A road outside a busy junior school in Harrogate will be closed to traffic at peak times from September.

Beechwood Grove is set to be part of a School Streets pilot project, preventing parents from using it to access Oatlands Junior School at the beginning and end of the school day.

The measures will see school traffic banned from the road between 8.30am and 9am, and from 3pm to 3.45pm, on weekdays during term time.

Residents, school staff, blue badge holders, official school transport and emergency services will be exempt from the closure.

Meanwhile, parents are being encouraged to bring their children to school on foot, or by bicycle or scooter. Those who need to drive are asked to use the ‘park and stride’ scheme, parking at Hornbeam Park railway station, M&S Simply Food on Leeds Road, or St Mark’s Church, and walking the rest of the way.

North Yorkshire Council said it is proceeding with the experimental traffic regulation order for a period of up to 18 months after receiving an “overall positive response” to an informal consultation it ran in May and June.

In a letter to parents, senior traffic management officer Andrew Clare said the proposal would be formally advertised now, before coming into effect on Wednesday, September 6 – the first day of the new term at Oatlands, which has capacity for 360 pupils.

He added:

“We are seeking volunteers to help steward the scheme at school start and finish times.

“Volunteers are crucial to the schemes (sic) success to manage the traffic management, inform motorists of the restrictions, offering information and guidance, for example, highlighting the location of the park and stride locations.”

Earlier this year, a pupil at Oatlands Junior School was injured when a car mounted a pavement outside the school gates.

A more serious collision on Yew Tree Lane in February left two 15-year-old Rossett schoolboys with serious injuries requiring extensive hospital treatment.

As a result, a campaign to introduce 20mph limits and other restrictions on roads around Oatlands, Pannal Ash and Rossett gathered momentum.

A road safety meeting between headteachers, councillors and campaigners

Headteachers of all the local primary and secondary schools met several times, along with councillors, highways officers and parents, to discuss road safety.

A petition of more than 1,000 signatures was presented to North Yorkshire Council and the proposal was debated by both the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, and the council’s executive.

Cllr Keane Duncan, who is responsible for highways across the county, has said a review is now being completed to decide what measures are needed to make journeys to school safer.

Hazel Peacock, one of the parents behind the campaign, said news of the School Streets scheme on Beechwood Grove was welcome. She added:

“Together the school, campaigners and other stakeholders including councillors John Mann and Pat Marsh have been working with NYC to create a safer environment at school start and finish times.

“We are delighted the School Street pilot will begin in September at the start of the new school term and hope it will deliver positive benefits such as safer, cleaner environments around the school and can encourage more active travel.”

Read more:

• Headteachers unite to support 20mph speed limit near Harrogate schools
• Council’s 20mph review ‘kicking can down the road’

The leaders of 13 schools and education settings in Harrogate have called for councillors to commit to urgent road safety improvements when they meet on Tuesday

The road safety group, which also includes campaigners and local councillors, met yesterday at Ashville College as part of its ongoing bid to create safer streets for 9,000 pupils.

North Yorkshire Council will consider on Tuesday how to respond to a petition calling for a maximum speed of 20mph across south and west Harrogate — covering Oatlands and parts of Pannal, Stray, Hookstone and St Georges areas in Harrogate. The agenda for the meeting is here.

Councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee passed a motion supporting the measures last year. But it requires the support of the council’s ruling Conservative-controlled executive to proceed.

Cllr Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive councillor for highways, appeared to dampen hopes this week when he said the council planned to draw up a speed management strategy rather than agree to 20mph limits.

Cllr Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat chair of the area constituency committee, described the move as “kicking the can down the road”.

But school leaders and campaigners remain hopeful of a successful outcome. In a joint statement, they said:

“There is strong evidence from studies of the positive impacts of maximum speeds of 20mph, and we urge the members of the executive to approve the motion, so safer roads can be created for our schools and the wider community, with a clear programme and timeframe for delivery.

“A maximum speed of 20mph is a key foundation in creating a safer urban environment for all and it encourages healthy active travel choices, from door to destination, around the community. “

The road safety group added whatever the outcome, it will “continue to push for investment in the safety of the roads around our schools, including: maximum speeds of 20mph, upgraded crossings, better use of double yellow lines, and repairs to damaged or outdated pavements, barriers and kerbs”.

