Marketplace lender Assetz Capital has invested £3m into the development of new flats in Harrogate town centre.

Harrogate-based Tate Estates planned to build 12 two-bedroom apartments at 108 Station Parade by last year.

The development will be situated on 108 Station Parade in Harrogate central

However, the scheme encountered problems due to covid. Lockdowns and construction material shortage disrupted the building schedule.

Ciaran McGivern, relationship director for Assetz based in the north-east, acts as a retained advisor for Tate Estates.

He said:

“I’m delighted to be helping a high-quality client in Tate Estates with their development in Harrogate.

“We hope to continue the excellent working relationship we have established, and this is the first of many successful deals we can fund.”

Rhys Davies, group finance director of Tate Estates, said:

“It was fantastic to get this investment from Assetz on what will be the first in a series of platform development deals.”

It is now hoped the block of flats will be completed in the second quarter of this year.

Harrogate district entrepreneurs boosted by start-up competition

StriveLive, an initiative which helps start-ups, has run a competition to help grassroots entrepreneurs in the Harrogate district launch their business

The StriveLive Harrogate project was funded by Harrogate Borough Council and commissioned by the York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub.

Fourteen local entrepreneurs received help from StriveLive through a series of workshops, advice sessions and challenges over seven weeks.

The candidates then competed to impress business experts for the chance to win £2,500.

Business experts from the National Grid, Buying Hobbycraft, Harrogate Borough Council and YNY Growth Hub were included on the panel.

They awarded prizes to participants in five categories.

Karen Allen from Kidzplay Play Box picked up two awards. She won ‘most customer orientated’ and ‘best business concept’.

Hanna Dilley, founder of Benji’s Bites toddler food, won ‘best marketing,’ with Oliver Brown’s business, Wrapd Studios, winning ‘best branding’.

Ms Allen said:

“Strive popped up on my social media at a point when I was searching for support with the business.

“The company gave me the confidence to move forward, the understanding to face the challenges, and the connections within the local area to continue the support after the course finished.”

Clare Parish, from Four Legs Pet Care, and Graham Dodds, from GMD Home Improvements, both received Strive start-up awards.

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Harrogate-based charity Disability Action Yorkshire has explained why many pedestrian crossings in Harrogate town centre do not make a beeping sound to let blind or visually impaired people know it is safe to cross.

It follows a Stray Ferret article published on Saturday about Harrogate man John Raho, 80, who relies on the noise to help him cross the road safely when vehicles stop and the green man appears.

But from the top of Cheltenham Parade up Station Parade and to the Victoria Avenue junction, 9 out of 10 crossings did not make any noise at all, which Mr Raho said was ‘shameful’.

Mr Raho received some messages of support on social media from people who named other pedestrian crossings in the district where they would like to hear a beeping noise.

Could be confusing

Disability Action Yorkshire was founded 84 years ago and helps disabled people live the life of their choosing.

It has headquarters and a training centre on Hornbeam Park, a residential care home on Claro Road, and a holiday lodge in Lincolnshire.

Its chief executive Jackie Snape said she sympathised with Mr Raho’s plight but said having too many crossings making the noise could be confusing.

Ms Snape said:

“[Crossings that don’t beep] is something we hear quite a lot but I do fully understand the reasons.

“It’s where there are two or three crossings close to each other. People could get confused and walk into the roads.”

Jackie Snape, Disability Action Yorkshire chief executive.

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Ms Snape said there needed to be greater awareness that crossings that don’t beep have a small cone underneath that can be touched. The cone turns when the green man lights up to indicate it is safe to cross.

But she added that since covid, many people did not feel comfortable touching it.

Many crossings have a plastic cone underneath that turns when it is safe to cross

Victoria Avenue junction

Whilst Ms Snape said it would be confusing to have too many crossings on Station Parade making the beeping noise, the silent crossing at the Victoria Avenue junction “needs looking at” because it wasn’t in close proximity to other crossings.

She said crossings like this should be reported to North Yorkshire County Council through its website.

Ms Snape said:

“We’ve reported machines in the past when they have stopped working. Unless they are reported, the council does not know they are not working properly.”

Ms Snape added that if any blind or partially sighted person would like to report a crossing that does not make a beeping noise, the charity can do it on their behalf through its website or by calling 01423 855419.

