Northern to continue with Harrogate train cuts despite pressure from MP

Northern will press ahead with plans to cancel the 6.07am train service from Harrogate to Leeds, as well as some other services, despite lobbying from Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Conservative MP Andrew Jones.

The Stray Ferret reported this month that the 6.07am service — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.

The early service was popular with business travellers as a way to get to London King’s Cross before 9am.

The decision to cut the service was branded as “disgraceful” by Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group.

Urging a rethink

Last week, Andrew Jones MP wrote to the chairman of Northern, Robin Gisby, urging him to “rethink” reductions to the service between Harrogate and Leeds.

Mr Jones wrote that train services in Harrogate had got better over the past decade but cuts could risk losing these “hard-won improvements”.

However, a Northern spokesperson said today that the operator, which is now owned by the UK government, confirmed the cuts will still take place from May 15.

They said the cuts were primarily due to driver shortages and not a reduction in passengers since the pandemic.

However, the spokesperson added Northern will look to reinstate some services during the rest of 2022.

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The spokesperson said:

“We recognise that some of our customers are disappointed with the upcoming changes to their service. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

“Along with the rest of the industry, some amendments to the timetable will be made from 15 May 2022.

“For the remainder of the year, services will be reinstated where possible with the intention of a larger uplift in December 22.

“These reinstatements will take us more in line with December 2021 service levels although any changes are dependent on several factors. We will share the final plans when we can.”

Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group said news that the 6.07am cut would remain was “not good enough”.

He added:

“I was expecting them to keep that one. I’m very disappointed.”

Harrogate disability charity explains why some crossings don’t beep

Harrogate-based charity Disability Action Yorkshire has explained why many pedestrian crossings in Harrogate town centre do not make a beeping sound to let blind or visually impaired people know it is safe to cross.

It follows a Stray Ferret article published on Saturday about Harrogate man John Raho, 80, who relies on the noise to help him cross the road safely when vehicles stop and the green man appears.

But from the top of Cheltenham Parade up Station Parade and to the Victoria Avenue junction, 9 out of 10 crossings did not make any noise at all, which Mr Raho said was ‘shameful’.

Mr Raho received some messages of support on social media from people who named other pedestrian crossings in the district where they would like to hear a beeping noise.

Could be confusing

Disability Action Yorkshire was founded 84 years ago and helps disabled people live the life of their choosing.

It has headquarters and a training centre on Hornbeam Park, a residential care home on Claro Road, and a holiday lodge in Lincolnshire.

Its chief executive Jackie Snape said she sympathised with Mr Raho’s plight but said having too many crossings making the noise could be confusing.

Ms Snape said:

“[Crossings that don’t beep] is something we hear quite a lot but I do fully understand the reasons.

“It’s where there are two or three crossings close to each other. People could get confused and walk into the roads.”

Jackie Snape, Disability Action Yorkshire chief executive.

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Ms Snape said there needed to be greater awareness that crossings that don’t beep have a small cone underneath that can be touched. The cone turns when the green man lights up to indicate it is safe to cross.

But she added that since covid, many people did not feel comfortable touching it.

Many crossings have a plastic cone underneath that turns when it is safe to cross

Victoria Avenue junction

Whilst Ms Snape said it would be confusing to have too many crossings on Station Parade making the beeping noise, the silent crossing at the Victoria Avenue junction “needs looking at” because it wasn’t in close proximity to other crossings.

She said crossings like this should be reported to North Yorkshire County Council through its website.

Ms Snape said:

“We’ve reported machines in the past when they have stopped working. Unless they are reported, the council does not know they are not working properly.”

Ms Snape added that if any blind or partially sighted person would like to report a crossing that does not make a beeping noise, the charity can do it on their behalf through its website or by calling 01423 855419.

Otley Road in Harrogate to face six weeks of roadworks

Two-way traffic lights will be installed on Otley Road, between Harrogate and Beckwithshaw, from Monday until Friday May 6.

