Senior Conservative councillors in Harrogate are set to call for a referendum on whether to create a town council.

Harrogate Borough Council will no longer exist from April 1 when the new unitary authority, North Yorkshire Council, is created.

If a new town council is created it could be given control over areas including parks, tourism and events.

Some think a town council would boost local decision-making while others regard it as an unnecessary extra layer of bureaucracy.

Next week, Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of the council, and Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of the authority, will table a motion calling on the county council to hold a referendum.

Cllr Richard Cooper (left) and Cllr Graham Swift.

North Yorkshire County Council has launched a review into whether to create a lower tier authority in the town. A consultation into the matter is currently being held.

The motion, which will go before a full borough council meeting on September 21, says:

“This council calls upon North Yorkshire County Council to hold a binding referendum of Harrogate town residents who would be constituents of a new Harrogate Town Council to determine whether such a council should be formed.

“Information should be made available before the vote on what duties the new town council will have and how much the additional council tax precept will be to pay for those duties.

“Such a referendum will give democratic legitimacy to the new town council in the eyes of those who fund it and are affected by its decisions.”

Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have already called for Harrogate to have its own town council.

Read more:

• Harrogate town council: What is it and what would it cost taxpayers?
• Decision on Harrogate town council could take two years

Harrogate and Scarborough are the only major places in North Yorkshire not to be parished.

Earlier this year, Conservative leader of the county council, Cllr Carl Les, said he hoped the matter could be resolved “as soon as possible”.

When asked when the referendums could be held, Cllr Les told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that this was currently unclear. He said:

“We are getting a lot of requests about town councils made to us from people including local politicians, as well as the business community and groups like Harrogate Civic Society.

“There is clearly an appetite to do something about this.

“And of course the sooner we can do it, the sooner we can find out whether there is an appetite amongst the general population.

“They are the key people in all of this. They have to be asked for their opinion and will say yea or nay.”

A public consultation over setting up a town council for Harrogate is currently open. You can have your say here.

The consultation will close on September 30.

Traffic is moving as normal during rush hour in the Harrogate district.

However, temporary lights and road closures are still in place in some parts of Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Northern Gas Networks is undertaking work at Oakdale in Harrogate to replace a gas main, which has seen a road closure put in place. The closure will remain until September 23.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water is due to carry out work on Clarence Drive in Harrogate. A road closure is due to be in place until September 21.

Temporary traffic lights are due to be put in place on North Park Road today until September 19. The lights will be in place while CityFibre carries out maintenance work.

In Knaresborough, Blind Lane will be closed for resurfacing work until tomorrow (September 16) according to North Yorkshire County Council’s roadworks map.

Trains and buses

Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.

LNER has urged passengers travelling direct to London to plan ahead and ensure they have seat reservations as services are due to be busy during the mourning period for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate Bus Company is reporting cancellations on its 1A, 1C, 3, 7 and 36 services this morning.

You can find out more on the disruption to services here.

Harrogate Bus Company has also announced that it will be running a Sunday service on Monday (September 19) during the state funeral for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

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The government has rejected plans to convert a former Harrogate working men’s club into flats.

The National Reserve Club, on East Parade, formally closed in July 2021 following a unanimous resolution by members. It was also known as ‘The Nash’.

The organisation had been registered as a working men’s club since July 11, 1913, when it was known as the Harrogate Battalion National Reserve of the West Riding of York Club.

ID Planning, which submitted a plan to convert the club into flats on behalf of Ashleigh and Caroline Wells, took Harrogate Borough Council to appeal after it refused its conversion plan in May this year.

The council said there was insufficient evidence that the building could no longer be used as a community facility.

But the developer said in a statement to the government that the reasons for rejection were “unfounded”.

It said:

“Based on the assessment provided, it is considered that the reasons for refusal of the planning application given by Harrogate Borough Council are unfounded and the proposed development accords with all relevant local and national planning policy.”

Read more:

• Bilton Working Men’s Club decides on new name
• Malcolm Neesam History: Harrogate’s thriving working men’s clubs
• Bid to convert Harrogate working men’s club into flats refused

Robert Walker, a government planning inspector, said in a decision notice that he could not conclude that continued use of the site as a community facility would cause “planning problems”.

