These are my comments submitted to Harrogate Borough Council in regard to the re consultation carried out about the Urban extension proposals in the Local Development Framework. The inspector is expected to consider the proposals in September/October 2008

Allocation of Housing
The allocation of housing numbers in the LDF is skewed and treats Knaresborough unfairly in that the settlement has a far greater number of houses per resident than any other settlement in the Harrogate District. 14& of the District total is 1200 houses (54 per year). On a proper ratio Knaresborough should be allocated no more than 10% of the total which is 858 (39 per year).

Delivery
Early Development
A further very important issue is that when the original core strategy was discussed in 2005/06 the statement was made that:-
“It is the Council’s view that these (urban extensions) should only be considered for allocation and development as a last resort in the event that there is no other way in the final phase of the plan period to meet the District’s allocation. Also “until the completion of the Congestion Strategy and other work i.e. Park and Ride Study….”.
Now however in regard to Knaresborough it is proposed that the urban extension development should start in 4 years time (2012) despite the lack of infrastructure and the number of housing approvals in our Town. Together with other allocated sites Knaresborough has enough housing land with planning approval to meet its target even at the 14% allocation until 2011 and at the 10% target 2013/14. Why release this land now?

In view of this it appears that the only “justification” for early release of the Knaresborough East site is the fact that it is already owned by a developer who is eager to start building.
What transpires is that Knaresborough East is being treated as the “Banker” for the 5 year target of houses for the whole of the District and particularly Harrogate Town area. This is clearly wrong.

Inspectors Exploratory Meeting
The following observation was included in the notes to the meeting held on 26 March 2008
“Knaresborough will require a comprehensive master plan and transport strategy, new services and a new station will need to be in place from the outset to minimise need to travel/modal shift required by the Traffic Congestion Plan in the Local Transport Plan.” And generally
“There were no guarantees or firm commitments from the utilities/service providers.”

Page 3 Response on LDF Main Report July 2008

In Appendix 7 of the current main report there is a claim that a rail halt to serve the site (on which much of the “sustainability” argument relies) is feasible within a 5 year period. This has been directly contradicted by Network Rail.
Other Matters
National Express with Networks Rail support is proposing to provide a 2 hourly service to/from Harrogate via Leeds to Kings Cross. This has been announced since the Core Strategy has been developed and the prioritisation of the Greenfield sites had been finished. Any such proposal will have a deleterious effect on services from Harrogate through Knaresborough to York. A reappraisal of all sites on the South of Harrogate should now be taken in view of what will now be better and more frequent rail connections to Leeds and the adverse effect on NE1.

Cllr Bill Hoult
18 August 2008

Page 2 Response on Sustainability Paper July 2008

Sustainability
Transport Links-Rail
Much of the support for NE1 is factored on the potential for a rail Halt that in the main report is suggested is deliverable in a 5 year period. This has been directly contradicted by Network Rail and indeed due to recent proposals put forward for the Harrogate/ Leeds section of the line to run more intercity trains the feasibility within even the full term of the plan is in question. The fact that there has been no feasibility or business case for the station and the limited resources available to Network Rail almost eliminates the proposal for the purposes of this plan.

At a meeting between the developers and Knaresborough District and Town Councillors the developers had to admit that they could not deliver a Rail Halt and that their contribution would be quite small relative to the total cost. Network Rail at a meeting I attended at NYCC confirmed that they have no capital to spend for at least 5 years. The Rail Halt should not therefore feature in the sustainability arguments for the current LDF Plan.

Transport Links-Road
In the HUKS study the following paragraph appears:-
“The traffic impact of any large scale extension in the North East and North West sectors will need to be very carefully assessed as part of an overall transport assessment. This should include an assessment of the need for traffic relief through the construction of a Northern Relief Road.”

It is not clear whether this assessment has been carried out.

