On Monday, January 13, 2025 at Rudding Park we heard from Councillor Carl Les (Leader of the Council), Richard Flinton (Chief Executive) and Karl Battersby (Corporate Director of Environment and Director of Highways) to keep the business community informed of their plans and ongoing projects.

Phill Holdsworth, HDCC President opened the meeting, welcoming the members to the meeting on behalf of himself and the Chamber Chief Executive and then thanked Anthony, Matthew and the Rudding Park team for allowing us to use the beautiful venue.

Phill then announced the sad news that Brian Dunsby, OBE, well known to many within the Chamber, had sadly passed away recently at the age of 84 years. He noted that a few words will be said later to honour the memory of Mr Dunsby.

The President introduced Cllr Carl Les, Leader of the Council, Mr Richard Flinton, Chief Executive of North Yorkshire Council, and Carl Battersby, who will be providing their annual briefing to the Chamber members shortly. Before this event, the President introduced Liz from Artizan, who provided the five-minute Charity Introduction slot.

Charity Introduction – Artizan International by Liz Cluderay

Liz runs the UK arm of the charity, which includes Harrogate currently but there are expansion plans being considered. The charity has sites in Harrogate, Peru and Ecuador. They work with people with learning or physical disabilities through social enterprise and arts and crafts activities. Artizan Organic produce candles and cosmetics which are available in the Harrogate shop as well as some fair-trade stores.

The charity run Creative workshops and have over 30 people who attend these. The team is known for their mosaics including the “Harrogate Letters” which appear on the side of the Boots Building in Harrogate Town Centre. Liz noted that such mosaics can be provided for organisations and noted that the mosaic creation workshops allow people to feel a part of their community.

Artizan runs a café in the town centre which is staffed by those who are working towards employment and allows them to gain experience in all areas of business. Liz noted that this does include catering, and the trainees make cakes for the café as well as serving within it. and make their own cakes. Over forty people work within the café.

The charity offers workplace training such as packaging, retail sales, supplier orders and online sales. Trainees are shown all elements of the business to expose them to a range of tasks.

Also on offer is a special needs youth club and Liz noted that the do try to create as many opportunities as possible for the individuals whom they support to take part in the community.

The project in Ecuador aids people to provide for themselves and their families in a country where social aid does not exist.

The Peru project is new and there are six members of staff in the café and crafts centre, and it is hoped to expand this project over time.

North Yorkshire Council - Annual Briefing

Speakers:

Cllr Carl Les, Leader of the Council
Richard Flinton, Chief Executive, North Yorkshire Council
Karl Battersby, Corporate Director of Environment and Director of Highways

The President introduced Cllr Carl Les, Leader of the Council, Richard Flinton Chief Executive of North Yorkshire Council and Karl Battersby, Corporate Director of Environment and Director of Highways.

Cllr Carl Les opened by saying that Karl Battersby will cover issues with snow and Ice, whilst Richard Flinton will cover items relating to the Town Council.

Carl noted they are not quite two years old as a new council and have been doing a lot of work in terms of delivering projects and pulling the new council together. It's been a real year of consolidation and noted that the Council have a revenue budget of £9.5 million and is the largest unitary council currently in place. Central Government are planning to introduce unitarization across the country over the coming years.

The North Yorkshire Council (NYC) includes around 625,000 people. During the past two years there have been forty separate re-structures as the original teams from eight different councils have been brought together to create one single department for each element. This has been very busy, but it feels like we are that new council now that we have the single-purpose teams in place. Teams are coming together in new ways and new things are being planned. Some of the initiatives which have already taken place include:

We do have to live within our means, and this is still hugely challenging. The new government has not brought about the end of austerity for rural councils. They have ended the Rural Services delivery grant which was £15 million pounds. To balance the books, NYC are looking to save significant sums of money; savings of £60 million are needed within the next year, and then in the next two years, teams will go back and fill in the gaps.
Estimates show we have saved £60million by becoming a Unitary Council but that runs out as you move through the opportunities you have in front of you.
Richard Flinton introduced Karl Battersby and noted that the current snow event had been particularly challenging. Karl reported that the time during which the snow and ice has remained on this occasion did present challenges, noting that this was the first large snowfall issue since the county experienced “The Beast from the East” a few years ago. Unusually, this year there was snow fall across the entire region, while, normally, some areas do escape the snow.
Efforts have been made to keep as many roads clear as possible and driver hours have even been relaxed to allow for 24 hour gritting operations. Karl noted that there are three priority levels for the roads – levels 1 – 3 and that footpaths are then the next priority following these. Of top priority is keeping the network moving through the area. He noted concerns about ice and snow in the Harrogate area and reported that some pre-treatment of roads had taken place but that the speed of snowfall meant that the pre-treatment has not worked well. Karl acknowledged that this was not ideal and noted that NYC are due to hold a meeting on 21 January to discuss the lessons learned from this year’s snow event. NYC are keen to ensure that the voice of business is heard at the meeting with particular emphasis on how best to minimise the impact of such events on businesses. Matthew from the BID was invited to attend this meeting to represent businesses as he had been active in representing businesses throughout the snow event.
Karl also raised the issue of kit and equipment, confirming that the winter maintenance budget has not been cut. He announced that NYC spend around £7 million a year for weather events including floods. In response to queries about quad bikes not being seen in the town centre gritting this year, he noted that whilst the Council did inherit some quad bikes to use in the urban areas, they were in poor condition and could not be used. However, NYC are looking at getting more of this type of kit.
Addressing questions raised about manpower and staffing and whether NYC made the best use of relevant staff during the recent snowfall, Karl confirmed that the council did indeed have more staff now it was a larger council and that they have been using staff from other areas. He noted that the snow response had been a Team North Yorkshire effort with staff from the refuse collection teams being deployed to drive gritters, for example. He did, however, acknowledge that there were lessons to learn, and NYC does need to get better, particularly in the town centre, noting that Harrogate is passionate about its town centre.
A Bus Service Improvement Plan has been funded to the amount of £2.93 million, and NYC are trying to improve those services which are already in place as well as adding services where they can be of most use. A further £3.5 million has also been received for the purpose of supporting a better public transport network as part of the Network North Plan.
Some other ongoing projects include:
Victoria Avenue, Wetherby Road and Oatlands Road where there will be a series of crossing point improvements to link the Stray paths. These are funded via the Active Travel Fund budget and aimed at improving the environment for walkers.
A59 Kex Gill – The road realignment scheme is well under way. Many will recall the A59 Landslip February 2024 to June 2024 when the road was closed for that period, causing disruption. Sadly, there was a second, less serious, landslip on New Year’s Day causing a further closure. However, it is not expected that this closure will last much longer. The formal closure has been put in for 21 days. It was noted that the project is still on target for the new road to open in 2026 as planned.
The Local Transport Plan will be updated and a local plan for Harrogate created.
There is a review of 20mph zones in South/ West Harrogate, including a consultation with local stakeholders. There have been some delays due to need to get Highways Agreement. There is a one-year settlement from central government which has allowed this programme to be carried out.
There were a range of carriageway maintenance schemes delivered this financial year, including resurfacing Pannal Main Street, Pannal Ash Road, and Yew Tree Lane. These were all completed before Christmas. York Place is to be resurfaced March 25.
Local Highways team at Boroughbridge have an area wide Surface Dressing programme and Pre Surface-Dressing Patching programme totalling £2.4m.
Karl noted that Harrogate does get more than its share of Highways funding.
There are three Transforming Cities fund schemes taking place in the wider area with one being centred on Harrogate. This town centre regeneration scheme, to promote cycling and walking, has been challenging because people care deeply about Harrogate so getting a level of consensus on this scheme has been difficult. NYC have tried to accommodate as many views as possible.
Concerns about narrowing the main road in front of the bus station have been taken into account, and the road will remain two lanes. NYC is looking to get on with all three projects and deliver all three schemes with the Harrogate Gateway project beginning in April 2025. It was noted that there will be some disruption, and NYC will look for business engagement with respect to the management of that disruption.
Following extensive consultation, the proposals have been revised to achieve more balance for all users.
- There will be no reduction of Station Parade to one lane, no pedestrianisation of James Street, and no new roundabout by the Odeon.
- Lower Station Parade/Station Parade: pedestrian improvements including paving, level crossing points and signal junction improvements.
- Station Parade: south-bound segregated cycle lane.
- Lower Station Parade: bus lane.
- Station Square & One Arch: public realm improvements.
- Cycle parking facilities at Harrogate Station.
- Linked sequencing of the traffic signals – with bus priority.
Richard Flinton spoke about housing and planning noting that NYC has a dedicated delivery and infrastructure team with a focus on accelerating the delivery of homes. The government have put out figures that 4.200 houses must be delivered every year in North Yorkshire. This is a massive increase in house building expectations, and we have one of the highest numbers.