Campaigner Hazel Peacock handing the road safety petition to North Yorkshire Council in May.

Cllr John Mann, a Conservative who represents Oatlands and Pannal, said he welcomed the council’s recommendation “to undertake a series of planned speed limit reviews delivered over a period of time, which will generate a pipeline of schemes”.

He added:

“Given the tragic road accidents that have recently occurred near to schools in Oatlands this year, I am calling for my recent applications for 20mph limits for Yew Tree Lane, Green Lane and Hookstone Road to be given a high priority in the highways pipeline of schemes for the introduction of 20mph limits.”

Cllr Mann said he would allocate his £10,000 locality budget, which each councillor receives to spend on local initiatives, for road safety schemes.

The school leaders who attended yesterday’s meeting were:

1. Richard Sheriff, chief executive, Red Kite Learning Trust
2. Jane Goodwin, interim chief executive, Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust
3. Dave Thornton, interim headteacher and Iain Addison, deputy head at St Aidan’s CE School
4. Neil Renton, headteacher, Harrogate Grammar School
5. Tim Milburn, headteacher, Rossett School
6. Rhiannon Wilkinson, headteacher and Richard Rooze, bursar at Ashville College
7. Corrine Penhale, headteacher, Rossett Acre Primary School
8. Tim Broad, headteacher, Western Primary School
9. Zoe Anderson, headteacher, Oatlands Infant School
10. Estelle Scarth, headteacher, Oatlands Junior School
11. Steve Mort, headteacher, St John Fisher’s Catholic High School
12. Dr Helen Davey, headteacher/Emma Mitchell, business manager, Willow Tree Primary
13. Jane Turner, headteacher, Pannal Primary School
14. Victoria Kirkman, executive headteacher, Admiral Long and Birstwith CE schools and interim executive headteacher, Ripley Endowed CE, Beckwithshaw & Kettlesing Schools
15. Danny Wild, principal and Kate Herbert, performance and projects co-ordinator, Harrogate College

Campaigners who attended:

• Hazel Peacock and Dr Vicki Evans – Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign
• Dr Jenny Marks and Ruth Lily – Pannal Ash Safe Streets

Read more:

• Harrogate school road safety petition handed in to council
• Stray Views: Drivers use Badger Hill as ‘speed track’

A road accident this afternoon has reignited safety concerns for children walking to school in Harrogate.

A red Fiesta mounted the pavement on Yew Tree Lane — the same street where 15-year-old Rossett School students Fraser and Reuben were taken to hospital with serious injuries following a collision with a vehicle in February.

No further details of today’s incident are known — the Stray Ferret has asked North Yorkshire Police to provide some information.

But the sight of a car on the pavement prompted the father of one of the teenagers who was injured in February to get in touch to say it reinforced the need for safer roads around schools.

He said:

“A lot of people are campaigning for a 20 mph speed limit on roads near schools.

“The issue feels very close to home when I see something like this so near to where my son’s accident took place.”

The Yew Tree Lane area is particularly busy because it caters for children attending three secondary schools — Ashville College, Harrogate Grammar School and Rossett School – as well as primary schools, nurseries and pre-schools.

But the parent said 20 mph “should be the limit outside all schools”, including small village primary schools.

A petition calling for a 20 mph limit to be imposed on streets across the south of Harrogate was handed to North Yorkshire Council last month.

Hazel Peacock, who delivered the petition on behalf of the campaigning parents, said the limit would “change people’s attitudes in regard to comfort around walking, cycling and mobility users”.

Read more:

• Mum of boy seriously injured on school run in Harrogate issues plea for 20mph limit
• Child airlifted to hospital after collision outside school near Ripon

A petition calling for improvements to roads around schools in Harrogate will be delivered to the highways authority next week.

Set up by a group of parents concerned about safety for youngsters travelling to and from school, the petition has attracted almost 900 signatures.

It calls for a 20mph limit on roads across Oatlands, Pannal Ash, Rossett and the Saints area of Harrogate. The parents said thousands of pupils travel to four primary schools, five secondary schools, Harrogate College and several nurseries and pre-schools in the area each day.

