No.7: The ongoing saga over Maltkiln

In this article, which is part of a series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2022, we look at the debate over a planned new 3,000 town in the Harrogate district called Maltkiln.

When Harrogate Borough Council unveiled a planned new town on the edge of the district, which could be home to 10,000 people, it was always likely to generate a mixed response.

The development, which was revealed to be called Maltkiln this year, promises up to 3,000 homes, two primary schools, as well as shops and employment space.

The aim of the scheme near Hammerton and Cattal is to make a dent in the district’s housing demand.

However, this year It faced questions over its green credentials, the lack of secondary education and criticism over a council-run consultation.

The layout for Maltkiln, which is centred around Cattal Station

From the start, there were eyebrows raised over the name itself – but that was the tip of the iceberg when it came to critics of the scheme.

Since the start of the consultation in October, Cllr Arnold Warneken raised questions over the process and its transparency.

First there was a plea to extend the survey after it emerged that some details in the housing document had been changed part way through.

It was enough for Cllr Warneken to threaten the council with a judicial review.

In a letter, he said:

“As you will appreciate, use of that sort of terminology starts to take us into legal areas such as judicial review.

“We have no wish to go there. If nothing else, it would be a huge waste of public money. However, please don’t underestimate the level of frustration of local residents.”

The borough council eventually agreed to the extension.

Then the authority was forced to apologise after publishing personal details of those who had submitted views to the consultation.

But the debate surrounding Maltkiln did not stop at an administrative process.

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Much was made over the fact that the development – which is the size of Thirsk – had no secondary school.

Instead, council officials confirmed that those students of a secondary school age look set to travel to Boroughbridge High School.

As a result, councillors raised questions over how this reflected on the the scheme’s green aims.

As Cllr Pat Marsh, chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency committee, said in November:

“Why are we saying this is a sustainable community and yet expecting children to travel at 11 to Boroughbridge?”

A vibrant community

The council has maintained that it wants Maltkiln to be a “vibrant new community in its own right” which compliments the surrounding villages.

It has also pointed out that the plan for the new town is spread over 30 years.

For some villagers, there is hope that the new scheme will inject young blood into the area.

Keith Welton, 74, who lives in Cattal, told the Stray Ferret in July that he was taking a pragmatic approach to the new town by hoping the new North Yorkshire Council is firm with developers by ensuring affordable homes are built.

He said:

“There’s an acute need for affordable housing. Many of our young people come out of university and want to go to Leeds, Manchester or London. They settle down, and they want to come back. We need to capitalise on that talent and make housing available for them.”

“I’m 74 and you can’t have a village full of 74 year olds!”

For Harrogate Borough Council, choosing the area for 3,000 new homes is arguably one of its biggest decisions ahead of its abolition in April.

Concern over lack of secondary school at new Harrogate district town

Concerns have been raised about the absence of a secondary school in plans for a new Harrogate district town of up to 4,000 homes.

The proposed town, called Maltkiln, will be built in the Hammerton and Cattal area and will include a GP surgery, shops and two primary schools — but not a secondary school.

According to a North Yorkshire County Council report, the scheme proposes to expand Boroughbridge High School, which has about 600 students, to meet demand for secondary school pupils.

Land in Maltkiln has also been “safeguarded” for a high school, but this would only be built in future should it be required.

Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn, told a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee meeting today that plans to expand Boroughbridge High School to meet demand would generate its own problems.

He added that local residents were surprised the development did not have its own secondary school given that thousands of homes are expected to be built.

Cllr Warneken said:

“This is a massive impact on this community and everything needs to be in place that is going to address that impact.

“The pupils are not just going to come from the Maltkiln development, they are going to come from places like Whixley, Green Hammerton and Tockwith as well. All of those have experienced big developments as well.

“I am concerned that we are asking, as a result of Maltkiln, for a school to be further developed in Boroughbridge when I believe that Boroughbridge has its own set of problems in terms of levels of development and the number of pupils that will generate.”

Boroughbridge High School.

Boroughbridge High School.

Officials at the county council said in a report that it was “not expected” that the size of the development would “generate sufficient pupils” to require a new secondary school.

Sue Turley, strategic planning officer in the county council’s children’s and young people service, said the council had forecast that Boroughbridge High School would be able to meet the demand for secondary school pupils from the new town.

