Stray Views Archives - Page 221 of 224

Stray Views: Station Gateway project a ‘haphazard whim’

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.

£11 million Station Gateway a ‘haphazard whim’

Despite all the consultations undertaken by North Yorkshire County Council and others, it seems as though Councillor Don Mackenzie’s scheme is to be implemented whether we like it, or not.

Buoyed by the cycling fraternity that requires cycle lanes everywhere, we are to spend £11million on what is essentially resurfacing of two streets. Oh and a hundred yards of cycle lane that links up to nothing and finishes nowhere.

NYCC spent big in Ripon city centre 20 years ago, it was an utter disaster from the start and still looks dreadful. The poor people of Ripon will, I’m sure testify as to what an ungodly mess NYCC has perpetrated upon them so the chances of getting an impressive out turn in Harrogate isn’t that promising.

But wait, if we are serious about cycling provision the thinking and implementation needs to be joined up, not just a haphazard whim of our local councillor and a couple of cycling pressure groups.

The Stray Act is outdated and needs reform to meet the modern world, the act needs amending to allow cycling on the Stray. We need to stop replacing every square inch of grass with a similar area near the Woodlands pub

Then install a cycleway from Knaresborough Road at the back of the hospital over Wetherby Road, Oatlands Drive, Stray Rein, the railway, and Leeds Road terminating at the Otley Road cycleway that is about to start.

Provide raised plateaus at each road crossing to give cyclists priority.

This arrangement will provide mega cycle route infrastructure through town from east to west and north to south, much safer than on road schemes, cause very little disruption during construction and will give a lasting legacy.

But do we have the bottle to even consider it?

David Howarth, Harrogate

Traffic evidence based on ‘flawed modelling’

Having watched and listened to the Station Gateway presentation on Thursday evening, the reason for the loss of the major A61 route through Harrogate is now clear.

It seems that all the modelling for this project was made using flow numbers taken during lockdown. No wonder pedestrian and vehicle numbers were so low and unrealistic, and the road had been made so narrow!

Before all this costly and wide-ranging change is passed and thrust upon us, please can we have a re-run using typical A61 working day traffic?

Living on this north/south A61 national highway, we are fully aware of the normal use of this main road, which became unusually quiet during pandemic restrictions and road renovations.

There is often heavy traffic in both directions and a real need for the central crossing bollards erected at needful places between the wide traffic lanes.

Half of this traffic will pass down Parliament Street, but the equivalent southbound traffic has to join the shoppers and bus/train users in Station Parade. The video seemed not to show any of this.

The question raised about access to the A61 from the conference centre car-park was scarcely addressed, except to infer that there was no need to cater for it.

It will certainly be a dangerous place for cyclists on either side of the road, let alone pedestrians.

So serious re-run, please, with realism. There is so much new building going on in and around our town that all numbers will surely soon outgrow this dream.

Beryl Dunsby, Harrogate

Packed school buses explain Harrogate’s soaring covid rate

I’m not surprised the covid rate is rising. I accompanied my grandson on the school bus Harrogate to Knaresborough a few days ago and it was rammed. Children about 11-15/16 stood and sat shoulder to shoulder. Not one more person could have got on.

No windows were open and not one person except me had a mask on, not even the driver.

My friend in Brighton is suffering a bad dose of covid following an informal singing session. Out of the 70 there at least 30 have tested positive. They had ventilation and and all are double vaccinated.

I’ve read of a new variant, highly contagious, which is suspected in a few cases including a friend’s wife who is currently very ill in hospital down south. It’s been reported in Japan, six cases last I read a few days ago, and Australia, one case, similarly a few days ago, maybe a week.

I’ve heard nothing apart from that. I don’t follow news closely, it’s too depressing.

Teresa Liddell Shepherd, Harrogate

Double standards by cyclists

The Stray Ferret reported Harrogate District Cycle Action group commenting on Tesco’s arguments concerning sustainability: “That is greenwash, and based on nothing more than a far-fetched hope” and that there should be “segregated, protected cycle tracks on either side of Skipton Road”.