North Yorkshire County Council will put the lights next to Persimmon Homes’ Harlow Hill Grange development whilst roadworks take place.

According to the council’s website, works include installing new street lights and signs, connecting gullies to a ditch and building a new footpath.

Motorists using the section of Otley Road closer to Harrogate have faced over a year of disruption due to the construction of the Otley Road cycle path. Phase two is set to start later this year.

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Transport assessment for 181 homes at Kingsley Drive ‘fundamentally flawed’

A transport assessment that suggests Persimmon Homes’ 181-home development on Kingsley Drive will not significantly increase traffic in the area has been called ‘fundamentally flawed’ by a Harrogate building surveyor.

The housebuilder submitted its latest proposal for the site this month after a larger development for 217 homes was rejected by councillors last year.

Persimmon commissioned transport consultant Bryan G Hall to undertake a transport assessment to assess how the homes would impact nearby roads.

At over 500 pages long, his report includes measurements, surveys and conclusions about traffic in the area.

It found the impact of the extra homes on local roads would not be ‘severe’.

The report concluded:

“The residual cumulative impact of the proposed residential development on the road network cannot be considered to be ‘severe’ and there are therefore no traffic or highways related reasons why planning permission should not be granted for this site.”

Visuals of the Persimmon Home plan for homes on Kingsley Drive.

Visuals of the Persimmon Homes plan for Kingsley Drive.

However, Steve Marshall, owner of surveyors Airedale Surveys and a member of Kingsley Ward Action Group, spent five days reviewing the document, which he called on the council to reject.

Mr Marshall said this was because one of the traffic surveys took place when part of Kingsley Drive was closed due to roadworks.

He also said the report ignored how the extra homes will impact the nearby Empress roundabout.

Disputed surveys

Mr Marshall disputed a claim in the report that Rydal Road, Birstwith Road and Leyland Road, which all have junctions with Kingsley Drive and Knaresborough Road, were not being used as ‘rat runs’.

North Yorkshire County Council, which is in charge of roads in the district, had specifically asked Persimmon to look at the rat run issue in the transport assessment, as well as how fast vehicles were travelling on the three roads.

Persimmon undertook traffic surveys on the roads from July 31 to August 6 2020 but Mr Marshall said this took place when part of Kingsley Drive was closed.

“The bottom half of Kingsley Drive was shut due to road works during the whole period of the survey. This means no one had access to the three surveyed roads along the rat run route.”

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Mr Marshall criticised the report for not taking into account trips generated at two nearby housing developments of 165 homes.

He also said the surveys did not factor in how the homes would impact the Empress roundabout and the Granby Road/Skipton Road junction during rush hour.

Mr Marshall wrote:

“This roundabout causes massive queues at rush hour despite Harrogate Borough Council’s Transport Background Paper of August 2018 saying it is not a problem junction.

“There cannot be any justification for allowing this development as it stands if one of the key assessments and the subject uppermost in the minds of local residents, ie the traffic assessment, is fundamentally flawed.”

Persimmon’s response

In February, representatives from Persimmon, as well as highways consultant Geoff Bowman from Bryan G Hall, fielded questions from residents in Starbeck about the plans, which included the transport assessment.

Residents queried Mr Bowman about the traffic surveys and suggested they did not give an accurate picture of how many cars use the area.

Mr Bowman said:

“There has been very extensive surveys of traffic in the area. There is a perception that we are nasty developers and it’s dead easy to get through planning, but the highways authority are rigorous.”

The Stray Ferret asked Persimmon Homes for a response but we had not received one by the time of publication.

Highways boss ‘confident’ Harrogate park and ride can still be funded

North Yorkshire County Council officials are still confident that a park and ride in Harrogate can be funded despite cuts to government funding.

A park and ride scheme is among the measures proposed by the county council as part of a series of transport initiatives to reduce traffic and ease congestion.

Two locations in Pannal on the 36 bus route were identified as possible sites.