She said:

“In terms of the secondary provision, it is expected that Boroughbridge High School would be expanded because there is sufficient space at the school and to grow the school, which is part of a federation with King James School.

“However, it is important to realise that there is safeguarded land within Maltkiln for secondary provision as indicated should this be required in the future. There is that provision there and I think that everybody wanted to see that there was that provision in that development plan for the site, which is now being consulted on.”

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Cllr Pat Marsh, chair of the area committee, raised concern that the move did not meet the sustainable aims of the development.

She said:

“Why are we saying this is a sustainable community and yet expecting children to travel at 11 to Boroughbridge?

“Then this joining with King James becomes problematic because Knaresborough itself has got over 1,000 new houses and where is the secondary school there? It’s King James.

“So there is going to be a major issue with secondary schools.”

Extension of consultation

Harrogate Borough Council has agreed to extend a consultation into  Maltkiln until November 25.

Council officials launched a six-week consultation on October 3 into its draft new settlement development plan document, which sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how the town is designed and developed.

However, Cllr Warneken, who represents Ouseburn on North Yorkshire County Council, called for an extension amid concern that the planning process was being rushed ahead of the new North Yorkshire Council coming into being.

He issued the plea after it emerged the consultation documents had been changed midway through — without people being told — and raised the prospect of a judicial review.

You can take part in the consultation over the new town here.

‘Developers should create infrastructure for new homes’ says Harrogate and Knaresborough MP

Planning regulations should change to require developers to include infrastructure to support new homes, Harrogate and Knaresborough’s MP has said.

Andrew Jones told North Yorkshire County Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee yesterday he had raised the issue in parliament.

He was asked by Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, whose Ouseburn division includes the planned up to 4,000-home Maltkiln settlement, whether more should be done to ensure infrastructure could cope with a sudden rise in the population.

Cllr Warneken said:

“When I’ve had meetings with the developers for Maltkiln, it has become apparent that they are going to use existing infrastructure until it bursts before they do anything about it.

“In reference to the sewage they are going to use an existing, archaic sewage system until it’s up to bursting level and then they’re going to put efforts in to have new infrastructure put in and new sewage, working with the water authority.

“I would like to see the planning system changed that allows us to say, if you are going to build something as big as 4,000 houses, that the road infrastructure, the sewage infrastructure, has to be put in place as part of that process.

“I know it sounds naive, because who is going to pick up that tab? But if we make it that it’s part of the planning process, we can maybe enforce the investment in it before it actually happens.”

Mr Jones said the development was not in his constituency but in Selby and Ainsty, represented by fellow Conservative MP, Nigel Adams.

However, he said he agreed with the principle of ensuring infrastructure was fit for new development, digital connectivity, micro-generation of power and insulation of new homes.

He added:

“I have raised the issue of building standards in parliament. I agree with the basic point that we need to have build standards that are fit for the future.

“It’s significantly easier to construct things during the earliest phases of a construction project rather than go back and retro-fit.

“That applies to more than just water but it certainly applies to water.”

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‘Over-developed’

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred said he was frequently asked by people in his High Harrogate and Kingsley division about the amount of house-building.

He said there seemed to be too many large homes being built that were unaffordable to most local people, with no public transport, healthcare facilities or other provisions to support the growing population.

Cllr Aldred said he did not feel the planning system in the UK was fit for purpose and was too heavily weighted in favour of making profits for developers. He added:

“I really do think Harrogate and Knaresborough are over-developed. There are far too many people living in the area.

“The residents who have been here long-term are suffering because of this over-development.”

In response, Mr Jones said he had “no doubt” that more homes were needed across the country, with many people struggling to get onto the property ladder.

He said the local plan had provision for starter homes, but even creating that took a long time and would not always be popular with people who did not want to see their areas change.

He added:

“Getting the balance right between protecting areas and allowing people to get on the property ladder isn’t easy.

“I’m not sure we can say it’s over-developed. We’re certainly in a period where we have been under-developing across the country and people, I think, are very uneasy about all the work that has been done catching up on that.

“But I think if we get the right mix of houses so local people get a chance to put their roots down in their home areas and we see infrastructure developed in parallel then I think we can meet people’s needs and aspirations.”

Call for council to oppose fracking in North Yorkshire

Calls have been made for North Yorkshire County Council to oppose fracking in the county.