This is the organisation who is actively supporting the Otley Road cycle way also based on nothing more than a far-fetched hope. They have never provided any evidence that it will see motorists on Otley Road forsaking their cars. Or that those motorists are happy to have a narrow pavement, become a shared non-segregated cycle path for Otley Road residents and pedestrians to negotiate.

Double standards?

Chris Dicken, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Stray Views: Night time noise in Harrogate makes it impossible to sleep

Night time noise in Harrogate is unacceptable

The noise at night in the centre of Harrogate is unacceptable. People shouting and fast loud cars until 2am to 3am. Friends of mine from London couldn’t believe how noisy Harrogate is and they live in central London.

I agree so I’m moving. Every weekend it’s the same. I want people to enjoy themselves but the behaviour I hear is antisocial.

Can’t people be decent and realise that people/families have the right to a good night’s sleep? Honestly it’s not acceptable to be kept awake until 2am to 3am in the morning.

I have teenagers but they are aware of their surroundings and wouldn’t dream of shouting or playing loud music in their cars. Can’t something be done?

Annekin Emerson, Harrogate

New Tesco location ‘beggars belief’

I cannot believe that Tesco and the council are considering building a superstore with an entrance so close to one of the busiest junctions in Harrogate.

The thought of two roundabouts within close proximity beggars belief, traffic will back up from the entrance to Tesco and hold up all of Harrogate’s through traffic from the A59 and A61.

Clearly the ideal place for a Tesco superstore is on or near Otley Road, then traffic will head out of Harrogate or have easy access from all of the new estates on that side of town.

The problem at the moment is that ALL of the supermarkets are in town or the opposite end of town to Otley Road (except for Aldi, which is excellent but does not satisfy all requirements), so all the traffic has to go down Skipton Road to get to them causing constant traffic jams.

Why the council/house builders/Tesco cannot get round a table and come to an agreement where the Tesco land at the roundabout can be developed for housing, and more appropriate land on the outskirts of town can be used for the Tesco’s I do not know. Is that not Section 106 agreements are all about?

Stephen Readman, Harrogate

Pedestrians needs are being ignored

May I voice support for your correspondent Angela Dicken and her comments on the cycle way on Otley Road?

I am a frequent pedestrian there and can wholly confirm what she says. Yesterday morning, for example, just after 9am, on which occasion I was actually in the car heading for Bradford (try it on public transport if you want to know why) I was waiting at the pelican crossing and saw a cyclist in all the gear absolutely hurtling down the pavement towards Leeds Road.

This at a time when the pavement is always busy with people. At the moment that is illegal, although nothing is ever done about it. Now we are being asked to share space with such people.

Nor was this an isolated incident as many will testify. Later that day I was passed by another equally speedy cyclist whilst walking on the pedestrianised section of Oxford Street. Later still, on East Parade, by which time it was dark, another pair were riding abreast without lights on that road. And so on. It is time certainly to think about the pedestrian and stop indulging a fantasy of responsible cycling.

Paul Jennings, Harrogate

Well done, Harrogate Borough Council

I must thank those at Harrogate Borough Council who have been responsible for removing the weeds from around the base of the Tewit Well’s dome.

In this, the 450th anniversary of the discovery of Harrogate’s first mineral well, it is particularly important to ensure that the Tewit Well appears cared for, in view of the passing visitors the site so regularly sees.

Malcolm Neesam, Harrogate

Stray Views: Anti-cycling attitudes have turned Harrogate into a car park

Anti-cycling attitudes have turned Harrogate into a car park

As a Byron Walk Mews resident, I had no problem at all with the small numbers of school pupils and town centre workers and visitors who used this path, which is wide enough to safely accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists.

Councillor Sam Gibbs presumably prefers them to take their chances in the traffic on the A61 or Victoria Road.