In their petition, the parents said:

“Change is urgently needed. Without it the safety, health and well-being of the children, young people and the wider community remains at stake and road safety will continue as a barrier to walking and cycling in the area and across Harrogate.

“Maximum speed limits of 20mph have been delivered in other rural and urban areas of Yorkshire and the UK including Calderdale, Cornwall, Oxford, Edinburgh, the Scottish Borders, London and in Wales. We want these improvements for south and west and other communities within Harrogate.”

The petition references two serious collisions earlier this year – one on Beechwood Grove and one on Yew Tree Lane – which left three children hurt and requiring hospital treatment.

The incident on Yew Tree Lane left two 15-year-old Rossett School boys with serious, potentially life-changing, injuries.

Read more:

• ‘Comprehensive’ road safety improvements announced for Harrogate schools
• Children raise awareness of road safety issues affecting Ripon schools

After the collision, there were renewed calls for better safety measures around schools in the area. However, the campaign for changes dated much further back, with local parents having presented their requests to North Yorkshire County Council last year.

This year, meetings have been held between all headteachers in the area with representatives of North Yorkshire Council’s highways department. All the affected schools have put their names to the campaign for reduced speed limits.

Hazel Peacock, one of the parents who set up the petition, said:

“A big thank you to all of you who have signed the petition for a maximum speed of 20mph on roads in south and west Harrogate to improve road safety. There are a a total of 870 signatures to date!

“We will be submitting the petition to North Yorkshire County Council [next week]. If you have yet to sign it or would like to share with friends or family living or working in the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency area, who may also be interested in supporting the campaign, please sign and share the petition by May 8, 2023.”

To see or sign the petition, click here.

Traffic restrictions, new crossing points and vehicle activated signs are to be introduced to make schools safer in the Harrogate district.

A meeting was held at St Aidan’s Church of England High School yesterday in response to growing concerns about traffic outside schools.

School leaders, councillors, road safety leads from the emergency services and campaigners Hazel Peacock, Dr Vicki Evans and Dr Jenny Marks were among those attending.

Cllr Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire County Council’s Conservative executive member for highways and transport, said afterwards a series of measures would be introduced to “make travelling to school safer, healthier and happier”.

Full details are yet to be revealed but the measures will include Harrogate’s first School Streets pilot at Oatlands Junior School, which will see traffic banned except for residents and emergency vehicles on roads outside the school at busy times during school terms.

Cllr Duncan said:

“Today’s meeting represents a crucial step towards improving road safety and promoting more sustainable journeys for children and families.

“We are working closely with all Pannal Ash and Oatlands area schools, local councillors and residents to make improvements in these busy areas.

“The council has agreed to a comprehensive package of highway improvements to be delivered in the immediate term, including new crossing points, vehicle activated signs and Harrogate’s first School Streets pilot at Oatlands Junior School.

“We are continuing to work on further measures to be delivered in the longer term, including consideration of requests for new 20mph zones.”

Read more:

• Pressure grows as politicians join calls for road safety outside Harrogate schools
• Road safety charity lodges complaint against North Yorkshire transport chief

Concern about pupil safety was heightened when two 15-year-old boys from Rossett School were seriously injured outside Ashville College on February 2.

The 20’s Plenty for Us campaign, which wants 20mph to be the default option on residential streets and in town and village centres, has also been calling for change.

Representatives from the following schools attended the meeting: Harrogate Grammar School, St Aidan’s Church of England High School, Rossett School, Western Primary, Rossett Acre Primary, Oatlands Junior School, Oatlands Infant School, St John Fisher’s Catholic High School, Ashville College, Harrogate College and Willow Tree Primary.

A blanket 20mph speed limit across the south side of Harrogate is “urgently needed”, a councillor has said.

The proposal would see all streets between York Place and the southern edge of Harrogate limited to 20mph.

The petition has been set up by parents Hazel Peacock and Vicki Evans, who founded the Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign. They say it is vital to ensure children can travel to and from school in safety.

The pair presented the case to councillors on Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency area committee yesterday.

Ms Peacock told councillors that the group wanted “safer streets for the community” and pointed out that the petition had already reached 700 signatures.