Other Matters
S1 and S2 sites to the South of Harrogate
Recent proposals by National Express supported by Network Rail to increase the train capacity on the Harrogate to Leeds line by providing a 2 hourly intercity Service from Harrogate to Kings Cross via Leeds that would use the Pannal rail station has shifted the sustainability case for S2 by a considerable margin. This means that the site that is already served by a 20 minute bus service between Ripon and Leeds and an half hourly rail service becomes much more attractive in sustainability terms and overcomes the alleged and subjective claim of an adverse effect on the setting of Harrogate. A re-assessment is needed here.

Conversely the implementation of a more intensive regime on the Harrogate to Leeds line will reduce the potential for any schedule changes to accommodate a Rail Halt in Knaresborough thus adversely affecting NE1 sustainability.

Cllr Bill Hoult
18 August 2008

The Blind Jack Statue Project has caught the imagination of the people of Knaresborough and received astounding support. Set up in Novemebr 2007 the Working Group have been able to raise £26,000 of the £30,000 target this August and are considering bringing the date for the unveling ceremny from April next year to early December.

The Knaresborough sculptor Barbara Asquith has for the last month been moulding the full life size clay mould in an empty shop in the Market Place and will complete the work on nthe 18 August 2008. At that stage the Foundry workers will proceed to make the wax casting on site in preperation for a full ceramic mould to be made at the Foundry itself for the bronze casting process.

Bill Hoult Hon Secretary of the Working Group comments “The whole of the committee have been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement and interest that we have received from Townsfolk, Harrogate Borough Council, and all the major funders.

We hope as many people as can will visit the shop to see the wax casting process carried out. Unfortunately we understand that this part of the process will result in the breaking up of Jack but he will be reborn in bronze and take his place in the Market square.”

Liberal Democrats at North Yorkshire County Council claim that a recent report has exposed a serious lack of maintenance and compliance with legislation of school properties that amounts to an unforeseen black hole of £6M in the Councils finances.

The report tells us that District Councils who are responsible for environmental health issues are becoming increasingly concerned about conditions in some of our schools and indeed the following quote from the schedule in the report says :-

“NYCC has already been warned by one District Council that it is minded to issue enforcement unless repairs are carried out”

Other comments

“Toilets are inadequate –unchanged since the school opened in 1963. Parents have raised concerns with the school nurse regarding poor toilet provision”

“School is losing money on catering as students are citing long queues and cramped conditions as reasons for bringing sandwiches”

“Year 5/6 is disrupted every day when deliveries arrive for kitchen and children have to rearrange furniture for assembly and lunches”

The report identifies that the neglect has been due to concentration on curricular activities rather than the suitability of the buildings and environment.

Money to pay for these urgent repairs has had to be be diverted from a reserve that was only set up in April this year to pay for potentially huge extra costs the authority might face for waste management after 2011.

Cty Cllr Bill Hoult Leader of the Liberal Democrats at County Hall who raised the whole issue at the last Full County Council meeting comments “Coming hard on the heels of the Council’s neglect of maintenance and repair of tenanted County Farms this is alarming, particularly as it relates to young children.

I just hope that there are no more surprises like this to come out of the woodwork.”

Note
The report to the Executive (E/2008/7) Schools Capital Programme 2008/2009 &2010/2011 was considered on the 27 May 2008 and may be accessed on the NYCC website.

Much is happening in Knaresborough as we approach our annual FEVA week.The Fraser theatre is making great strides in its fundraising for an extension, Barbara Asquith the sculptor for the seated statue of Blind Jack has almost completed the clay mould of our famous road builder.

The Centre On Gracious Street is shortly to start phase one of the alterations to the Church and Hall. Artworks that trick the eye into thinking they are real have appeared around the Town and various historical characters and animals look out of upstairs windows.

Cllr Bill Hoult says “It is at times like this that the people of the Town come together and make a real success of what they do. We hope many people will come to enjoy the fun of feva!”

