Here is a summary of the scheduled Environment Directorate meeting, based on the provided agenda and report pack. The meeting will cover traffic regulation order objections, a flood investigation report, modifications to the existing permit scheme, and the highways capital programme. The meeting is scheduled to be held via Microsoft Teams.

Traffic Regulation Order Objections

The meeting will include a discussion of objections to the North Yorkshire Council (Harrogate, Knaresborough, Pannal and Burn Bridge) (Parking and Waiting) (No.58) Order 2025. The report pack includes a report from the Assistant Director – Highways & Infrastructure, and states that the purpose of the order is to decide whether to introduce or set aside proposals following objections received during a public consultation in June 2025.

The report pack explains that the traffic management measures aim to improve traffic flow, promote road safety, enhance the environment and address inconsistencies with existing parking arrangements. Proposals were put forward at the following locations in Harrogate:

• Southville Terrace
• Sovereign Park
• St Mark's Avenue / Wensley Grove
• Pearl Street / The Avenue
• Prospect Road
• Wayside Crescent / St Leonard's Road / Wayside Grove
• Regent Parade

The report pack states that the North Yorkshire Police Area Traffic Management Officer and the council's Traffic Engineering team were consulted on the proposals in November 2024, and the North Yorkshire Police Traffic Management Officer indicated no objections.

The Traffic Regulation Order was advertised in the local press on 19 June 2025, and notices were placed on site on 17 June 2025, giving 21 days for formal objections. The council's legal team consulted the North Yorkshire Police, the Road Haulage Association¹ and Logistics (formerly the Freight Transport Association²) on 9 June 2025. Area 6 officers consulted various bodies on 17 June 2025, including:

• Harrogate Town Council
• NYC Public rights of way team
• NYC Passenger Transport
• NYC Traffic Engineering
• NYC Parking services
• NYC Parks team
• North Yorkshire Police
• North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Yorkshire Ambulance Service
• Federation of Small Businesses (North Yorkshire/ North England)
• Harrogate Chamber of Trade
• TROUKireland (Sat Nav supplier)
• Road Haulage Association
• Logistics (FTA)
• Traffic link (Sat Nav supplier)
• British Driving Society
• NFU³
• Cyclists Touring Club
• Cycling UK
• NYC HAS Engagement team (link to local disabled access groups).

Only the council's Public rights of way team and Passenger Transport teams responded to the consultation, indicating no objections to the proposals.

Objections were lodged against proposals at Regent Parade, Pearl Street/The Avenue and Wayside Crescent.

The report pack says that the objection to the Regent Parade proposal centred on a conflict with recently reinstated markings following surface dressing works. Officers have resolved to set aside this proposal and revisit it once corrections have been made.

The objection relating to Pearl Street was received from a resident of The Avenue, who expressed concern about the impact on parking in a heavily populated area. The report pack says that officers consider the restrictions be implemented as proposed, as they seek to regulate parking arrangements and replicate restrictions at the neighbouring Regent Terrace junction.

The objection relating to Wayside Crescent/St Leonards Road was received from a resident of St Leonards Road, who outlined concerns including that the restrictions would make it easier for through traffic, and that the council should address the area wide issue of parking in the Saints area, resultant from the demand for parking at the Harrogate District Hospital. The report pack says that officers consider that the restrictions be implemented as proposed.

The report pack mentions that local members in the affected Divisions were consulted on the proposed measures on 14 November 2024, and that Councillors Aldred, Broadbank and Timothy advised that they supported the proposals.

The report pack recommends that Karl Battersby, Corporate Director – Environment, in consultation with Councillor Malcolm Taylor, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, approves the introduction of the Traffic Regulation Orders, having given consideration to the objections and the officers' comments and recommendations.

Knaresborough Flood Investigation Report

The meeting will include a discussion of the Section 19 Investigation Report on the 6 May 2024 flood event in Knaresborough. The report pack includes a report from the Assistant Director Highways and Infrastructure, and states that the purpose of the report is to inform Karl Battersby, Corporate Director – Environment, in consultation with Councillor Malcolm Taylor, Executive Member for Highway and Transportation, of the response of Risk Management Authorities to the flood event, and to seek approval for the publication of the Section 19 Flood Investigation Report on the council's website.

The report pack explains that Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 requires Lead Local Flood Authorities to investigate flooding incidents.

The report pack states that the North Yorkshire Council's Flood Risk Management Team investigates all reported incidents of flooding, and that a formal Section 19 investigation was undertaken concerning the event on 6th May 2024 in Knaresborough as the event fulfilled one or more of the criteria set out in the NY Flood Risk Strategy.