A similar anti-cycling attitude, plus complete ignorance of our taxation system, is shown by county councillor Stuart Parsons in the separate report about cyclists annoying motorists by using our roads. Apparently he believes they are “not road taxpayers while using it for their cycles”.

Councillor:
1. There is no such thing as road tax. It was abolished in 1937.
2. Cyclists pay general taxation, which funds the roads, just like everyone else.
3. Motorists (who include most cyclists) pay vehicle excise duty, based on the level of pollution they generate, hence a zero rate for electric cars. It has nothing to do with road maintenance.

No doubt these councillors believe there are votes to be had in attacking cycling. Sadly, such attitudes have helped Harrogate town centre become a giant car park choked with traffic. They show no understanding of the town’s potential for a healthier, safer and quieter future.

Marwood Smith, Harrogate

We need more straight-talking MPs like Nigel Adams

Brilliant to see Nigel Adams, the Selby with Ainsty MP, use a bit of Anglo-Saxon language to the attention seeking London Brexit madman. We need far more straight-talking from our MPs.

Tim Emmott, Harrogate

Paddling pool closed too soon

It is a shame that the paddling pool in the children’s play area at Borrage Green in Ripon has been emptied of water.

Surely, the council could have maintained its use for a little longer, especially while the early evenings are still light and children can enjoy the outdoors.

Liz Jarvis, Low Grantley

Cycle count is a pointless publicity stunt

Mr Margolis is fooling no one with his publicity stunt on Beech Grove. He says his survey of a couple of hours of observation, picked by himself, ‘proves’ that Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood is working well. The other day I observed Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood and didn’t see a single cyclist.

By his logic that “proves” nobody is using it and therefore a complete failure! Did he, by any chance, find out how many of those he did observe would have been going along Beech Grove anyway?

I walk along Beech Grove and don’t see a ‘transformation’, other than many more U-turns.

There’s no change for pedestrians as we walked on the pavement before and still do. Like North Yorkshire County Council, which uses the results of un-scientific, self-appointed surveys filled in by a minority of enthusiasts to ‘prove’ what people want, once again we have misleading information trying to prove a point. Is that the best they can do?

Chris Dicken, Harrogate

Otley Road cycle path will make life worse for pedestrians

It’s wrong to say pedestrians welcome the Otley Road cycle path

I read the following quote in The Stray Ferret regarding the Otley Road cycle path: “The improvements will significantly benefit the community and help to create a better-connected and safer network for pedestrians and cyclists.”

Please could you tell me how the Otley Road cycle path will benefit pedestrians? At the moment, the pavement all along Otley Road is for pedestrians only.

When the cycle path is introduced, pedestrians will have to share 58% of the pavement with cyclists. Cyclists and pedestrians move at very different speeds and it is recommended that they should not be in the same space.

Much of the 58% of shared space is narrower than current regulations state is safe for shared use. How can this be safer for pedestrians than the current situation?

When discussing sustainable transport, cyclists and pedestrians are frequently grouped together and we are told that the changes will benefit both groups. The needs of these two groups are very different and it is time for this to be recognised. Harrogate District Cycle Action Group appears to have a great deal of influence on policy decisions, but who is fighting the corner for pedestrians?

Angela Dicken, Otley Road resident

Tewit Well and Sun Colonnade are just two examples of gross disrepair

Malcolm Neesam is in the news again regarding ‘the slovenly attitude of the authorities towards maintaining Harrogate’s attractions’.

I, and I’m sure a very great many others, absolutely agree. But it’s not just the Tewit Well and the Sun Colonnade that have fallen into gross disrepair — what about the similarly iconic bandstand at the rear of the Mercer Gallery, adjacent to the public toilets? Its dilapidated and abused state makes it a health and safety accident waiting to happen.

Why do the authorities not appreciate the role that these buildings play in attracting visitors to Harrogate and do something about restoring and/or maintaining them?

