Plans progress to redevelop site of former Ski village
£200,000 has been committed by Sheffield City Council to progress redevelopment plans for the site of the former Ski village at Parkwood Springs.
The funding will be used to carry out site investigation and assessment work and will inform plans for the site’s redevelopment as a major leisure attraction. Work will also begin on clearing some of the old ski village structures, debris and vegetation to make the site safe for future construction work.
An ecological assessment will also be carried out to assess the potential impact of redevelopment on biodiversity and the local environment.
Following the initial £200,000 funding provided, the council will be working with its partners in the region to secure further funding for the redevelopment of the site.
Parkwood’s popularity with walkers and cyclists and potential to play an important part in Sheffield’s reputation as the Outdoor City has long been recognised and the site has received significant interest as an exciting outdoor leisure destination.
Skyline Luge, a New-Zealand based company which specialises in outdoor adventure experiences with sites across the world, has been developing proposals for a family orientated leisure destination on the site. The Council will continue discussions with Skyline to develop the proposals which fit with the city’s aspirations to be an Outdoor City, promoting health and well-being for visitors and local communities.
Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Executive Member for City Futures: Development, Culture and Regeneration at Sheffield City Council, said: “We recognise the vast potential that Parkwood has to offer in Sheffield, both as a major tourist attraction for the region and as a site that will be central to contributing towards improving the health, lifestyle and opportunities for local people.
“We can’t get away from the fact that this is a challenging site with many complex issues, but we’re ready to meet the challenge and work to secure the future of Parkwood for years to come.
“These initial steps are crucial in assessing the work to be done at Parkwood so that we can move forwards and deliver for the people of Sheffield. I’m looking forward to working further with Skyline to explore their exciting proposals over the coming months.”
The report setting out these plans for Parkwood is due to be presented to the Council’s Co-operative Executive on 15th December.
Food manufacturer fined £93,000 after worker injures finger in machinery
A food manufacturing company has been fined for safety breaches after a hygiene operative suffered a serious injury when his hand came into contact with a mixer.
Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard how on 8 November 2019, the employee of Troy Foods (Salads) Ltd had his index finger severed after his left hand came into contact with a mixer whilst cleaning the door mechanism. This was a result of lack of necessary training in which he should have been signed off before working alone.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Troy Foods (Salads) Ltd failed to adequately maintain guarding arrangements on a paddle mixer whilst also having deficiencies with training and supervision.
Troy Foods Salads Ltd of George Mann Way, Leeds, West Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 11 (1) Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £93,000 and ordered to pay £769 in costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Julian Franklin said: “Better compliance, supervision and training are essential to reinforce safe systems of work. This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply implementing the correct control measures and safe working practices.”
Agricultural machinery supplier secures planning permission for new depot
Ripon Farm Services (RFS), the agricultural machinery suppliers, is to open a new depot at the 30-acre Eden Business Park near Malton.
RFS has just received planning permission for a 22,000 sq ft building at the multi-million pound business park, which is located immediately off the A64 by the Pickering Road (A169) junction by Eden Camp.
Richard Simpson, commercial director of Ripon Farm Services, said: “This is a tremendously important move for us and a significant milestone in our 40-year-old history.
“Our new flagship building, will feature offices, training suites and meeting facilities for staff and customers and has been specially designed to accommodate our rapidly growing combine harvester business, including the John Deere X9. The new Malton location will be our twelfth depot in all.
“We are especially pleased to be moving to Malton, which has the enviable – and entirely justified – reputation as the food capital of the north. It is at the centre of North Yorkshire’s extensive agricultural community, which we are looking forward to serving.”
Construction work on the new building will begin at once, with completion and occupation scheduled for August next year.
Kirklees council to take big steps toward greening its fleet with £6.25m investment
When Cabinet meets on 14 December, it is set to approve the investment of £6.25m to bring in new high-tech fleet vehicles and take a significant step towards the greening of the council’s vehicles.
The proposed investment will replace some models of ageing vehicles with electric vehicles alongside newer, greener engine models.
This will include a number of electric vehicles for Waste and Recycling services including an electric refuse collection vehicle, following a successful trial.
This is an extension to the previous three-year Capital Investment Vehicle Replacement Programme which was agreed by Cabinet on 11 December 2018.
Councillor Will Simpson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Greener Kirklees said: “Kirklees Council has already outperformed its previous carbon reduction targets, achieving more than a 53% reduction over the last decade – but there is much more to do to meet our bold ambitions of being a carbon neutral district by 2038.
“This new investment will support the Council’s climate emergency commitments and air quality improvement work across the district. As well as reducing our tailpipe emissions, it will make sure that we have a fit for purpose fleet with reduced running costs and reduced downtime and improved service delivery.
“Our ultimate aim is to transition to an entirely electric fleet and we are taking significant strides with 69 per cent of the council’s operated cars now electric or partially electrically powered.