There are current applications in place to deliver approximately 2,500 homes in the West of Harrogate, with applications approved at Lady Lane, Whinney Lane and Beckwith Head Road.
An Infrastructure Delivery Plan will also be developed to ensure proper infrastructure is in place to service the increased number of residents in these areas.
NYC does have concerns about land supply and is lobbying the government to bring that forward. There will be enormous pressure for house building in North Yorkshire driven from the centre.
NYC do still have aspirations around the Malt Kiln new settlement. This will be very important in terms of the housing stock that needs to be delivered, and Compulsory Purchase orders will be used if necessary.
Homelessness and Rough Sleeping has been an issue in the past. However, over Christmas, there were no rough sleepers in Harrogate; all have been brought in. We now have three rough sleepers, down from 7 rough sleepers in Harrogate. This is in large part due to Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP) being in place, allowing rough sleepers to be accommodated.
Streetaid is providing ‘tap terminals’ around Harrogate. Each tap equates to £3 to help with furnishing accommodation or improving wellbeing. Scheme in place to reduce the numbers of beggars in the town.
Footfall in Harrogate & Knaresborough has increased in the last 12 months. Harrogate has an average ‘dwell’ time of 53 minutes.
Harrogate has the most business start-ups in North Yorkshire, with 47 recorded in September 2024.
Harrogate also has the most company registrations in the county, with 10,000+.
81.7% of residents are economically active, compared to 78.4% nationally.
From data in June, Harrogate’s retail vacancy rate (10.5%) was lower than the national rate (15.3%).
NYC is aware that there has not been a Harrogate Town Investment plan, and we do hope to start that in the next few months. They are keen for both the Chamber and BID to be part of bringing business knowledge into the process. Consultation and business focus events are planned.
Such plans are designed to drive local economic growth, and Harrogate will be a priority for such a plan, as the largest town in North Yorkshire.
The plans will look at opportunities and dealing with challenges. Preparation work is ongoing, with first consultation due to begin in Spring 2025.
NYC has now reviewed the old Borough Council Plans for this building and carried out a consultation. NYC will be putting in significant investment to make sure the Centre has everything it needs to attract Conferences. £7million will be spent on creating more breakout space as the lack of such spaces is a serious concern to conference organisers who might otherwise use the building if such facilities were in place. Key maintenance projects will also be carried out, and NYC are also exploring potential partnerships with universities, colleges and Local Authorities to unlock additional opportunities.
Harrogate broadly held its own, but NYC need to work hard around the sub-brands and is looking at opportunities to showcase various parts of the town. The outgoing Head of Tourism, Gemma Rio, has now left and will be replaced by Tony Watson, who is joining NYC from the Lake District and will be looking to move business opportunities forward.
- Visit North Yorkshire was launched in October to drive forward tourism in the county.
- As part of the 10-year strategy, visitors will be encouraged to stay overnight and spend more money.
- Harrogate will be a significant element to Visit Yorkshire, recognising Harrogate’s USP in attracting visitors.
- NYC have invested in Harrogate Christmas Market, circa £100k and carried out a Harrogate Restaurant week in October.
- Plans for 2025 include the launch of a new website, publication of a tourism guide and promoting North Yorkshire’s connections to television and film locations.
Community safety issues are being continued, including the Community Safety Hub and Project Spotlight. NYC is also looking at how to deploy available people to cover areas which need extra person power as a learning point from the recent weather issues.
A Community Safety Hub is based at the Civic Centre, in which NYC and NYP Team are co-located.
Project Spotlight is still a focus and includes regular increased visible police patrols in the town centre.
CCTV continues to play a significant role in the prevention and detection of crime.
Almost 100 members of Harrogate District Business Crime Partnership link to CCTV via a radio and receive regular intelligence packs.
Community Safety and Parks Teams are exploring securing the bandstand at Crescent Gardens with railings that can be pulled back for access.
More resources have been deployed in the town centre, including an increase in street scene vehicles and weekly inspections. Pending vacancies being filled, daily presence will also be increased, focused on cleanliness.
Cambridge Road area and litter: An agreement has been reached with McDonalds to undertake litter picking in the area. An additional litter bin will be introduced to support cleanliness.
An additional 240 litter/dog bin houses have been introduced in high footfall and popular dog walking areas. There are further areas planned.
The team work closely with Harrogate BID. An agreement has been made for the BID to provide a container to support the weekend staff, so litter bags can be collected and stored on a Monday.
Further teams will be deployed to tackle icy footpaths in Harrogate, alongside securing a farming contractor to carry out further clearance and treatment of paths.
Mayor David Skaith put a lot of work into getting his team into place. This Labour government is very keen on this arrangement and having a mayor does assist in political consultation as the Prime Minister does meet with the Mayoral Authorities quarterly.
The new Harrogate Town Council will be established on 1 April 2025 though the elections to it are 1 May. We will start the process of recruiting a town clerk, and 19 wards will be elected to an initial 2-year term. The Town Council Precept will be £12.62 on a band D council tax. They will have the opportunity to engage with the upper council and those 19 individuals to engage with NYC around the areas they want to prioritise and work on.
Looking forward, there is a focus on Harrogate as the largest town in the area. NYC are committed to supporting Harrogate and discussions around findings are noted. It was also suggested that the Chamber could be included in these discussions. NYC have recently worked with Scarborough around safety in the town and this is the model they want to use for Harrogate to ensure that the centre of Harrogate feels pleasant and safe.
PH thanked both parties for speaking to us, noting that the input was very helpful.
The speakers then took questions from the floor with the President asking enquirers to be succinct in their questioning to ensure that others get their turn.