Two motions will be submitted to the authority’s full council next week urging officials to recognise the practice is “inappropriate” for the area.

North Yorkshire is regarded as a potential rich source of shale gas.

But councillors have claimed that supporting fracking would contradict the council’s own carbon reduction policies as well the council’s declaration of a climate emergency in July.

A motion submitted by Green Party Cllr Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn, calls on the local authority to oppose fracking across the county.

The motion will say:

“This council believes that there is firm scientific evidence that fracking for oil and gas is incompatible with the need to achieve net zero carbon emissions sufficiently rapidly to avoid climate breakdown.

“Furthermore it is in direct conflict with the council’s carbon reduction plan and the emerging climate change strategy, therefore North Yorkshire County Council in line with the current government’s policy is opposed to fracking in North Yorkshire.”

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A separate Liberal Democrat motion will also call on the council to make Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and ministers “fully aware” that it will not support fracking in the county.

The government recently declared that it would only support the practice in areas where there is support for it.

However, Mr Sunak has pledged that a ban on fracking would be reinstated after it was lifted by former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Call to restart consultation on new Harrogate district town

A councillor has called for a consultation on the new Harrogate district town the size of Thirsk to be extended or started again.

Arnold Warneken, who represents the Green Party on North Yorkshire County Council, issued the plea after it emerged the consultation documents had been changed midway through – without people being told.

The move has heightened concerns among residents in the area affected that the planning process is being rushed before Harrogate Borough Council is abolished on April 1. They say allowing more time would increase support for the process and show transparency.

The proposed new town, called Maltkiln, would be built in the Cattal and Green Hammerton area in the east of the district.

The council opened a six-week consultation on October 3 into its draft new settlement development plan document, which sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how Maltkiln is designed and developed.

It emerged this week that both the hardcopy and online versions of the document had been changed during the consultation process.

Cllr Warneken said although the changes were minor, the failure to inform people was significant, particularly “given the magnitude of this plan and its impact on the surrounding parishes”.

He said in a letter to the council:

“I accept mistakes do happen but how we deal with them is critical in demonstrating how seriously we take our accountability and transparency.

“I am surprised that I and the parishes were not advised by Harrogate Borough Council of these errors.

“I think we all agree that it’s important that the new settlement process is actually done correctly and not just seen to be done right, initially I was thinking an extension to the process might suffice but on reflection I would like to ask that the consultation be restarted with the corrected document.”

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But the council said the consultation would end on November 14 as planned.

A spokesperson said:

“The online portal version of the Maltkiln development plan document included a minor change that was not included in either the online PDF or hard copy version.

“Both the online PDF version and hard copies of the consultation material have been amended to reflect this change.

“The amendment related to the inclusion of an extra paragraph in the climate change chapter, the result of which effects [sic] the numbering of paragraphs. As well as an additional sentence at the end of local centre chapter.

“At the time that we made the amendment, we had only received a limited number of responses and having reviewed these, none of them relate to the wording that has been revised.

“Should someone have saved the earlier version of the document in order to comment at a later date, these comments are also reviewed to ensure that they relate to the correct part of the document.”

You can have your say here.

Ouseburn councillor opens Green Party conference in Harrogate

The Green Party autumn conference was opened this afternoon by Harrogate man Arnold Warneken, North Yorkshire County Council councillor for Ouseburn.

Cllr Warneken was elected in May with 69% of the vote and he gave a passionate speech to delegates at Harrogate Convention Centre.

He recalled how he was first elected as a councillor 32 years ago to the then-Harrogate District Council.

In those days, he was the only Green Party councillor in the north of England.

After his recent return to local politics, he said the five Greens elected to the county council in May were “already starting to make a difference”. He accused the Tory-led council of “procrastinating” on the climate emergency.

Cllr Warneken also had some sharp words for Harrogate Spring Water and its plan to fell trees in Rotary Wood to expand its bottling plant.

He said:

“At the pump rooms, people came from all over the country to have our foul-tasting and smelly water heal them. It was dispensed in a ladle by Betty Lupton.

“However, 100 years later Betty Lupton has been replaced by Danone. Her ladle has been replaced by millions of plastic bottles produced by Harrogate Spring Water and Danone before being sent all over the world. Shame on them.”

He was followed by a speech from Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.

