Plea to listen to residents’ views on disc parking in Harrogate district‘Guerrilla gardener’ in Harrogate woods falls foul of council’s conservation policyRoadworks on Harrogate’s widest road to last till AugustTown Hall Rich List reveals North Yorkshire Council’s top earnersExclusive: Cost of £68.8 million Kex Gill road scheme looks set to rise‘Typing error’ explains £200,000 increase in cost of Ripon schemeHarrogate Station Gateway: consultants’ fees rise to £2.1 million

Consultants’ fees for the £12.1 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme have risen to £2.1 million, the Stray Ferret can reveal.

We have also discovered Conservative transport chief Cllr Keane Duncan wanted to share the latest gateway plans with the Stray Ferret to avoid “public discontent” but was advised against it by a council director.

The findings are contained in a North Yorkshire Council response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to find out who made the decision to keep the latest plans secret.

Work on the watered down scheme is due to start in September.

Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways, revealed some details in January, as reported here. But the full plans have not been released, despite considerable public interest in the scheme.

Our FOI request asked for details of correspondence relating to the decision not to release the plans — and for the latest spending on consultants.

The council gave the following breakdown of consultants’ costs to global consultancy firm WSP to November 2023.

It said since then it had spent a further £82,358.64, making a total of £2,088,567.27.

‘Public discontent’

Emails reveal Cllr Duncan was unaware the cost of the gateway had risen to £12.1 million when reported by the Stray Ferret.

He emailed Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director of environment on March 8 asking for clarification and suggesting the council request a correction.

Mr Battersby pointed out the £12.1 million figure was contained in a report by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which was overseeing the funding allocation from the Department for Transport, even though North Yorkshire Council is leading on the scheme.

Richard Binks, head of major projects and infrastructure at the council, then said the full business case now included £1,489,442 for risk/inflation/contingency. Details of the other costs of the scheme were redacted in the response to us.

Cllr Duncan then referred to requests to see the revised plans by the Stray Ferret, which is referred to as ‘SF’ in the correspondence:

“On another point, do we have plans we can share now or in the near future?

“I feel like we need to do some sort of explanation piece as the lack of information is just creating public discontent.”

In a further email he says “I am thinking I connect the SF and share these plans?”

Cllr Duncan then said:

“Just spoken to Carl [council leader Carl Les], and we were wondering if we could get any impressions together of what the revised scheme would look like?”

But Mr Battersby replies:

“The plans will shortly be available as part of the TRO [traffic regulation order] consultation. I wouldn’t provide the SF with anything over and above what the public will see.”

Cllr Duncan replies to say “OK, I agree”.

Two months on from the exchange, the plans remain secret.

New update

The council is progressing gateway schemes, which are mainly funded by the government’s Transforming Cities Fund, for Selby and Skipton as well as Harrogate.

In an update report to next week’s full council meeting, Cllr Duncan says it “continues to make progress on work on transformative gateway schemes to improve access to three of North Yorkshire’s rail stations”.

It adds:

“Full business cases have been submitted to West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Department for Transport for all schemes and all three have now been approved with conditions.

“Final works pricing is currently in progress by contract partners prior to a final approval stage, with work expected to commence in Skipton in the summer and Harrogate and Selby later in the year.”

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Council gives Kex Gill update

North Yorkshire Council has given an update on work to repair the A59 at Kex Gill.

The road, which is the main route between Harrogate and Skipton, closed suddenly on February 2 when a crack appeared on the verge.

Repair work costing £750,000 began on April 15.

Karl Battersby (pictured above), the council’s corporate director of environment, said in a 57-second video yesterday it was still hoped the road would re-open by the end of June.

He said:

“We know this has caused significant disruption and we acknowledge that in a different environment that we’d have got on site quicker to do these repairs.

“But we’ve had to do a number of survey works to make sure what we do doesn’t cause us a problem in terms of the current road but also doesn’t cause a problem in terms of the new road being constructed.”

Machinery on site

Mr Battersby said a piling rig was putting large metal poles into the side of the road to stabilise it. The road will then be resurfaced.

He added:

“We will be doing weekend working and extended day working to try to keep within that deadline.”

