Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

People really care about transport and traffic.

In my column last week I made the point that car design has been made less interesting; less angular, more rounded, better to adhere to pedestrian safety concerns.  In my mailbag this week I was taken to task for suggesting that cars only occasionally collide with pedestrians.  For the avoidance of doubt I want to make plain that any pedestrian death is of course one too many.

In fact, it has been pointed out to me that in the United Kingdom during 2019 there were 1743 pedestrian casualties with 1748 road deaths (including vehicle occupants).  I agree, this cannot be defined as “occasional.”  However, for perspective, given that the Department for Transport reports that we Brits took to the roads in our vehicles for a total of 272 billion miles in 2019, the number of pedestrian deaths is mercifully low.

Clearly pedestrians were not ‘front of mind’ to car drivers confronted with North Yorkshire County Council’s implementation of new traffic control measures at Harrogate’s Beech Grove this week.  Finding their route blocked with large planters, it seems that rather than turn around and navigate the roads, several drivers simply took off across the stray to avoid the obstacles.  The impromptu rally left several deep tire tracks in our cherished green space and, allegedly, saw other drivers find alternate routes through the private carparks of the apartment buildings on the road.  For some reason Dick Dastardly, Muttley and Penelope Pitstop spring to mind: Whacky Races indeed.

The Stray Defence Association (SDA) has mobilised, with their Chair, the redoubtable Judy D’Arcy Thompson to the fore.  It strikes me that what with Harrogate BID (BID), Independent Harrogate (IH), Harrogate and District Cycle Action (HDCA), Pinewoods Conservation Group (PCG) and the SDA, the political scene in Harrogate is beginning to resemble Ulster in the troubles.  Now, before you get exercised, of course I don’t actually think that, nor is it my intent to diminish the horrible importance of the traumatic lived experiences of those across the Irish Sea. Indeed, nor do I demean the activities of Harrogate’s various interest groups.  Quite the reverse.  In fact this column is a weekly and affectionate exercise in celebrating Harrogate’s vibrant local life and politics.

By the way, 2019 was also the year in which North Yorkshire County Council conducted a public survey into traffic congestion. 77% of us reported that we would use cycling and walking infrastructure, were it to be built.  This is but one piece of evidence being used by our fearless local leaders this week as they reached for the top shelf, grabbed an existing plan or two and blew off the dust.  Yes, plans to pedestrianise James Street and Station Parade are back on the agenda and lovely artists renderings of tree-lined, single-lane boulevards, segregated cycling lanes and promenades are circulating.  The almost £8 million Station Gateway Project is alive and well.

This will likely, and with some justification, enrage many in Harrogate’s business community, particularly those with commercial interests on once-proud James Street.  What I want to see and hear from our county and borough councillors is a cogent plan for economic renewal, for enterprise creation, for the bringing together of place, work and community.  In the absence of leadership, vision and common purpose, narrow interest groups with opposing views will continue to flourish.  Discourse will be lost to the cacophonous and shouty voices of entrenched opinion.

The world is undergoing profound changes, accelerated by Covid-19.  How we work will never be the same again, with company after company embracing a permanent work from home culture.  In-store retail shopping, already in decline before the pandemic, faces the end of days.  One of the most successful companies of our time is called Shopify; a Canadian tech giant that allows anyone to create a brilliant virtual retail presence for their venture (including payment and product distribution) for a monthly subscription of £25.  In the face of such profound change it just isn’t good enough to dust off old plans and comforting drawings.  We need discontinuity, creative thinking and innovation.  Nor is it good enough to find comfort in the way things were, in how we have always done things, in how we have built our businesses over the years.

Harrogate remains a great place to live, this notwithstanding that we hear this week that our council tax is going up significantly (£50 at Band D).  As we wait with bated breath for the Prime Minister’s Monday press conference, for what we hope will be a tentative lockdown easing roadmap, the £300 billion plus costs of Covid-19 and its economic impact begin to hove chillingly into view.  Council tax increases are just the beginning.

