Harrogate Summary

[Irish Blood English Heart]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

Along with? International Centre and The Exchange? Or the tower block on The Stray?

West Park Stray is lined with apartment blocks too.

The Tower block on the stray towards the hospital, it's the lack of symmetry in the building that I can't stand. The station tower block is pretty bad too despite it's reclad.

[Leeds No.1]

I can't say I've ever criticised it for a lack of symmetry.

Taller buildings are needed in Harrogate; although of course they should be well designed. The fact is that the centre of Harrogate is both very desirable and rather dense as far as towns go as shown below. Lots of flats.

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr


I wish that those semi detached/detached houses to the lower-left of the image were never built though. They're such an intrusion to the strong urban fabric of the town. They'll never be demolished though- they're worth too much. But much denser development should be permitted here.

I thought Royal Baths II was alright for a new development:

[Leeds No.1]

http://bit.ly/iK6kLl

“Time for a change of venue” says convention boss
Wednesday 22 June 2011 12:43

Organisers of the Yorkshire International Business Convention (YIBC) are “looking seriously” at moving next year’s event away from Harrogate, where it has been held for more than a decade.

The convention’s chief executive, Mike Firth, said this week they had been approached to move the prestigious convention to Leeds and were considering various locations in the city.

“We just think it’s time for a change,” he said on Wednesday.

“We need to spend some time now looking at the future of the convention and deciding what direction we need to go.”

This year’s event took place at the Harrogate International Centre and the Spa in Bridlington last Friday. Numbers in Harrogate, at 535, were down on previous years but the Bridlington venue was a sell-out, with 665 attending.

“Last week’s event (in Harrogate) had some great moments but it was difficult to get the right atmosphere in a venue that was always going to be half full, “ said Mr Firth.

He said the convention had always struggled to find a suitable location in Leeds so they were now looking at sites in the city where they might be able to erect a temporary building. With the convention’s plans for next year, he added, they were looking at an audience of at least 1,000.

He said the challenge with staging the event each year had been not only to have the right auditorium but also the right networking area and the right car parking - something he said was not available in the centre of Harrogate.

Mr Firth added that Harrogate had served the convention well. When it began 16 years ago, it was held in a giant marquee in the grounds of Harewood House before moving to the Yorkshire Event Centre in 2001, where it remained until this year, when it relocated to the Harrogate International Centre - saving organisers £30,000. He said the convention “wouldn’t rule out” a move back to the Yorkshire Event Centre but added: “I think there’s a natural home for it in Leeds and we would like to get the best location. But we have nothing fixed at the moment.”

Friday’s convention - which had the theme of ‘Winners’ and raised money for Henshaws - featured a keynote speech from World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

Sir Tim told the audience how he invented the World Wide Web in 1989 while working at the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Switzerland. His royalty-free invention went on to revolutionise the way the world communicates.

Other speakers at Friday’s convention included Ashes hero Andrew Strauss, former marine biologist and television presenter Monty Halls, self-made property investor and millionaire Caroline Marsh and Terry Hill, former chairman of Arup, the global engineering consultancy.

[Leeds No.1]

http://www.theflaxby.com/
http://www.harrogateadvertiser.co.uk...sort_1_3529597
Work to start on £100m resort?
Wednesday 6 July 2011 11:48


Proposed £100m Flaxby Resort, Harrogate.

FOLLOWING lengthy discussions with North Yorkshire County Council, work could begin on the £100m golf resort at Flaxby, near Knaresborough this month.

Repeated delays have seen moves to get the work underway come to a standstill as York-based company, The Skelwith Group, who are behind the plans to create the luxury five-star hotel development, continue to negotiate with councillors to ensure major highway improvements are adequate to cope with the anticipated volume in traffic that the complex is expected to bring.

Planning permission for the multi-million pound site, which will be situated just off the A59 York road, and close to the A1, was given more than 12 months ago. The vision for the site was first unveiled three years ago in 2008.

The Skelwith Group’s managing director, Mr Paul Ellis admitted he was disappointed that work had not yet started on the hotel even though the site was prepared last summer in readiness for building work to begin.

“We are in the final discussions with all parties to sign the legal agreements which will allow us to work properly on the Flaxby site, and subject to the final sign off, we hope to make a start in July,” said Mr Ellis.

“It has been a frustrating time but we are very confident the complex legal agreements will be signed imminently. Dealing with so many organisations has been a challenge, and we are pleased we are very nearly at the end of the lengthy process.

“The Flaxby Country Resort is a fantastic project that has been on the cards for a long time so we will be absolutely delighted to deliver a development that we feel will give the local and regional economy a huge boost in these uncertain times.”

The issues surrounding the delays to the building work centre on Section 106 and 278 legal agreements.

A spokesperson for NYCC said although discussions were progressing well, the negotiations had not yet reached the stage to allow work to begin.

Proposals include a £3m overhaul of the A59 Knaresborough to York road, with a new roundabout to service the site and an extra lane created up to junction 47 of the A1, as part of the enabling works for the main hotel.

