Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice and supplied the text to Stephen Loach, Vicky Davies or Christian Brennan, democraticservices.west@northyorks.gov.uk by midday on Monday 1 December 2025, three working days before the day of the meeting. Each speaker must limit themselves to 3 minutes.
Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:
• at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes)
• when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.
If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.
Minutes:
Five public statements were received.
One public statement had been received in relation to Minute 210 – Town Investment Plan, which was dealt with at that Minute and is detailed below.
1.
Statement from Stanley Mackintosh – read
out at the meeting
“My request is simply that the Ripon Market Place item be deferred for four months, and the consultation reopened for at least three months.
Ripon City Council is not presently a reliable stakeholder: there is governance instability, a “No Confidence” Parish Poll result, and a formal objection now with the External Auditor.
The proposals for Ripon in the report pack are weak and under-developed compared with the Skipton proposals, and the reference to a “Ripon Neighbourhood Plan 2030” appears questionable, as no such active plan currently exists.
Public engagement has been inadequate and confusing. The consultation closed only yesterday, yet the report appears to have been drafted before that date, leaving residents little chance to comment or propose alternatives.
I have previously produced a substantial public report — Ripon Vision 2015 — and, with a short extension, I can bring forward serious, evidence-based proposals worthy of consideration and investment.
Deferral will not jeopardise funding, which runs to 2027, but would greatly improve legitimacy, consultation and design quality.
I therefore respectfully ask Members to defer the item and reopen consultation for three months”.
Two public statements had been received that did not relate to an item on the agenda and were dealt with under this agenda item and are detailed below.
2.
Statement from Martyn Hodgson – read out
at the meeting
“North Yorkshire Council is understandably concerned at the increased cost if many side roads secured Priority 2 winter maintenance status and it is appreciated that not all can therefore be quickly cleared. However, there are some particularly vulnerable locations and Heyshaw is such a special case, as summarised below.
1. The sole access into Heyshaw (HG3 4HD) is a steep cul-de-sac (Heyshaw Road, 400m) and is vital for residents and dairy farm tankers to access the road network for work, school, etc. In winter it often becomes impassable, even for most four-wheel drive vehicles, due to icing-up and snow drifts. Heyshaw (elevation 320m) regularly experiences much worse winter conditions than most of the Dale (e.g. closest village is Dacre Banks elevation only 80m). The road is North-East facing so that, unless treated, it is often a layer of solid compacted snow and ice impassable for many days. Up to recent years it had P2 status and was always cleared and gritted - it is unclear why this status was changed.
2. Emergency vehicle access is frequently not possible in winter without the road being gritted. A telling case was last winter when a resident suffered a heart attack, however without any gritting the emergency ambulance was unable to attend and Martin Bucke died. Two winters ago, Eric Marshall was taken seriously ill and even a specialist four-wheel drive ambulance struggled to access. Eventually he was taken to hospital but later passed away.
3. Heyshaw road is directly next to existing Priority 2 road and would only require a mere extra 400metres to the current P2 gritting run, and the additional cost would be marginal (only around £4.50 per run).
4. The priority category of Heyshaw Road was until recently P2 - thus recognising its particular vulnerability. Why and how this was changed to the current Priority 3 is not known. The Council's policy specifically allows unclassified road to be given P2 status ('Priority 2 includes .... unclassified roads as approved by Members') and ought therefore to be implemented for such a very special case as Heyshaw Road.
5. This is a brief summary of a paper (includes evidence and costings) agreed by all (100%) Heyshaw residents and workers. To avoid more fatalities, other serious outcomes and major disruption, we ask members to approve Priority 2 status for Heyshaw Road.”
Steve Loach, Principal Democratic Services Officer informed Members that a response to this statement had been sought but was still awaited. Once received, a full copy of the response would be circulated.
3.
Statement from Jean Worthington and
Trevor Metcalf – read out at the meeting
“We would like to draw attention to our local rural bus service provided by Kirby Lonsdale Bus Company. The service 580 which runs from Settle to Skipton and return. This company also runs the 581 Settle to Lancaster which links up with the 580.
For some time, residents of both villages have been unhappy with how this service is now managed. Examples can be given if requested at the end of this presentation. The current service is quite limited and not fit for purpose which leaves people who don't drive isolated at the weekends, especially Sundays. Attempts to involve the Dalesway Sunday service have failed, I'm informed no budget for this year. Therefore residents cannot access this service and explore the Dales on Sundays or travel anywhere.
Our aim is to campaign to have a bus service that is fit for purpose. We are aware and welcome new legislation such as The Bus Services Act 2025 and North Yorkshire Council's Bus Service Improvement Plans. I am informed that there will be a public consultation and a robust passenger charter implemented, much needed for our 580/581 bus service.
We wish to be kept informed and possibly involved with this process, our main agenda being that everyone in both villages get adequate notice of developments which can be printed in our parish magazines and distributed to all households as well as any community involvement put online via social media. We are aware following the recent National Parks survey re access to the Dales when it was promoted online and gave little or no chance of getting this promoted in our parish magazines and sadly missed contributions by those groups pertinent to their survey. We want a meaningful response from the people of long Preston and Hellifield. We want a fit for purpose service to meet passenger needs to avoid social isolation, an improved quality of life and practical solutions to break down barriers to independence.”
A response to this statement was received from Andrew Clarke, Public and Community Transport Manager, as detailed below:
“The 580 bus service from Settle to Skipton via Hellifield and Long Preston is operated commercially by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire and Service 581 from Kirkby Lonsdale to Settle is contracted by North Yorkshire Council. The 580 timetable runs hourly on Mondays to Fridays and two hourly on Saturdays and the 581 runs two hourly Mondays to Saturdays.
