Flooding reveals ‘major unresolved problem on West Park Stray’

Large swathes of The Stray in Harrogate remain flooded today after heavy rainfall from Storm Franklin.

The Stray underwent major repairs two years ago to improve drainage in the area near the Prince of Wales roundabout.

But that area, and many others, is under water, raising questions about what, if anything, can be done to improve matters.

The Stray Defence Association, which has campaigned to safeguard the Stray since the 1930s, posted on its Facebook page:

“Clearly there is a major unresolved problem on West Park Stray, whatever certain people say.

“Looking at the dire state of West Park Stray today this has never been the case over decades past … when in winter we often had 5/6 feet of accumulated snow melting on a regular basis as well as heavy rain.

“Tree roots are standing in water much of the time now, not just over this weekend. This is an environmental disaster in the making.”

£160,000 repairs ‘not money well spent’

Judy Darcy-Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association told the Stray Ferret.

“£160,000 was spent on repairs in 2019 and it was not money well spent since we’re still seeing flooding of this level.”

“There is also a concern about the number of trees being cut down around the area … these were protecting the area from floods, and the situation is only getting worse.”

Harrogate Borough Council, which is the protector of the Stray, was forced to repair the Stray in 2019 after the UCI World Championships caused extensive damage.

We reached out to the council for comment but did not receive a response.

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Locals also expressed their concerns over vehicles causing damage to the Stray after a van got stuck in the grass on Saturday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/HellyR1/status/1495077805964595201?s=20&t=wkvUuA4vc2wJodk1iPXEIA

Ms Darcy-Thompson said:

“These images have gone to the council and I have suggested that the driver pays for the damages they have done.”

 

Father and daughter see tree fall on cabman’s shelter on Harrogate Stray

A father and daughter have told of the moment they watched a tree come crashing down on a cabman’s shelter on West Park Stray in Harrogate.

Colin Reynolds and his daughter, Lauren Reynolds, had just driven around the Prince of Wales roundabout and on to West Park Stray when they noticed the mature tree splinter.

A large section of the tree, which is alongside one of the busiest streets in Harrogate, fell — fortunately in the opposite direction of the road. It damaged the roof of the distinctive green shelter

Lauren said they had just been discussing how the storm hadn’t been too bad when the incident happened.

She added:

“It was lucky it didn’t fall in the other direction or it could have killed someone.”

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The father and daughter, who live in Harrogate, pulled over to check if anybody was hurt. Luckily nobody was passing at the time.

Colin said:

“We were worried that somebody might be under the tree. There’s also a power chord in a lighting cable that was in the tree.”

storm Eunice

The cabman’s shelter

After checking nobody was hurt, they dialled 999.

A council worker was on hand almost immediately to prevent traffic using the inside lane.

Bilton Conservation Group plant crocuses on West Park Stray

Bilton Conservation Group is one of a number of volunteer groups that will be planting crocuses on West Park Stray over the coming days.

Five volunteers from the group began planting 5000 bulbs this afternoon.

The team were enthusiastic to take part in the council’s project to plant 60,000 crocuses across West Park Stray.

Other organisations will take over planting as it continues over the weekend and into next week.

Bilton Conservation Group has been involved in several similar projects with the council. Normally a project like this would include 20-30 volunteers from the group but due to covid restrictions they could only invite five.

Keith Wilkinson MBE, Secretary of Bilton Conservation Group, said:

“This is our contribution to the town effort. It’ll look fantastic at Easter. This is what we do in Nidd Gorge principally with the trees and footpaths but this is something different and you’ll see the benefit.

“We’re putting 5000 bulbs in two hours. It’ll be a great benefit there’s been a lot of adverse publicity with this part of the Stray with the problems with the flooding after the cycling event. But we’ve been having a lot of positive comments as people walk by. They just start to be seen in February.”

Crocus planting

This is one of several groups who volunteered to help plant the 60,000 crocuses.

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The council has said it received a huge number of responses to its call for volunteers.

West Park Stray was damaged by the UCI World Championships a year ago to the dismay of many residents. It has gone under extensive landscaping work since then and the council is hoping the crocuses will create an impressive display for next Spring.

Stray floods despite £20,000 drainage scheme

The West Park area of the Stray was flooded this morning after the first night of heavy rain since Harrogate Borough Council spent £20,000 improving drainage.

Several large puddles covered the Stray this morning, the largest of which is at the corner of West Park and Otley Road.

The council announced in April it had awarded £130,000 to Glendale Services to restore the Stray after last year’s UCI Road World Championships caused widespread damage.

More than £20,000 of this was set aside to improve poor drainage, which caused regular flooding.

More puddles on the corner of Beech Grove and West Park.

Council leader Richard Cooper said the investment would “address the historic drainage issues at the corner of Otley Road and West Park” that had been “an issue and frustration to local residents for a number of years”.

But today’s evidence suggests the problem of flooding remains.

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A council spokesman said:

“Overnight, there was a significant amount of rainfall that has resulted in numerous areas in Harrogate and across the district experiencing standing water. West Park Stray being one of them. This standing water will filter through to the drainage channels in due course.”