On Tuesday, county council officials warned that it was “unlikely” that the authority would receive all of its £116 million bus improvement bid from government – which would help to fund the scheme.

But Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for highways, told a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee that he was still confident that there would be enough funding for a park and ride scheme.

He said:

“The various interventions following the Harrogate Congestion Study and the Harrogate Transport Improvement Programme are every much prioritised in our bus services improvement plan.

“Even if we get reduced funding, which is likely, I am confident that there will be money there for the various interventions that we want to make in Harrogate including a pilot for park and ride.”

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The news comes as the county council bid for £116 million worth of funding to improve bus services in North Yorkshire.

The county council unveiled its Bus Service Improvement Plan in October with proposals for more bus lanes, cash support for existing and new services and a simpler ticketing system.

But, the government wrote to councils in January highlighting how its £3 billion budget to “transform” bus services had more than halved to £1.4 billion.

Hope that electric buses bid will be successful

Separately, the county council has also bid for £8 million of government cash to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet electric.

If successful, the company’s parent firm Transdev would contribute £11.5 million towards the costs of buying 39 zero-emission buses.

Cllr Mackenzie told the area constituency committee that he remained confident of being successful in receiving the funding.

He said:

“I remain fairly confident about that [the bid]. We ought to hear something about that by the end of this month, that was originally the deadline given to us.”

Coming soon! New pothole machine to improve Harrogate district roads

North Yorkshire County Council has said it will use two new state-of-the-art machines to blitz potholes across the county this month.

The machines are able to fix the potholes through a technique called spray injection patching.

With this method, the machines clean and dry the holes then fill them with a cold bitumen compound to seal cracks. Finally, an aggregate is used to fill the hole.

The county council said in a press release yesterday that acquiring the machines would enable it to undertake “an extended programme of pothole repairs across many North Yorkshire neighbourhoods during March”.

It added “local communities will be informed of locations and anticipated dates for the work very shortly”.

The council was encouraged by a recent trial of the machines and believes they are a cheaper and quicker way to fill in potholes. It also said repairs can last longer.

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Conservative councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for highways, said:

“The trials carried out were very successful and this is a great opportunity to repair more roads.

“This is good news for residents of North Yorkshire, spray injection patching is a much quicker process of repairing potholes and the repairs tend to last a lot longer.

“It offers a cost-effective way of repairing potholes whilst reducing the inconvenience to the travelling public. We have also secured the services of this specialist equipment later in the year.”

All roads lead to Barnard Castle School thanks to transport link boost

This article is sponsored by Barnard Castle School.

It is now easier than ever to reach Barnard Castle School thanks to a raft of new transport links, including from the Harrogate district.

Set in the heart of the stunning Northern countryside, the independent school, known affectionately as ‘Barney, is well-served by a growing number transport connections, making it even more accessible.

The school currently offers 10 bus routes as part of its comprehensive transport services, which also cater for flexi passengers.

In 2020, two new routes were launched in Ripon and Yarm, which has helped to meet increased demand and to support the school’s existing community.

Tony Jackson, headmaster at Barnard Castle School, said:

“We are fortunate that Barnard Castle is surrounded by open countryside and areas of natural beauty, yet is close enough to major towns and cities.

“External regional transport links offer the best of both worlds, in addition to our robust bus services.

“People often forget that we are only two-and-a-half hours away from London via train, which is a massive advantage.”

Mr Jackson said in nearby Tees Valley, significant investments had greatly strengthened the region’s transport infrastructure, including the re-emergence of Tees Valley International Airport in recent years and the planned major development of Darlington Railway Station.

He added:

“Barney is a well-positioned campus in our region and remains one of the most beautiful and safest places to live in the entire United Kingdom.”

Pupils at Barnard Castle School.

His comments come ahead of open mornings at the co-educational independent day and boarding school, which has a history that stretches back to the 19th century.