Agreed, the floral displays are exquisite and rewilding of parts of the Stray is a good idea. But our pavements are strewn with litter and we have to manoeuvre our way over damaged paving and around waste/recycling bins; changes to our road systems are thrust upon us even though they are having and will have serious repercussions; and there is irresponsible and intimidating behaviour in our public spaces and on our roads.

Would it be too much to ask the authorities, who we elected to represent us and whose wages we pay, to take into consideration our wants, needs and expectations in the way they manage Harrogate?

Isn’t a councillor’s primary role to represent those who live in their ward and provide a bridge between the community and the council? But maybe I expect too much and will just have to get on my bike…

Val Michie, Harrogate

The amount of litter in Harrogate is a disgrace

I agree entirely with David Pickering’s comments published in Stray Views on September 5. I would further add that not only the amount of litter is a disgrace in the town centre but also the filthy state of the pavements. Our town should be in pristine condition for visitor and residence alike.

Also, David’s commented on the state of the roads in Harrogate. Again I wish to add a request to North Yorkshire County Council that monies are allocated to improve the roads and allocate a patching gang to fill in the potholes. When potholes are marked in white, why does it take up to 90 days (many go over this time span) to repair them?

Also I would like to ask Harrogate Borough Council why there are weeds and plants growing in kerbs and gutters? What has happened to the mechanical road sweepers?

David James, St. Georges ward, Harrogate

Stray Views: Double yellow lines would solve Stray parking problems instantly

Double yellow lines would prevent parking on the Stray

Regarding the Oatlands no parking signs, such signage is not allowed under the Stray Act and is, therefore, technically illegal. However, so is parking on the Stray.

That said, we have been working with Harrogate Borough Council and have mutually agreed with the temporary erection of these signs as we have sympathy with their efforts to resolve the ongoing parking problems.

Over the past many years the Stray Defence Association has tried to get this situation resolved. We have always felt that the simplest solution would be a double yellow line down BOTH sides of the road. However, North Yorkshire County Council has flatly refused to do this, despite innumerable approaches.

Regrettably people seem to think they have an innate right to park wherever they choose. Sadly they do not appear to have the same recognition of the damage they do to the Stray all along there, together with blocking the cycle lane.

Frankly NYCC have been ridiculously uncooperative over putting in double yellow lines, the best and simplest solution all round.
Why is beyond comprehension as it would be a quick, simple and legally binding solution to the problem and could have been done 15-plus years ago.

As it is there has been endless damage to the Stray all along Oatlands Drive and the edges of Oatlands Stray and endless complaints from the cycling fraternity who, rightly, complain that their cycle lane is obstructed.

It is time that the law was enforced and this illegal parking was brought to an end. Perhaps this will make NYCC see sense and install double yellow lines.

Judy d’Arcy-Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association

End this parking confusion

Your photo of parking on Oatlands Drive gives an easy pointer to why people park as they do. They mistake the dotted line of the bike lane as an encouragement to put one side of the car within that line and one side on the verge.

It is compounded by there being a double yellow on the western side (with the bike lane markings) and nothing on the other side.

So, the council could fine people for having one side of the car on the Stray verge, but if they simply park wholly on the road, no offence against the Stray and no offence against parking? Their signs imply that parking on Oatlands Drive is not allowed.

Bob Hankinson, Harrogate

Councils need to stop these illogical projects

I continue to be surprised by the enthusiasm of North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council to spend taxpayers money on illogical projects which are universally unpopular with local residents and merely serve to exacerbate and concentrate traffic flows rather than keep them diluted.

Having already registered my opposition to the Beech Grove experimental traffic order, which has frustrated both drivers and local residents and has inevitably increased the flow of traffic down Victoria Road, Queens Road and Cold Bath Road, I am now surprised to see that NYCC will continue to create further problems by introducing a one-way system on Victoria Road.