She said:

“Maximum speed limits of 20 miles per hour have been delivered in other rural and urban areas of Yorkshire and the UK including Calderdale, Cornwall, Oxford, Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders and London with positive effects.”

Read more:

• Pressure grows as politicians join calls for road safety outside Harrogate schools
• Accident reignites calls for safe routes to Harrogate schools
• Hundreds sign petition for 20mph limit across south Harrogate

She highlighted recent crashes on Beechwood Grove and on Yew Tree Lane, where two teenagers from Rossett School were seriously injured and required hospital treatment.

In the wake of the incident on February 2, headteachers from almost every primary and secondary school in the area met at Harrogate Grammar School to urge representatives of North Yorkshire County Council to take action.

During the meeting, Cllr John Mann, who represents Oatlands and Pannal, said he backed the proposal and described it as being “urgently needed”.

He said:

“I support the Oatlands road safety petition.

“I have written to the head of highways and the cabinet member for highways saying that I support the petition. 

“I have also called for Yew Tree Lane, Green Lane, Hookstone Road and Beechwood Grove to have 20mph speed limits.

“In my view, as a member for the area, this change is urgently needed to improve road safety and reduce air pollution.”

Melissa Burnham, area highways manager for the county council, said the authority was meeting with the group to discuss the proposals.

Next week, the group is due to meet again – this time at St Aidan’s Church of England High School – and will be joined by a caseworker for Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well as the county council’s transport lead, Cllr Keane Duncan, and local councillors whose divisions are affected.

The meeting of more than 30 people will follow a walk around the Pannal Ash area led by the parents, for councillors and school representatives to discuss the issues.

Pressure is mounting for action to be taken to improve road safety around schools in Harrogate.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has added his voice to calls for reduced speed limits and other measures.

It follows a collision on Thursday, February 2 outside Ashville College which saw two 15-year-old boys from Rossett School left with serious injuries.

Writing on his website, Community News, Mr Jones said he had written to the chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, Lisa Winward, to request immediate action.

He said he had called for mobile speed cameras to be deployed on Yew Tree Lane and Green Lane “as precautionary measures while the police investigate the cause of the accident”.

He has also asked Ms Winward to support traffic-calming measures around the area, including the introduction of 20mph zones outside the entrances to Rossett School and Ashville College.

He added:

“I have been supporting residents in the area for some time in their requests for the county council to work with the police to reduce speeds.

“While we do not yet know if speed was the cause of this incident, we do know that it is a real problem on the long straight roads near Rosset School (sic) and Ashville College.

“There is already a 20mph limit outside the Pannal Ash Road entrance to Rosset School (sic) but no obvious speed signage on Green Lane nor outside the entrance to Ashville on Yew Tree Lane. This seems odd and is something I would like the county council – who are the highways authority – to look at immediately.

“As a precaution too I have asked if police speed checks can be increased in the area while we await the outcome of the investigation. As soon as the investigation is completed any lessons must be identified and actions taken. Road safety around schools, all schools, is a priority.”

Meanwhile, a meeting last week saw 10 headteachers express their concerns to representatives of North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The meeting was chaired by Red Kite Learning Trust CEO Richard Sheriff and attended by the heads of Harrogate Grammar, Rossett, Rossett Acre, Ashville, Western, St Aidan’s, St John Fisher, Oatlands Infant and Oatlands Junior schools.

NYCC’s corporate director of business and environmental services, Karl Battersby, and highways area manager Melissa Burnham were also taken on a walking tour of the Oatlands area to see the problems and solutions proposed by local campaigners.

They also offered to do the same on Harlow Hill, and said they would report back with some proposals before Easter.

Dr Jenny Marks, who has spearheaded the campaign for changes for more than two years, told the Stray Ferret:

“It was very powerful that all the headteachers were there, and our councillors.

“The council representatives told us it was a difficult town to get changes in, but they definitely want to work with us on it.”

Read more:

• Accident reignites calls for safe routes to Harrogate schools
• Fundraiser for injured Rossett students passes £5,000 target

Councillors around the area have also been supporting the campaign, with two present at Wednesday’s meeting to back the schools’ concerns.