A partially sighted Harrogate man has said it’s ‘shameful’ that many pedestrian crossings in Harrogate town centre do not make a beeping noise to let blind or visually impaired people know it is safe to cross.

John Raho, 80, relies on the noise to help him cross the road safely when vehicles stop and the green man appears.

But from the top of Cheltenham Parade up Station Parade and to the Victoria Avenue junction, 9 out of 10 crossings did not make any noise at all when the Stray Ferret tested them yesterday.

Similarly, the crossing by the Odeon cinema does not make a beeping noise.

Mr Raho said:

“I rely on the beep as a reassurance but I noticed that so many of them are not working.

“They are an essential bit of kit. It’s not big science.”

This crossing on Station Parade does not currently make a beeping noise.

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North Yorkshire County Council, which is in charge of highways in the district, is not legally obliged to add beeping noises to pedestrian crossings.

To avoid confusion, it might not have two machines beeping that are close together.

Some crossings may also have a small plastic or metal cone that can be touched. It turns when the green man lights up to indicate it is safe to cross.

This pelican crossing is the only one that beeps on Station Parade.

‘A reassurance’

However, Mr Raho said the beeping noise should be essential to improve town centre access for visually impaired people.

He said:

“It’s a reassurance for me, for others with worse eyesight it’s absolutely essential. You have to be careful.”

Mr Raho said he can just about make out a blurry green man on the other side of the road, but without a sound to guide him, he tries to take his cue from other people.

“It’s alright if other people are crossing, but people do rush across the road. 

“If someone gets knocked down, then it is bad news.”

A North Yorkshire County Council spokesperson asked Mr Raho to report any machines that are not working correctly via its website. They added that until he did so it was unable to comment.

A vegan restaurant chain that planned to open a location in Harrogate has ceased trading.

Vertigo took over the space on Station Parade next to Farmhouse in July 2021 and advertised in its window that it was ‘coming soon’.

Since then there has been no sign of movement. The building has remained vacant with only Vertigo branding visible to passers-by.

When the Stray Ferret sought an update in January, we were told the company couldn’t confirm a date for the Harrogate opening due to covid uncertainty.

However, Vertigo has now posted on social media that it has now gone out of business. It said:

“It is with a heavy heart we have to announce Vertigo is no more.

“Sadly, we have ceased trading at all of our sites. The pandemic really took its toll on us, and trade is still well behind what it was pre-March 2020; and now with significantly increased costs (especially utilities) it is no longer viable for us to operate.”

The chain operated three eateries in Manchester.

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Plans have been lodged to convert the former William Hill bookmakers in Harrogate town centre into a pharmacy and retail unit.

The Pharmacy Group has submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the boarded-up unit on the town’s Beulah Street.

It would see the bookies, which has been closed for some time, converted into a shop and the unit facing Station Parade into a pharmacy.

Office space will also be created in the space above the pharmacy.

The view from Station Parade.

The Pharmacy Group is a third generation family-owned business with 30 NHS community pharmacies across Yorkshire. They include Harrogate Pharmacy on Haywra Crescent.

The developer said in documents submitted to the council that the proposal would bring “positive benefits” to the area.

It said:

“The change of use from turf accountants to retail and offices and the proposed redevelopment of the site will bring positive benefits to the area by maintaining, enhancing and giving new life to a key property on both Beulah Street and Station Parade.”

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

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Three companies have been awarded a share of a £20 million contract to help progress major transport schemes in Yorkshire, including Harrogate’s Station Gateway.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which works in partnership with local authorities to improve transport and stimulate economic development, advertised a contract to bring in a strategic development partner for its Transforming Cities projects.

The projects include the £10.9 million Station Gateway scheme in Harrogate, which was approved last month, and similar schemes that promote sustainable travel in West Yorkshire, including a new bus station for Halifax town centre.

Leeds-based companies Jacobs UK Limited, Ove Arup & Partners Limited and WSP UK Limited have now been commissioned to help move the schemes forward.

This includes support to help “ensure that all necessary technical work and tasks are completed to enable projects to complete full business cases”.

Business case earmarked for August

Works on detailed designs of the Harrogate project – which includes reducing a stretch of Station Parade to single-lane traffic and a part-time pedestrianisation of James Street – are now continuing ahead of a final business case being submitted around August.