The report pack says that information was collected through requests for data to all relevant risk management authorities, and that North Yorkshire Councillors and the Town Council representing the affected areas were given opportunity to peruse the draft report.

The report pack says that the following recommendations are made as a result of the conclusions of the Section 19 report:

• Subject to funding eligibility, the LLFA to assess the potential for property level resilience in areas where multiple properties (including Businesses) are at risk from repeated events.
• All risk management authorities to continue responsive service within the Knaresborough area.
• Yorkshire Water to consider and implement appropriate options to manage the frequency and impact of surcharging of foul drainage on Park Avenue.
• Yorkshire Water to continue to progress their Development and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMP).
• Where opportunities are identified either through the DWMP, or Combined Sewer Overflow Reduction plans and where funding sources are identified, YW and NYC to work collaboratively to maximise opportunities to separate surface water and foul drainage by promoting the use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)⁴ to reduce the impacts of flooding.
• All risk management authorities to work with the communities to encourage and promote improved level of resilience.

The report pack recommends that Karl Battersby, Corporate Director – Environment, in consultation with Councillor Malcolm Taylor, Executive Member for Highway and Transportation, notes the content of the Section 19 report and approves its publication on the council's website.

North Yorkshire Permit Scheme Modification

The meeting will include a discussion of a report seeking approval to modify the existing North Yorkshire Permit Scheme. The report pack includes a report from the Assistant Director – Highways and Infrastructure, and states that the purpose of the report is to seek approval from Karl Battersby, Corporate Director – Environment, in consultation with Councillor Malcolm Taylor, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, to amend the existing North Yorkshire Permit scheme documentation to reflect:

• An increase in permit fees to the maximum level allowed by the Department for Transport (DfT).
• A reduction in the discounts offered on certain types of works from 50% to 30%.

Approval is also being sought to recruit additional resource within the team, to be covered by the income brought in by the changes in fees and discounts.

The report pack explains that a permit scheme, introduced under the Traffic Management Act 2004, requires utility companies and highway authorities to obtain permission before carrying out works in or on the public highway.

The report pack says that the current permit scheme is under significant pressure due to an increasing volume of work and the growing complexity of network demands, and that the changes are essential to maintain the effectiveness, legal compliance, and financial sustainability of the permit scheme and to protect the integrity of North Yorkshire's highway network.

The report pack states that the existing permit scheme operates on a cost recovery basis, and that to maintain the effectiveness, compliance, and responsiveness of the scheme, additional staffing resources are required.

The report pack says that the uplift will be introduced in accordance with DfT guidance and reflects the actual costs associated with delivering the scheme, including staffing, systems, and overheads.

The report pack mentions that in parallel to the Permit scheme, the authority is in the process of seeking approval from the DfT to implement a Lane Rental Scheme⁵.

The report pack says that HR has advised that, provided the roles are identical across the schemes, it would be permissible to interview candidates as part of the Permit Scheme recruitment campaign and, if approval for Lane Rental is subsequently granted from DfT, to offer positions to the next highest-scoring candidates provided they are considered to have met the role requirements.

The report pack identifies that the average individual permit cost over the three years was £42, and that the expected industry range is £50 to £70. The total number of permits increased from 185,949 (2018/19) to 205,813 (2021/22) with Permit variations rising to over 62,000 in 2021/22.

The report pack says that the North Yorkshire Permit Scheme offers a 50% reduction in fees to incentivise collaborative working, and that all other schemes in the Yorkshire and Northeast region offer a 30% discount. It is proposed to amend the permit documentation to reflect a 30% discount to bring it in line with the rest of the region and to ensure that the scheme can run effectively.

The report pack says that investing in additional staff would enable:

• Improved permit processing times
• Enhanced compliance inspections
• Greater coordination of works to minimise disruption.
• Ensures inspection of reinstatements within the two-year guaranteed window.
• Improved customer and stakeholder service
• Positions the Authority to proactively manage future pressures, including the rollout of 6G and infrastructure upgrades for EV charging and hydrogen gas.

The report pack says that any changes made to a Permit Scheme are subject to a four- week consultation with both internal and external works promoters as per the Traffic Management Permit Scheme (England) Regulations 2007.

The report pack outlines a resource proposal, and says that to strengthen the existing permit scheme, the council is looking to recruit an additional five posts at an estimated cost of £271,163:

• 3x Coordination Officers
• 2x Street Works Inspectors

As per the cost-benefit analysis for Lane Rental, the council is looking to recruit four additional posts at an estimated cost of £238,268:

• 1x Senior coordination Officer
• 2x Coordination Officers
• 1x Charging Officer

The report pack says that Permit Scheme staff are fully funded through an uplift in permit fees to the maximum level allowable by DfT, making it cost-neutral to the Authority, and that Lane Rental staff are funded through income generated by the scheme once in place.

