Inquests have opened into the deaths of two men killed in separate road collisions in the Harrogate district last month.

Taxi driver Mohammed Masum Miah, 45, died when his car “was struck by another vehicle”, said North Yorkshire coroner Catherine Cundall in an inquest yesterday.

She said the collision, on June 18, caused his black Peugeot to leave the A61 near Harewood, adding:

“He died at the scene as a result of injuries sustained.”

The inquest, held at the coroner’s court in Northallerton yesterday, was suspended to allow for completion of the police investigation into the collision.

Mohammed Masum Miah

A second inquest was opened into the death of James Paul Gomersall.

He was the front seat passenger in a collision on the B6265 near Score Ray Lane, between Whixley and Thorpe Underwood on June 24.

Mr Gomersall, who lived in Green Hammerton and was just 18, died at the scene.

His inquest was also adjourned to a later date while the police investigation continues.

North Yorkshire Police yesterday said nobody has been arrested in connection with either collision.

Read more:

• ‘I can’t ever accept the hard reality of losing you’: wife’s tribute to taxi driver killed in Harrogate crash
• Teenager dies after crash at crossroads

A teenager has died after a car crash on the edge of the Harrogate district at the weekend.

The collision happened at 2.15pm on Saturday on the B6265 at the crossroads between Whixley and Thorpe Underwood, south of Boroughbridge.

It involved a blue Ford Focus and a silver Volkswagen Touran.

An 18-year-old man, who was a passenger in the Ford, died as a result of the collision. He has not been named.

Six other occupants of both vehicles were taken to hospital with injuries.

North Yorkshire Police have urged witnesses to come forward.

A force statement today said:

“Police are urging anyone who saw the collision or either car involved prior to it to get in touch. They would also like to hear from anyone who may have relevant dashcam footage.

“Anyone with information is asked to email PC Julie Brown. Julie.Brown@northyorkshire.police.uk or phone North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Julie Brown. Please quote reference number 12230116638 when passing information.”

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• Muffin Break cafe coming to Harrogate?
• Jail for drug dealers caught outside Harrogate’s Valley Gardens

This week’s photograph was taken by Justin Welburn, capturing the early morning sunrise in Whixley.

Justin Welburn

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

Parish councils have called for a halt to plans for a new settlement to the east of Knaresborough until after devolution takes place.

With the hand-over to the new unitary authority now just six weeks away, councillors in the area have asked the new North Yorkshire Council to prevent Harrogate Borough Council from spending any more time or money on its development plan document (DPD).

It follows news last month that one of the key landowners in the area earmarked for a new town near Cattal had pulled out of the plans, leaving question marks over their viability.

In a joint letter, representatives of Kirk Hammerton, Whixley, Green Hammerton, Moor Monkton, and Cattal, Hunsingore and Walshford parish councils asked Cllr Simon Myers, NYCC’s executive member for housing, to “step in”. They wrote:

“The DPD process and the Maltkiln planning proposal have lost all credibility and their time is up. HBC should stop work now and concentrate on making the handover to NYC as orderly as possible.

“The developer should be invited to withdraw its application and an indication given (formally or informally) that, if it insists on pressing for a determination, a refusal is inevitable, in the circumstances…

“Meanwhile, it’s high time NYC stepped in and called time on this, before any more mistakes are made (the consequences of which NYC will inherit).”

HBC’s planning policy manager Natasha Durham this week contacted parish councils in the area to invite them to a meeting next month.

She said work was being done to decide whether the DPD could be delivered on the remaining land.

Read more:

• Parish councils to get update on ‘paused’ plans for new town near Knaresborough
• Maltkiln developer still ‘confident’ in new town near Cattal

NYCC has said work by most of the district councils on local plans and DPDs had been paused until the new unitary authority came into effect, but it had agreed Harrogate should continue with its new settlement DPD because it was at an advanced stage.