Cllr Mike Schofield, the Liberal Democrat representative for the Harlow and St George’s division of North Yorkshire County Council, said he has been backing the parents’ plans since the day he was elected.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“The tragic events of last week surely go to highlight the issues with the amount of traffic on our roads that are in very close proximity to four schools, one nursery and nursing homes. I know one of the two young men who were involved and get daily updates on their progress, which unfortunately could well be long and slow.

“If we really wish to promote active travel we need to ensure safer roads, safer crossings and safer footpaths. Council need to listen to local residents and have more meaningful and in-depth consultations and use local businesses when it comes to drawing up plans as they have greater knowledge and understanding of local issues.”

In the Oatlands area, parents have also been looking at measures including park-and-stride schemes using local car parks.

Parent Hazel Peacock, whose children attend Oatlands Infant and Junior schools, said they had had support from Cllr John Mann, the Conservative representative of the Oatlands division, who also attended the meeting.

Both he and Cllr Pat Marsh, the Lib Dem for Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone, had used some of their locality budgets to support the planned improvements.

Ms Peacock said she was hopeful NYCC would carry out improvements the footpath between Hookstone Road and Fulwith Mill Lane, to make it more usable even during winter months.

The Stray Ferret contacted Cllr Mann for his views, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

A campaign to make travel to school safer in Harrogate has been reignited by a collision that left two teenagers in hospital.

The boys, both aged 15 and students at Rossett School, suffered serious injuries requiring multiple operations since the collision last Thursday morning.

A group of parents had already been asking for 20mph zones and safe crossing points around routes to school on Harlow Hill and now say the work is urgently needed before anyone else is hurt.

Dr Jenny Marks has spearheaded the campaign with fellow Harlow Hill resident Ruth Lily. They have spent more than two years putting together evidence and consulting with local people about potential changes to the roads around the area.

Their petition to create a ‘safe streets zone’ has more than 750 signatures.

Dr Marks said:

“We didn’t want to put an application in in isolation and it be unpleasant to the residents.

“So we went to the schools and sports centres and each of them had views on what should be outside their school.

“We created a map and presented that to the local residents’ association and made that the basis for the petition that’s running now. That’s what we have put into the application too.

“We’re doing as much as we can to get everybody’s ideas into one place.”

The pair have also joined forces with Oatlands residents Hazel Peacock and Vicki Evans, who have been working to get measures introduced around schools in their area too.

There are plans to set up schemes to reduce the volume of traffic around the infant and junior schools, including ‘park and stride’ using existing car parks in the area.

Oatlands Infant School. Photograph: Geograph, Derek Harper

All of the parents pointed out that, while primary school pupils often walk a short distance to school, they can be travelling much further when it comes to secondary education.

It is more common for secondary age children to walk to school alone, they said, so it was important for them to have acquired road safety skills from a younger age.

For that reason, they are pushing for a strategic approach across the whole area with coordinated measures in place – which, they also argued, would be more likely to be adhered to by motorists than a short stretch of 20mph zone that was never enforced, such as that on Pannal Ash Road.

Read more:

• Fundraising appeals set up for Rossett students injured in Harrogate crash
• Plan submitted for 20mph zones around five schools in Harrogate

The campaigners said they were frustrated by the lack of action on the issue since they began calling for change more than two years ago.

In November 2021, North Yorkshire County Council project engineer Paul Ryan wrote to Dr Marks to say the highways department was “considering a number of options and designs to implement traffic calming measures”, subject to funding.

However, he added:

A formal safety audit is to be conducted at a Killinghall junction after a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle last week.

The news was revealed at a packed meeting last night of Killinghall Parish Council, at which residents vented frustration about safety at the notorious Ripon Road and Otley Road junction.

Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate on North Yorkshire County Council, told the meeting:

“I have a commitment from the county council to do a formal safety audit. It will be proper highways modelling to see what options they will come up with.”

Cllr Harrison added the county council, which is the highways authority, had said it would come up with proposals in three months.

He said he shared residents’ concerns about the junction but admitted he didn’t know the solution, adding.

“If it was obvious there’s no doubt we would have done it.

“I don’t think anyone in this room knows the solution, unless it was a bypass, and I have to say there isn’t support for that.”

