination concerns delay decision on 53-home Knox Lane site

A decision on plans for 53 homes in Harrogate has been delayed after concerns were raised that the site is likely to be contaminated by coal and tar spillages from a former railway track.

More than 300 residents objected to the Knox Lane plans and also paid for their own experts to assess the site, which was once part of a railway that transported carriages between gasworks and Bilton Junction.

An agent for the developers Jomast told a Harrogate Borough Council meeting today that the firm had carried out initial ground investigations and was committed to providing more information to council officers who had recommended approval.

However, councillors said they could not support the plans until they had seen the full investigation outcomes for themselves.

The proposed development

There were also further concerns over flooding, the discovery of badger setts, a lack of public transport connections and that the development of the site near Oak Beck could cause “ecological damage”.

Councillor Robert Windass, a Conservative who represents Boroughbridge, said much more work was needed on the proposals which he described as “wrong, wrong, wrong”. He said:

“I’ve heard nothing from the developers or our officers that would make me wish to support this application.

“Unless I feel the applicant has done a proper contamination assessment and got a full report when it comes back to this committee, I’m afraid I won’t be supportive.”

The plans first submitted in April 2020 initially included 73 homes, but this was reduced to 53 after local complaints.

Despite further changes, residents have continued to strongly oppose the development with a total of 313 objections and no letters of support being submitted to the council.

Residents’ concerns are so strong that they commissioned a toxicology specialist to examine the proposals.

Dr Damien Bowen told today’s meeting that he believed “extensive investigations” were needed due to the health and environmental risks of the likely presence of contamination. He said:

“While the potential land contamination is considered, concerns over polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), other toxic metals and their known adverse health effects cannot be dismissed.

“Humans may be exposed to PAHs in the air, water and food, and when such a site is distributed these compounds are distributed into the environment.”

The field earmarked for development.

Ward councillor Paul Haslam also argued that these concerns have not been taken seriously enough by the council, which he claimed had taken no notice of “compelling” evidence that the plans should not be approved. He said:

“The developer’s hands seemed to have been held throughout this process, whereas residents have been ignored.”

The proposals – which include 30 homes classed as affordable – will be brought back to another meeting of the council’s planning committee in the coming months.