Questions from the Floor

The first speaker did not give his name but raised the issue of gritting, snow and the abandonment of the suburbs. He noted that he had not seen any gritting in Bilton and people have been cut off. The majority of the pavements have been very difficult to negotiate, and he asked what lessons had been learned and what will be different next time.
NYC are doing a review and plans to put some more dedicated support in the town centre and new kit to help with that. We review our routes every year, and we gritted the areas we had previously discussed last year. We are happy to look at areas or routes that should be gritted. Please email directly, and we will look at whether we have the balance and routes right.
A number of years ago the speaker asked for a Grit Bin near his home near the Odeon. Eventually he was told that a grit bin could be provided at a charge to the neighbourhood plus an annual fill charge in subsequent years. He and the neighbours used that grit bin to clear the roads and footpaths this year. He asked whether groups could be provided with the tools and grit to carry out this task in other areas of the town. Karl stated that NYC does this and has community projects in place for this and would be very happy to continue the dialogue about this matter. He planned to leave his card for the speaker, or others who are interested, to collect.
Sharon explained that Harrogate has a vibrant cultural life, and a huge section of the residents work in this sector. The Theatre is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. She asked that NYC take account of this culture when making decisions about the town. Richard Flinton apologised for his error in missing out culture within his presentation, assuring the room that culture is one of Harrogate’s USP’s and will ensure that he captures this in any future work. Cllr Les then spoke about how he resides in a rural community 25 miles from Harrogate and in order to access culture he has to come to Harrogate. As a result, Harrogate Culture will be safe as long as he is leading the Council.
He’s very pleased to see that Harrogate is the focus going forward. One thing that concerns him is the trading conditions in Harrogate, particularly around Christmas, due to the snow on the pavements post-Christmas. He noted that trading conditions are difficult in all areas. As a landlord he often has to negotiate with tenants to allow them to afford the rental, but he would like to know how NYC could help with business rates for businesses in the centre of Harrogate.
Richard Flinton stated that he cannot commit to a reduction of business rates, nor to business rate holiday. This is due to the council's financial position. If we can work with you to try to make Harrogate an attractive venue, we will do that, but financially, things are very difficult, and in other areas, demand is outstripping supply and the income from the rates is needed, and we cannot reduce them.
David Waddington reiterated that trading conditions are very difficult, and we have to make it as palatable as possible, so we don’t lose more tenants. He will discuss it offline with RF if he wishes to do so. RF noted that he hoped to work with landlords to look at getting tenants into the properties more quickly if they would be happy to do so.
Wiliam Woods raised concerns about the recent closure of the Tourist Information Office and asked what is being done about this. Richard Flinton reported that the issue is temporary, and the plan is to continue to run the Tourist Information Centre from the Pump Rooms. He further noted that Harrogate is one of very few towns that still have a Tourist Information office. The move was to save costs and make the office more sustainable with the plan being for it to remain in that location long-term.
Jemima asked NYC to speak on the subject of the Council’s Climate Change Strategy and particularly Carbon reduction, since Climate change is of interest to a number of businesses in the room.
Karl Battersby spoke about a range of developing Carbon Reduction plans focused around two areas:
Buildings, both in terms of increasing their efficiency and reducing their stock. They are investing in energy efficient schemes for buildings.
The other focus is transport. We are trying to decarbonise their fleet and reduce the number of miles travelled by working differently and flexibly to reduce the impact on the environment.
The Council is also active in planting trees to help the environment and to reduce flooding. NYC is committed to these aims and focus on saving both money and the environment.
Tina asked for NYC’s first thoughts on how the increased house building will be achieved.
Richard Flinton noted that North Yorkshire is doing well in terms of housing. On average 2.400 are built per year. They have finished a call for sites and are currently reviewing those sites to see what opportunities these provide. It is, however, clear how we need to pivot to provide more new settlements than North Yorkshire has had in the last 12 years. There are other opportunities in other areas of the county too and noted that there is always going to be building.
Richard noted that it might be difficult to resist appeals and applications that cannot be put to bed by reference to the Local Plan as we may not have one in place in time. There may be a time lag, and NYC is looking for the government to provide transitional arrangements to help them to avoid speculative planning applications, noting that NYC needs to look at how we build in areas where the infrastructure can sustain it.
Steven said that he does not feel there has been any real consultation on the Gateway Project. He noted that there will be a loss of 21 parking spaces and the bus station will form a pinch point. He felt that the project should be done right, first time, and is unsure that the current plan is quite there yet.
Karl said that NYC had carried out three different consultations and done questionnaires. They have changed the scheme based on feedback from the consultation and he feels that there has been a great deal of consultation. He noted that the original version included a cycle lane and a one-lane road which are not now part of the scheme following feedback. Karl stated that NYC carried out a parking study and changes were made in terms of loading and taxi provision. Karl acknowledged that there are strong views but feels they have consulted sufficiently, noting that there were around 50% who were in favour of the scheme.
Phill Holdsworth closed the formal part of the meeting by thanked Richard, Carl and Karl for their presentation and for answering the questions.