Local opposition is building up over the proposal by the County Council to establish a waste transfer station at the unsuitable site off Bar Lane in Knaresborough.

Residents are concerned that the operation will be too close to housing in the area and cause unacceptable traffic problems particularly at Bond End Knaresborough. County Councillor Bill Hoult comments “What I cannot understand is why the County Council is promoting this site when a suitable site on the East side of Knaresborough with excellent access to main roads and the A1(M) has already got planning permission.”

Bill has written a “Freedom of Information” question to the North Yorkshire County Council demanding to know whether the Council has a financial interest in the Farnham site.

The proposal to build at least 1200 houses in Knaresborough between 2004 and 2026, including 500 on Greenfield land next to Knaresborough is now out for re-consultation despite the Government Inspector condemning the process as “flawed”.

Also a cross party meeting of Harrogate Council’s District Development Committee refused to support the revised document and only “noted” its content due to what were seen as serious shortfalls in both the evidence submitted and its credibility. 

It is important that as many Knaresborough residents make their comments either for or against the proposal.

My position has always been clear and is supported by your other local Liberal Democrat District Councillors (letter to Planning Dept July 2006).

Firstly, that the allocation of 1200 (54 a year) houses to Knaresborough is excessive and is more per head of the Town’s population than anywhere else in the District. A more reasonable figure would be around 850 (10% 0f the total), which amounts to about 39 houses a year. 

If this total was accepted there would not, over the period of the plan be the need to build on

One of the reasons given to support the plan is that a “Rail Halt” could be built on the site to serve not only the new houses but the rest of Knaresborough. In separate meetings I have attended, neither the prospective developer, the Tory led Harrogate Council nor Network Rail have held out any hope of this being provided because of the cost and operational difficulties.

The traffic pressures that the development will place on the Town, the A59 and the access to the A1M are well known.

Please make your views known to Harrogate Borough Council before 22 August 2008. The address to write to is - Department of Development Services, Harrogate Borough Council, Knapping Mount,West Grove Road, Harrogate

The byelection on Thursday 10 July to fill three vacancies on Knaresborough Town Council resulted in a convincing win for the Liberal Democrats.

The results are as follows :-
Knaresborough Scriven Park Ward
32% Turnout
Bert Holbrook (Lib Dem) 635 Elected
Conservative 557
Liberal Democrat Hold

Knaresborough East Ward (two seats)
29% Turnout
Jo Walton (Lib Dem) 543 (Elected)
Simon St John Jones(Lib Dem) 488 (Elected)
Conservative 373
Conservative 367
Independent 356
BNP 73
Liberal Democrat Hold
The Tories fought hard to capture the Scriven Park Ward in what was inevitably a low turnout. However a strong classic campaign by the Liberal Democrats held the seats.

Two years ago when Cllr Bill Hoult accused Harrogate Council of planning to build up to 900 houses on land next to the Eastfield estate Tory Chiefs claimed it was just “scaremongering”  Earlier this year with the casting vote of the Tory Chairman of the committee the proposal was pushed through with the development start date being in four years timeNow objections have been raised at the highest level that the exercise has been “a flawed process” and “unsoundness here taints the whole core strategy” also that “East Knaresborough scored poorly”.

 They were the comments in a report from Mrs McCabe the Inspector appointed by Government to examine the proposals! An officer from the Highway Agency added that “the proposed development pattern is not sustainable”. The full text of the notes of the meeting is on the HBC website. (www.harrogate.gov.uk/localdevelopmentframework)  This was because Council officers admitted to the Inspector that they could not guarantee that promised services (railway halt, primary school, recreational facilities) could be provided in any time scale never mind the 5 year one.
Currently Harrogate Council is intending to resubmit their proposals and are intend doing a “limited” re-consultation. This time however they are not even putting a newspaper around the area, nor are they intending to arrange meetings but are relying on the local press coverage. We believe that is wrong! 