Conservatives both national and local have always felt that their point of difference is effective economic stewardship.  With the Bank of England predicting that unemployment could reach 10% by the middle of 2022, the cost of welfare benefits is set to sky-rocket.  Rishi Sunak is in an unenviable position; he’s paid Paul and now needs to rob Peter.  It seems inevitable that income tax rates will have to rise.  A one-off wealth tax has been suggested.  Increased inheritance tax is on the table, as are both a capital gains tax increase and a closure of tax efficient enterprise investment schemes.  If implemented with a dead hand, if we are ever to pay off our Covid-19 bill, these measures could choke off any prospect of the economic recovery the country desperately needs.

Local traffic and transport issues are important but they are a second order problem.  We are in danger of squabbling over the deckchairs while the Titanic sinks.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

Read More: 

• Cars drive over the Stray to get avoid Harrogate road closure
• Cars could make way for cyclists on another Harrogate road

Do you have a view on this column or is there a political issue you’d like Paul to write about? Get in touch on paul@thestrayferret.co.uk

Harrogate motorists have been avoiding the closure of Beech Grove by driving over the Stray.

The road closed to through traffic yesterday but already some vehicles have taken the law into their own hands by mounting the kerb and cutting across the Stray, leaving behind mud and tyre tracks.

A chaotic first night saw most motorists, confronted by road blocks for the first time, performing u-turns. But the Stray Ferret has photographic evidence, as well as verbal reports by witnesses, that some engaged in illegal manoeuvres.

Besides driving on the Stray, motorists also drove through the car parks attached to the residential apartment blocks on Beech Grove. They also drove the wrong way along the one-way street that connects Beech Grove and Victoria Road to avoid a detour.

North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, is now considering ways to prevent motorists taking the law into their own hands.

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

“I am very sorry that motorists have decided to drive across the Stray to avoid the road closure on Beech Grove.

“That is extremely poor behaviour. They are also committing a driving offence.”

Read more:

• Cars could make way for cyclists on another Harrogate road
• Controversial Harrogate road closure starts today

Judy D’Arcy Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association, told the Stray Ferret:

“It is outrageous that cars are being driven onto the Stray. We understand drivers’ frustrations as they are probably unaware of the closure until they have actually entered Beech Grove.

“However, this does not excuse angry and potentially dangerous driving.

“The hideously ugly planters appear to have been placed well into the route to avoid the increased flooding which now occurs on West Park Stray, spreading as it does across the road.

“As always our concern is for the protection of the Stray and we are engaged in conversation with both North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council about this.”

Beech Grove will be closed to through traffic for six months before North Yorkshire County Council, which is consulting on the scheme, decides whether to make it permanent.

It is hoped the move will encourage pedestrians and cyclists. It will link to the new Otley Road cycle path, work on which is due to begin in spring.

Residents, refuse collections and emergency services will still have access to the area.

Plans to pedestrianise Montpellier Parade and allow bars and cafes to put tables there may not get off the ground because they appear to contravene the Stray Act.

North Yorkshire County Council told the Stray Ferret on Wednesday it was was considering a request by Simon and Sharon Colgan, the owners of the Blues Bar, to close the highway.

But although Montpellier Parade is a highway it still forms part of the Stray, which is covered by a 1985 Act of Parliament.

The Act says the 200 acres of Stray land should not be used for commercial gain.

Judy d’Arcy Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association, which upholds the Act and safeguards the Stray against building, said individuals were free to enjoy a drink on the Stray but commercial gain was prohibited. She added:

“Presumably Harrogate Borough Council will have to do what the Stray Act dictates.”

Read more:

• Council considers plan to pedestrianise Montpellier Parade
• Blues bar denied permission to keep tables on the Stray

A spokesman for HBC, which is responsible for management of the Stray, said: “Montpellier Parade is part of the Stray. We will consider the recommendations provided by the highways authority.”

A spokeswoman for NYCC, which is responsible for highways, said it was still investigating the possibility of closing Montpellier Parade.

The Colgans sent their request to NYCC after HBC ordered it to remove tables from Stray land opposite its premises.

The Stray Defence Association has urged people using the Stray to respect the new six person limit on gatherings.

During the summer crowds gathered on the Stray, breaking social distancing rules.