He said:

“I recognise that there are residential properties nearby, including flats in the appeal building.

“However, the appeal site is located close to the town centre in a mixed area on a busy street. It is not in a quiet residential area. 

“Such a location and relationship to upper floor flats or other nearby residential properties is not unusual. 

“Moreover, the former working men’s club operated on the site for a considerable number of years and no substantive evidence has been provided of problems from its past use.”

Mr Walker added that there had not been “sufficient evidence provided to justify the permanent loss of the existing community facility”.

Harrogate Town has had plans for a new clubhouse at its Wetherby Road stadium approved.

The club tabled a planning application to build the two-storey facility in the north-west corner of the ground back in March this year.

It would be used to serve fans refreshments on match days and include an upper floor area for supporters to gather.

Harrogate Borough Council has now given the go-ahead for the plan.

The facility would be needed for the club to meet its English Football League membership criteria, which requires all member clubs to provide refreshment facilities for home and away fans in separate areas of the ground.

A planning report by Harrogate Borough Council said:

The club has already seen a number of developments approved by the council since promotion, including a new ticket office and turnstiles at the EnviroVent Stadium which were backed by the council in April 2021.

Read more:

• Harrogate Town given go-ahead for new ticket office and turnstiles
• Man completes epic football fan challenge at Harrogate Town

A Harrogate solicitor has said there is “no legal requirement” for employees to be given a day off for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

The government has announced that Monday’s state funeral will be a national bank holiday.

Consequently, many businesses plan to close and give staff the day off. But there is confusion over whether they are legally obliged to do so.

James Austin, from Harrogate-based LCF Law, today clarified the situation.

Mr Austin, who specialises in employment law, said although it was likely many employees would be given time off, it was not a legal requirement for all employers.

He said:

“For example, employees may be eligible if their contract of employment states that they are entitled to say ‘20 days holiday plus bank holidays’. However, if the contract refers to the employee only being entitled to ‘the usual bank holidays,’ this wouldn’t apply.

“In addition, they might not get the day off if, for example, the contract refers to 28 days’ holiday including ‘bank holidays,’ which could mean an employer simply deducts a day’s holiday from the non-bank holiday entitlement.”

Mr Austin added:

“However, this is a unique national moment so we suspect the majority of employers will give staff the time off, which is what we saw with the Jubilee.

“Where employees are entitled to the day off, but the employer wants them to work, the contract will usually state whether the employer can require this and, if so, whether the employee is entitled to extra pay or time off in lieu.”

LCF Law employs more than 125 people at offices in Harrogate, Leeds, Bradford and Ilkley.

Read more:

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Some roadworks remain in place across Harrogate this morning.

However, traffic appears to be moving as normal heading into the rush hour period.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Northern Gas Networks is undertaking work at Oakdale in Harrogate to replace a gas main, which has seen a road closure put in place. The closure will remain until September 23.

Meanwhile, temporary traffic lights are in place on Ripon Road near to the Shell garage as Yorkshire Water carries out work in the area.

The lights will remain in place until this Friday.

Trains and buses

Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.

LNER has urged passengers travelling direct to London to plan ahead and ensure they have seat reservations as services are due to be busy during the mourning period for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate Bus Company is reporting no cancellations on its services this morning.

You can find out more on the disruption to services here.

Harrogate Bus Company has also announced that it will be running a Sunday service on Monday (September 19) during the state funeral for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Traffic is moving as normal in the Harrogate district this morning, but some road closures remain in place.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Northern Gas Networks is undertaking maintenance work on Kent Road off Ripon Road, which is closed until tomorrow (September 14).

The company is also taking on work at Oakdale in Harrogate to replace a gas main, which has seen a road closure put in place.. The closure will remain until September 23.

Meanwhile, temporary traffic lights are in place on Ripon Road near to the Shell garage as Yorkshire Water carries out work in the area.

The lights will remain in place until this Friday.

Trains and buses

Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.

LNER has urged passengers travelling direct to London to plan ahead and ensure they have seat reservations as services are due to be busy during the mourning period for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate Bus Company is reporting cancellations on its 1A, 1B, 7 and 36 services this morning.

