Posted by: clairekelley | February 4, 2010

Good news as Council does U turn on Bilton to Ripley cyclepath

There was good news at last night’s Harrogate Borough Council Cabinet meeting where it emerged that the Council has, after all, been able to find some funding to meet possible compensation claims from landowners along the route of the Bilton to Ripley cyclepath.

Only a few weeks ago, Conservative Cabinet Members had thrown doubt on the future of this path, claiming that there was insufficient money to meet the costs of construction, maintenance and likely compensation.   My post at that time produced an almost instant reaction from them and from hundreds of local people who signed my petition, wrote to the local paper and contacted their councillors.

A flurry of meetings have taken place and finally it looks as if some progress might be made after two years of delay.

We now need to see a plan setting out what steps are to be taken by whom with target dates so that progress can be monitored.

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Posted by: clairekelley | January 23, 2010

Holocaust memorial

This morning the annual Holocaust Memorial Service took place at the synagogue in Harrogate.   Holocaust Memorial Day is on Wednesday.    It was of course a very moving service, particularly since one of the speakers was Arek Hersh MBE who is a Holocaust survivor.   He was the only one of 81 members of his family to survive and one of only 40 Jewish people out of 5000 in his town who lived through the second world war.

It is impossible to imagine the horrors that Mr Hersh endured as a young boy – he was 16 when he was liberated at Theresienstadt in May 1945.   And he must have relived those experiences countless times as he has told his story to the world.

But his message is one of hope – telling people not to hate, but to have respect for each other, to tolerate difference and work towards peace.   The warmth and hospitality offered to guests at the synagogue this morning was a demonstration of that message in action.    A message to be repeated again and again.

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Posted by: clairekelley | January 19, 2010

Harrogate skate park – decision to be made in February

Claire Kelley and Phil Willis MP meeting skaters campaiging for a skate park in the Valley Gardens in August 2009

Could this be good news?

Yesterday Harrogate Borough Council issued the forward list of key decisions for February to May.   One of the decisions to be taken by the Cabinet in February concerns a skate park in the Valley Gardens, indicating that this would have a budget of over £100,000.

Representations about the decision are requested – in writing – by Friday 22 January, only four days after the notification was published.    Why such short notice?

It you want to contact the Council about this then the person responsible is the Head of Parks and Gardens, Patrick Kilburn – Patrick.Kilburn@harrogate.gov.uk

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Posted by: clairekelley | January 18, 2010

Low Carbon Buildings – let’s help builders build green buildings

The Government’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme offers capital funding for the installation of small scale onsite renewable energy technologies for householders, community groups, charitable organisations, the public sector and the not-for-profit sector.    But it does not offer grants to businesses, so small builders or developers have no incentive to install these technologies in new homes or conversions.

It must be easier to install solar panels, wind turbines and ground source heating when a property is being built or converted rather than waiting for someone to move in and be able to benefit from a grant.    We should be aiming for all new buildings to be carbon neutral.    At the moment it is much more expensive to install renewable technologies than conventional ones – which means that developers  need to have more capital to invest in the schemes and  that they have to put a significantly higher price on the property.

We really need some form of incentive to make this happen.

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Posted by: clairekelley | January 8, 2010

Woodfield by-election result

Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats are celebrating their third landslide by-election victory in a year after a decisive result in yesterday’s contest in Woodfield ward.   Greta Knight took over 62% of the votes, increasing the Lib Dem share on a reduced turnout – largely as a result of the arctic weather conditions.

The result is remarkable for several reasons:

  • First and most important, Greta will be an excellent councillor and will do a great job for Woodfield and for the whole District.
  • Second, the increase in the Lib Dem share of the vote shows that Harrogate residents recognise that Liberal Democrats work harder and deliver more.    Our positive campaign highlighted the achievements of our team and contrasted with the Conservative’s negative attacks and lack of action.
  • Third, there had been widespread anger at the defection of the late Cllr John Wren, giving control of the Council to the Tories.   Many people feel that when a councillor changes their party allegiance there should automatically be a by-election, but of course that rarely happens as the defector hangs on.    In June 2009’s county council elections and yesterday, Woodfield voters expressed their displeasure at the actions of the former councillor by remaining loyal to the Lib Dems.
  • Fourth, the apparent total absence of a Labour campaign in what has traditionally been one of their strongest wards.   This allowed the BNP to sneak into fourth place although I was pleased to see that vote significantly reduced from the previous election.
  • Fifth, the extreme weather conditions that dominated the election.   Snow began falling in Harrogate on Thursday 17 December and by 7 January we had had several heavy falls.   Woodfield is a ward with lots of older residents and many were just too afraid of slipping on the icy footpaths to leave home to vote.   Many residents with disabilities who wanted to vote for Greta were unable to get out through the thick snow.
  • Finally, in each of the three Borough Council by-elections won by the Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats during the past twelve months excellent women candidates have taken seats previously held by men.   Harrogate Borough Council – like so many elected bodies in the UK – still has far more men than women but these three results have helped to bring a little more balance to our Council chamber.

Greta Knight                            688  (62.5%   +4%)

Heather Adderley (Con)            246  (22.3%  +7.5%)

Steven Gill (BNP)                       92  (8.4%   -4.1%)

Daniel Maguire (Lab)                  73  (6.6% – 7.5%)

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Posted by: clairekelley | January 6, 2010

Woodfield by-election

With sub-zero temperatures and thick snow the turnout at tomorrow’s Council by-election is surely going to be very low.

Even the most enthusiastic political activists do not relish a 7 January poll – it means the campaign takes place during the darkest days of the year and during the Christmas and new year holiday, when most people have other things on their minds than local politics.   This by-election has seen us contending with those conditions and the added difficulty of the snow, which first arrived on 17 December and, apart from a very brief respite just after Christmas, has continued to fall.

