Calls to grit more Harrogate district roads set to be rejected

Councillors look set to reject calls to grit more roads in the Harrogate district this winter.

North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, meets on Friday to agree its gritting programme from October 1 to April 30.

A report by Barrie Mason, assistant director for highways and transportation at the council, recommends councillors at the meeting approve the same arrangements as last year.

The council has a winter maintenance service budget of £7.5 million. Details of its gritting routes are here.

Motorways and trunk roads in the county, including the A1, A1(M), A66, A66(M), A64, A168 (Dishforth to Thirsk) and A19 (Thirsk to Crathorne) are gritted separately by National Highways.

Each year the council’s business and environmental services committee considers requests for amendments to its gritting routes.

Five have been received from the Harrogate district but Mr Mason said in the report:

“Currently there are no external routes upgrade requests that are supported by officers.”

The only proposed change this year is to include the north Northallerton link road in winter gritting when it opens “as this is commensurate with its network hierarchy”, the report said.

Read more:

The 5 roads requested for gritting

The council received five requests from residents, parish councils and local councillors in the Harrogate district to grit additional roads.

They are:

Old Barber in Bilton

A resident said when it snows and is icy it is “very dangerous for elderly people”.

West End, Blubberhouses

A resident said the location has a a number of farms and hamlets with steep gradients and should be gritted.

Wheatlands Road, Harrogate

A local councillor said it is a very steep road and residents “find themselves unable to get vehicles out of the road at all”.

Walton Park, Harrogate

A local councillor said “when it’s icy it’s sometimes difficult to walk across the road never mind traverse the pavements”, adding parents walking down hill to primary school are “at risk in the morning”.

The access road to Heyshaw village in Nidderdale

The parish council said the road “becomes impassable when very icy or snowy” and links to a dairy farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Use water wisely’ plea as reservoir levels drop in Harrogate district

Yorkshire Water has advised residents to use water wisely as the spell of warm, dry weather continues.

The organisation said a lack of rainfall over many months has affected the amount of water it has been able to collect in its reservoirs.

Stocks in reservoirs are at 62%, which is 18% down on usual stocks at this time of year.

Meanwhile, in the hot weather, demand is particularly high, further draining supplies in reservoirs including Fewston and Swinsty, west of Harrogate.

Yesterday, Yorkshire Water supplied over 1.5 billion litres of water, which is 200 million litres above normal levels, equivalent to 530 full 25m swimming pools.

Neil Dewis, the company’s director of water, said:

“Our region has seen a prolonged dry spell, and while we’ve not had a bumper summer of sunshine and high temperatures, there has been very little rain with just some short, sharp showers that don’t deliver the water we need in our reservoirs and rivers.

“We’ve got teams out and about across Yorkshire, working round the clock to save water from leaky pipes, prioritising larger leaks. We’re also asking our customers to help us save water where they can. Simple steps can help reduce wastage and ensure we make the most of the water we’ve got so there’s enough to go around.”

Read more:

Rainfall has been below average in North Yorkshire since last autumn, when the county had only 86% of the average amount.

In winter, rainfall was 95% of the average, while in spring it was 73%. Figures for the summer so far show only 19% of an average rainfall amount has fallen, though they only reflect around a third of the season so far.

Head of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre Dr Mark McCarthy said:

“Summer so far has been drier than usual, and with little significant rain in the forecast this could lead to increasing pressure on valuable water resources.

“Climate change projections show that many parts of the UK, including Yorkshire, are likely to experience milder wetter winters and hotter and drier summers, with this year so far following that pattern.”

Yorkshire Water has advised measures including limiting showers to just four minutes, mulching flower beds to reduce the need for watering, reusing water where possible and turning off the tap while brushing teeth.

It has also said lawns do not need watering as even if they turn brown, they will quickly return to normal as soon as it rains.

West End village emerges

At Thruscross reservoir, the long dry spell has led the flooded village of West End to start appearing above the water line.

The village was evacuated in 1966 so it could be made into a reservoir, with homeowners forced to sell up to the Leeds Corporation.

Thruscross Reservoir's water levels are lowThruscross Reservoir. Photos by Louise Pullan.

Graves were exhumed before the area was flooded, but the gravestones still emerge along with some of the buildings when the water level drops, as has been happening in the last few weeks.

Louise Pullan, who owns nearby Breaks Fold Farm with husband Richard, said until recently it was quite rare for the water level to get that low:

“It has been more frequent over the last few years than it was previously. I don’t know if that’s due to a change in climate.

“It will probably get lower because they tend to use Thruscross to top up Fewston and Swinsty.

“It’s still a bit of a sore point with some of the farmers who had their land compulsorily purchased.”