The three-day conference ends on Sunday.

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The Stray Ferret spoke to Cllr Warneken beforehand where he said he was “proud and honoured” to open the event.

Cllr Warneken added:

“We are at a turning point in Green politics. In 2018, we had 150 councillors, now in 2022 we have over 500. We are hoping we can get somebody to help Caroline Lucas MP in Parliament.

“We have Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh speaking here on Sunday. That’s the way politics has to move forward. We’re hoping for a hung parliament so we can introduce PR. The future’s bright, the future’s green.”

Harrogate opposition parties cool on pact as election manoeuvres begin

Liz Truss may have only just entered Downing Street but opposition parties in Harrogate and Knaresborough have begun manoeuvrings for the next general election.

This week the Green Party became the first to name its prospective parliamentary candidate. The Liberal Democrats are expected to follow suit by the end of the year.

Conservative Andrew Jones has won four successive elections in Harrogate and Knaresborough since 2010, securing 53% of the vote at the last campaign in 2019.

The next election is widely expected to take place in 2024 — and some think his biggest threat comes from opposition parties working together rather than splitting the vote. But the early signs are this is unlikely to happen.

There was little appetite for a pact at a Green Party hustings event this week. Paul Ko Ferrigno, the only candidate standing for leadership, insisted he was fighting to win, and even if he didn’t he was more interested in shaping the debate than doing deals.

Asked if he was willing to risk letting the Tories in with this approach, Mr Ko Ferrigno said:

“Yes — but if what I’ve done is shift the conversation so the next time round the Tories are being more green in their approach, more forward in their approach, because of the way we have been campaigning, then that’s OK.”

The Greens still harbour ill feeling from the last election, when their candidate, Shan Oakes, stood down.

Green Party members at hustings

Green Party members at this week’s hustings.

Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn for the Greens on North Yorkshire County Council, told this week’s meeting:

“We had a national agreement with Lib Dems. Shan agreed to stand aside. The problem with that is you have to trust the people you deal with.

“The trust for us has disappeared. That’s not good for a future progressive alliance.”

Cllr Warneken added, however, that a final decision on pacts would be taken locally.

Labour and Lib Dems

The Stray Ferret asked Chris Watt, vice-chair, Harrogate & Knaresborough Labour Party, which took 11% of the vote in 2019, if it would consider an opposition pact. He replied:

“Being a much larger party, Labour operates a national system with local parties making the final decision on their candidate.”

Mr Watt added Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour “have asked to move forward with selecting a candidate as soon as possible”.

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The process to select a Liberal Democrat candidate is being re-run after the national Lib Dems upgraded Harrogate and Knaresborough to a target seat.

David Goode, chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems, said:
“I’m hoping to have the procedures completed Christmas time.”
The Liberal Democrats achieved 36% of the vote in 2019 and seem best placed to take on Mr Jones. But whoever stands might not be able to rely on the help of opposition parties.
Harrogate to host Green Party conference this month

Over 1,000 Green Party members will be coming to Harrogate this month for the party’s autumn conference.

It will take place at Harrogate Convention Centre from September 30 to October 2.

The conference theme is ‘The pathway to a fairer, greener country’ and topics will include the climate emergency and the cost of living crisis.

The Greens last came to Harrogate for their autumn conference in 2017.

The party had a successful local elections in May, winning five seats on North Yorkshire County Council, including Arnold Warneken in Ouseburn.

Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay will be delivering a keynote speech at 2pm on the first day of the conference.

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Ouseburn councillor welcomes decision to scrap Linton asylum centre

Ouseburn councillor Arnold Warneken has welcomed today’s announcement that plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse have been scrapped.

The government planned to create a reception centre at the former airfield, which is close to villages in the Harrogate district including Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.

The airfield is also just nine miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough.

But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said today he had withdrawn the offer to the Home Office for the site.

Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn on North Yorkshire County Council, said withdrawing the offer was the “right thing to do”. He said:

“It was an ill-thought plan that caused distress and sleepless nights for residents. The consequences would have been huge.”

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Cllr Warneken said the episode revealed was a concerning lack of consultation by the government.

He said he suspected the reason was because a consultation “would have provided a different answer to the one they wanted to hear” but nevertheless this was not the right way to proceed.

Linton on Ouse Action Group, which was set up to campaign against the Home Office’s plan, welcomed the news.

