‘Unforeseen circumstances’ delay Oak Beck Bridge replacement — again

A starting date for a £1 million scheme to replace Oak Beck Bridge in Harrogate has still to be set.

North Yorkshire County Council planned to begin work in January last year after saying the current bridge on Skipton Road was in poor condition.

But in June last year, council bridges manager Philip Richardson said the scheme had been delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances” and it was still in talks with Yorkshire Water.

Ten months on, the Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council, which has replaced the county council, for an update.

In a statement that was identical in parts to the one issued last year, Mr Richardson said:

“We realise the importance of replacing Oak BeckBridge. Unfortunately, we have not been able to progress the scheme as quickly as we would have liked due to unforeseen circumstances.

“We are currently in discussions with Yorkshire Water about diverting a sewer to make way for the project. Please be assured that we will begin work as soon as we are able.”

The volume of traffic using Skipton Road is expected to increase after Tesco was granted planning permission to build a supermarket at the nearby junction of Skipton Road and Ripon Road.

When it was awarded the £1.1 million contract to demolish the bridge and build a new one, Leeds-based Howard Civil Engineering said the project would take 24 weeks.

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Firefighters rescue trapped sheep from rising Oak Beck

A sheep stuck in brambles on a steep bank of Oak Beck was rescued by Harrogate firefighters yesterday.

Sandra Schiendorfer spotted the animal when she was walking her dog at Oak Beck Park yesterday morning.

She reported it to the land owner but noticed it was still stuck in the afternoon and the water was rising.:

Ms Schiendorfer said:

“When I went back with the dogs in the afternoon the poor thing was still there, but now the beck was rising, because of the heavy rain.

“I rang 101 who in turn contacted the fire brigade. They turned up very quickly with the animal rescue unit.

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North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log says it was alerted to the incident, near Oak Beck retail park, at 3.20pm yesterday. It adds:

“Crews from Harrogate and Ripon responded to reports of a sheep stuck in wire by the horns, in distress.

“Crews used wading poles, water rescue equipment, an animal halter and a salvage sheet to release the sheep back into the field.”

The sheep back in the field afterwards.

New Harrogate homes could trigger more pollution, warns conservationist

A conservationist has warned that Harrogate’s “creaking sewerage infrastructure” needs investment to cope with all the new homes.

Keith Wilkinson, who is chairman of Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership and honorary secretary of Bilton Conservation Group, said more pollution was likely without improvements.

His comments come as investigations into last weekend’s pollution of Oak Beck are ongoing.

The Environment Agency, which previously said it was unable to comment during the Queen’s mourning period, gave a brief update today in which it said it had investigated “several” reports of dead fish and pollution and it was “identifying the source of what caused the fish deaths”.

Oak Beck, which rises at Haverah Park and empties into the River Nidd at Nidd Gorge, is classed as a main river by the Environment Agency even though it is narrow.

Oak Beck

Oak Beck looking discoloured this week.

Mr Wilkinson said long-recognised problems with broken and wrongly connected Victorian pipes near The Hydro remained unresolved.

This, along with new housing developments in the area, would exacerbate the issue further, he said.

Mr Wilkinson said:

“North Harrogate’s sewerage system has been operating on optimum-to-overload capacity for at least a decade — before we see the aggravating grey water outputs of the excessive housing expansion on the A59 and Penny Pot Lane.

“In other words ‘we ain’t seen nothing yet’.”

Mr Wilkinson, who was awarded an MBE for services to conservation, also said he wasn’t aware of any plans to develop the northern outfall sewage works at Bilton to cope with the anticipated increase of sewage caused by new homes. He added:

“Their site has many spare acres of unused land — it occupies 56 acres in total — but I detect no suggestion that there will be significant investment in new infrastructure to increase its capacity to receive and process more inputs.”

Oak Beck fish deaths still a mystery

Contaminated water on Oak Beck stretched from The Hydro to Bilton this week. Mr Wilkinson said the watercourse would take three years to recover.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said yesterday it was “still on site, trying to investigate possible sources” of the contamination. He added initial tests had shown the cause was not sewage.

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Northern Gas Networks said the pollution is unconnected to work it is carrying out on the site earmarked for a new Tesco.

Mark Johnson, senior project manager at NGN, said:

“We’re currently undertaking work to safely dismantle the gas holder on Skipton Road and all of our discharge takes place into the main sewerage system, as is required.

“Following reports of a possible contamination at Oak Beck, we’ve been liaising closely with the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water, both of whom have confirmed that there is no connection with our work. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

 

 

Oak Beck will take three years to recover from pollution, says Harrogate conservationist

A leading Harrogate conservationist has said Oak Beck will take three years to recover from this week’s pollution.

Hundreds of fish are believed to have died when the water turned brown over the weekend. The cause is unknown.

Keith Wilkinson has called on Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency to join efforts to prevent further pollutions in the beck, which he said occur too frequently.