New Members:

The President asked Tina from Grave and Morris Architects to introduce herself to the Chamber. Tina explained that they had a storefront in a retail unit on Parliament Street and this was fitted with a range of heating equipment so that interested parties considering a building project could ascertain the best type for their needs. Tina further noted that the company was keen to be part of the community.

Member News:

Justin from Sales Geek spoke about going into businesses to try to help them as a part-time Sales Director, Mentor or Trainer. He noted that Sales Geek is a franchise based in Blackburn. He is keen to be part of the Chamber and would love to have a coffee with anyone interested in finding out more about what he does so he can explain in more detail.

Departing Member – Graham Strugnell

The Chief Executive invited Graham Strugnell, a member of the Chamber for 25 years, to give a short speech about his time in the Chamber.

Graham thanked the Chamber and noted that he will miss it, noting that the important thing is to come along and get to know each other. He said that those who are envious of his little black book should be aware that it was entirely built from his Chamber networking.

In Memoriam: Brian Dunsby

Graham Strugnell gave a short speech about Brian’s achievements, noting that he will be sadly missed. He emphasised Brian’s drive, determination, and ability to get people to do tasks they might not otherwise consider.

Graham noted how much respect he had for Mr Dunsby, having met him in the basement of the Kimberley Hotel where the Chamber used to meet. At that time, the Chamber consisted of only a handful of members, and it is in no small part thanks to Brian that the Chamber is as large, vibrant and well-regarded as it is today.

The Harrogate Business Market was Brian’s brainchild, and Graham helped with the first one, and said that it had grown steadily until it became the Christmas Market.

Our ability to catch LNER trains to and from Harrogate were also the result of Brian’s endeavours as he just kept on and on at people until they agreed to provide the service.

As a person, Brian was successful, thick skinned and had an unwavering drive. Graham commended him to the members as a great example to us all.

The President noted that although he did not known Brian well, he had the pleasure of meeting both Brian and his wife, Beryl, and reiterated the amount of effort that he, Graham and a number of others had put into making the Chamber the success that it is today.

Presentation: Graham Strugnell – Long Service

The Chief Executive presented Graham Strugnell with a bottle of 25-year-old Behringer 2000 Wiebelsberger Dachs Silvaner Spatlese wine to mark the occasion of his departure from the Chamber.

The meeting was concluded at 7.55 hours. The upcoming meeting will be on the subject of funding available to businesses and the details of the speakers as well as the date will be emailed out to members shortly.

Chamber Review : North Yorkshire Council Annual Briefing

Questions from the Floor

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Chamber Review : North Yorkshire Council Annual Briefing

Questions from the Floor

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