A £1 million penalty paid by Yorkshire Water for polluting Hookstone Beck should have been awarded to a Harrogate group, according to the local councillor.
Yorkshire Water said last week it had agreed to pay £500,000 to York-based Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and £500,000 to Pateley Bridge-based Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust.
The payments were to atone for an unauthorised sewage discharge that polluted Harrogate’s Hookstone Beck in 2016 and killed fish.
Cllr Pat Marsh, a Liberal Democrat who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone on North Yorkshire Council, said the money could have paid for “desperately needed” repairs in Hookstone Woods.
Cloudy water in Hookstone Beck caused by Yorkshire Water’s pollution.
Cllr Marsh, who is also chairman of Hookstone and Stonefall Action Group, said she was “outraged” by the pollution and the decision to spend the penalty elsewhere, without consulting local councillors, “rubbed salt in the wounds”.
She said volunteers at HASAG, who look after the Pan Handle, Stonefall Park and Hookstone Wood, were trying to raise money to rebuild the willow bridge that connects two ponds in Hookstone Wood.
Cllr Marsh said:
“This is so close to where the spill occurred. Why shouldn’t they be supported rather than some area not even in the Harrogate area?
“Consultation with Harrogate councillors should have happened. Again this is another reason why we need a Harrogate Town Council. So we suffer the mess and receive nothing to compensate.”
Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust will use the funding on developing the iNidd campaign to improve the River Nidd.
Read more:
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River Nidd clean-up campaign boosted by £500,000 from Yorkshire Water
A campaign to clean-up the River Nidd has received a £500,000 boost — from a penalty paid by Yorkshire Water for polluting Harrogate..
Yorkshire Water revealed last week it had agreed to give £1 million to charities for polluting Hookstone Beck in Harrogate.
The sum — to atone for an unauthorised sewage discharge that killed fish in the beck — was divided equally between Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust.
A meeting in Knaresborough yesterday heard Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, which is based in Pateley Bridge, will use the funding to lead the iNidd project to clean-up the River Nidd.
Charlotte Simons, senior project manager at the trust, told the meeting:
“The sad thing is we have the money because something went wrong.
“But we have been given a lump sum that can lead to long-term improvements on the River Nidd.”
Yesterday’s meeting in Knaresborough.
The trust, which runs improvement projects across the catchments of the Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe and Ouse, will work with anglers, academics and wild swimmers as well as Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency on the iNidd scheme.
Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, is also involved through his campaign to achieve bathing water status on the Nidd at Knaresborough Lido.
The trust previously led the iWharfe project to improve the River Wharfe.
Yorkshire Water’s iNidd funding will pay for water quality schemes and other initiatives, such as habitat improvements and tackling invasive non-native species.
Nidd Action Group organised yesterday’s meeting at the Centre on Gracious Street, which gave members of the public the chance to quiz those involved in the iNidd campaign.
It followed a previous meeting at the same venue in spring this year, which marked the start of the clean-up campaign.
David Clayden, chair of the action group, said:
“We have achieved a lot in six months. I expect to see plans come together in the next six months that are collaborative and will make a difference.”
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Bid to create butterfly bank and dipping pool at Staveley nature reserve
A fundraising appeal has been launched to improve Staveley Nature Reserve.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, which owns the wetlands site between Boroughbridge and Knaresborough, plans to introduce new features and increase the number of visitors.
The proposals include the creation of a butterfly bank — a type of chalk grassland habitat — so people will be able to see more butterflies across the wildflower meadows.
The trust also wants to create a dipping pond and platform at the edge of one of the pools so it can run pond-dipping sessions, which are popular with children.
There are also plans to install a toilet so the site can cater for school visits and events and enable volunteers to work longer.
Pic: Jono Leadley (10)
A barn owl at Staveley. Pic: Carl Watts
The reserve, which is close to the River Tutt just outside Staveley, is one of 111 sites owned by the trust and attracts almost 40,000 visitors a year. Entry is free.
Staveley is home to hundreds of species including otters, water shrews, foxes, roe deer and more than 150 species of bird including bitterns and barn owls.
Over autumn and winter the reserve hosts spectacular starling murmurations, bats and kites.
Staveley. Pic: Paul Fox
A goldfinch and linnet flock. Pic: Carl Watts
The trust hopes to raise £20,000 from a public fundraising appeal and will also apply for grants.
The goal is to raise funds before February next year so work can begin in spring.
Staveley reserve manager Laura Harman said:
“Staveley is hugely important for Yorkshire’s wildlife, but also offers a unique space for local people and visitors to experience and enjoy the benefits of being in nature.
“As well as creating even more habitat space for wildlife such as butterflies and breeding birds, we want to improve routes and information, facilities like pond dipping and activities for schools – to make Staveley nature reserve a welcoming, easily accessible and inspiring place for everyone.”
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Plaque marks Ripon Canal’s 250th anniversary
Visitors to Ripon Canal now have a permanent reminder of its long history after a plaque was unveiled at the weekend to mark its 250th anniversary.