The report pack recommends that Karl Battersby, Corporate Director for Environment, in consultation with Councillor Malcolm Taylor, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation gives approval to go out to consultation for amendments to the existing Permit Scheme, and to proceed with the recruitment of additional staff to strengthen the existing Permit Scheme, following the fee increase with the potential to also recruit staff for the proposed Lane Rental Scheme if the Lane Rental application is given approval by the DfT.

Highways Capital Programme 2026/27

The meeting will include a discussion of the Highways Capital Programme 2026/27. The report pack includes a report from the Assistant Director - Highways and Infrastructure, and states that the purpose of the report is to seek agreement from Karl Battersby, Corporate Director Environment in consultation with Councillor Malcolm Taylor, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, to authorise additions to the Highways Capital Forward Programme, and to update on current capital funding assumptions for Highway Maintenance in 2026/27.

The report pack explains that the delivery of the capital works programme is the tangible outcome of the whole of life cycle asset management approach outlined within the North Yorkshire Council's Highways Asset Management Framework, and that the objectives of the capital works programme are to:

• Maximise and demonstrate Value for Money (VfM)
• Manage VfM and drive efficiencies over the whole programme term, not just the financial year at hand.
• Deliver on time and to budget, safely and without incident.

The report pack says that the North Yorkshire Council Highways Capital Programme is made up of four specific elements:

• Street Lighting
• Bridges and Structures
• Integrated Transport
• Structural Highway Maintenance

The report pack outlines a process for managing the highway capital programme, consisting of three phases:

• Phase one, the Highways Capital Forward Programme (HCFP).
• Phase two, the Highways Capital Annual programme.
• Phase three, the Highways Capital Delivery Programme.

The report pack says that Appendices A1 to A8 provide information on the schemes that are being added to the forward programme, broken down by Highways Area Office and Bridges and Structures, and that in total 928 schemes, valued at £34.4M are proposed to be added to the HCFP.

The report pack outlines current funding assumptions for 2026/27, and says that the existing funding settlement for Highways Capital Funding expires on the 31 March 2026. This was a one-year settlement for 2025/26 and was made up of:

• Highway maintenance block baseline funding: £42,198,000
• Highway maintenance block new funding: £15,443,000
• Integrated transport block: £3,046,000

The report pack says that this funding was transferred to the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA), and is then transferred to NYC from YNYCA.

The report pack says that at the time of preparing the report, the council is yet to be informed about highway maintenance funding allocations for 2026/27, and that to assist with planning for 2026/27 it has been assumed that this will be at the same level as funding received for 2025/26.

The report pack says that Integrated Transport Block (ITB) funding for 2026/27 is now included within the wider Local Transport Grant settlement which has already been confirmed for 2026/27, and that YNYCA has advised that they will be seeking to confirm LTG allocations to NYC and CYC for 2026/27 in January 2026.

The report pack outlines proposed headline funding allocations for 2026/27, including:

• Street Lighting: £1.5M
• Bridges: £3.0M
• Public Rights of Way (PROW) Bridges: £300K
• PROW Funding: £380K
• Top Slice allocations: £1,592,600
• NYH prelim costs £7.615M
• External design and consultancy fees £2.5M
• Capital recharge (staffing costs) £5.0M
• Highway Drainage: £950K
• Landslip Schemes: £850K
• Other Special Engineering Schemes: £980K
• Vehicle Restraint Systems (VRS): £400K
• Cattle Grids: £360K
• Category 1a, 1 and 2 footways: £500K
• Category 3, 4 and 5 footways: £700K
• Category 3,4 and 5 Surface Treatments: £525K
• Footway Patching: £550K
• Cycleways/Cycle Tracks: £100K
• Category 6 Roads (Unsurfaced Unclassified Roads): £225K
• Urban PROW Network: £150K
• Parapet Funding: £1.0M
• Gully Funding: £280K
• Carriageway Maintenance: £23.501M
• Integrated Transport: £2.24M

The report pack recommends that Karl Battersby, Corporate Director - Environment in consultation with Councillor Malcolm Taylor, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation: authorises the additions to the Highways Capital Forward Programme for Structural Highway Maintenance, agrees the indicative headline structural highways maintenance capital allocations for 2026/27 based on current planning assumptions, and grants approval to carry out the relevant procurement processes.