Irish construction firm Sisk, which is carrying out the nearby £68.8 million three-mile realignment, was appointed to oversee the repair work, with Ivor King carrying out the piling.

The crack was caused by a landslip which the council attributed to wet weather but some residents have claimed it is due to the impact of the realignment on the landscape.

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Council confirms increase in car parking charges

North Yorkshire Council confirmed today it will increase all car park charges from April 19.

The Stray Ferret reported last week charges across the Harrogate district were in line to rise.

The council said in a statement today it would increase tariffs by 20% as “part of North Yorkshire’s commitment to maintain and improve its facilities”. It added the decision “was made after careful consideration of several factors impacting the service”.

Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director of environment, said:

“We continuously strive to improve our parking services to provide a better customer experience. This includes investments in technology upgrades, such as automated payment systems and the installation of electric vehicle chargers to accommodate the growing market.

“We have refrained from increasing our car parking tariff for several years. However, to ensure we can continue to maintain the current provision and not divert funds away from vital frontline council services, we plan on introducing an increase across the car parking tariff that is in line with inflation.”

The statement said the cost of parking facilities, including infrastructure, repairs, lighting, and security had risen “and ensuring a safe and well-maintained environment is essential for the convenience and satisfaction of customers”.

The move affects all parking at council-owned car parks.

The hike in prices comes despite the council increasing council tax bills by 4.99% in 2024/25. It means the amount paid by an average Band D property for council services will increase by £87.80 to £1,847.62. The council faces a shortfall of more than £30 million for the next financial year.

Mr Battersby added:

“We also remain committed to improving public transport provision across North Yorkshire to ensure there are alternatives to car usage, as well as supporting efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030.”

The council plans to draft a strategy this year that will look at parking provision across North Yorkshire to see where future changes and improvements can be made.

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Frustration grows over ‘rubble on the road’ saga in Knaresborough

Residents and businesses in Knaresborough have expressed exasperation at the length of time it is taking to resolve the collapsed wall on Briggate.

Traffic lights have been in place since a section of the wall came down more than two months ago.

The lights have caused frequent delays on a key route in and out of Knaresborough, with traders claiming it is deterring people from shopping in town.

North Yorkshire Council has said work will finally start on Monday — but lights are likely to remain for several months.

Local people do not understand why a pile of rubble is proving so difficult to deal with, and fear it will hamper Christmas trade.

Bob McRae, who has lived in Knaresborough for 40 years, wrote to the council about the issue.

He praised council leader Carl Les and corporate director for environment Karl Battersby for replying promptly but said he failed to understand why this had become such a big issue. He said:

“People are frustrated. It’s just a bunch of rocks that have been sitting there and it seems nobody can pick them up. There could have been a temporary fix to get the traffic moving.”

Mr McRae also questioned whether council officers in Northallerton understood the impact the situation was having on the town.

The wall collapsed in September.

Hairdresser Kelly Teggin agreed, adding:

“I don’t believe in this day and age nothing can be done to get both lanes back open as soon as possible.

“All other roadworks should have been suspended as soon as the wall fell in September.

“Town and trade is massively affected and it’s not going to change before the end of January, which is disastrous for our town.”

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‘We cannot avoid emergency works’

Mr Battersby said the work was more complicated than initially thought.

He said:

“We have been working hard to prepare plans to rebuild the collapsed wall on Briggate in Knaresborough, which is currently under two-way lights to protect road users and ensure traffic can move safely.

“Due to concerns of the residents with cellars – who were directly impacted by the collapsed wall – the works are now more complex than first anticipated.

“Work will start on Monday, November 27, under the existing two-way lights, and is due to be concluded in late-December. In the new year (date to be confirmed), further maintenance work along the rest of the wall will take place – again, under two-way lights – to ensure its future integrity is maintained.”

The traffic lights on Briggate.

He added:

“We also have an embargo on other road works in the local area during this time. However, it is worth stressing, we cannot avoid emergency works.

“We appreciate Knaresborough Christmas events are due to take place in the coming weeks, and this may cause some delays, but safety must come first. To help prevent any delays, we will be manually controlling the lights during the Knaresborough Christmas Market, to ensure the movement of traffic.”