Read more:

• Accident reignites calls for traffic lights at ‘horrendous’ Killinghall junction
• Refurbished church aims to meet needs of growing Killinghall community
• Killinghall Cricket Club applies to build new two-storey pavilion

Parish council chairman Anne Holdsworth said plans were approved for a Killinghall bypass in 1937 and the village had been campaigning unsuccessfully for one ever since.

One resident told the meeting the person injured on the crossing outside the Greyhounds Inn last week had suffered a broken ankle and was on crutches.

Most people at the meeting agreed speed was a problem at the junction and in the wider village but there was little consensus over what to do.

Opinions included a 20mph limit, a mini roundabout and traffic lights. There were also concerns about the location of the pedestrian crossing and the bus stop as well as the new Tesco Express entrance.

A collision involving a pedestrian this week has reignited debate about what can be done to improve safety at a bottleneck junction in Killinghall.

The Ripon Road and Otley Road junction has been added to the agenda of Monday’s Killinghall Parish Council meeting in the wake of the accident.

It may be a new agenda item but it is an old topic, as parish council chairman Anne Holdsworth is only too aware. She says:

“I’ve lived in the village since 1961 and that junction has always been a problem.

“People in the village have been anticipating a collision like this. It’s horrendous but the question is, what do you do?

“I’m not sure what the solution is. All we can do is draw attention to it to the experts.”

The junction is frequently snarled up at rush hour so there are concerns about traffic flow as well as safety.

Vehicles turning right from Otley Road or turning right on to Otley Road often face particularly long delays, and the addition of the Tesco Express — although widely welcomed in the rapidly-expanding village — has added another dimension to drivers’ thoughts at the junction.

Turning right on to Otley Road

North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, considered installing traffic lights pre-covid but nothing happened.

Cllr Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate on the county council, said the traffic lights plans were “paused” due to work on the Tesco Express, which opened last year. Cllr Harrison added:

“I have asked the council highways team for an update on this.

“I have previously voiced concerns about potential congestion that signalising that junction might cause, although obviously that has to be balanced against safety concerns which are more apparent since the pub was converted to a Tesco.”

Tackling speed ‘the priority’

Villagers agree it’s time for action — but what is the solution?

Harvey Radcliffe said the junction was “poorly designed and an accident waiting to happen”, adding:

“It’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed. I’ve lived in the village for 12 years and I’ve never seen driving like it recently. I’m genuinely concerned for the kids and older residents of the village.”

Mr Radcliffe said speed prevention measures were the first priority. He said adding traffic lights and moving the bus stop that is close to the Tesco entrance, would help. He added:

“Everyone’s in a rush but when you drive in a populated area, if there is one straight road the quality of driving becomes worse as people just see it as a race track, especially at night. I’ve seen taxis doing 60 or 70mph down Ripon Road.”

The Tesco Express has created another factor for drivers to think about.

A mini roundabout, similar to the ones that have improved traffic flow at Bond End, has been suggested but Killinghall resident Tom Beardsell, who recently posted a video on social media highlighting the problems facing motorists at the junction, isn’t keen. He said:

“There would be more accidents with a mini roundabout as most people don’t know how to use them.”

Mr Beardsell said locals were “absolutely fuming” following this week’s collision and suggested introducing smart lights that allowed traffic to flow on the A61 most of the time but changed when someone pulls up at Otley Road. He said:

“It will disrupt traffic flow but it will be safer.”

Read more:

• Refurbished church aims to meet needs of growing Killinghall community
• Killinghall Cricket Club applies to build new two-storey pavilion

Former parish councillor Mike Wilkinson also thinks it’s time for traffic lights.

“As a resident and parent living in Killinghall, l am daily concerned that a fatality at the junction of Ripon/Otley Road will occur due to the unsafe driving witnessed on a daily basis.

“Incidents have been reported to the police and also Harrogate Borough Council but no safety measures have been put in place to give reassurance to the Killinghall residents. I would like a meeting to be set up with relevant agencies and the public to share the recent issues

“Traffic lights would be the best option, and this would stop traffic rushing through the junction especially trying to turn right from Otley Road onto Ripon Road.”

Whatever the parish council calls for this week, the final decision will rest with North Yorkshire County Council, and North Yorkshire Council — which will succeed it on April 1.