Work on a £69 million plan to realign the A59 at Kex Gill has been delayed until January.

The project will see a diversion built west of Blubberhouses on a stretch of road blighted by a history of landslips

The scheme has faced numerous delays and following tender returns, the estimated cost of the scheme increased by £7.2 million to £68.8 million, which the council attributes to inflation affecting constructions costs.

Despite hopes the scheme could start in December, the county council now says work is due to start in January.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council said the authority was awaiting full business case approval from the Department for Transport for the project.

They said:

“We are awaiting the decision by the Department for Transport to approve the scheme’s full business case. We are confident that approval will be given early in the New Year.

“We are, however, proposing to carry out some early ground works in January to ensure that the project remains on track.”

Read more:

• Council warns of ‘high risks’ as Kex Gill cost soars to £69m
• Council sets aside £11m for A59 Kex Gill contingency funding

The authority awarded a £50.7 million to John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd, an Irish civil engineering and construction firm, to build the scheme.

The project is due to be funded by a £56.1 million grant from the Department for Transport, with the council covering the rest from its reserves.

A further £11 million has been factored into the £68 million budget to cover any issues with ground conditions or bad weather.

It comes as senior county council officials have warned about the risk involved with the authority’s major projects amid soaring inflation.

Gary Fielding, the council’s director for strategic resources, warned previously that the “burden of risk” for major projects, such as the realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill, will fall on the authority amid soaring inflation.

The A59 at Kex Gill, near Blubberhouses, is the main route between Harrogate and Skipton. Since 2000, the route has been closed 12 times following landslips.

The estimated completion date for the scheme is May 2025.

Swimming pools in the Harrogate district have received a national accreditation from Swim England.

The Water Wellbeing accreditation aims to transform community swimming pool into places for health, wellbeing and rehabilitation.

The award has been granted to Starbeck Baths, the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre, Knaresborough Swimming Pool and Nidderdale Pool and Leisure Centre.

Brimhams Active, which runs the facilities, carried out changes to ensure all pools are accessible, inclusive and inviting to the local community in order to achieve the accreditation.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, said: 

“I’m delighted that through the hard work and dedication of the Brimhams Active team, with the support of Swim England, we have achieved Swim England’s Water Wellbeing accreditation at our facilities.

“Inactivity and the determinants of poor health adversely impact on thousands of people in our communities. Our mission is to help address this by supporting people to move more, live well and feel great, and to do this we are creating an inclusive, holistic, health and wellbeing focused service offer.”

Read more:

• Harrogate leisure chief defends Ripon pool location amid ground stability concern
• Harrogate swimming club seeks sponsor to keep head above water 

As part of the accreditation, exercise referral instructors have received training to deliver Swim England’s aquatic activity for health programme, which allows the team to deliver pool-based group exercise for people living with long term health conditions.

Meanwhile, swimming will be able to lead adult swimming lessons for people with health conditions, and all customer facing members of the team have had additional customer experience training, with a focus on inclusivity.

Andrew Power, Swim England’s water wellbeing specialist, said: 

“Swim England have been supporting Brimhams Active this past year across a number of key areas, in order to maximise the long term sustainability and growth of their aquatic assets.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the Brimhams Active team at all levels, who have shown total commitment to the accreditation process and have gone beyond what was expected of them in doing so.

“I look forward to seeing the impact of this work and benefits to the local community, particularly around improved health and wellbeing for years to come.”

An longstanding car garage in Hampsthwaite has proposed plans to relocate.

Simon Graeme Auto Services Centre, which is based on Grayson Plain Lane, has submitted a planning application to relocate onto the opposite side of the road.

The move would see a new purpose built facility built and the current MOT centre and car park demolished.

The new facility would include units for MOT servicing, training space and a reception and office. Fifteen car parking spaces would be provided, including six electric vehicle charging points.

In documents submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, the developer said the larger building was needed in order to “respond to changes in the automotive industry”.

It said:

“The business has outgrown the site and given the growth of electric and hybrid vehicles, together with need to maintain services for the farming community, there is a clear need for a larger, more bespoke building.

“This would also enable the building to be future proofed in terms of electric vehicle charging.”

The garage, situated just off the A59 near to Hampsthwaite, has been established for over 25 years.

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Read more:

• Environment Agency calls for Allerton Park asphalt plant to be rejected
• County council agrees creation of 30-year housing plan

New managers have taken over at a historic Knaresborough hotel.

Newton House Hotel, York Place, was acquired by Lamb and Flag Enterprise Ltd after former owner Denise Carter retired.