Election day looks certain to be snowy as well and freezing temperatures are forecast.

Despite those difficulties Greta Knight has been working incredibly hard to meet as many local residents as possible  - although having lived in the ward for over sixteen years and being involved in many local organisations for much of that time she is already very well known.     She brings numerous skills from her former career as a headteacher – she is smart, articulate, positive, experienced and dynamic – and would be a really effective councillor.    Her energy and intelligence coupled with her proven leadership qualities would bring great strength to Harrogate Borough Council.

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Posted by: clairekelley | January 4, 2010

The big freeze

Two and half weeks have now passed since the snow began falling on Harrogate and Knaresborough.   A brief respite came just after Christmas, but it is a long time since there has been such a prolonged period of snow and ice.

I was shocked to learn this morning that North Yorkshire County Council has instructed Harrogate Borough Council to grit only those roads and footpaths that are classed as Priority 1 and 2.   This means that most residential roads and any footpaths outside the town centres will remained untreated.

As yet I have no explanation of why this memo was sent on 30 December.   It could be cost or possibly a shortage of salt I suppose.   But I do know that it will mean that many elderly and disabled people will be unable to get out of their homes for fear of falling on the ice.   Many others will fall and injure themselves at considerable cost to the NHS, and thus the taxpayer, as well as the inconvenience and pain that they will suffer themselves.

I am seeking an explanation for the County Council’s ruling, and asking why the exceptional weather does not warrant an exceptional response.   It would also be good to know whether Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet Member has powers to act independently of the County Council and provide additional gritting locally.   I would be surprised if all five of the Borough Council’s footpath gritters are used to capacity in simply carrying out the limited work specified by NYCC.   I know the councillor reads this blog:  could I ask him to post a reply?

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Posted by: clairekelley | December 20, 2009

Bilton to Ripley cycleway

In 2007 after a public telephone vote Sustrans awarded £400,000 for the creation of a cycle path along the disused railway route between Bilton and Ripley.   The path would link into the Harrogate cycle ways and would open up a route into Nidderdale for cyclists.

Since then progress has been frustratingly slow.   Both our local Councils are involved and this always seems to slow things down as well as make it really difficult for campaigners to know where responsibilities really lie.

Now it appears that the path may not be built after all and the Councils might be sending this huge sum of money back to Sustrans to be used elsewhere.    You might ask why they would do that?

Well, the disused railway line goes through land owned by some rich and powerful local people.    The route has had planning protection but some of these landowners are unhappy at the establishment of a bridleway.    There will have to be a enquiry and it is likely that compensation will have to be paid to them.   It is the level of this compensation that is now causing a problem.

North Yorkshire County Council’s valuers have suggested that the cost may be in the region of £250,000.    Sustrans believe it is likely to be closer to £15,000.   An incredible difference and it should be pretty easy to have a look elsewhere in the country and see which is closer to the real outcome I would have thought.

However, the NYCC figure seems to have scared off  Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Resources.   At a recent meeting in Knaresborough he indicated that it was likely that HBC would pull out.

This would be a real loss to the District.   Rarely do we see such outside investment in cycle schemes locally.    Our Conservative Council however, has some form for sending money back, having turned down an offer that would have provided free swimming to pensioners and young people.   And they also have a record for promising leisure schemes, consulting on them but then backing out, as we saw with the skatepark.

We need a local campaign to persuade them to proceed with this – I have set up an online petition.   Please sign it to show the Cabinet Member that local people really want this scheme to go ahead.

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Posted by: clairekelley | November 30, 2009

Skateparks

This weekend Phil Willis MP and I went down to Bradford to meet with the Council’s Parks Manager, Ian Day, and visit two of their skate parks.
Both the skateparks were designed by local skaters working with a specialist company and look very different.

The first, in Bingley, is in Myrtle Park, in the centre of the town.   It is on a flat part of the park, next to a children’s play area and covers a space a bit bigger than a tennis court.    I was surprised that most of the surfaces are very angular and designed for grinding rather than the half pipes I had expected.

The park has been in place now for some time and has proved to be extremely popular although early morning on a wet Saturday at the end of November was of course quiet.

Bingley

The second park we visited was in Keighley and is Bradford’s most recent skate park.   Again designed by local skaters, it looks very different from the Myrtle Park one.

It is at the end of a school field, on quite steeply sloping ground and is predominently comprised of slopes and curves.

Keighley

The park is quite close to some housing and although the residents were anxious about disturbance from the park, there have been few complaints and some have commented that they enjoy the entertainment from the skill of the skaters.

There are more pictures of the skate parks on the Skate Park for Harrogate Facebook Group page.

Ian told us how popular the parks are.   Wouldn’t it be great to have something like this in Harrogate?

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Posted by: clairekelley | November 25, 2009

Friends of the Valley Gardens

Yesterday evening saw the second meeting of the Friends of the Valley Gardens – a group being set up by the Council to support and promote this wonderful park in Harrogate.

The Valley Gardens won an RHS award this year and was described in the citation as “a park for all people” so a formal group of local supporters is an excellent development and I very much hope that it will attract a truly representative selection of the many people who enjoy the Valley Gardens.

The Council’s Head of Parks, Pat Kilburn, tabled a draft constitution and those present at the meeting discussed the election of a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.   As most people there knew few others, it was agreed to bring nominations to the next meeting – Thursday 21 January 2010.   It was felt inappropriate for officers or members of the Council to take these positions but local person interested can put themselves forward by contacting Kate Dawson, the Parks Development Officer at the Council.     She is also the person to contact if you are interested in joining the group.

Kate’s contact details are:   kate.dawson@harrogate.gov.uk, telephone 01423 841097

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