The business case will then be presented to West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which is overseeing the project funding from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

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Subject to its approval, a contractor will then be appointed to carry out the works, as well as similar projects in Selby and Skipton.

The Harrogate gateway scheme is one of numerous schemes being funded by a £2.45 billion central government fund to boost active travel in towns and cities.

Work on the scheme was due to begin in spring this year and take a year to complete. But North Yorkshire County Council, the lead partner, has said work can continue longer. Business groups have expressed concern that roadworks could affect Christmas trade.

As previously reported by the Stray Ferret, following final approval, work on the scheme could continue into 2024 after the Department for Transport advised council officials that the deadline could be extended.

Three business groups have accused North Yorkshire County Council of ignoring their views and the opinions of residents during the Station Gateway consultation.

The Stray Ferret revealed yesterday that the county council is set to give the £10.9m project the green light at a meeting on Tuesday next week — even though the latest consultation revealed the majority of respondents feel negatively towards the scheme.

The gateway scheme will see major changes around Harrogate railway station, including single lane traffic on a stretch of Station Parade and  James Street partly pedestrianised to encourage walking and cycling.

In a joint letter to members of the county council’s executive, which has been recommended to approve the scheme, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Independent Harrogate warned that work on the scheme would create ‘another 12 months of major disruption and misery’ for businesses already struggling to get over covid.

The letter adds:

“Sadly, the views of the business community have been continually ignored. As have those of other key organisations, in particular Harrogate Civic Society and residents’ organisations who believe what is being proposed will not bring the benefits being espoused. The Conservative Party, of which you are a member, prided itself on being the party of business. Sadly, this doesn’t appear to be the case anymore!

“For the last two years, town centre businesses have suffered at the hands of the covid pandemic and now you are proposing to add at least another 12-months of major disruption and misery.

“For you it will be easy to support the proposal in front of you, as of next year North Yorkshire County Council will not exist in its current form and some of you may not even seek re-election.

“Before you cast your vote, we urge you to carefully consider the businesses in Harrogate town centre and their collective views.”

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The letter also questions the lack of an economic impact survey and says greater consideration should be given to the travel needs of people who come into Harrogate from nearby villages.

‘Welcome boost’ to town centre

The Harrogate scheme is one of three in Yorkshire being paid for by £42m from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

“These proposals represent the biggest investment in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton town centres in decades.

“We want to encourage more people to travel by foot, bike and public transport because it is good for health and the environment by promoting fitness and reducing congestion.

“The spending will also provide a welcome boost for our town centres after two difficult years of trading during the pandemic.

“We have listened to feedback from the public consultations and are confident people will be pleased with the results.”

North Yorkshire County Council has confirmed that the £10.9m Harrogate Station Gateway will be recommended for approval next week.

The Stray Ferret revealed last week that the county council’s executive was expected to give the green light on January 25.

Now the county council, which is the lead partner for the scheme, has confirmed the executive is recommended to take the proposals forward to detailed design stage so work can start in spring or summer.

It says the move will save shops from decline, make the town centre more attractive and improve the town centre for cyclists and pedestrians.

James Street will be partly pedestrianised and traffic on some of Station Parade reduced to single lane.

The decision comes despite widespread opposition to the scheme from businesses and residents.

The results of the second phase of consultation, published last month, revealed that of 1,320 people who replied to an online survey, 55% feel negatively, 39% positively and five per cent neutral towards the scheme. One per cent said they didn’t know.

Nevertheless the scheme is expected to proceed with only minor amendments.

Read more:

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A report to councillors acknowledges there has been “a general reduction in the level of support for the changes”. It says the main concerns are the negative impacts on businesses, congestion, air quality and the attractiveness, accessibility and safety of the town centre.

It adds that officers believe:

“The proposals will have an overall positive impact on the local economy, air quality and the attractiveness, accessibility and safety of the town centre with a minimal increase in journey times and flows in the worst case traffic modelling.

“It is therefore considered appropriate that the proposals be taken forward through detailed design and implementation.”

The report adds the “overall impact on retail footfall is expected to be positive”, adding.

“Evidence suggests that the town centre retail sector is at risk of decline in the medium term. There is also a growing body of case study evidence which indicates that the scheme will increase footfall and economic value.”