“Our plans for an electric refuse collection vehicle, van tipper and compact sweeper take us even further in the right direction. This is a major step forward for the council in our aim to create a carbon neutral Kirklees by 2038, and I look forward to the Cabinet giving it its full approval.”
As part of the transition to a greener vehicle fleet, £1million of the £2million Climate Emergency funding has been invested in a further 35 electric Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs).
This brings the percentage of electric vehicles in the fleet up to 7.5 per cent. Approval of the proposal at Cabinet will complement and strengthen the transitions that have already taken place.
If the proposals are approved by Cabinet, Transport Services will continue to manage the Vehicle Replacement Programme on a phased basis and deliver the vehicles as necessary to meet service needs.
Preferred location for new railway station agreed by York councillors
Towthorpe Road has been chosen as the preferred site for development of a railway station in Haxby.
At a meeting of the Executive, City of York Council councillors were asked to consider two potential sites for the new station, Station Road (site 1) or Towthorpe Road (site 2).
Following an evaluation of the two sites, the Executive selected Towthorpe Road as the preferred site. The site presents a strong case for a station in Haxby with a lower deliverability risk, as it can be delivered within the timescales mandated by the Department for Transport.
Additionally, the evaluation concluded that nearby residents would be less adversely impacted by the potential development of this site, both during construction and once the station is operational.
This decision will support the progress of the delivery of the station and help the Council and partners Network Rail undertake the necessary work ahead of a bid being submitted to Government in 2022. This will include more detailed design work and advanced site investigations, as well as a revised cost estimate to present to the Department for Transport.
The further development work will also include public consultation on the preferred site to ensure any local concerns are understood and addressed in any future planning application.
Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said: “I’m delighted to see significant progress made towards delivering a railway station in Haxby.
“Identifying a preferred site is a major step forwards, as the Towthorpe Road site will help us present the strongest possible case to Government to get the funding which make this project happen.
“Haxby station closed in 1930 and we are now closer than ever to fulfilling a decades long ambition held by local councillors and communities and bring a railway station back to Haxby.”
Councillor Andy D’Agorne, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Transport, said: “A railway station at Haxby would bring many benefits. We know that having more sustainable travel options will reduce traffic levels on the roads and also help those living in the North of the city to travel to areas across the country quickly and sustainably.
“I’m delighted to see that a clear majority of local residents support our ambition to bring a railway station back to Haxby.
“Identifying a preferred site will allow our partners Network Rail to undertake development work and put us in the best possible position to submit a strong bid to Government.”
Stephen Hind, Head of Business Development for Network Rail, said: “We know how important this project to develop a railway station in Haxby is for people in the community to improve connections to other towns and cities across the region.
“We’re continuing to work closely with City of York Council to make further progress on proposals before the bid is submitted.”
University to offer five day course helping resolve common problems when handling biomass materials
Engineers, maintenance personnel, managers and procurement executives with responsibility for obtaining and operating equipment for handling of biomass are set to benefit from a new course in February.
From 21 – 25 February 2022 the University of Greenwich will help delegates identify and resolve common problems when handling the various biomass materials. Run over 5 sessions from 14.00 until 17:00 each day, the Biomass Operations and Handling Technology course will cover the basics of:
- Biomass macro-economics, subsidies and potential;
- Material types, flow properties and handling equipment requirements;
- Self-heating, fire, explosion and safety;
- Dust and degradation, pneumatic conveying and wear;
- Explosion protection and ATEX regulations;
- Engineering of equipment for storage and discharge;
- Ship unloading;
- Dust control and management;
- Possible future trends in biomass
Tour operator swoops for grade A office space in York
Palace Capital, the property investment company, has leased a further 11,300 sq ft of grade A office space at its Hudson Quarter development in the City of York.
The new letting brings office occupancy at Hudson Quarter, which completed in April of this year, to 41% with a further 3,600 sq ft currently under offer.
Great Rail Journeys, the tour operator headquartered in York, has leased the fourth and fifth floors, including the top floor terrace, of the HQ building on a 10 year lease. The tenant has also taken 10 car parking spaces.
Hudson Quarter has a total of 39,200 sq ft of office space which is EPC ‘A’, BREEAM Excellent and WiredScore Platinum rated.
Neil Sinclair, Chief Executive, said: “The latest letting we have secured at Hudson Quarter, York reflects the renewed demand we are seeing among occupiers for high quality, well connected office space, as well as the higher levels of office returns in the regions.
“When we launched HQ, it was the first grade A office space to be available in the York market for over 15 years and with constrained supply and an additional 3,600 sq ft under offer, we are pleased with the progress we are making against this market backdrop.”
JLL acted for Palace Capital and Sanderson Weatherall acted for the tenant.