This new plan, apparently intended to reduce traffic, is going to push even more drivers down Queens Road (where I live) and Cold Bath Road. Cold Bath Road is congested at the best of times but as soon as the schools go back (and indeed once office workers start to return) it will become unbearable.

Moreover, I dread to think what sort of impact the several thousand new houses they are building on Yew Tree Lane, Whinney Lane, Cardale Park and Otley Road will have on congestion. All the traffic created by these developments will flow down Otley Road and Cold Bath Road with no improvements to the road traffic routes.

It’s all very well for public sector employees to sit around examining ways of maintaining their budgets and tinkering with local roads to divert traffic when it has no material impact whatsoever on their personal lives. But on the ground it will concentrate traffic down certain roads and your next initiative is going to worsen rather than improve this situation.

Surely NYCC and HBC have more worthy and important projects to spend taxpayers money on? A few of note might be:

1 Rejuvenating the town centre, which is a depressing day out now that many stores have closed and are unlikely to reopen. Surely more can be done to encourage businesses to take up empty retail space.

2 Cleaning up the litter problem in the town centre. Every morning I walk our dog through the town and the amount of litter gets worse and worse.

3 Showing more consideration for local residents by completing jobs which inconvenience thousands of people on a daily basis far more quickly. Two examples are: The 4/5 way traffic light at the top of Pannal Ash Road were in place for months during school term and created huge tail backs. There appeared to be no urgency whatsoever to complete the job. We then had a similar experience on East Parade with temporary traffic lights causing significant tail backs. The works, which finished on the Wednesday, were in place for two more days with no-one doing any work. I called up NYCC and asked why this was the case and the operator said that the traffic lights were still in place because the works were due to finish on the Friday. But the works had clearly finished on the Wednesday!

4 Improve the state of Harrogate’s roads which are appalling in parts.

None of the above reflects particularly well on NYCC or HBC. I am not alone in holding these opinions.

David Pickering, Harrogate

Doppelganger issues

Please could you congratulate John Plummer on being appointed Editor. I hope makes a great success of the role and enjoys it.

To avoid further shocks to my ageing system perhaps one of us should change our name?

John Plummer, Spofforth

Stray Views: Greed and high house prices are forcing people out of Harrogate

Greed has made Harrogate homes unaffordable for many

I read your series of articles about Harrogate’s high housing costs and its impact on hospitality workers with interest.

However, I read Alex Goldstein’s contribution with increasing incredulity. I’m not sure whether he was being deliberately provocative or is completely heartless.

I was brought up in one of Harrogate’s less affluent areas in the 1950/60s and many of my neighbours and my friends’ parents worked in the hospitality sector. Strangely enough, they were able to support a family on their earnings, possibly because they lived in either council houses or reasonably priced rental accommodation.

It must be plain for everyone to see that the disparity between high priced accommodation and hospitality sector wages means it is inevitable that those wishing to work in this sector are no longer able to afford to live in Harrogate.

My heart bleeds for the buy-to-let investors who would be hurt by rent caps. Their greed has made Harrogate unaffordable for more and more ordinary workers.

I do hope that Mr Goldstein will soon be able to afford his Lamborghini and drive off to Mayfair where his despicable ideas may be better appreciated.

Margaret Fox, Harrogate

The Montpellier Hill Christmas market experience was a nightmare

I’m sorry, I’ve totally lost my rag with this nonsense. What person thinks there is “no more appropriate” a site than Montpellier Hill for this event?

In a town with more than 200 acres of readily accessible open space and a half vacant town centre, we persist year after year on shoving hundreds of traders and tens of thousands of visitors on a muddy slope in the most cramped and inappropriate part of green space Harrogate has to offer.

As a local of more than 15 years, you soon learn to stay well clear of the Christmas market, such are the miserable circumstances under which it is delivered. Its absolutely horrid — thousands pushing past one anther in an obscenely small space, with narrow alleys and a sense that if you browse, you are blocking the crowds and inconveniencing everyone else.