He said:

“Pollution events along the Oak Beck — which is classed as a ‘main river’ by the Environment Agency — destroy wildlife and have implications for public health.
“As chairman of the Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership I would like to invite representatives from the EA and Yorkshire Water to join the partnership and coordinate efforts to eliminate illegal discharges along the Oak Beck and the River Nidd.
“One toxic spill such as that experienced on 10th September sets back all our conservation efforts for at least three years.”
Oak Beck

Oak Beck looking discoloured.

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Oak Beck rises at Haverah Park and empties into the River Nidd at Nidd Gorge.

Dead fish were first spotted in the watercourse at Oak Beck retail park this morning.

The discolouration appears to have affected the stretch from the Hydro to the far side of Knox Lane.

The Stray Ferret met Mr Wilkinson, who is also honorary secretary of Bilton Conservation Group, at Spruisty Bridge on Knox Lane today.

Oak Beck dead fish

A dead brown trout in Oak Beck today.

Several residents told us they were concerned about the pollution and how seriously it was being investigated.

One person said dog walkers had been keeping their pets on leads to prevent them entering the water. There have also been reports of dead ducks but none were evident during our visit.

Harmful discharges

Mr Wilkinson said a good year for spawning fish on the beck had been ruined.

He said water quality often suffered from the impact of the number of new homes built, as well as harmful discharges entering the drains.

The beck contains brown trout up to several inches long, as well as minnows, bullhead, stone loach and sticklebacks.

Mr Wilkinson said invertebrates on the bed of the beck were also killed and their numbers needed to recover before fish levels could return to normal.

He added that kingfishers and otters had kept away from the river since the incident.

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said yesterday she was unable to comment on what, if any, action it had taken because it was not responding to media inquiries about non life-threatening incidents during the Queen’s mourning period.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said yesterday:

“Our teams, along with the Environment Agency, have conducted initial investigations after reports of a pollution at Oak Beck over the weekend.

“Our tests have indicated the substance entering the beck is not sewage. We are continuing to investigate and will also be visiting local businesses to try and trace the source.”

 

 

 

‘Hundreds’ of fish killed by pollution on Harrogate’s Oak Beck

Hundreds of fish are believed to have died in a pollution incident at Oak Beck, Harrogate.

The cause of the incident, which occurred at Oak Beck Park, close to the retail park, is not yet known.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:

“Our teams, along with the Environment Agency, have conducted initial investigations after reports of a pollution at Oak Beck over the weekend.

“Our tests have indicated the substance entering the beck is not sewage. We are continuing to investigate and will also be visiting local businesses to try and trace the source.”

The beck flows into the River Nidd.

Councillor Paul Haslam, who represents Harrogate Old Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council and Bilton and Nidd Gorge on North Yorkshire County Council, informed Yorkshire Water of the incident after being notified by a resident yesterday.

Cllr Haslam posted some images, which we have published, that were sent to him by the resident.

They show fish floating on the surface and the water looking extremely brown.

Cllr Haslam said the only way to get over the seriousness and upsetting nature of what had happened was to quote the person who reported it, who said:

“There are hundreds of dead fish in the water. I am presuming it’s sewage by the colour and presence of foam. No smell though.
“I could have cried this morning at the scale of the disaster. As I took my first photo evidence, from the bridge on Oak Beck Road, a kingfisher flew under the bridge heading downstream.”
An Environment Agency spokeswoman said it was unable to comment on what, if any, action it had taken because it was not responding to media inquiries about non life-threatening incidents during the Queen’s mourning period.

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Stray Views: Where can we go to escape the stresses of life in Harrogate?

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Selling of council land at Oak Beck

The council have now decided to flog off this last piece of green space in New Park. Apparently to provide a bit of dosh to prop up the
conference centre business in fear of Leeds grabbing OUR visitors.

Piece by piece this lacklustre council having spent lots of dosh on pointless and ineffective plans and schemes, now are evicting wildlife from the final vestiges of natural environment.

This is a lovely area of peace, where we can hear the birds, and listen to the beck gurgling it’s way (sometimes sewage as well).

Where are all these creatures to go? Where can we go to escape the stresses of life in Harrogate? Another rotten plan from a soon to be defunct council.

William B Thompson, New Park, Harrogate

Reduction in the Fire Service in Harrogate.

I have not seen the details of this proposal to fully comment.

However, since the Harrogate fire station was built some years ago and staffed with the suitable staff levels and appliances, Harrogate has expanded massively with additional housing and industrial units.

Just looking from my car driving into Harrogate by the A59 or by Penny Pot. Huge housing developments. Industrial units near the Army College. Even Killinghall has probably doubled in size with additional housing.

This is happening throughout the area.

Then there’s the condition of the older existing properties both housing , retail and business premises.
These properties will have been modified over the years and retail and business properties may well have not had proper upgrading of fire resistance ( work done on the cheap).

These older properties will have timber roofing members, floor joists which will be now tinder dry and with the change in climate, plus heating and other equipment not being updated, the fire risk will have increased quite a lot.

Remember the huge fire next to what was the North Eastern pub some years ago?

Any reduction will impact public safety.

So any reductions seem unwise!!

