A serious crash on the A1(M) near Dishforth left the occupants of a Fiat 500 requiring hospital treatment.

North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal for further information today after the crash closed the stretch of road before junction 49 at 5.50am on Friday (March 31) for two hours.

The crash involved a white Fiat 500 and a heavy goods vehicle. The occupants of the Fiat suffered serious injuries and required hospital treatment.

A police statement said:

“Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision or anyone who recalls seeing the vehicle(s) prior to the collision, to get in touch as soon as possible to assist the investigation.

“They would be particularly keen to hear from anyone who captured dash cam footage of the collision or the vehicles.

“If you can help, please email gary.dukes@northyorkshire.police.uk, or contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for Gary Dukes.”

Read more:

• Harrogate woman jailed for 10 weeks
• Guilty plea ends trial into alleged Harrogate cocaine racket
• Harrogate police officer given suspended sentence for sex assault

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The fourth in our series of networking events, with Banyan Bar & Kitchen, is a breakfast event on April 27 from 8am.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A new specialist health and nutritional supplement shop has opened in Harrogate.

Go Herbs, which is based on Station Parade, offers customers a a wide range of vitamins, natural health products and sports supplements.

The store is overseen by Emilija Krukoniene and Abbie Green, who wanted to create a welcoming, positive and educational experience for customers to learn how they can improve their health, wellbeing and sports performance.

Ms Krukoniene said:

“We are really excited to see our vision coming to fruition as we open our first store in Harrogate and welcome customers. 

“Whilst most of us can get all the vitamins and minerals we need by eating a healthy, balanced diet, sometimes we need a little extra help and so we are looking forward to getting to know the  local community. 

“Health and nutrition is my passion and it has always been a dream for me to  be able to help people look and feel their best by helping them find the best products to support them whatever their goals, with a welcoming in-store experience.”

The store is planning a series of events throughout the year such as Q&A sessions, collaborating  with local groups and organisations, providing expert advice and support alongside high-quality products.

Women’s networking event to be held in Harrogate

A networking event for women in business is set to be held in Harrogate.

The event is organised by She Business UK, which aims to support women within the workplace.

The networking lunch will be held at Co-Lab on Kings Road and will take place from midday until 2pm on Tuesday, April 18.

It will include a discussion led by Fiona Kearns, women’s ambassador at She Business UK.

For more information, visit the networking EventBrite page here.

Read more:

• Business Breakfast: Knaresborough pest control company appoints new chief
• Business Breakfast: Knaresborough finance firm makes three new hires

A walking festival is set to be held in Boroughbridge over the Easter weekend.

The Boroughbridge Easter Walking Festival will see a range of walks take place from Friday, April 7, to Monday, April 10.

They will include three, four, five, 11 and 16 mile walks around the town and surrounding area.

The festival, which has been held annually for 10 years and is free of charge, has seen 200 walkers turn up for the four-day event in the past.

Read More:

• Harrogate’s Valley Gardens to host three-day coronation celebration
• 17 more defibrillators to be available in Harrogate district

The guided walks start from a range of places, including the Crown Hotel, Rabbit Hill and Langthorpe Picnic Area.

The hikes are suitable for all abilities and all are welcome. Dogs are welcome on short leads.

For more information, visit the Boroughbridge Walks website here. 

Developers have resubmitted plans for new homes in the Crimple Valley.

The application by Square Feet Ltd and Antela Developments Ltd would see the homes built at Almsford Bank Stables on Leeds Road.

Harrogate Borough Council rejected proposals for 35 homes in the area back in November 2022.

However, the developer has now reduced the number of homes to 17.

It includes 10 self or custom build homes and seven affordable houses.

The council had previously refused the plan on the grounds that the site was not allocated for housing under the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place.

It added that the plan “would result in harm to the character and appearance of its surroundings”.

However, the developer said in its planning documents that it had submitted a “wide range of technical and assessment works” in support of the proposal.

It added:

“It is concluded that there are no technical reasons relating to these matters why planning permission should not be granted.”

Read more:

• Controversial plan for 35 homes in Crimple Valley rejected
• Dozens of objections to ‘ludicrous’ Crimple Valley housing plan

The development has long been opposed by local residents as part of the Save Crimple Valley group.