The whole issue will be put to the District Development Committee at a meeting in early July. Please send your objections/comments to Freepost Harrogate District LDF (Email. ldf@harrogate.gov.uk), Also please comment on this website.

Concern over speeding traffic on York Road and accidents on the bend near to the Nidderdale Lodge site remain. Representations have been made once again to Harrogate Council by the Director of Nidderdale Lodge Park and one of the residents, a reply was received from The Chief Engineer (Traffic) in April this year.

There is now an acceptance that something needs to be done before a fatal accident occurs and it is proposed to provide a new central island (like the one at Nidderdale Lodge entrance) on the approach to the bend from Knaresborough.

However the Chief Engineer maintains that the bid for funding from North Yorkshire County Council failed because the County has reduced the amount of funding it gives to Harrogate Council by 50% compared with 2007/08. It was hoped that funding would be available from the developer of the Manse Farm housing site but unfortunately the finance is only available when the development is implemented.

As to a 40mph limit Harrogate Council is adamant that this cannot be implemented as the police will not support the proposal nor would they carry out enforcement.

Cllr Bill Hoult comments “The new chief constable is on record as saying that speeding traffic is for him a priority. Accordingly I have written again to the Chief Engineer and asked him to contact the police again on this issue.” 

At the Annual meeting of the Harrogate Borough Council on the 19 May Knaresborough Councillor Bill Hoult was appointed by the Council to Chair the Community and Partners Overview and Scrutiny Commission which is the one Committee allocated to the Liberal Democrat opposition.. 

Bill chaired the Commission last year, which deals with issues such as recreational facilities and community action. Starbeck Baths, Valley Gardens and the Turkish Baths were key Council responsibilities scrutinised during the previous Council year. 

Bill comments “Naturally I am delighted to be reappointed as chair. The cross party Commission is becoming increasingly important in view of proposed new powers to call into account other bodies under what are known as “Community Calls for Action”. These powers will also give local people power to ask the Commission to look at issues such as anti social behaviour and well being matters if they feel that their concerns are being ignored.In April this year we were successful in persuading the North Yorkshire Chief Constable to report to the Commission at a time when concerns by voluntary organisations over policing of events was at its height.” 

Re my previous report the decision on the planning application by Tarmac for extraction of gravel on Land near the Henges has been delayed yet again. The meeting on 20 May 2008 will not now go ahead and no new date has been fixed.

 Cllr Bill Hoult

Report critical of County Council Poor Management of Tenanted Farms.

A report to be submitted to Tory Chiefs at North Yorkshire County Council on the 6 May 2008 highlights failures in the Counties management of the Estate of 53 lettings. The report by Bruton Knowles was commissioned to review the Council’s policy on the sale of tenant farms implemented 10years ago in 1998.The failures may be summarised under two headings:-

 Transdev has introduced a new limited stop bus service from Harrogate to York. The X54 will run Monday to Saturday only(not Bank Holidays)  every half hour after 0745 until 1710hrs.

From Harrogate it will pick up only at Granby Corner, Starbeck Crossing and Knaresborough Bus Station. It will then pick up and drop off at all stops to Manor School York and from there it will drop off only at all stops to Piccadilly York.

From York it will pick up only at all stops to Manor School, York and pick up and drop off at all stops to Knaresborough bus station. From there it will drop off only at Starbeck Crossing, Granby Corner and Harrogate Bus Station.

From York buses will start at 0935hrs with the last bus at 1835hrs

Over 60’s free passholders will be able to use this service after 0900hrs. Full details may be found on the Harrogate and District Travel Website.

Cllr Bill Hoult 

Hope for parades
For over a year now the North Yorkshire Police have operated a “stand off” approach to the policing of events such as Bed race and the Starbeck Gala which has led to organisers facing crippling bills for road closures and traffic control by private consultants or cancellation of the event.