Ms Carter bought the 12-bedroom building in 2011. She went on to win plenty of awards, including top spot on the Channel 4 TV show Four in a Bed in 2016.

Now, Raphael and Cici Carreira have taken over management of the property following the Lamb and Flag acquisition.

The Brazilian-born couple intend to bring a new approach to the B&B, while retaining the high-quality service and locally sourced food for its award-winning English breakfasts.

Read more:

• ‘Significant interest’ in Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms, says council
• Is Harrogate ice cream van the best in the country?

Lamb and Flag Enterprises has retained the existing hotel staff team and will continue to operate the business as is, while plans for refurbishment in 2023 are prepared to expand the services offered within the property.

Richard Venable, Lamb and Flag Enterprises director, said: 

“It is business as usual at the moment until we line up our plans for the longer term.

“We are confident that our guests will continue to enjoy the same warm welcome they have become accustomed to at Newton House, with Raphael, Cici and their friendly and efficient team.”

Newton House Hotel is a converted 300-year-old Georgian townhouse rumoured to have been built with stone from Knaresborough Castle.

Harrogate hospital bosses have said plans are in place to “minimise” the impact of forthcoming ambulance strikes.

Staff at Yorkshire Ambulance Service will walk out tomorrow (December 21) and next Wednesday (December 28) for 24 hours in a dispute over pay.

The move is part of a wave of industrial action taking place across England throughout the winter, with rail staff and nurses also staging walkouts.

In response to the strikes by ambulance workers, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has urged patients to continue to come forward for care.

A spokesperson for the hospital trust said:

“We are working hard to keep patients safe during strikes, while delivering the best care possible, and patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule. 

“Nobody should put off seeking urgent or emergency care during the strikes, with key services continuing to operate.”

The trust added that it has contingency plans in place in accident and emergency, as well as measures to discharge patients, during the days of strike action.

It added:

“The safety of our patients is our utmost priority and we have contingency plans in place to minimise any impact industrial action will have.

“For instance, additional staff will be on duty in our emergency department on these days to manage any increase in walk-in attendances for those people unable to travel to hospital by ambulance.

“We also have alternative arrangements in place to help manage the discharge of patients who are unable to make their own travel arrangements so that they can leave our hospital in a timely manner.”

Harrogate District Hospital, Lancaster Park Road.

Meanwhile, managers at Yorkshire Ambulance Service have urged the public to only call 999 for an ambulance for life-threatening conditions or injuries amid stretched resources during strike action.

An agreement is in place between the unions and the service to cover life-threatening calls.

Nick Smith, executive director of operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said:

“With continued operational pressures and the added challenge of industrial action, we will have less resources available to respond.  

“Services will be severely disrupted, with the likelihood of significant delays.”

Ambulance staff ‘had enough’

Union membership in

Yorkshire Ambulance Service employs 7,200 staff, of which about 4,000 belong to either Unison or the GMB unions.

It is one of nine ambulance trusts across the country whose workers have voted to strike.

Paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers will be among those planning to walk out tomorrow.

Staff at the ambulance trust voted to stage the strike in protest at a 4% government pay award.

Rachael Harrison, GMB Union general secretary, said workers have “had enough”.

She said:

“The last thing they want to do is take strike action, but the government has left them with no choice.

“(Health Secretary) Steve Barclay needs to listen and engage with us about pay. If he can’t talk to us about this most basic workforce issue, what on earth is he Health Secretary for?

“The government could stop this strike in a heartbeat – but they need to wake up and start negotiating on pay.”

The 132-year-old canopy at Knaresborough station has been restored and given a new lease of life.

The canopy at the main entrance, which had been reinforced by scaffolding to protect passengers, has been repaired following work by Network Rail.

The Grade II listed structure has seen a complete roof renewal and redecoration throughout, including a fresh lick of paint in its traditional white and green colours

Robert Ellams, route engineer for Network Rail’s north and east route, said: 

“The revamped entrance has made a real difference to the station, giving it a vital upgrade whilst retaining its historic look. The crucial repair work will not only improve passenger experience, but it will also help to protect the Grade II listed building for future generations.

“I’d like to thank passengers, our partners and the community for their patience and hope they continue to enjoy the station’s connections to York, Harrogate and Leeds for years to come.”

With the refurbishment now complete, the structure matches the platform canopies which were also restored back in 2016.

The move to restore the canopy follows a £150,000 upgrade to the station roof back in 2019.