You can find out more on the disruption to services here.

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Harrogate Borough Council has rejected plans for a development of eco-homes near Flaxby for a second time.

Holmes Planning Ltd submitted a planning application to the council for five homes off York Road in June this year.

The move followed the authority rejecting a plan for nine homes in January. The government also refused the proposal on appeal.

It would have seen houses built to environmental standards and included solar panels, air-source heat pumps and super-tight insulation. The houses were planned to be custom built.

In its latest application, Holmes Planning said it had addressed the concerns of the inspector including reducing the number of homes.

However, in a decision notice, the council said the proposal was “outside the development limits of any village or settlement”.

It added:

“The proposed five dwellings and associated paraphernalia would extend the built form into an undeveloped parcel of open agricultural land on the edge of Flaxby, which contributes to the rural character and landscape setting of the village.”

Read more:

• Eco-development could be catalyst for green housing in Harrogate district
• Developer appeals decision to reject Harrogate district eco-homes

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Harrogate-based Cloud Nine has appointed a new director as it eyes growth in Australia.

Seaneen Copeland – who began her career as a trainee hair stylist in her home city of Belfast – has joined the business as its new sales and marketing director for the country.

Before moving to Australia 10 years ago, Seaneen worked with a number of major brands in the hair and fashion industries, including Levi Strauss, Kookai Paris, Tommy Hilfiger, Zakks Hair Group N Ireland, GHD, Showpony, Salon Express and most recently Price Attack.

Since launching in Australia in 2011, the country has become increasingly important to Cloud Nine with 40% of is group revenue now coming from its Australian subsidiary.

Jo Fox, group sales and marketing director for Cloud Nine, said: 

“With her vast experience Seaneen is a perfect fit for Cloud Nine.

“Australia is a very important market for us, so it’s great that we recruited someone based in Australia who shares our ambition for growth in the Southern Hemisphere.

“And having worked with Seaneen previously, I know her passion and determination to succeed is incredible. She is a superb addition to the Cloud Nine team.”

New EnviroVent headquarters complete

A new headquarters for EnviroVent on Harrogate West Business Park has been completed.

Sutcliffe Construction Ltd, which was brought in to construct the building, confirmed that work is now complete on the new HQ.

The new building includes manufacturing space, warehousing, offices and training facilities.

EnviroVent opted for the new HQ, which includes air source heat pumps, solar panels, and a heat recovery system, in an effort to become net-zero carbon across the business by 2030.

Read more:

• New pharmacy coming to Harrogate’s Beulah Street
• Drone shots reveal progression of new Knaresborough Road Lidl

A 73-year-old woman from Harrogate has been missing for six days as police remain “extremely concerned” for her welfare.

Judith Holliday was reported missing after last being seen on Saturday (August 27) in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Police continue to search for Judith and have urged people to remain vigilant and report any sightings of her.

She is described as white, thin build, approximately 5ft in height, with medium-length grey bobbed hair. She was last seen wearing dark-coloured trousers and a blue jacket.

She may still be wearing the distinctive coat.

Police say they now have a new last confirmed sighting of Judith, on Saturday, August 27 in North Rigton.

Officers said it’s believed that Judith left Harrogate by bus, then flagged down a member of the public and asked for a lift to the village.

Judith also has links to Wetherby and sightings have been reported in Wetherby, Knaresborough, Otley and Ilkley.

Read more:

• Reported sighting of missing Harrogate woman in Wetherby
• Police growing ‘increasingly concerned’ for missing Harrogate woman

Louise Pegg, North Yorkshire Police Critical Incident Inspector, said:

“We are extremely concerned for the welfare of Judith as she has now been missing for nearly a week.

“Judith requires medication and has dementia but often presents fit and well.

“Judith’s family are doing everything they can to help locate Judith and officers are supporting them as we continue to try and locater her.

“If required, the searches will continue across the weekend. I would urge any members of the public who are out and about today and this weekend to remain vigilant and report any immediate sightings of Judith to 999.”

Anyone with any information that could assist with the search should call 101 and quote ref number 12220153505.

Any immediate sightings should be reported to 999.