Harrogate Borough Council reopened West Park Stray in August, more than 11 months after the UCI championships ended.

The council promised to fix the problem.

The Stray Defence Association said it believes the work did not fully repair the damage and said it remains “dangerous” – something the council disputes as “frankly ridiculous.”

West Park Stray: A year at a glance

West Park Stray — 12 months of mud, repair and debate

This week marks one year since the end of the UCI World Championships and the serious damage to West Park Stray.

It has taken almost a year for it to turn green again. Harrogate Borough Council said as the repair works began that West Park Stray would “return to its former glory” – however the Stray Defence Association (SDA) has said it believes the work has not fully repaired the damage and said it remains “dangerous” with surface stones and ruts.

West Park Stray: A year at a glance

A year to forget on West Park Stray.

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 council said it would spend £130,000 on the restoration and outsourced the work to Lancashire-based contractors Glendale Services.

Yorkshire 2019, the organisers of the UCI World Cycling Championships, agreed to pay £35,500 to help restore the Stray.

Harrogate council: Dangerous West Park Stray claims ‘simply ridiculous’

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.

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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.”

West Park Stray opening is ‘frankly dangerous,’ says SDA

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.

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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.

West Park Stray: Green shoots of recovery after months of mud

The West Park Stray has started to turn green again after months of mud. The sight of green shoots will be welcome for many who have missed the space.

Harrogate Borough Council started reseeding work just over a week ago and the results are already starting to show.

The work is set to be complete by September. The council’s leader promised that it will be back “better than ever.”

The Stray starts to turn green

The grass is starting to show.

West Park Stray remains closed off with orange netting around the site. It allows for the seeds to germinate and also for the footpath repairs.

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Overall, the council believes that the works will cost £129,971, broken down into:

The Stray in late April.

The Stray starts to turn green

Most of West Park Stray is turning green.

Yorkshire 2019, the organisers of the UCI World Cycling Championships, has agreed to pay £35,500 to help restore the Stray.

The council’s decision to outsource to Glendale Services was met with fierce criticism from local contractors who said they were “disgusted” they weren’t invited to tender.

It awarded the contract to the Lancashire-based contractors under “urgent circumstances” seven months after the UCI.

District primary schools create scarecrows for Stray reseeding

Two scarecrows made by Harrogate district primary school pupils were placed on the Stray today as the borough council announced seeding work has started.

Pupils from Belmont Grosvenor School, Coppice Valley Primary School, Killinghall Primary School and five other schools created the scarecrows for West Park Stray, which is being reseeded.

Ben Grabham, from Harrogate Borough Council, confirmed the sowing of the grass seeds began this afternoon and that the scarecrows will remain in place while work is carried out.

West Park Stray is currently closed off to the public and the fences will continue to surround the area for a further four weeks.

It comes as the Stray is being re-seeded and repaired after damage caused from the 2019 UCI Road World Championships. The council estimated that the work would cost close to £130,000.

Works continue on West Park Stray, but the scarecrow prop could represent that sowing the grass seed will be soon.

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The announcement was made during one of the council’s regular Stray updates on their social media platforms.

Here's Ben with the latest update regarding West Park Stray… pic.twitter.com/mdFhY3xU95

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) June 25, 2020

 

Council Stray repairs contract given under ‘urgent circumstances’

A controversial council decision to bring in Lancashire based contractors to restore West Park Stray was made under “urgent circumstances” – seven months after the UCI World Cycling Championships.

Details seen by The Stray Ferret show the six-month contract handed to Glendale Services is worth an estimated £40,926.29 and was a direct appointment by the council in April, meaning it was not put out to competitive tender.

At the time, the decision to outsource to Glendale was met with fierce criticism from local contractors who said they were “absolutely disgusted” that they weren’t invited to tender for the work.

Harrogate Borough Council brought in the Chorley-based company to restore the Stray which was left with a £130,000 repair bill following the cycling championships.

Glendale have since started reseeding work, which council bosses say will be complete by September.

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Liberal Democrat county councillor, Geoff Webber, who asked the borough council through a Freedom of Information request about the contract, said he was disappointed that there was no competition for the work.

He said: “It is particularly disappointing to see this contact go to an ‘out of area’ company when the county council has been running a campaign for individuals and businesses to ‘shop local’.  

“I understand that there were at least two reputable local companies who could have carried out this work, possibly cheaper, but were not even given the chance to tender.”

 

Aerial shot of The Stray taken recently yet to be seeded.

Mark Smith, Managing Director of local contractor HACS, described the urgent decision as “rubbish”.

He told The Stray Ferret:

“I’ve never heard of such rubbish in my life. How could an event that happened last Autumn be urgent?

“They had six months from when the damage was done to appoint a contractor. We’ve had the driest spring on record so if a contractor had been appointed earlier they could have hit the ground running and seeded it earlier. Now, they’ve missed the optimum Spring sowing date for grass seed.”

The council expects the overall works to the Stray to cost £129,971:

Yorkshire 2019, the organisers of the UCI, has agreed to pay £35,500 to help restore the Stray.

Harrogate Borough Council has been approached for comment on the urgent decision, but had not responded at the time of publication.