Highways officials at NYCC have stressed there is a need to monitor traffic flows over the next decade to establish if more upgrades are needed. Traffic is now due to be monitored over a ten-year period through an electronic system run by the county council.

The results could lead to major improvements to the highways network surrounding the Flaxby site, such as introducing full or part-time signals at the junction 47 roundabout. If traffic flows to the site increase dramatically, another option could see the junction’s slip road to the A1 widened.

The five star hotel, which will have rooms available for up to £800 a night, will be set in 283 acres of woodland. The development is due to include four helipads, three restaurants, a luxury spa complex, bars and boutiques. It is expected that construction will take up to 18 months before the hotel is fully operational and estimated that once open, the business will employ more than 200 people.

[Leeds No.1]

image hosted on flickr

[fozzy]

Loving that old postcard!!!

[Leeds No.1]

Obviously from a time when Harrogate was trying to say "we're part of the future too!"

[MartinAW]

Train Station and Exchange look better there than they do now

[Leeds No.1]

Not sure I'd quite agree but I take the point! I don't know when, if ever, they'll get on with the station redevelopment. The development brief was set out in 2005 with an indicative scheme of 7 floors providing a new interchange and large, modern retail units on the ground and first floor, with apartments & penthouses above.

http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/Document...ncComments.pdf

[Leeds No.1]

http://harrogate-news.co.uk/2011/08/...tional-centre/
Considerate construction praised at Harrogate International Centre
Tim Cook

The contractor behind the construction of the new £13m event halls at Harrogate International Centre (HIC) has been commended for going above and beyond in its respect for the community.

During an inspection from the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS), Wates Construction shone in its ongoing delivery of the venue’s two new event facilities, which will comprise 68,000 sq m of additional exhibition and car parking space, due for completion later this year.



Assessors praised the site for its outstanding environmental consideration, commending its reduced carbon footprint, thanks to close monitoring of energy use and the encouragement of employee car sharing.

The site’s health and safety procedures also scored top marks, awarded for the accountability of all staff, sub-contractors and patrons of the HIC, which has remained operational during the building works.

Dave Price, Business Unit Director for Wates Construction, Yorkshire, commented: “This is a significant project for Wates, and while the construction process is going very well, we never take our eye off the ball when it comes to the consideration of our client, our employees, sub-contractors and the general public. It is our undoubted responsibly to ensure we are having a positive impact on the wider community and I’m delighted to see our efforts have been rewarded.”

Part funded by regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, alongside Harrogate Borough Council, the HIC’s two new event halls and underground car park will add a further 15,000 guest capacity to its current facilities, seeing the venue’s services extend to allow events to run simultaneously.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, Leader of Harrogate Borough Council and Chair of Harrogate International Centre Board, congratulates Wates on this award. “Wates won this contract after a very vigorous tendering process last year. We were confident then that we had engaged a very capable contractor, with an excellent reputation, who clearly understood our business needs and would work with us and with Yorkshire Forward to deliver these much needed additions to HIC. And so it has turned out: the high quality of the work carried out, and the care shown by Wates, by their staff and sub contractors, have been of the very highest quality”.

Angus Houston, HIC director, said: “We have found working with Wates Construction a great pleasure. The team has done their utmost to keep disruption to a minimum and as the build nears completion its great to see that their consideration has been recognised by an independent body.”

The Considerate Constructors Scheme aims to improve the image of construction, assessing sites against the scheme’s Site Code of Considerate Practice to encourage contractors to go above and beyond standard industry requirements.

[Skychaser 2005]

From thebusinessdesk.com:

A NEW hotel is to be built in Harrogate.

Paramount Hotels, a subsidiary of Puma Hotels, has entered into an agreement with Premier Inn Hotels and Whitbread Group, to develop the 107 bedroom Premier Inn Hotel.

Upon completion, the hotel will be leased for 25 years on a full repairing and insuring basis to Premier Inn and Whitbread.

Planning consent for the hotel has been already granted by Harrogate Borough Council and the hotel will be directly linked into a new exhibition facility in the North Yorkshire town.

Howard Shore, chairman of Puma Hotels, said: "We are delighted to have entered into this agreement which will enable us to work with Whitbread and its award winning Premier Inn Hotels."

[Leeds No.1]

L'Occitane is opening at the Cenotaph end of James Street.

[Val Verde]

The latest development in the long running saga over the proposed development of a Tesco supermarket to the north west of Harrogate. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-14732785

Whilst a supermarket would be welcome for that end of Harrogate, it would certainly add a lot of traffic to the already busy Little Wonder pub roundabout where the Leeds - Harrogate - Ripon A61 meets up with the York - Harrogate - Skipton A59 meet up. Also I guess presumably active nimbys in Harrogate would do their best to block this development, although I guess it is a nice distinction of sorts that Harrogate (HG) is the only postcode area of the UK which lacks a full size Tesco Supermarket (not counting Tesco Express convenience stores) and I personally do believe that Tesco has too much market share and if opened would have an impact on stores elsewhere in Harrogate. It would be interesting to see though if such a long proposed store would finally see approval or if there would be yet another rejection followed by either yet another application.