However, Kirk Hammerton Parish Council chairman Paul Townsend responded to ask how work on the DPD could continue when the land it was based on could no longer be used.

He wrote:

“Since the circumstances underpinning the NYC executive’s decision to proceed with the DPD in December have fundamentally changed (it is hard to think of anything more fundamental to developing a new settlement than no longer having land on which to build it) how has the executive convinced itself that the DPD should continue?

“Does this mean the statement that work on the DPD has been paused is now out of date? It’s all very confusing for us and our residents.”

Parish councillors have also claimed HBC had previously said it had a “duty to determine” a planning application for the site from Caddick, proposing a new town of up to 4,000 homes to be known as Maltkiln.

The councillors said the plans were being pushed through with undue haste in order to have the whole matter dealt with before HBC is abolished on April 1.

However, the council has strongly denied it ever said it had a “duty to determine” the application.

A spokesperson said:

“In response to requests for information on when the DPD would be submitted, we indicated that we were working towards a target of end of 2022 for submission.

“But in view of the recent change of circumstance, the decision to submit the DPD has been paused, something that we have made the public aware of.

“We have also not changed our position regarding the determination of the Caddick/Maltkiln planning application, once again this is hearsay. Currently, there is no timeline for determination as there are still matters to be resolved.

“The principle of development in this location has been established in the adopted Harrogate District Local Plan. Planning applications are determined in accordance with the development plan and circumstances of the time.”

Seven neighbouring parish councils have jointly raised concerns about the quality of the proposed new town in the Harrogate district.

Harrogate Borough Council is running a six-week consultation until November 14 on plans to create a new settlement called Maltkiln, which will be roughly the size of Thirsk. Up to 4,000 homes could be built.

The consultation sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how the site is designed and developed and proceeds any formal planning application.

Parish councils representing Moor Monkton, Nun Monkton, Tockwith, Whixley, Green Hammerton, Kirk Hammerton, Hunsingore, Great Ribston with Walshford and Cattal met last week to consider a joint response.

A summary of their response describes the documents residents are being urged to comment on as “technical and jargon-heavy”.

The summary acknowledges “major development is coming to the area” but adds Harrogate Borough Council’s development plan document “doesn’t provide a sound framework for delivering the ‘exemplar’ new settlement that’s required; nor does it address with sufficient care the implications for nearby villages”.

There are also concerns about the extent to which a genuine consultation is taking place for the new town, the name for which was chosen by developers Caddick without consultation with residents.

The summary says:

“Residents have raised concerns that the consultation process itself hasn’t been inclusive. Despite its far-reaching implications, there have been no in-person exhibition/public-hall meetings about the development plan document.

“The development plan document documents and response forms themselves are difficult to navigate, potentially preventing many residents from taking part.”

Read more:

• Council faces calls to hold in-person Maltkiln consultation events
• Ouseburn councillor opens Green Party conference in Harrogate

Alex Smith, a spokesman for the councils, said:

“There are several important areas — the development framework itself, transport, flooding — where the development plan document offers a wish-list, not deliverable policies backed up by evidence.”

Mr Smith said the speed at which the development was being considered, five months before Harrogate Borough Council is abolished, had “added to the confusion” and the development plan document felt “premature”. He added:

“It’s about meeting a political objective and getting outline approval for the Caddick application before the council is disbanded on April 1 — not about making sure that we get the best possible development for the future generations who will live in, and near it.”

Concerns about transport, flooding and schools

Arnold Warneken

Arnold Warneken, a Green councillor who represents Ouseburn on North Yorkshire County Council, also attended the parish councils’ meeting.

He said many residents had concerns about issues such as transport, flooding and education and “a combined voice” was more powerful. Cllr Warneken added:

“The consultation process has been questioned by residents for lots of reasons wondering why it was so arms-length and not at all easy to understand or comment on by those residents not at ease with planning terminology and also those who struggle with computers and emails

“I think this coalition of councils is showing how a community can come together for the good of the wider community.”