The canal basin off Bondgate Green/Boroughbridge Road, was bathed in warm sunshine on Saturday as groups, organisations and members of the public were invited to a festival to celebrate one of the city’s hidden gems.
In addition to the formalities, carried out by the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Sid Hawke, there were displays by organisations including Ripon Civic Society, the Canal & River Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, Inland Waterways Association and Ripon YMCA.
All have a keen interest in the canal for reasons ranging from built heritage to wildlife habitats and use of the waterway as a leisure and wellbeing asset.
Lizzie Dealey, partnerships manager for the Canal & River Trust, told the Stray Ferret:
“It’s remarkable to think how this waterway, which lay derelict for decades after the arrival of the railways, has been transformed, through the efforts of so many people, into a treasured facility.
“There are now more boats on our canals than at the height of the Industrial Revolution, with more than 10 million people using the network each year.”
Those who visited the Ripon Canal Basin on Saturday as part of the free Heritage Open Days programme which runs until Sunday (September 17) were treated to some free entertainment provided by a team of Appalachian clog dancers (pictured above) before a performance by Ripon singer/songwriter Freddie Cleary.
Nigel Rawlinson, president of Ripon Civic Society
And people who wanted to find out more about the canal’s heritage were able to speak with Nigel Rawlinson, the president of Ripon Civic Society and Richard Willis, the owner of Ripon Scenic Cruises and a former secretary of Ripon Canal Society.
Both societies played key roles in the canal’s protection and restoration between the 1980s and 1996.
The unveiling of the plaque was carried out by the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke, attended by Mayoress Ms Linda Hawke along with Lizzie Dealey, partnerships manager of the Canal & River Trust and event organiser Richard Willis, owner of Ripon Civic Cruises, which operates on the waterway.
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Yorkshire Water pays £235,000 for illegal Harrogate sewage discharge
Yorkshire Water has agreed to pay £235,000 to charity for illegally pumping sewage into Hookstone Beck in Harrogate.
The Environment Agency said today the company breached its environmental permit by discharging sewage from its Stray Road combined sewer overflow into the beck, which flows between Hookstone Road and Crimple Beck.
Following an Environment Agency investigation, Yorkshire Water volunteered to make amends for its offence.
It agreed to pay the sum to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, which will use the donation on environmental improvements in North Yorkshire including native crayfish conservation and reed bed management at Ripon City Wetlands.
The Environment Agency said the Stray Road combined sewer overflow, near Tewit Well, has an environmental permit which allows a discharge into the beck when the storm sewage facility is fully utilised due to rainfall or snow melt.
On 27 August 2015, it discharged illegally during dry weather and sewage fungus was evident on the bed of Hookstone Beck.
Yorkshire Water has now upgraded its telemetry to allow continuous monitoring of the storm overflow.
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The company agreed to an enforcement undertaking, which is a voluntary offer made by companies and individuals to make amends for their offending, and usually includes a donation to a wildlife charity to carry out environmental
Claire Barrow, Environment Agency area environment manager, said:
“Sewage pollution can be devastating to human health, local biodiversity and out environment. Storm overflows must only be used under strict permitted conditions that control their environmental impact.
“We are holding the water industry to account like never before and while we will always take forward prosecutions in the most serious cases, enforcement undertakings are an effective enforcement tool to allow companies to put things right and contribute to environmental improvements.
“They allow polluters to correct and restore the harm caused to the environment and prevent repeat incidents by improving their procedures, helping ensure future compliance with environmental requirements.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said it had made “significant improvements in our operations since this incident in 2015″, adding:
“When things go wrong, we understand we have a responsibility to make it right.”
A Yorkshire Wildlife Trust statement said:
Plans for 73 homes near nature reserve in Harrogate district village“Nature is in crisis and we firmly believe polluters causing damage to the environment must make amends, including through clean-up operations and fines.”
A developer has submitted plans to build 73 homes in a Harrogate district village.
Thomas Alexander Homes, which is based in Leeds, has tabled the proposal to Harrogate Borough Council for land off Minskip Road near to Staveley Nature Reserve.
Staveley is midway between Knaresborough and Boroughbridge and has a population of about 440.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust says the nature reserve, which the charity owns, is a “superb wetland” containing otters and orchids.
The plan would see a mixture of one, two, three, four and five-bedroom houses built. The developer has also earmarked 40% of the homes as affordable.
The site is allocated for housing in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-2035, which details where development can take place.
The developer said in its plans that the site represented a “logical extension” to the village.
It said:
“The proposal forms a logical extension to Staveley, the local authority concurred with this assessment by allocating the site for residential development to the scale of approximately 72 dwellings.”
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However, residents have raised concern over potential housing on the site.
Graham Bowland, from the Staveley Residents Action Group, said a meeting was held at the village hall this week to raise objections to the plan.
He said:
“We successfully fought off development before and now we have an application for 73 homes on the field known as SV1 on the Minskip Road opposite the Staveley Nature Reserve.
“It will increase the size of the village by 35%, but sadly despite significant objections from residents and the parish council at the time, it still went into the local plan.”
A decision on the plan will be made at a later date.