Allan Campbell, Harrogate

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Starbeck should support KFC expansion – a response

 William Powell makes some good points in his call for Starbeck’s KFC to be expanded, but he is wrong to dismiss the views of local people.

He is right that Starbeck is in a wonderful strategic position between Harrogate and Knaresborough, with excellent transport links. He is right that empty premises on our High Street are a bad thing.

He is right that Starbeck has a vibrant economy, but this is driven by the local residents of our diverse area who use these shops and facilities. But they are also impacted by those businesses, whether its litter, noise, traffic or a range of other issues that local people regularly raise with the Residents’ Association.

So the Starbeck Residents’ Association (SRA) asked people who live locally what they thought about KFC’s plans and others. And views were split. Some thought it was most important to fill empty premises. Others wanted a wider diversity of businesses on a High Street that already has plenty of takeaways. Both are right and not contradictory.

The SRA recognises that we cannot force particular enterprises into a particular area. That’s why we are in touch with the local Chamber of Commerce and others about what more we can do to promote Starbeck. It has a well used library, swimming pool, successful sports clubs and facilities like Belmont Park and a real sense of community, with numerous local voluntary groups attached to our vibrant church communities and many others.

So let’s be ambitious for our area. I know I’m not alone in being proud to live in Starbeck and together we can make it better.

Chris Watt, Chair Starbeck Residents’ Association

Four dogs rescued from hot car in Harrogate given back to owner

Four dogs rescued from a hot car in Harrogate today are fine and have been handed back to their owner after receiving treatment from a vet.

The Stray Ferret reported today that bystanders at Oak Beck Retail Park off Skipton Road had to smash a car window to free the dogs who were trapped for 40 minutes without even a window open.

Fortunately, there were vets working at the nearby Vets4Pets, which is inside Pets At Home.

A spokesperson for Vets4Pets said the labradors were given treatment and after a health check that showed they were OK, were handed back to the owner. They added:

“Touch wood we got to them in time”.

The article provoked a furious response from Stray Ferret readers on Facebook with many incredulous that the owner would put their pets’ health at risk during today’s sweltering heat.

It is not illegal to leave a dog in a hot car but owners are legally responsible for their pets’ health and welfare.

If a dog becomes ill or dies in a hot car, the owner could be charged with animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This could lead to a prison sentence and/or a fine.

The Stray Ferret understands a North Yorkshire Police officer attended the scene. We have asked NYP for a statement on the incident but are yet to receive a reply.

PDSA, the vet charity for pets in need, has an article on its website that advises people on what to do if you find a dog in distress inside a car.

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No start date yet for Harrogate’s Oak Beck Bridge replacement

North Yorkshire County Council said today there was no confirmed start date to demolish and replace a footbridge near Harrogate’s New Park roundabout.

The council previously said work would begin in January to replace Oak Beck Bridge, which it says is in poor condition.

The A59 road on which the bridge is situated is heavily used by traffic, especially by people visiting Aldi, B&Q and Pets at Home on the Oak Beck retail park.

The volume would increase if Tesco is given permission to build on the former gas works site nearby.

The council previously said work would take place from January until July this year and temporary traffic lights would be used throughout. The road will remain open to single-way traffic.

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On Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones’ Community News website, Matt Scott, the Conservative councillor for Harrogate Bilton and Nidd Gorge said last week a bridge engineer at the council had told him work would begin in April.

But a council spokesperson was unable to confirm this date when asked by the Stray Ferret and said the start date had yet to be confirmed.

Plans for the new Tesco include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road.

Specialist paramedics rescue woman who fell in Harrogate woods

Specialist paramedics rescued a woman who had fallen and injured herself in a Harrogate woodland.

Two Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) and a regular ambulance team attended reports of a fall at 11am just off Oak Beck Road, close to the retail park.

On arrival the paramedics secured the area and managed to get the patient out of the woods and into the ambulance.

The paramedics then took her to Harrogate District Hospital for treatment. It is unclear at this time what level of injuries the woman sustained.

A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said:

“We received an emergency call at 11.01am this morning to reports of a female who had fallen in the woods behind the retail park on Oak Beck Road in Harrogate.

“We dispatched an ambulance and the Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene and one patient was conveyed to Harrogate Hospital.”

The HART teams provide care to people in a hazardous environment that would otherwise be beyond the reach of NHS care.

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Skipton Road set for six months of disruption as new bridge plans approved

Motorists using Skipton Road will face six months of disruption after plans were approved to demolish and replace a footbridge near the New Park roundabout.

North Yorkshire County Council is behind the plans to replace Oak Beck Bridge, which the council says is in poor condition.

The road is heavily used by traffic, especially by people visiting Aldi, B&Q and Pets at Home on the Oak Beck retail park.

Works are set to take place from January 2022 until July 2022 and temporary traffic lights will be used throughout. The road will remain open to single-way traffic.

A council spokesperson said it would be able to say how much the works will cost once it has appointed a contractor.

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The bridge is close to where a new Tesco supermarket is proposed at the site of the old gas works.

Plans for the new store include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road.

A public consultation on the plans ended in October. A full planning application is expected to be submitted before the end of the year.