Residents living near the town centre fear their streets will get more traffic.

Extra traffic in residential areas

Regarding concerns that the changes will displace traffic along the A61 Cheltenham Crescent into nearby residential streets, the report says traffic modelling looked at “significant changes (an average change of 3 vehicles per minute or more)”, adding:

“At the worst time of day (the afternoon peak hour) only East Parade experiences a significant increase in flow (5 vehicles per minute).”

The Harrogate scheme is one of three in Yorkshire being paid for with £42m from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

These proposals represent the biggest investment in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton town centres in decades and aim to increase productivity by making it quicker, easier and safer for people to travel around and connect with economic opportunities.

“We want to encourage more people to travel by foot, bike and public transport because it is good for health and the environment by promoting fitness and reducing congestion. The spending will also provide a welcome boost for our town centres after two difficult years of trading during the pandemic.

“The entire project is a great example of partnership working between Craven District Council, Harrogate Borough Council, Selby District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and is set to deliver real benefits to residents and businesses across our county.

“We have listened to feedback from the public consultations and are confident people will be pleased with the results.”

Councillors will this week debate a petition urging them to abandon the £10.9 million Harrogate Station Gateway.

North Yorkshire County Council is due to decide shortly whether to proceed with the scheme, which would part-pedestrianise James Street and reduce traffic to single lane on some of Station Parade to encourage cycling and walking.

A petition by Harrogate Residents Association calling for the scheme to be halted generated 714 signatures.

Petitions that attract 500 signatures are automatically scheduled for debate by the county council.

It will therefore be discussed by the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee on Thursday – although a final decision on what happens next will be made later.

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Anna McIntee, co-founder of Harrogate Residents Association, will be given five minutes to speak before councillors debate the matter for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Ms McIntee told the Stray Ferret it would be “crazy” to proceed in the face of widespread opposition from residents and businesses.

She said:

“I don’t really understand how they can ignore all the residents and all the businesses that oppose it. It would be crazy to plough ahead.”

Residents were shown the plans at a public meeting at Victoria Shopping Centre.

The county council revealed last month that of 1,320 people who replied to an online survey, 55% felt negatively towards the gateway, 39% felt positively and five per cent felt neutral. One per cent said they didn’t know.

Shortly afterwards three Harrogate business groups urged the county council and Harrogate Borough Council. which also supports the initiative, to “put the brakes on this scheme”.

Many of those opposed fear the scheme will push traffic into residential areas and damage business.

‘No decision taken’

A report to councillors recommends they ‘note’ the petition and ‘consider a response’. It adds:

“The (gateway) proposals aim to introduce a significant high quality uplift to the public realm in the heart of the town aimed at increasing footfall and quality of experience for residents and visitors.

“They will also provide safe cycling infrastructure and improved footways which is key in promoting healthier and more sustainable travel choices.

“Currently no decision has been taken on implementation of the project, the results of the second round of consultation are being analysed and a report with final recommendations will be taken to the executive early in the new year.”

Keeping in mind the importance of a vision for Harrogate’s future, the Stray Ferret asked Malcolm Neesam to come up with suggestions for making Harrogate more attractive to visitors and residents alike, regardless of cost or planning requirements. This is the second of three articles. Malcolm fully understands that his “visions” may not appeal to everyone, and he submits them as purely private dreams.

Vision 4: A radical blueprint for Station Square

If I had unlimited financial resources and full planning powers, plus the power for compulsory acquisition, I would buy the tower block next to the railway station and demolish it. I would also demolish the single storey shoe box that passes for a railway station, and realise David Cullearn’s vision that the architect of the Victoria Centre once outlined to me. David Cullearn of Cullearn and Phillips, Architects, was the author of the design for the Victoria Centre that won the maximum public support when the designs were exhibited in the Lounge Hall around 1989.

He once told me that his dream would be to repeat the curved frontage of the Victoria Centre on the other side of Station Parade, where the Palladian design would be continued as far as Station Bridge. This would provide the eastern boundary of Station Square with a magnificent stone-faced architectural framework, that would surely overwhelm all visitors arriving by rail and bus.