[Leeds No.1]

I don't buy the argument that it will increase traffic greatly. One of the arguments for it is that it'll decrease traffic across the town as there will be less cross-town traffic going from the heavily populated north side of the town to the supermarkets on the south side. It could draw more people from the Dales and Ripon though where there is little supermarket choice aside from Sainsburys and Morrisons in Ripon.

The long term solution to all of this is really the northern relief road, although that's another pie in the sky schemes thanks to NIMBYs. Ultimately Harrogate will choke itself to death from it's ridiculous congestion (caused by very high car ownership and lack of road capacity) and lack of investment in public transport. There are no bus lanes in Harrogate, no P&R sites, a poor rail service, no dual carriageways... conferences are moving away all the time as a result. Some have moved to Manchester, but the most recent announcement is that the YIBC conference will move to Leeds next year and be held in marquees- despite facilities in Harrogate being far superior to just marquees. It demonstrates the vital importance of decent accessibility.

Back to Tesco: The recommendation anyway is that the planning application is deferred. My belief is that it will eventually get planning permission.

[micromagic]

Tesco has got the go ahead from the planners! Harrogate Advertiser were at the meeting: -

"The Tesco application for Harrogate has been PASSED. There WILL be a Tesco in Harrogate".

"Ten councillors voted for the Tesco application, three against and one abstained from the vote".

[Val Verde]

Originally Posted by micromagic

Tesco has got the go ahead from the planners! Harrogate Advertiser were at the meeting: -

"The Tesco application for Harrogate has been PASSED. There WILL be a Tesco in Harrogate".

"Ten councillors voted for the Tesco application, three against and one abstained from the vote".

Not surprising although I wonder if there could be any hiccups down the line. Is there any idea as to whether there will be any road improvements to accomodate this new supermarket, particularly at the busy A59 / A61 roundabout by the Little Wonder pub?

[Leeds No.1]

There have been some quite significant concessions that Tesco have been forced to make by HBC to secure planning permission.

- Tesco have had to give £1,571,360 to the council as a 'Retail Mitigation Measures Contribution' for the Town Centre to fund:
• replacement of existing paving to various town centre pathways
• refurbishment of lighting pedestrian tunnel
• clean stonework
• fingerpost signage
• replacement of street lighting
• tree planting
• new fountain feature
• provide seasonal planting beds
• provide drinking fountain
• replace cycle parking hoops
• refurbishment of steps
• new street seating

- Tesco will pay an extra £94,500 per year for 3 years to Transdev to provide a new Bus Service linking Bilton, New Park and Jennyfields with a 30 minute frequency between 0900 and 1800 Monday to Saturday. Tesco will pay up to £190,000 of concessionary fares on the route.

- Tesco will pay an extra £70,000 for real time bus displays at the bus station.

- Tesco will pay an extra £26,000 for a new Little Red Bus linking Jennyfields District Centre with the estate and local parishes. In addition there will be £13,000 for the running of the bus annually and £9000 of Tesco vouchers for the two drivers over 3 years.

- A new entrance to the site will be provided from Ripon Road, and Tesco will pay for the strengthening and dualling of the Skipton Road bridge between the Little Wonder and Tesco's main entrance.

- The Little Wonder roundabout will have its capacity doubled.

- If Jennyfield Co-op closes within five years of the Tesco store opening, and does not re-open within six months, Tesco will use reasonable endeavours to open a Tesco Express within the Jennyfield District Centre and will have to operate this for five years. They will also be required to provide a Post Office and pharmacy within this store. This store would operate for a period of at least 5 years from opening.

Total additional cost to Tesco: £1,973,860

http://www1.harrogate.gov.uk/localde...cumentid=24530

[STOPGO]

Away from all things Tesco, I read in todays Indi that F1 Driver Jenson Button has opened a restaurant in Harrogate called Victus at a former sports shop opposite the bus station. The restaurant which opened yesterday serves Pan Asian food and as already proved popular with the Harrogate dining community.

[Val Verde]

Proposals for a new Marks and Spencer Simply Food to replace the Saab / Mazda / Vauxhall Nidd Vale garage (which will relocate to St James's Business Park in Knaresborough) at the corner of the A61 Leeds Road and Hookstone Road to the south of Harrogate. http://harrogate-news.co.uk/2011/10/...ore-harrogate/



Certainly a big development for this corner of Harrogate although it would surely add a lot of extra traffic id have thought.

[Leeds No.1]

I would rather they had the car park at the back of the store in order to help build a better street frontage on Leeds Road, but the car parking is welcome here. Oatlands Corner is a notorious blackspot as cars have to reverse in/out directly into two lanes of traffic.

On the whole though, I support this development. There are no large supermarkets in this area- the nearest being Sainsburys (as the crow flies at least) or Waitrose. In this wealthy suburb, an M&S supermarket will do well.