The group has argued that the site is “unsafe” for such a scheme and urged the council to reject the plan last year.

The previous scheme was met by more than 240 letters of objection.

A decision on the new plan will be made by the new North Yorkshire Council at a later date.

As Harrogate Borough Council draws to a close, the move to scrap the authority also sees 24 councillors lose their roles.

The brand new North Yorkshire Council will have 16 elected representatives from the Harrogate district.

However, only 12 of those councillors will move on from seats on the borough council.

Some have successfully sought reelection to the new council.

Among those stepping down include council leader, Cllr Richard Cooper, and deputy leader of the authority, Cllr Graham Swift.

Members of the cabinet Cllr Phil Ireland and Cllr Stanley Lumley have also departed.

In this article, we take a look at the 24 councillors who will no longer represent the district.

Rebecca Burnett

The former chairman of Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee.

She represented Harrogate St Georges since 2018. 

Trevor Chapman

Mayor Trevor Chapman and wife Janet

Cllr Chapman, who represented Harrogate Bilton Grange, was mayor of the Harrogate borough last year.

The Liberal Democrat was on the council since 2018.

Read more:

• Explained: What happens to bin collections in Harrogate after devolution?
• Explained: Who will make planning decisions in Harrogate district after devolution?

Richard Cooper

Leader of the council since 2014, Conservative Cllr Cooper represented Harrogate central on the authority.

He announced in October 2021 that he would not seek election to North Yorkshire Council.

Ed Darling

Conservative Cllr Darling was chair of the licensing committee on Harrogate Borough Council and represented Knaresborough Castle ward.

John Ennis

John Ennis, Conservative.

Cllr Ennis, a Conservative, represented the Harrogate Stray ward on the authority.

Sam Green

Sam Green, who was the youngest councillor on Harrogate Borough Council.

Cllr Green, who was only elected in May last year, was the youngest borough councillor at 26-years-old.

He was elected to the Wathvale ward on the council.

Sid Hawke

Cllr Hawke was one of two Ripon Independent councillors on the borough council.

Phil Ireland

Conservative Cllr Ireland was one the authority’s cabinet. He held the carbon reduction and sustainability portfolio.

He also represented Knaresborough Aspin and Calcutt ward.

Steven Jackson

Cllr Jackson was a Conservative councillor who represented the Harrogate Saltergate ward on the council.

Sue Lumby

Cllr Lumby was the Conservative councillor for Harrogate Coppice Valley. She also chaired the council’s human resource committee.

Stanley Lumley

Councillor Stanley Lumley (pictured left)

Conservative Cllr Lumley was the authority’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport and oversaw the creation of Brimhams Active, which now runs council leisure centres.

He unsuccessfully stood for election to the new North Yorkshire Council. He also represented Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale on the borough council.

Stuart Martin

Conservative Cllr Martin was mayor of Harrogate borough in 2020.

He represented Ripon Moorside on the authority.

Pauline McHardy

Cllr McHardy, who represented Ripon Minster, was a Ripon Independent on the borough council.

Nigel Middlemass

Cllr Middlemass was a Conservative councillor who represented Harrogate Kingsley ward.

Ann Myatt

Conservative Cllr Myatt represented Ouseburn ward on the borough council.

Tim Myatt

Cllr Myatt was part of the council’s cabinet and held the portfolio for planning.

He also represented Harrogate High ward.

Victoria Oldham

Conservative Cllr Oldham is the current mayor of the Harrogate borough. She chaired full council meetings this year.

She also represented Washburn ward.

Alex Raubitschek

Cllr Raubitschek was a Conservative councillor who represented Oatlands ward.

Matt Scott

Conservative Cllr Scott represented Harrogate Bilton Woodfield on the borough council and chaired the authority’s general purposes committee.

Nigel Simms

Cllr Simms, who represented Masham and Kirkby Malzeard, was vice-chair of the council’s planning committee.

Graham Swift

Conservative deputy leader of the council and portfolio holder for resources, enterprise and economic development, Cllr Swift was among the senior councillors on the authority.

He unsuccessfully stood for election to North Yorkshire Council. He also represented the Duchy ward on the borough council.