If we had a modicum of common sense, we would relocate to another part of the Stray and have wide, airy corridors, with space between units so people can take a leisurely stroll and browse at their own pace, thus probably spending far more than they might have otherwise.

I love the concept of a Christmas market, I am ashamed of the way Harrogate delivers it simply because of the location. Look at Leeds, Durham, York — anywhere else as a better example of how it can be done without it being a positively suffocating (and covid-breeding) experience.

Mark Fuller, Cold Bath Road, Harrogate

Universities offer more than degrees

I have just read Marilyn Stowe’s column about the anxiety of not getting the A level grades you would have hoped to get.

As a lecturer for almost 40 years in a post-1992 university and an admissions tutor for much of that time, I spoke to and advised many university applicants in that position and I am gratified to say that my institution provided a more than satisfactory and welcoming academic, social and diverse community to a great number of them.

I am particularly proud of those who took up places at our university who saw the opportunity afforded to them not just as a chance to rise to the top but to serve the wider community, including an international one, in a professional capacity.

The pandemic has shown us just how much we need and rely on those whose work supports as a matter of course the wider community and those of every social constituency who find themselves in need.

Glyn Hambrook, Harrogate

Stray Views: Don’t make Harrogate Christmas Market like the others

Don’t make the Christmas Market like everywhere else

I cannot believe that HBC have sold out to a national company that apparently provides a box standard Christmas market of sugary junk from repetitive stalls rather than using all of the local independent retailers.

Clearly they will make more money from this venture, especially giving them ten days worth of sales. Why do they insist on changing Harrogate to make it the same as everywhere else, when it’s charm is that it is different and that is what draws visitors here?

Stephen Readman, Harrogate

Thank you to Knaresborough vaccine site staff

Our youngest daughter, who has an apprenticeship and is potentially exposed to the virus now, was really keen to get the vaccine.

Richard, who heads up the vaccine site, has been without doubt absolutely fantastic. He kept in constant communication with me, as the BBC actually announced the vaccine was available to all 16 and 17 years before the NHS had agreed to this. He contacted me to advise of available dates and times.

His staff were fabulous with my daughter who has a phobia of needles, the nurse who dealt with her, calmly explained about the jab, that it wouldn’t hurt and he would stay with her until she was ok – which he did. He was absolutely great with her.

I cannot thank Richard and his staff enough – they were all brilliant.

I’d like to add that the management of the site is unprecedented – they rarely have any vaccine left over at the end of the day – down to the skill, logistics and organisation of the team there.

I know they have been criticised in the past but this was completely unfounded. They are all great and doing a fabulous job. They are dedicated and should be applauded for what they are doing!

A really big heartfelt thanks from me!

Charlotte Riley, Harrogate

Stray Views: Let’s do more to help travellers

Let’s do more to help travellers

What a good idea for districts to provide stops for travellers en route to Appleby Horse Fair.

Having lived in the area for 80 years, I see the slight inconvenience of a couple of nights encampment en route or return as no problem.

Travellers have always stayed in the district. In my youth we had the fair at Boroughbridge. Traffic slowed to let the horses and caravans go along their slow and steady way. We have seen the steady decline in public houses over the years (a very English tradition) and we are in danger of losing our identity.

Yes, hold the travellers to account over how they leave the site and make arrangements for them to pay for a clear up, or block their exit if it is not done, I am sure they would comply as a safe stopover is better for all if put into place. Councils should think twice about costly court orders and put common sense into the mix.

Sandra Theobald, Harrogate

We need new blood on our councils

Councillor Carl Les talks about fairness but what people want to know is: by how much their bills are going to reduce and what economies he is going to introduce?

There is no mention of this and no plan so until he can produce this, it’s not convincing. We also need new blood in our councillors, not just a reshuffle.