Group member Kelly Kirby said it was “absolutely delighted” but also concerned that the same scheme could be dropped on another community soon.

She said action group members has spent “tens of thousands of hours” opposing the scheme.

By no means a victory but some movement. We will continue to hold @ukhomeoffice to account for their failings in processing and their hostile treatment of asylum seekers. It is by no means over.

— Linton on Ouse Action Group (@LintonAction) August 9, 2022

Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, also welcomed the news that Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak had no plans to revive the Linton scheme.

Wonderful News! @RishiSunak Sunak pledges to axe 'inappropriate' Linton-on-Ouse asylum centre plan @LintonAction https://t.co/O0EwPCc3QS

— Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) August 9, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harrogate county councillor calls for ‘major change’ in politics as Prime Minister resigns

A Green Party councillor in the Harrogate district has spoken out about the state of politics following the Prime Minister’s resignation today.

Arnold Warneken, who was elected to the Ouseburn division of North Yorkshire County Council in May, said it was time for an overhaul of the political system in order to restore faith.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, he said:

“We need to have a major change in politics and statesmen who are honest and hard-working.

“They always say, ‘the right honourable member for such-and-such’ – I’d put that under the Trade Descriptions Act. They lie, they break the law – what makes them honourable?”

Cllr Warneken pointed to the recent results in the local elections in North Yorkshire as a sign of the public’s appetite for change. The Conservatives went from a significant majority in the county to winning 47 of the 90 seats to secure a slender majority.

He said he wanted to see proportional representation introduced, ensuring the political make-up of Parliament was more representative. He added:

“I can guarantee if that was in place, we would get a better turn-out. People are hungry for change and we have to provide an alternative.”

Cllr Arnold Warneken

Cllr Warneken was critical of Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, saying he only spoke out against the Prime Minister after it became clear his position was untenable.

The Stray Ferret has contacted Mr Jones for a response to the accusation, but has not received a response.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Mr Jones has written to constituents to say he had hoped the prime minister might have “changed his behaviours” following last month’s vote of confidence.

However, Mr Jones added it is “clear” that “the same old process of the truth being reached through the most tortuous of processes” has followed. He said:

“I have over a long period disagreed with some of the Prime Minister’s decisions. You may remember that I called for Dominic Cummings to resign over the infamous ‘Barnard Castle eye test’ incident.

“I refused to vote with the government when the Prime Minister wanted us to change the standards rules to save Owen Paterson who had clearly broken them.

“I was quite clear in my comments about Partygate when I said that ‘law-makers cannot be law-breakers’.

“I backed that up when it came to the recent no confidence vote where I did not support the Prime Minister.”

Mr Jones added he now looks forward to a “calmer, honest and transparent approach to our national politics” after the prime minister announced his resignation outside No 10 this afternoon.

There has been no word from Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, on the situation.

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, has not responded to requests for comment from the Stray Ferret, but earlier today he took to Twitter to praise civil servants.

Over the past years @UKCivilService has been attacked and maligned by certain government ministers. Over the past 24 hours they have literally held the administration of our country together & are currently sorting out this mess. Thank you.

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) July 7, 2022

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The local Labour party has called for the Prime Minister to step down immediately, rather than waiting for a leadership contest in the autumn, as has been announced.

In a statement, the party said:

“The Prime Minister is unfit to govern and needs to go now.

“Boris Johnson has presided over a government defined by lies, sleaze, an utter lack of integrity and incompetence.

“We need a new Government now. The choice is clear: a Tory government with more of the same, or a Labour government offering a fresh start for Harrogate and Knaresborough.”

Cllr Warneken agreed, saying by continuing, Boris Johnson was “causing more chaos and more damage to society through ill thought-out policies and laws”.

He said the impact was being felt in North Yorkshire, where plans to set up the new unitary council had been affected by the lead-up to Mr Johnson’s resignation.

Council officers had worked “really, really hard” but were unable to make as much progress as they had hoped while Whitehall civil servants were tied up dealing with the crisis, he said.

With the summer recess looming, a caretaker Prime Minister was not sufficient to ensure the country could function effectively, said Cllr Warneken, adding:

“He can cause a hell of a lot of damage between now and when they find some other idiot to replace him.

“The only saving glory is he has done more damage to his party the longer he has been there.”