The association hopes there will be no repeat of this from Monday when groups of more than six people will be forbidden from gathering, except in exceptional circumstances.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday this would “stop the spread of the virus and save lives”.

Harrogate Borough Council has defended the restoration of West Park Stray after the Stray Defence Association (SDA) labelled the grounds as dangerous.

The council said it has already removed “tonnes of stones” from the area before yesterday’s opening but there are some that still remain.

It comes after the SDA wrote to the leader of the council to say that the opening was premature and urged them to carry out an immediate inspection.

Read more:

• West Park Stray opening is ‘frankly dangerous,’ says SDA
• UCI Championship organisers to pay £35,500 towards Stray repair costs
• West Park Stray: Green shoots of recovery after months of mud

Those calls for an inspection do not seem to have not been answered but the council has now responded to the SDA.

Councillor Andrew Paraskos, cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling said today:

“The suggestion that opening the West Park area of the Stray is dangerous is simply ridiculous. You’ve only got to look at the results this week to see the area is better than before and with the addition of the drainage system it can now be used throughout the year. The large stones have always been on this area of the Stray, we haven’t put them there.”

The councillor also said that the project “has not been taken lightly” and that it has been “months of hard work” with the appointment of a “multi-award winning specialist”.

He added: “Again, I’d like to thank everyone’s patience while we have carried out this work and thank them for the hundreds of positive comments we’ve received in just the last two days.”

The Stray Defence Association (SDA) has written to the council to call West Park Stray “frankly dangerous” – after it opened to the public for the first time in 11 months.

Harrogate Borough Council took the orange fencing down today to allow people back onto the grass. It has spent £130,000 on its restoration.

The council said that the West Park Stray would be “returned to its former glory” following the UCI World Championships when the work started earlier this year.

Read more:

• UCI Championship organisers to pay £35,500 towards Stray repair costs
• West Park Stray: Green shoots of recovery after months of mud

However, the SDA has said that the opening yesterday was premature and called for the council to carry out an immediate inspection of the grounds.

Judy D’Arcy Thompson, chair of the SDA, has written a strongly worded letter to the leader of Harrogate Borough Council:

“Whilst, from a distance the area looks beautifully green and as though it could be back to its former glory, it is far from it. Whilst the Stray Defence Association is most anxious to have the Stray reopened to the public as soon as possible it must only be at a time when it is safe to allow full access for any habitual activity.”

Mrs Thompson fears that people playing sports on West Park Stray could “severely injure themselves” by falling on one of a “large number of stones” and that “the stones themselves were never present on the surface prior to the reparations”.

She also raised concerns about “tyre tracks” and “dips in the grounds” as well as “old divots or sods of the previous grass which was not cleared before reseeding”.

When restrictions were lifted for the UCI Championships to be held, the council was given a legal duty to return the Stray to how it was before the event.

The Stray Ferret has contacted Harrogate Borough Council for a response to the SDA’s letter.

Vandals have pulled up young trees on the Stray in the evening that police officers cracked down on large groups.

Community police officers tried to disperse some of the larger groups yesterday and reminded them of the social distancing guidelines.

Some rebutted the officers and claimed that they were all in different groups of six or that they were all from the same family.

The levels of litter this morning were not close to the mounds of rubbish left the day before. A new problem has emerged this morning but it is unclear who is responsible.

Read more:

• When a volunteer described the rubbish on the Stray as the worst for six years
• Why some groups think Harrogate has lost its “feel-good factor”?
• When a group of young men won praise for cleaning up rubbish on the Stray

Judy d’Arcy Thompson from the Stray Defence Association (SDA) said this morning that the uprooting of trees just adds to the “horrendous destruction.”

“We now seem to have marauding gangs of youths wreaking mayhem on our Stray. The drunken, lewd and downright disgusting behaviour is going on all night every night. There seems to be no limit to what they will do or how disgusting their behaviour can become.”

Police dispersed groups on the Stray yesterday evening.

She added that the SDA has seen reports of mass gatherings, drug-taking and dealing on a huge scale as well as youngsters urinating and defecating.

An SDA committee member Guy Tweedy had planted the trees in memory of several people.

The Stray Ferret has approached both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire Police for a comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.