Harrogate people also want to know that their payments are actually spent in the town and not elsewhere in the region e.g. our roads are bad and North Yorkshire County Council’s highways department has consistently dragged its feet about traffic improvements whilst locals have told them how to improve matters.

What we really need, is for Harrogate to become a city and control its own affairs — we are certainly getting to this size.

Until we do, our cash can be siphoned elsewhere with little or no say about it.

John Holder, Harrogate

Harrogate Christmas Market is tacky!

I’m glad the Harrogate Christmas Market has been declined permission.

Harrogate is supposed to be posh but the market, along with the Christmas decorations, make it really tacky.

Susan Monk, Harrogate

Stray Views: For goodness sake, save Harrogate Christmas market!

Council negativity towards Christmas market is affecting traders

The benefits to the town of the Christmas market are enormous and the increased footfall and spend attests to this. The market is close enough to the town centre for everyone to benefit.

Unfortunately, Harrogate Borough Council this year has decided otherwise. It is saying that “the event plan did not take into account the risk of overcrowding and necessary evacuation procedures, counter terrorism measures and the ongoing risk of covid”.

However this is not the case — the site is open with easy access to the outside, the council closes the roads and there are big concrete blocks at the top of the hill. It doesn’t get overcrowded — it’s less busy than indoor shopping centres, football stadia, nightclubs etc where people are in close contact for more than the guidelines of 15 minutes.

That the council was not in touch with the organisers prior to making this decision reflects very badly on them.

Organising an event of this nature takes a great deal of time and planning and attractions have already been booked, such as the reindeers and Father Christmas! It is very late in the year for stall holders to make alternative arrangements.

I am a local craftsman and rely on events like this to stay in business, and I am only one of many in a similar situation. The government policy at the moment is to get the economy moving again as soon as possible.

Harrogate Borough Council’s negative attitude is hindering this process.

Lyn Grant, Harrogate

Labour’s politics of envy over Julian Smith’s advisory roles

Thank you for giving us details of Julian Smith’s lists of advisory roles. He is obviously highly regarded by these organisations who value his skills and expertise, why otherwise would they recruit him?

The comments of ex-Labour candidate Brian McDaid are wholly inappropriate. MPs on all sides of the House of Commons have similar advisory rolls and provided they are recorded on their register of interests they are quite normal.

Might I add that I have had occasion to seek Mr Smith’s assistance on three occasions since he was elected as the MP for Skipton and Ripon and he has on all occasions responded promptly and met me locally at his regular surgeries.

His re-election suggests he is doing the job by the electors. The politics of envy will never be a worthy news item.

Brian Hicks, Pateley Bridge

Poor shopping, beggars… is it any wonder people are avoiding Harrogate?

Today I met with a friend from outside the area who was saying how much she used to enjoy coming in to Harrogate to shop but doesn’t come in any more.

The reasons given were so many empty shops, cheap discount stores on what was the upmarket street and beggars sitting and almost partying around the town.

I later walked up Parliament Street and in a doorway just before the old Debenhams store there were five people with drinks, sleeping bags etc and a mess on the pavement that appeared to be vomit.

Is it any surprise that people are becoming reluctant to come in to Harrogate? Do enough people care and if so what can be done about it?

Sandra Fielding, Harrogate

Stray Views: Starbeck is worse than Bradford and Birmingham

Harrogate is in trouble and needs to wake up

I can only say what I see. I am originally from Birmingham and still have my business there. We lived in Cottingley, near Bradford for 11 years before moving to Starbeck in 2018 to be near our daughter and grandkids.

Since living here, I don’t see any difference between Harrogate, Bradford or Birmingham. In fact, Starbeck is a lot worse. It’s certainly the worst place we have lived in for over 40 years and most of that time was around Birmingham, including Erdington, Longbridge and Bournville — where my business is.

The drug problem here is horrific (like everywhere), and almost everywhere I can smell pot smoking. Harrogate is overcrowded, and the roads into the town are ridiculously busy, as bad as the big cities, mainly due to the poor planning of the town over the decades.