Andrew Jones, Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: 

“This is great work from Network Rail and is part of a greater programme of investment in our stations and railways. It is also an investment in our heritage as this is a Grade II listed structure

“The Network Rail team were really responsive when the Friends of Knaresborough Station approached me wanting the work completed quickly. They prioritised it and now we have a fantastic looking station with brilliant businesses on the platform to go with more and better rail services.”

Read more:

• Long-term roadworks to affect villages near Knaresborough
• Harrogate hospital pledges ‘minimal disruption’ as nurses’ strike looms
• No normal service on Harrogate and Knaresborough trains until January 9

Tributes have been paid to well-known Hampsthaite funeral director, Roger Bowers, who has died.

Born and raised on Hollins Lane in the village, Mr Bowers was the owner of the family-run business W.Bowers Funeral Directors.

He took on the firm, which was founded by his parents William and Josephine in 1945, and grew it to cover two offices in Hampsthwaite and Harrogate and host funerals across the district.

Stephen Hessell, partner of the funeral directors, said Mr Bowers was dedicated to the business even in his later life.

He said:

“He had not given up on the business right until the very end.

“He was always there for us.”

A popular figure in his home village, Mr Bowers was particularly supportive of Hampsthwaite Church of England Primary School, where he organised Christmas carol singing once a year.

He also sponsored bowls tournaments in Dacre and the town crier competition at Knaresborough Feva festival.

Read more:

• New foodbank planned for Jennyfields
• Further tributes paid to ‘stalwart’ Harrogate councillor who has died

Mr Hessell said giving back to his local community was important to Mr Bowers and was something he continued to do in later life.

He said:

“It meant a lot to him even in those last four years or so.

“One of the things he enjoyed doing was getting a deck chair outside his house and speaking to people who wandered by. He would enjoy that a lot.”

Mr Bowers (left) with Stephen Hessell

Illness and a decline in mobility had prevented Mr Bowers from the day-to-day running of the business since 2018.

He died on December 13, 2022, aged 79.

Mr Hessell said he would remember Mr Bowers as a friend who was always there.

He said:

“I’m going to miss his kindness for sure.

“If you needed to talk to somebody, I would sit with him for an hour. I’m going to miss him terribly.”

A private funeral will be held in accordance with Mr Bowers’ wishes. No details will be published of the service.

Bus tickets in the Harrogate district are set to be capped at £2 for three months as part of a government scheme.

The Get Around initiative is funded by the Department for Transport and will run from January 1 to March 31 next year.

It will see single tickets on services capped for 130 bus companies across England.

Both Harrogate Bus Company and Connexions Buses will be taking part in the scheme.

⬇️ ⬇️ PRICE DROP! NOW EVERYWHERE!

🗓From 1st Jan until 31 Mar

💸 Never pay more than £2 a ride. Anywhere to anywhere on all our buses

📲 Buy on board and on the #TransdevGO app!

🙌 See you on board. pic.twitter.com/qPY3hp83dl

— The Harrogate Bus Company (@harrogatebus) December 19, 2022

Buses Minister Richard Holden said:

“Brits love buses. They’re the most popular form of public transport in England, making up half of all journeys. So we’re investing £60 million to cap single bus fares at £2 to help families, students and commuters and help get people back on the bus.

“The scheme will also take two million car journeys off the road and it’s fantastic to see so many bus operators signing up.”

The scheme forms part of the government’s Help for Households campaign, which provides help with the cost of living increase.

Ministers said the move will help the bus industry continue to recover from the covid pandemic.

North Yorkshire bus services face ‘grave situation’

It comes as concern has been raised over the future of bus services in the Harrogate district.

Last month, Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire County Council, said the county’s bus network was “facing a really grave situation”.

Read More:

• ‘Use it or lose it’ warning as bus passenger numbers fall across Harrogate district
• YorBus: On-demand service’s running costs are twice as much as regular buses

Cllr Duncan said bus services in the county were facing unprecedented pressure due to higher costs and passenger numbers.

He added:

“The message across the county is use it or lose it. We need people to support these services.”

Liberal Democrat councillor for Pateley Bridge, Andrew Murday, said residents of his division faced having just two services a day to Harrogate.

He said:

“We just have to do something about bus services, and encourage more people onto buses. We need to know how we are going to go about discouraging people from driving and encouraging people on to buses, so bus services can thrive.”

North Yorkshire Police carried out strip searches on 90 children over the last three years, figures show.

Figures obtained by the Stray Ferret through a Freedom of Information request show 34 children were searched in custody in 2019 alone. Twenty-seven were searched in 2020 and 29 last year.