The events, which take place on March 8 for Sixth Form, and March 19 for the Prep and Senior Schools, are aimed at giving parents and pupils an opportunity to get a feel for the school, inspect the facilities and chat with peers and staff.

To find out more about what makes education at Barnard Castle School so special, contact a member of the admissions team on 01833 696030 or email admissions@barneyschool.org.uk

Bogs Lane to be resurfaced next month

North Yorkshire County Council will resurface Bogs Lane next month.

The road, just off the main A59, is a busy residential area that has been affected by numerous new housing schemes.

Henshaws Specialist College, which has about 80 students with special educational needs and disabilities, is also based on Bogs Lane.

A North Yorkshire County Council spokesperson said resurfacing works will start on March 7 with phases road closures in place from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

It will cover the stretch of Bogs Lane from the A59 Knaresborough Road junction and Henshaws College.

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The section of road that Henshaws is on will be completed in the evening between 7pm and midnight. The works are scheduled to be completed on March 18.

An 18-month closure order came into place on Bogs Lane in September 2021. The order is designed to give the council flexibility to close the road for periods of time.

County council could face £600,000 black hole over concessionary bus fares

North Yorkshire County Council could be left facing nearly £600,000 of financial pressure if concessionary bus passenger volumes return to pre-pandemic levels, it has emerged.

Leading North Yorkshire councillors have pushed forward proposals for a new North Yorkshire and York English National Concessionary Travel Scheme, under which a host of local bus service operators will be paid for the fares of elderly and disabled people until April 2024.

Under the national mandated scheme bus pass holders can travel free on all local buses anywhere in England from 9.30am until 11pm on weekdays and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.

In North Yorkshire, the council covers bus pass fares from 9am to 6am, and concessions are accepted on certain morning rush hour journeys, particularly from rural areas.

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Such exemptions are considered on a case by case basis and granted for cases such as where a passenger is not likely to reach their service centre, GP, hospital before 11am on a direct service without the exemption.

A council officer’s report states the overall financial impact of the proposed changes to the scheme is that forecast expenditure is expected to increase by £216,000 in the coming year based on last year’s passenger numbers.

It states:

“If passenger numbers increase to pre-pandemic levels based on 2018/19 passenger numbers then expenditure could increase by up to £581,000.”

‘More people visit us’

Cllr Don Mackenzie, the authority’s executive member for access, said the reason council could face financial pressures was because it had made “small savings against budget” over the past 24 months.

He said: 

“We simply did not foresee a marked decrease in the number of people using buses. We did continue to pay bus operators far beyond what they should have been given based purely on passenger numbers because we wanted lots of bus operators to still be around and financially viable after covid was over.

“Any increase back up to pre-covid levels will have an impact on the budget because we have pared the budget by relatively small amounts due to reduced usage by bus pass holders.

“It is a pressure, but would be a relatively small percentage of what the bus concessionary fare scheme costs us, about £7 million a year.

“Concessionary fares have always cost North Yorkshire more than we get from government because it is an attractive place to visit and use their bus passes and we pick up the bill for that.

“Clearly, some of our residents go to other parts of the country and use their bus passes, but we do have more people visiting us than most parts of the country simply because it is a very beautiful county.”

When asked if the funding of concessionary fares would be fairer if it was calculated by the number of concessionary fares used in an area, Cllr Mackenzie replied: 

“I think the system’s pretty fair. We have in the past lobbied for additional funding because of this surplus of bus passes.

“It does give older and disabled folk an incentive not to use their cars and to get out and about, which is good for public health, it’s good for mental health and it’s very good for the environment too.”

Traffic and Travel Alert: Two lanes closed southbound on A1 (M) at J49 for Dishforth and Ripon, 20 minute delays expected

Two of the three lanes heading southbound on the A1 (M) are closed following an accident, delays are reported to be up to 20 minutes.

The accident is affecting the road heading towards J49 for Ripon and Dishforth.

National Highways is warning motorists about delays of up to 20 minutes if heading southbound.

The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.

We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.

The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.