Tom Watson

Liberal Democrat Cllr Tom Watson represented Nidd Valley on the borough council.

Matthew Webber

Cllr Webber, who was a Liberal Democrat, represented New Park on the authority.

Christine Willoughby

Liberal Democrat Cllr Willoughby sat on the council for Knaresborough Eastfield.

Hospital bosses in Harrogate have said a £9 million spend on agency staff this year was “necessary”.

Earlier this week, the Stray Ferret reported that the hospital had spent £4.1 million more than its target spend for agencies this year.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust set a target to spend no more than £473,000 each month on agencies — the equivalent of a maximum of £5.7 million over the year.

The figure covers staffing in areas such as nursing, dental and clinical support staff.

In response to the spend, a spokesperson for the trust said:

“When we experience workforce challenges in our clinical and non-clinical services we will use our bank of nursing staff or the services of relevant recruitment agencies to support staff gaps where necessary. This is an issue faced by all NHS foundation trusts across the country.

“The workforce challenges can be for a variety of reasons, such as when we have vacancies due to colleagues leaving the Trust or being promoted, or staff illness.

“It is important that we maintain a safe level of staff to care for our patients, and this can fluctuate due to circumstance – for instance, over the winter months we generally see a rise in patients with respiratory infections, such as the flu or covid-19, and an increase in the number of patients who cannot be discharged. This will lead to the trust opening more beds to meet demand, which in turn requires additional medical and nursing staff to care for those patients. In such instances, we may need to call on agencies, which can be expensive, but enables our services to continue.

“Whilst the current spend on agency staff across our services is higher than we expected, this has been necessary to ensure we can continue to provide the safest and best possible levels of health care service for our community.”

Read more:

• Harrogate hospital trust spends £9m on agency staff
• NHS places to be lost as Ripon dental practice closure announced

It comes as Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds North West and the party’s shadow environment minister, described Harrogate hospital’s reliance on agencies as “a disgrace”.

He told the House of Commons in February that a constituent called Marjorie Dunn spent just over seven weeks at the hospital last year.

Mr Sobel said:

“In that time she saw NHS nurses leave the service and she was treated predominantly by agency staff — mistreated, I have to say, by agency staff. It is a disgrace.

“When she was eventually moved to a recovery hub run by Leeds City Council she got excellent treatment there.

“She had broken her pelvis and been told she would never walk again, but it was the council physiotherapist who got her up and walking again. Is it not right that we should be supporting local authorities such as Labour-run Leeds to get such facilities as well as the NHS?”

A senior North Yorkshire Police officer has criticised the “disgraceful actions” of a Harrogate officer who was convicted of sexual assault.

Joseph McCabe, 27, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault following a trial in February and appeared for sentence at York Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

McCabe was given a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years. He was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for seven years.

District judge Tan Ikram told McCabe that he had given “no credible explanation as to why (the victim) would make up such a serious allegation”. 

Following the outcome of the case, Deputy chief constable Mabs Hussain commended the victim for coming forward.

He added that McCabe’s actions were “disgraceful”.

Mr Hussain said:

“Our communities need to know that they can have complete trust in their police, and that we demand the highest level of integrity from our officers and staff.

“McCabe’s disgraceful actions fell far below that standard. I commend the victim for her courage in coming forward so we could take action. I also hope the case sends a clear message that there is no place for this behaviour in policing – and that we will secure justice against perpetrators, no matter who they are.”

McCabe is currently suspended from North Yorkshire Police. He will appear before a misconduct hearing at a later.

Read more:

• Harrogate woman jailed for 10 weeks
• Guilty plea ends trial into alleged Harrogate cocaine racket
• Harrogate police officer given suspended sentence for sex assault

Valley Gardens in Harrogate is set to host a three-day celebration event for the coronation of King Charles III.

The free event will take place from Saturday, May 6, until Monday, May 8.

It will include live stream of the coronation ceremony on a big screen from Westminster Abbey.

Besides the big screen, a stage will feature a line-up of family-friendly entertainment.

There will also be fairground rides, food and drink stalls, pop-up character appearances, circus workshops and an artisan market in the gardens Sun Colonnade.