Following a Scrutiny review by Harrogate Borough Council the Chief Constable has now announced that there will be changes in the police stance in order that community events are not endangered. Mr Maxwell is reported to have said ” Following feedback from the community we will look again at the charging policy for these events to ensure fairness.”

Although the extent of the change is as yet unclear it is hoped that this will lift the financial burden from charitable and voluntary events in the future and allow Councils to operate less restrictive road closure legislation.

Cllr Bill Hoult comments “I am pleased that the Chief Constable has listened to the genuine concerns of local people and is prepared work with local event organisers to protect traditional community events.”

N.B See previous entry 24 December 2007

This sort of inconsiderate parking is becoming a feature of Anchor Yard just of the High Street in Knaresborough.

A few years ago this Yard was a potholed part cobbled yard at the back of what used to be the Anchor Inn in the Town. However it is a popular “cut through” for residents wanting to get to the High Street thus avoiding the narrow and sometimes frightning pavement on Park Row.

With the use of public money the Yard was recobbled and a Yorkstone “walkway installed for push chairs and the like. Now however it is used presumably by those wanting to avoid parking charges to access the Town Centre.

Obviously these two parkers have never pushed a push chair anywhere and perhaps could not care less either! The worst thing about it is that with a bit more consideration they could park without obstructing the footway.

I am currently investigating whether we can implement some sort of parking controls on the Yard.

Cllr Bill Hoult

Many parts of rural North Yorkshire are unable to receive broadband connections for their computers unless they subscribe to expensive and unreliable satellite services.

This is a great disadvantage for rural businesses and individuals wishing to access material requiring greater capacity than the current “dial up service”. To try and address this deficiency Yorkshire Forward (Regional body) and the County Council pump primed a public sector financed company (NYNET) to roll out high speed broadband to the rural areas.

The initial and successful stage has been to provide broadband to the public sector and selected large private companies in the County (Schools, District Councils, Health bodies Colleges etc.) and that is progressing well. However to provide coverage for small businesses and personal users it is essential that one or other of the private sector major providers invest in making the final connections and providing services to individual customers.

Unfortunately none are yet prepared to make the investment for what they claim are commercial reasons.

I believe it is time for the Government to legislate to force these companies who are reaping great profits from new technology to spread the benefits of this technology to our rural communities.

Cllr Bill Hoult

Mr Maxwell the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire gave his vision of the future of policing in North Yorkshire to a packed Chamber of Councillors and public at Harrogate Council Offices on Thursday 3 April 2008.

Before his presentation  a good natured demonstration was held outside the Council Offices by various organisations who are concerned about the new policing rules that have caused the cancellation of many community events around the District.

Despite his office previously insisting that the Chief Constable would not answer questions about the policing of community events Mr Maxwell did agree to answer three questions before moving on to other policing issues. He stressed that the control and organisation of such events was not only a police issue but involved the District and County Council as Highway Authorities.

He pointed out that Suprintendent Higgins would be attending the Organisation and Environment Scrutiny Commission on the 7 April at Harrogate Council and would give a full presentation on the police position.

On general issues the Chief Constable emphasised his dedication to controlling speeding and other related issues and pointed out that although there had been only 3 murders in North Yorkshire in the past year some 81 people had died in road accidents.

He also covered issues relating to drugs, alcohol, serious organised crime, people trafficking  and ASBOS.   

Cllr Bill Hoult

The conversion of the old Manor Road infants school into a new Childrens Centre incorporating the  Governments “Sure Start Agenda” is nearing completion with the centre intending to open after summer 2008.

Sure Start Centres are designed to provide:-

In house and outreach services to help parents/carers and children at risk of social exclusion. 

Advice to Fathers and Mothers/carers on childcare and local education for three and four year olds

Support to childminders, loan of toys and equipment, and drop in sessions

Activities for families , play groups and parent groups

Links with the Jobcentre

Personal advice on financial impacts of starting work.

Links to community health services.