The force said the searches involved removing jacket, overcoat and gloves and carrying out a procedure known as a “more thorough search”.

None of them involved an “exposing intimate parts” search, which the force said has not been conducted on a child under 18 in the last three years.

While the figures show the number of individuals who have been strip searched by officers following an arrest, they do not reflect whether the child had been searched on multiple occasions. 

North Yorkshire Police also revealed it had conducted a total of 43 strip searches as a result of stop and search on children since 2019.

Table showing strip searches carried out by North Yorkshire Police. Data: NYP.

Officers have the power to order an individual to remove clothing as part of stop search, if they have reasonable grounds to suspect they have a dangerous or prohibited item.

The figures come as the Children’s Commissioner for England criticised the Metropolitan Police in August this year after it was revealed the force strip searched 650 children over two years – the majority of which were found to be innocent of the suspicions against them.

Iryna Pona, policy manager at The Children’s Society, said the Home Office and police forces should investigate the practice.

She said:

“Strip searches are intrusive and traumatic for children, and we are urging the Home Office and police leaders to investigate the concerning scale of this practice.

“Guidance and training for officers needs to be reviewed to ensure strip searches only happen when absolutely necessary, and that children and young people are treated with dignity and respect. Nationally, we’ve heard examples where safeguards like an appropriate adult being present, are not followed, and we see an over-representation of black children in strip search figures.

“When police officers arrest or stop and search children this should be a golden opportunity to identify risks like exploitation to courier drugs and work with other services to offer protection and help.”

Police response

In response to the figures, a North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:

“Alongside our partners, we work hard to engage with and educate children and young people about the consequences of crime.

“Our dedicated anti-knife crime operation, Operation Divan looks to reduce the number of young people carrying weapons by challenging misconceptions and educating them on the consequences of doing so. Working in partnership with education, social care and youth justice any young person identified as potentially carrying a weapon or being involved in county lines, drug or child exploitation is invited to take part in the scheme, which has recently been recognised by the Howard League for Penal Reform in their community awards.

“Thanks to our preventative approach and our close partnership working, the number of children arrested has also fallen year-on-year since 2018, as reported by the Howard League – The Howard League | Child arrests in England and Wales reduced by 74 per cent in a decade

“Sadly though there are some children who do become involved in criminal activity and in order to safeguard them and keep the public safe, at times it is necessary to conduct searches. Stop and search is a valuable tool in preventing and detecting crime and we recognise it is essential that its use is legitimate and proportionate, in order to maintain public trust.

“We follow guidance from the College of Policing regarding the use of stop and search and we have a number of measures in place to ensure that decisions around its use are recorded and scrutinised. We believe transparency is important to maintaining public trust, so our stop and search figures are published to our website on a monthly basis. Stop and search | North Yorkshire Police”

Read more:

• Police plea to call out drink drivers amid increasing Harrogate district incidents
• Impartiality concerns over crime commissioner’s plan to share office with Harrogate police

A spokesperson for the children’s charity the NSPCC said:

“Like all forces, North Yorkshire Police must fully acknowledge that safeguarding should be at the heart of their policies and procedures when it comes to searching children.

“National guidance on the use of these searches would provide clarity and help to ensure young people’s rights and needs are paramount in these situations.”

Harrogate is set to host Comic Con Yorkshire in 2023 after details have been announced.

The convention, which is organised by Monopoly Events, will be held on Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4, at the Yorkshire Events Centre.

The two-day event will run from 9am until 6pm each day.

Monopoly Events, which is hosting a similar event in Liverpool and Manchester, said it was aiming for a sell out convention.

Andy Kleek, CEO of Monopoly Events, said: 

“We want to build a solid sell out show over the next two years and make this into another one of our flagship Monopoly shows, for all our fans in the Yorkshire area. 

“We are very excited to be working with the Yorkshire Event Centre who have the same passion we do about building this event. 

“As with all our shows we have a three- year roadmap which we will be looking to extend for many years afterwards. Expect big guests, amazing set and prop builds, major attractions, cosplay, anime, traders, gaming and more.”

Heather Parry, managing director of the Yorkshire Event Centre, added: 

“We are delighted to be hosting this exciting new event and we look forward to working with Monopoly on its amazing debut in Yorkshire.”

Tickets for Comic Con Yorkshire 2023 are on sale now. For more information visit the convention website here.

Read more:

• Is Harrogate ice cream van the best in the country?
• Harrogate M&S manager calls for longer Christmas fayre to bolster town centre