Cllr Sam Gibbs, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said:

“Valley Gardens provides the perfect backdrop for our three-day event to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III.

“There will be rides, family entertainment throughout the weekend, pop-up character appearances and circus workshops. There truly is something for everyone and even better, it’s all free.

“So pack a picnic and come on down to Valley Gardens to mark the coronation.”

For more information on the event, visit the Visit Harrogate website.

Read More:

• New horn is the jewel in the crown of Ripon’s royal celebrations
• Your memories of how the district celebrated the Queen’s silver jubilee in 1977
• Fees waived for Harrogate district street parties to mark coronation

Local voluntary organisations in the Harrogate district are set to be given 17 public defibrillators.

The move comes as part of £22,000 worth of funding from Harrogate Borough Council.

The council, which will be abolished at the end of today, launched a defibrillator grant scheme in January.

Defibrillators provide 24-hour access to life-saving emergency equipment when a cardiac arrest is suspected.

The council has now selected the 17 groups which will receive them.

Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council and chair of the voluntary and community sector liaison group, said: 

“I am delighted that the borough council has been able to provide these defibrillators to local communities.

“They can save lives, and while I hope they never have to be used, it is reassuring to know that so many are now out there across the district.”

Read more:

• New plans submitted to create 12 flats in former Harrogate care home
• Government ‘refuses to consider’ compensating North Yorkshire for scrapped care pilot

Dishforth Parish Council, which has received funding for a defibrillator, said: 

“This grant will play a vital part in ensuring our parishioners and members of the public have the use of a defibrillator at the playing field and sports pavilion should it be needed.”

Starbeck Tennis Club said: 

“It is so important to our members and the neighbourhood that this defibrillator is available for anyone who needs access as every second matters in a medical emergency.”

Groups that will receive defibrillators

1.      Dishforth Parish Council

2.      Fewston Parochial Hall

3.      Haverah Park with Beckwithshaw Parish Council

4.      Healey Masham

5.      High Ellington Masham

6.      Knaresborough Football Club

7.      Knaresborough Lions

8.      Knaresborough Forest Cricket Club

9.      Little Ribston Village Hall

10.  Low Burton

11.  Moor Monkton Parish Council

12.  Ripon Community Link

13.  Rotary Club of Knaresborough

14.  Starbeck Tennis club

15.  The Parish Meeting of South Stainley with Cayton

16.  Thornthwaite Scout Centre

17.  Thruscross Parish Council

Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished at the end of today after 49 years of existence.

The council, along with six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council, will be replaced by North Yorkshire Council from April 1.

The move comes as part of the biggest shake-up in local government since 1974.

It means North Yorkshire Council, which will employ 11,500 staff, will be responsible for all council services in the district, including bin collections, planning, licensing and highways.

The change will also see the district represented by 16 councillors, instead of the current 40 on the borough council plus more on the county council.

Among those councillors stepping down are Richard Cooper and Graham Swift, the leader and deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council respectively.

‘We will be locally-based’

The new leaders of the unitary council have pledged the new authority will be local, despite being based in Northallerton.

Speaking ahead of the takeover, Richard Flinton, the new chief executive of the council, defended the authority from criticism that it was too remote.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“We will have locally-based managers who have a strong understanding of the issues in their areas.”

The authority’s leadership says while one safeguard against parochialism on the new authority would be in its executive members representing communities from across the county, another is by retaining its headquarters in Northallerton.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.

Mr Flinton said: 

“If our headquarters was in Harrogate or Scarborough then there might be more of a concern that we would be focused on that as the council view of the world. 

“Being in a fairly modest market town mitigates against that.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative leader of the new council, defended the decision to create 90 councillors to cover the entire county – rather than the current number of 319 which cover different councils.

He said:

“Representation by numbers doesn’t work. What matters is if you’ve got energetic people in the cohort of 90. The great benefit of reducing from 319 is that we have saved £750,000.

“I think we’ve got enough members to represent the people and continue the political process. You don’t have to go to a parish meeting to understand what’s happening in that parish.”

Read more:

• Explained: What happens to bin collections in Harrogate after devolution?
• Explained: Who will make planning decisions in Harrogate district after devolution?