I lived in Redditch in 1989-1990 and Harrogate compares to that time, but probably worse. Prospect Road area is now renowned for drugs, antisocial behaviour, supermarket trolleys everywhere daily, and broken glass and litter strewn everywhere, and if it is cleared up it’s back the same within days.

Harrogate town centre is just like any other which is struggling, and no one is doing anything about it other than seemingly making things worse with wrong decision after wrong decision. Don’t get me wrong, it is still nice, but the spiral is seemingly downwards and it needs radical common sense thinking to turn the town around.

Is Harrogate in decline? It seems it’s been in decline for a long time, and the town needs to wake up because as an outsider if this is my experience of it then the town is already in trouble.

Martin Morris, Starbeck

Harrogate is clean, tidy and beautiful

I read some of the comments about “is Harrogate in decline”? I recently moved to Harrogate after spending over 20 years living and working in Northampton. To me Harrogate is a lovely place to live.

It is clean, tidy, mostly well organised and has beautiful buildings and parklands. The hospitality industry is excellent. I am so happy I moved here and the locals are genuinely so friendly.

A note of caution: I went back recently to Northampton for a few days. They are one of the towns / cities trialling e-scooter hire schemes. They should be avoided at all costs until proper well informed regulations are in place and enforced. Scooter riders are a law unto themselves, riding on pavements with no helmets and multiple riders. They are then just abandoned on pavements until they’re next hired, causing blockages and generally look a mess and tacky.

I hope Harrogate resists such schemes until proper regulations are in place and enforced. You have a lovely town and i am very happy to be part of it now.

Peter Hannon, Harrogate

Devolution will lead to more waste and incompetence

Any councillors expressing regret over the government’s decision to choose to have a super-council for North Yorkshire should focus instead on their own faults for backing the present arrangements, which have never worked very well anyway.

Now we have a proposed local authority, which will be even more unaccountable to the public and which will only consult on its own terms.

Experience shows that there are no savings with large unitary bodies, only more waste and incompetence in handling larger revenues. You only have to listen to the regular facts uncovered by the TaxPayers’ Alliance and similar to see what we are in for now.

Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has overruled many public concerns and is going the wrong way here too. It’s up to councillors and MPs to make him realise there are no advantages to Joe Public — only poor control of costs

John Holder, Harrogate

£11 million Station Gateway a ‘haphazard whim’

Traffic evidence based on ‘flawed modelling’

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Packed school buses explain Harrogate’s soaring covid rate

Double standards by cyclists

Night time noise in Harrogate is unacceptable

New Tesco location ‘beggars belief’

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Pedestrians needs are being ignored

Well done, Harrogate Borough Council

Anti-cycling attitudes have turned Harrogate into a car park

We need more straight-talking MPs like Nigel Adams

Paddling pool closed too soon

Cycle count is a pointless publicity stunt

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It’s wrong to say pedestrians welcome the Otley Road cycle path

Tewit Well and Sun Colonnade are just two examples of gross disrepair

The amount of litter in Harrogate is a disgrace

Double yellow lines would prevent parking on the Stray

End this parking confusion

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Councils need to stop these illogical projects

Doppelganger issues

Greed has made Harrogate homes unaffordable for many

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The Montpellier Hill Christmas market experience was a nightmare

Universities offer more than degrees

Don’t make the Christmas Market like everywhere else

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Thank you to Knaresborough vaccine site staff

Let’s do more to help travellers

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We need new blood on our councils

Harrogate Christmas Market is tacky!

Council negativity towards Christmas market is affecting traders

Labour’s politics of envy over Julian Smith’s advisory roles

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Poor shopping, beggars… is it any wonder people are avoiding Harrogate?

Harrogate is in trouble and needs to wake up

Harrogate is clean, tidy and beautiful

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Devolution will lead to more waste and incompetence