Harrogate BID statement on extreme weather conditions in town

As the BID in Harrogate, we wanted to pull together a statement on the reaction to the recent extreme weather conditions in our town.

We agree that the response to the conditions through clearing and gritting from the Local Authority was unacceptable. The daily statutory service that should be delivered by 9am can be found here. Our Members told us and we were made aware that this service had not been delivered.

All BIDs should be voted into place to deliver additional services, and whilst we are always keen to work in collaboration and support where needed, we should not and at times cannot deliver statutory services such as this.

We began to lobby North Yorkshire Council Officers on the unacceptable conditions from Monday (January 6th) and expanded this to North Yorkshire Council Directors, Councillors, Chief Executive Richard Flinton, Tom Gordon MP and media partners to push for a reaction to the then critical situation.

On top of this, our team of two Street Rangers and Town Centre Support Officer (TCSO) were gritting – using public salt bins – and clearing snow and ice to avoid any dangerous incidents and ensure the safety of both businesses and pedestrians.

According to reports, it’s expected that the snow, ice and general cold weather will clear over the weekend, so the BID would like to ensure all of Harrogate that the team will continue to do all they can to help until it does.

Thank you to all BID Members that have reached out over recent days to support our lobbying. If you or your business in the Harrogate BID area have been negatively impacted by the above, please feel free to reach out by contacting info@harrogatebid.co.uk

Thank you to you all for remaining open, supporting our communities and continuing to make Harrogate a great place to visit, live and work.