Property developer delivers Christmas cheer to trio of foodbanks
York-based development company S Harrison is helping those facing hardship over the festive season by supporting three foodbanks with trolley loads of donations, ranging from toiletries and coffee through to Christmas treats including biscuits, cake and chocolate.
S Harrison invited York Foodbank, Leeds South and East Foodbank and Edinburgh Food Project to provide shopping lists detailing their requirements and products that will benefit their local communities at this time of year. The developer has an active presence in all three cities where the foodbanks operate.
The goods were purchased at Tesco and the supermarket giant’s York Clifton Moor store generously supplemented the three orders with further donations of food, treats and household essentials.
The three charities are all affiliated with The Trussell Trust, which supports a nationwide network of foodbanks to provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, as well as campaigning for change in order to end the need for foodbanks in the UK. More than 5,100 emergency food parcels were provided for people every day from April until September this year on average, by foodbanks in the Trussell Trust network.
Ann Scott, Managing Director from S Harrison, said: “We like to work closely with local well-run charities that make a genuine difference to people in the areas where we operate. Members of our team have personally delivered the consignments to the food banks now, in order to meet the Christmas demand.
“We’re currently progressing developments in York, Leeds and Edinburgh, as well as completing a range of schemes in all three cities in recent years, so we were keen to renew our charitable support in these areas again this year. It’s no secret that lots of people are facing hardship right now for all types of reasons and if these donations can help to make life easier over the festive season, then they will be well worth it, and we hope it could also inspire others to support local foodbanks.”
Adam Raffell, from York Foodbank, said: “Foodbanks operate under difficult circumstances and rely heavily on help and donations from local people and businesses, as well as our army of volunteers, who are all firmly committed to tackling hunger in York. This is especially true during the festive season, when we always experience an increase in demand for our services.
“This year is likely to be very tough for far more people than normal due to the ongoing pandemic and soaring energy costs, which means some people are being forced to choose whether to turn the heating on or buy food. As a result, we’re extremely grateful to have S Harrison’s support and there’s no doubt it will make a big difference to those who rely on our help.”
2022 Business Predictions: Graham Edward, Managing Director of Edward Architecture
It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Graham Edward, Managing Director of Edward Architecture.
Our experience of the property sector looking forward to 2022 remains buoyant and will hopefully remain so whilst bank rates remain low. A recent RIBA study has found that UK based Architecture workload remains steady in key sectors like infrastructure, residential and logistics.
At Edward Architecture we have a solid and exciting order book for the next 18 months. The industry is, however, having to work through supply issues in construction, materials, consultancy, legals and the planning system, which will hopefully ease as we cope with some industry inertia brought about by Brexit and Covid.
To be resilient to this continued workload and retain capacity, consultancies like ourselves are working hard to both retain staff and train new blood. I think the lockdown has let down a generation of graduates, by a reluctance to employ and too much remote working.
We have invested in staff training and have taken on more graduates and try to give them good office exposure. Consultancies like ourselves have also introduced flexi time and hybrid office / home working to give an optimum work life balance and a good learning environment.
Another evolution as we go into the new year is digitalisation. Clients and consumers have a heightened expectation for the digital experience, much more design is BIM based and led by ‘golden thread’ central information software products such as Operance, which collates all design and build information right through to a built package stage.
Streets cover the tax rules of staff gifts and Christmas celebrations and more in latest business support update
In its latest Business Support Update, Streets Chartered Accountants dives into the tax rules of staff gifts and Christmas celebrations and the Self-Assessment deadline.
Staff Gifts and Christmas Celebrations – What are the Tax rules?
As we approach the festive season, many businesses will be considering how they thank their staff and what are the tax consequences of doing so. There are a whole host of tax rules employers need to be aware of when providing employees with the use of assets, making gifts and settling payments on their behalf. The relevant tax rules determine if there is tax payable, by whom, on what value and at what rate.
Podcast: What will you be giving your staff this Christmas and will it be tax free?
In this session, Tax Partner Jennie Brown focuses on the tax implications of Christmas gifts for employees. In conversation, she considers what gifts are allowable and provides guidance on avoiding the pitfalls from an employer’s perspective.
Help is at hand when it comes to paying your tax
With the Self-Assessment deadline of the 31st January getting closer, thoughts will no doubt turn to the tax payment due. The last 18 months have been extraordinary, even unprecedented, with many seeing changes to their income and potentially making it challenging to provide for their pending tax bill.
Payroll support over the festive season
Streets Chartered Accountants’ offices will close for Christmas and the New Year at 12 noon on Friday 24th December and will re-open at 8.30am on Tuesday 4th January 2021.
However, the Payroll team will be available on Wednesday 29th December, Thursday 30th December and Friday 31st December between the hours of 8am and 4.30pm. The team can be contacted on 01522 551230 or 0345 099 7299. Alternatively, you can email payroll@streetsweb.co.uk