The Victoria Centre when it opened in 1992. Photo copyright: Walker-Neesam Archive

At the Victoria Centre, I would reverse the alterations of 1999, and restore the surrounding walk way, the top floor’s open air balcony, and the original set of atria which allowed sunlight to flood down to all floor levels. The arid plaza outside would be re-integrated into the Station Square gardens and filled with flower beds, grass and trees, so that visitors could see that Harrogate was indeed a town of flowers, grass and trees.

As for the former railway goods station, hidden away behind the ugly brick wall of the 1938 bus station, a feature of old Harrogate that I suspect is known only to a few people, I would convert this already roofed structure into a permanent market, whose location next to the bus and railway stations could not be improved. The Victorian brickwork would be revealed, and the repaired building would become a valuable amenity.

Oh yes – I nearly forgot. I would restore Station Square’s underground public lavatories!

Queen Victoria monument. Pic: Walker Neesam archive

Vision 5: Cambridge Street

Cambridge Street could do with smartening up and were I to be given unlimited financial resources and total planning control, I would smarten it up in the following manner.

Cambridge Street today — in need of smartening up.

First, I would set up a Cambridge Street retailers group charged with co-operating over such things as improving paving, lighting, planting, seating and above all, signage. I would introduce an element of uniformity by re-erecting the Victorian lamp posts so cavalierly removed and use them as a base for floral columns of flower baskets. The ugly and over-sized plate glass windows would be replaced by windows more in harmony with the buildings in which they are located, with well designed signage.\

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More could be made of the little garden at St. Peter’s Church, which would be improved by a set of steps from the pavement, and several benches – all of which would be subject to strict no-alcohol rules!

When the first market went up in flames in 1937, the lovely clock tower survived, but alas, it fell victim to the demolition mania of the age, and the intact structure was torn down. It was one of Speyhawk’s proposals to rebuild the clock tower as part of its Victoria Gardens project, which unfortunately was never realised, so I would rebuild the clock tower at the eastern extremity of Cambridge Street to provide it with a “point de view” that would not only hide the ugly and jarring brick wall of the old Bus Station, but would add once again a very useful time-piece to Cambridge Street.

Cambridge Street, 1998, with the old clock tower

And as I’m at it, I would repeat some of the above processes in Oxford Street, Parliament Street and James Street, the last of which would have all the disfiguring coats of paint removed from its stone frontages, with both sides provided with ornamental metal and glass canopies over the pavements, so that shoppers would have all-weather protection throughout the year.

Vision 6: Library Gardens and Princes Square

With my mythical unlimited financial resources and total planning control, my next vision would probably be contentious, but nevertheless remains my vision. I would swap Library Gardens for Princes Square, as was the original intention of the Victoria Park Company. Until 1929, Princes Square was a pleasant and largely residential square filled with gardens and ringed with mature trees. Then, in 1929, the council decided to try to encourage more motorists into the town centre by making it “car friendly”, so to the fury of many of the residents they chopped down the trees, dug out the gardens and turned the central area into a car park.

Princes Square

Today, Princes Square cries out for pedestrianisation, which would still permit traffic to flow along both Raglan and Albert Streets. The square could be provided with grass, flower beds, trees and benches, and would be a great boost for the cafes and restaurants already established there, some of which already set out tables and chairs on the broad pavement. But it could be made so much better, and become a pleasant green oasis only a few yards from James Street.

As for Library Gardens, which were sold to the council in 1885, when it accepted a generous offer from the Carter brothers to convey 4,532 square yards of land at the junction of Victoria Avenue and Station Parade, on the strict understanding that the land would only ever be used to build a Town Hall for Harrogate. This obligation has never been honoured by successive councils, although a start was made in 1907 with the opening of the public library, the first part of Henry Hare’s magnificent plans for a Municipal Palace in full Edwardian baroque, complete with clock tower. Alas, the rest of the superb monumental building was never finished, and its completion is something I would love to do.

Library Gardens

I am appalled by the reduction of democratic control of their own affairs that the people of Harrogate have suffered over the last 70-odd years, and hope that one day the administration of such things as education, highway planning and many more matters will be returned to local people to administer. When that time comes, maybe in 50 or 100 years time, Harrogate’s Municipal Palace will be completed to house them.

In the final part of the series tomorrow, Malcolm looks at ways to improve the Royal Baths and Prospect Square.