If you would like to find out more please contact  Kirsty Hill on 01609 534029 or 0797 0706025 Email kirsty.hill@northyorks.gov.uk

Liberal Democrats on North Yorkshire County Council have announced their intention to “call-in” the Council’s decision to freeze the level of the school clothing allowance at £60 a year. This means that the decision will be sent back to a committee to be looked at again.

The Executive Members of the Conservative-run Council decided last week not to increase the support to less well-off families in line with inflation, but to extend the scope of the allowance to include children whose parents are in receipt of the highest rate of Working Tax Credit.

Liberal Democrats feel that this will increase financial pressure on poorer families.

In reality this is a reduction in support for disadvantaged families. Around 700 families in

The extension of the scheme to families receiving the maximum level of Working Tax Credit is welcome but we feel that the rate should be increased in line with inflation. That is why the decision has been “called in” to ask the Council to reconsider its policy.

Another concern is that  the Tories have used inflation as a justification for raising the charges for home to school transport yet not applied the same reasoning to those people who will be hardest hit by freezing the clothing allowance, it is a tardy decision and applies double standards.

Cllr Bill Hoult

Courtesy Friends of Thornborough Henges 

North Yorkshire County Council has conceded that a planning permission given to Tarmac to excavate gravel at a site near Nosterfield North Yorkshire is fatally flawed following the threat of legal action by protest groups. The approval will be withdrawn and the whole application put before the planning committee again.

The controversial decision is near the  prehistoric Thornborough Henges often referred to as “The Stonehenge of the North”. One claim is that the three henges form part of a prehistoric religous site.

The legal challenge refers to 8 issues, three of which the County Council have conceded.

An application to excavate a much larger area was originally refused but the current application was approved by the Council’s Planning and Regulatory Committee in January 2007 despite strong opposition and a 10,000 name petition.

The application will be reconsidered at a meeting of the Planning Committee on the 20 May 2008 at 1000hrs at Masham Town Hall. The meeting will be held in public session.

On behalf of myself and County Councillor Richard Hall a formal objection has been lodged on behalf of local residents in our division to the allocation of the above site for Waste Transfer and Recycling.

Our main reasons are as follows:-

1) The proximity of the site to residential properties is a concern, not only is there a house attached to the adjoining nursery but residential properties at the end of Bar Lane, Beech Grove and Boroughbridge Road. The use for “municipal waste” is totally unacceptable (see point 2)

2) The size and scale of the site indicates a use for a much larger operation than envisaged in the “other sites” definition. The extent of the site shown on the plan is such that it indicates that waste disposal operations may be conducted at remote locations from adjoining residential areas. This is not so as most of the site shown hatched on the plan is currently a ground water lake that is used for recreational purposes. To utilise this area (which could only be done by filling in the lake) would mean a loss of a much valued amenity. If the lake is not intended to be filled in the area of site usable for any operations is limited and is in close proximity to the residential properties identified in (1).

3) The lake itself indicates the level of the “ground water” in this area and there are serious concerns regarding contamination of this environment.

4) There are inevitably great concerns regarding heavy goods vehicle traffic that would be generated through Bond End Knaresborough an already congested and narrow main road.

Liberal Democrats at County Hall labelled the Conservatives Council Tax proposal  of  4.75% as callous and irresponsble  and called for a lower tax of 3.75% to be levied. However the Tories voted it down. This year the County Council received a generous grant settlement from Government that was £3 million pounds more than expected. It also has £60 million in total reserves (compared with £26 million predicted two years ago) and is expecting to finish the financial year having underspent more than £7 million, an amount equivalent to a 3% tax rise.The Government has warned local authorities that it expects Council Tax rises to be “substantially” below 5% or they will be capped. Capping means that the Government will set the Council Tax rate and the County Council will have to stump up the costs of sending out revised tax bills to council tax payers. This could cost up to £500,000.The Liberal Democrats instead proposed a 3.75% tax increase, with a small element of reserves used to ensure no cuts to services.County Councillor Bill Hoult, Leader of the Liberal Democrats at County Hall, comments:“The wage earner in an ordinary family is looking at a 2% pay rise, heating and lighting costs rising by 15-20% and petrol costs at over £1 a litre. They will not understand why, having underspent by £7 million on this year’s budget, the Tories are imposing such a huge tax increase of double the inflation rate.”“The Council is also taking an incredible risk in challenging Government guidance. It is ludicrous to suggest that 0.25% is substantially below 5%. With the Council’s good settlement and massive reserves it is asking to be capped.”

