North Yorkshire councillors clashed over a proposed pledge to encourage NHS hospital trusts to keep on-site parking free for staff.

Lib Dem Cllr Geoff Webber put forward a motion today to support free parking and claimed two Conservative councillors spoiled it.

Cllr Richard Cooper, also the leader of Harrogate Borough Council, put forward an amendment that removed all references to free parking.

The amendment instead said the council “supports and encourages measures which enable their staff to travel to and from work sustainably.”

Harrogate District Hospital confirmed that parking will remain free for staff, visitor and patients. The trust said that after national reports that the government planned to scrap it.

Read more:

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The Department for Health and Social Care said in response to the speculation that free parking will be in place for staff “during the pandemic.” It did not make reassurances beyond that.

Cllr Geoff Webber hit out at Cllr Richard Cooper after the meeting today. He said:

“This is a typical Richard Cooper trick designed to spoil motions from any other party and a tactic he has used frequently on Harrogate Borough Council. I am disgusted at this sort of manipulation.”

It will now go to a scrutiny committee before going back to the council for a debate and vote. The Lib Dems said the outcome is a “foregone conclusion.”

The Stray Ferret approached Cllr Richard Cooper for a comment but received no reply by the time of publication.

More than 3000 people have signed a petition to save Stray FM as its owners plan to merge it into a larger service.

As well as the signatures, the campaign to save Stray FM has received more than 200 stories about what the station means to local people.

The petition was set up by the local Lib Dems when the plans were announced by Bauer Media in late May. The group’s leader in Harrogate, Councillor Pat Marsh, has written to Bauer urging bosses to reconsider their decision to replace Stray FM with a national station, Greatest Hits Radio.

A regional drive time show covering Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is planned, but the remaining programmes will follow the national schedule.

Cllr Marsh said Bauer Media should “reconsider its decision and explore alternative arrangements which recognise the community asset that Stray FM is in its current form, providing ‘proper local radio’ to the area”.

The Lib Dims are against the plans to merge the local station and have rallied public support to save it.

Read more:

• Andrew Jones MP writes to Bauer Media for assurance over the station he calls a “winning formula”.
• Harrogate Theatre feel “relief” as the government announce a £1.5bn rescue package. 

Cllr Marsh added:

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people who have joined our campaign in just a matter of weeks, it’s a real testament to just how important it is to the community that we save Stray FM. Reading so many people’s personal stories of what Stray FM means to them has been nothing short of truly heart-warming.

“This is not a done deal. There are many avenues that we’re exploring and we will do all we can to see Stray FM continue.”

Harrogate Liberal Democrats have criticised an “abysmal lack of communication” from the borough council on its decision to overhaul leisure services in the district.

Councillors on the opposition group said concerns raised about the shakeup “fell on deaf ears” and added that many were left unaware of the consultation.

The criticism comes after senior councillors last night voted to set up a new company, called Brimham’s Active, to run facilities such as the Harrogate Hydro, Ripon Leisure Centre and Nidderdale Leisure Centre.

Liberal Democrat councillors have set “red lines” for the company, including transparency, affordable prices and investing profits back into leisure.

Read more:

• Council backs overhaul of Harrogate District leisure facilities
• How much it costs taxpayers to run leisure in Harrogate District
• Nearly half disagree with Harrogate council’s leisure overhaul

The group has also called for Starbeck Baths to be protected. Council leader, Richard Cooper, has vowed not to close the facility while he was in post.

Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said the communication from the authority gave her “no reassurance that this will be transparent and accountable”. She said:

“If this is to go ahead it must be done with very little day-to-day difference within the service.

“It must be about delivering a quality service, not a profit-hungry corporation. It must remain affordable, with prices not increasing beyond inflation. It must guarantee the protection of services, especially Starbeck Baths. 

“It must be transparent and accountable, with major decisions being made by full council. Current workers must be protected and new staff must receive the same pay and conditions.”

The council said it will save around £400,000 a year on leisure and sport, which last year was estimated to have cost taxpayers £3.5 million.

Council officials will also borrow £26 million from the government’s Public Works Loans Board to fund an investment strategy into the Harrogate Hydro and a new leisure centre in Knaresborough.

The new company is expected to be operating by August 2021 and will cost the council £300,000 to set up.

Harrogate Borough Council has been approached for comment.

Liberal Democrat councillors have renewed their calls for Harrogate Borough Council to declare a climate emergency and demanded that the process be more transparent.

Pat Marsh said she had written to the Conservative cabinet member for sustainable transport with her calls but has not received any kind of response.

She has now written to Councillor Phil Ireland for the third time:

“I’m becoming more and more concerned about the lack of transparency in this process. I fear that your lack of response is just yet another example of the local Conservatives’ and councils’ unwillingness to engage with those with differing views.”

The local Liberal Democrats have said that the council’s Climate Change Coalition should be replaced with a Citizen’s Assembly on the Climate Emergency.

Read more on this story:

• Why the council cut trees down on the Stray
• When 60 cyclists join Extinction Rebellion rally in Harrogate

Council across the country have declared climate emergencies as an acknowledgment that they need to act on the causes and impacts of climate change.

They say this is the best way to attract the “fresh ideas and bold action” necessary to take on the challenge faced.

“To effectively play our part in addressing this environmental crisis, it is imperative that we declare a Climate Emergency and commit to becoming net zero carbon by 2030 at the very latest,” Pat Marsh added.

What has Harrogate Borough Council done?

Harrogate Borough Council has said that it will aim to have a net zero-carbon economy by 2038.

The council said it will make sure that its own operations will be clean and efficient while helping others in the district to achieve the same.

In its carbon footprint report, the council had seen a steady fall in recent years from 9,300 tonnes in 2016/2017 to 7,900 tonnes in 2018/2019.

Politicians from across parties have praised the efforts of everyone working to create a Nightingale hospital in Harrogate.

From calling for greater funding for the NHS to looking ahead to the way the country works once the crisis is over, each party has given its own perspective.

The Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Green Party all expressed gratitude for the hard work being done to set up the hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre, as well as to the doctors, nurses and other staff already treating patients at Harrogate District Hospital.

‘Enormous debt of gratitude’

The Liberal Democrats’ 2019 prospective parliamentary candidate Judith Rogerson said: ”We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the people who have been working so hard this week to transform the Convention Centre into a Nightingale Hospital.

“To put together such a major project in such a short space of time is hugely impressive. This is an incredibly difficult time for everyone which makes it all the more wonderful that so many people in our community are pulling together to look after each other in so many different ways.”

‘Value our public services’

News of the hospital was welcomed by the Labour Party in the Harrogate district.

A spokesman said: “We salute all the frontline workers and their tireless efforts to keep us safe. We call on the government to ensure that they in turn are kept safe, and that they get all the personal protective equipment, testing and support that they need. 

“This pandemic has exposed the fragility in the system caused by ten years of chronic under-investment. This must be a wake-up call for our region and country in how we value our public services and the staff of those services in the future.” 

‘Selfless approach’

The Green Party also recognised the hard work of NHS staff and called for greater recognition and support of the vital roles played by many people in society.

A spokesman added: “What we all need to do now is continue to support our amazing health service by doing everything we can to avoid contracting or spreading the virus, but also start to think about the direction we want to take after this global crisis: it is now crystal-clear that going back to wasteful and damaging ‘business as usual’ is not an option.

“After this wake-up call, we will surely work for a world where we continue to support each other, by resolving to further develop the benevolent and selfless approaches we have seen so much of recently.” 

The Stray Ferret asked Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, for a comment, but has not received a response.