The aim of our public transport policy is to give residents in villages across the county access to a local centre for shopping, health appointments, education, employment and leisure activities. Where there are no commercially viable bus routes, the Council can subsidise services but with the funding that is available, the most frequent timetable we can specify is a two hourly service running on either 5 or 6 days per week. The Council also provides support for Dalesbus who commission some Sunday and bank holiday routes to the Dales.
If there are suggestions for ways to improve the timetable within the resources currently available, or operational problems with either bus route, then please contact the public transport team. Both routes can be subject to traffic delays on the A65 and with such a long route this makes managing service disruption difficult for the bus company.
Following the creation of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority in 2024, the Mayor now holds all statutory powers involving public transport. The Combined Authority has recently commissioned a review of the current bus network and will also be developing a new Bus Service Improvement Plan in 2026. The network review will be looking at current provision and options for delivering improvements. Once the review is completed, we expect that there will be further engagement by the Mayor’s team on the conclusions reached and how to take things forward and we will ensure that parishes can play a part in this process.”
A point of clarification was raised by Councillor David Ireton requesting that the Chair provided a response to a query from a resident of Ingleton regarding fuel prices at ASDA in Ingleton, compared to that in Settle. In response, the Chair explained this was a commercial disparity from ASDA and agreed a response would be provided to the resident. The Principal Democratic Services Officer informed Members that rural energy policies and local fuel pricing had been added to the Committee Work Programme, and a full report would be delivered to the next committee on 5 March 2026.
Two public statements had been received in relation to Minute 214 – Nidderdale Greenway Extension Update, which were dealt with at that Minute and are detailed below.
4.
Statement from Robert Lloyd
“There has been an ambition for at least 25 years to have a path – the Nidderdale Greenway Extension - from Harrogate through Nidderdale to Pateley Bridge. The current Harrogate to Ripley Greenway opened in 2014 and is very popular with walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users and horse riders of all ages and abilities seeking a safe route into lower Nidderdale. Hampsthwaite Parish Councillors support the Nidderdale Greenway Extension which offers great opportunities to link villages, communities and schools up and down Nidderdale with a traffic free safe path. We have seen how Ripley businesses have benefitted from the existing Harrogate –
Ripley Greenway and can see similar opportunities for Hampsthwaite and other village businesses. Hampsthwaite no longer has a doctor surgery or Post Office the nearest being Birstwith. As the road is dangerous to walk or cycle, and the bus is every 2 hours (collecting a routine prescription could take half a day), residents are forced into their cars or taxis.
A Parish Council subgroup - Hampsthwaite Pathfinders - held a stall at the village Feast in July 2023, to explore extending the Greenway from Ripley up into the Dale. The group shared a Sustrans feasibility study showing route options and outline costs. Over 40 residents expressed a keen interest in supporting the Extension proposal. This interest initiated a paper and online survey in Hampsthwaite. Similar surveys were also completed in Pateley Bridge and Birstwith. Below are the results from the Hampsthwaite Survey, completed by 1345 respondents in September 2023.
Survey Results for Hampsthwaite:
Three different survey approaches were undertaken
i. a July ’23 Hampsthwaite Feast Stall in Hampsthwaite,
ii. a 2 minute paper survey distributed to all households and available in the village shop and
iii. a web-based surveys open to all.
Whilst this report does not cover Pateley Bridge and Birstwith survey results, one of our key observations was how similar the results were between locations and survey approaches. The Hampsthwaite web plus paper surveys resulted in 1345 responses with overwhelming support. The HG3 responses represented a high proportion of the parish’s population. 95% said they had used the Existing Greenway and 66% had heard of the proposed Extension. Whilst walking, cycling and running are of greatest interest, a very important and key outcome of the survey was the interest from wheelchair users trying to gain greater safe access to Nidderdale. 97% of responses were particularly in favour of the Hampsthwaite to Birstwith pathway link, as being of greatest importance to Hampsthwaite residents trying to gain safer access to doctors, the dispensing chemist and the post office.
In addition to the numerical choices given in the surveys 1117 positive written commentaries were also made highlighting Safety, Inter Village Links, Business, Health, Family, Children learning to ride safely, Wheelchair access, Countryside access, sustainability as their main reasons for scoring high. Some saw the project as a ‘beacon of hope’. Whilst some negative comments and scores were also received our Parish Council believe that these comments will be essential contributions during the design phases ensuring concerns are addressed to achieve the best outcome for all. Concerns included protecting nature, farmland ownership and grazing animals.
Conclusion: The argument in favour of a Greenway extension to Pateley Bridge is compelling and robustly supported by the results of these extensive surveys.”
5.
Statement from David Vernon
The following points were raised by David Vernon in a statement to the Committee:
· David had recently moved to Dacre Banks in Nidderdale and as a keen cyclist and walker he had an interest in the Nidderdale Greenway extension.
· Disappointment that the project appeared to have been left in limbo.
· The report came across as overly risk-averse and lacked any positive proposals despite NYC’s role likely being largely supportive.
· The original feasibility report showed significant expertise and effort and further details and cost checks were to be expected.
· Local organisations successfully delivered the Harrogate to Clint stretch of the Nidderdale Greenway which suggested that costs can be controlled and risks managed.
· David asked councillors to avoid the negativity of the update report and press officers to keep the door open for staged developments of the Nidderdale Greenway extension.
· He also asked councillors to adopt the principle that the project is highly desirable and that councillors provide all possible assistance.