“The Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign for the unfair Council Tax to be abolished and replaced by a fair alternative based on ability to pay.”

Hear the debate by linking to the www.northyorks.gov.uk/   Council and Democracy-Listen to Council meetings- Item 6.1 REvenue Budget 2008/09 and Medium term Financial Strategy.

A Liberal Democrat amendment to reduce Harrogate’s council tax increase from
4.2% to 3.95% was defeated by a coalition of Tories and Ripon Independents
at tonight’s budget meeting (13/2/08). Council leader, Cllr Mike Gardiner,
stated that, “the gain to tax payers wasn’t worth having”.

A further amendment to move £20,000 of the £30,000 promised for voluntary
organizations from predicted underspends to a base budget commitment was
also defeated.

Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr de Courcey Bayley, commented, “Whilst we all
appreciate the difficulties faced in the budget process I believe that we
should make every effort to keep council tax increases to an absolute
minimum. To say that this reduction “wasn’t worth having” just shows how
out of touch the Tories are with the council taxpayer. The shift of £20,000
for the voluntary sector to the base budget would have given them some
degree of certainty that this would be carried forward for future years.”

In financial terms the two amendments would have added up to £51,000 which
was proposed to be taken from annual allocation of £270,000 to the computer
reserve, a fund which already stands at nearly £1.5 million.

Late last year Tory Chiefs at the North Yorkshire County Council admitted it had underestimated the cost of a £10million highway depot review by £5million.  This prompted claims by Liberal Democrat Councillors that the estimates must have been prepared on the “back of a fag packet”.

The review was intended to be broadly self funding with sales of some depot sites for housing development paying for providing new sites and upgrading poor facilities at the rest.

In a report to Council chiefs there were claims that the lessons had been learned and that in future contracts would be better managed.

However it has been reported in a local newspaper that work has been halted on the prestige

Liberal Democrats on North Yorkshire County Council Hall have reacted angrily to the decision on the 28 November 2007 by the County Council’s Transport Scrutiny Committee to support the termination of the highway agency agreements with District Councils in Scarborough and Harrogate.

The decision came at the special meeting of the Transport & Telecommunications Overview & Scrutiny Committee at County Hall on 28 November. The committee voted by six to two to end the 30-year-old system where the County Council delegates responsibility for road maintenance to the District Councils in the urban areas. As usual, Labour and the Tories voted together. Only the Liberal Democrats voted against.

No substantial argument  was put for ending the agreements on grounds of quality or value, and no financial case was made.

The only argument made for changing the arrangement was that the County’s highway maintenance contract with its private sector provider is due for renewal in three year’s time.

Lib Dem County Councillor Dr Keith Barnes (Harrogate Oatlands), said afterwards:

“It may well be time to review the agency agreements in Harrogate and Scarborough, but to end them without consultation or evidence is unprofessional and a travesty of democracy.”

“The Council has made no attempt to find out whether local people are happy with the current arrangement.”

Honorary Alderman George Crowther OBE, former Leader and Mayor of Harrogate Council, spoke against the proposal before the debate, and commented after the meeting:

“The Tories appear more concerned with keeping their private sector contractors happy than with providing the best services for Harrogate and Scarborough residents.”

“And Labour have meekly backed them to the hilt.”