Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter, Author at The Stray Ferret

Business group calls for more Harrogate town centre police

Officials at Harrogate Business Improvement District hope more officers will be put into the town centre after latest figures show 187 cases of anti-social behaviour were reported in the area.

Matthew Chapman, manager at the BID, said more police in the area would help to deter such crime.

It comes as the organisation last week launched its Report a Crime campaign, which encourages people to report instances of crime in the town centre.

Latest police figures show that within the force’s Harrogate Town area, which includes the town centre and outer areas, 187 reports of anti-social behaviour were made during May.

The number makes up 31% of all crime reported.

A total of 602 crimes were reported during the month, which also includes 57 instances of criminal damage and 26 reports of shoplifting.

Mr Chapman told the Stray Ferret:

“Harrogate isn’t immune from criminal activity and antisocial behaviour, however, it is a lot safer, cleaner, and more welcoming than many other towns and cities in the UK – and this is something Harrogate BID is doing its upmost to maintain.

“Last week, we launched our Report a Crime campaign, where we are urging businesses, residents and visitors to contact the police via the online reporting system if they witness a crime, or a victim of it.

“Senior Harrogate police officers tell us there are no issues and resources are needed elsewhere, but these figures contradict that view. I hope they will now look again and increase uniformed patrols in and around the town centre, which will have a double effect – that of reassurance and other deterrence.”

The campaign to report more crime comes as the BID said police statistics did not match what businesses were telling them on the ground.

The kind of crimes being seen by retailers included anti-social behaviour, often linked to drinking, and what’s termed ‘professional begging’.

The new campaign is being backed by Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, whose chief executive David Simister said:

“Harrogate is a fantastic town to live and work, but when it comes to crime it’s not immune.

“It’s important we get a proper understanding of what is happening – or not happening – in our town centre, hence us giving our backing to this campaign.

“In the past I’ve called 101 and after waiting many minutes I’ve simply put the phone down. And by doing this, an incident has gone unreported. In future, report it online and that way it is logged and recorded.”

To report a crime in Harrogate Town centre, visit the North Yorkshire Police website.

Council leader ‘shares disappointment’ over lack of HCC funding in devolution deal

The leader of North Yorkshire County Council has said he shares disappointment that funding for Harrogate Convention Centre has not being included in a £540 million devolution deal.

Cllr Carl Les said a bid for funding to support a £47 million HCC redevelopment was included in a request to government, but was turned down.

His comments come as Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, told the Harrogate Advertiser that while he supported the deal, he felt it “fell short” due to a lack of funding for the facility.

The borough council has since had to draw up a bid to the government’s levelling up fund in an effort to support the project.

Cllr Les told the Stray Ferret that the county council would continue to work with the borough council to secure funding for the facility.

He said:

“We did put a request for the Harrogate Convention Centre in the asks which were submitted to government.

“Harrogate sent officers to present the case, but the message from civil servants was that it should not be included.

“I share Richard’s disappointment, but we were given a clear steer and we are supporting Harrogate in that.”

Cllr Les added that the county council “recognised the importance” of the convention centre.

Historic deal

A historic £540 million devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York was announced by government yesterday.

The deal includes £18 million of guaranteed government cash for 30 years and it will also mean the county gets an elected mayor and combined authority.

The agreement has been described as “a one-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North-South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural areas”.

Speaking after signing the deal in York yesterday, chief secretary to the treasury, Simon Clarke said:

“Local leaders are best placed to know what their communities need so I’m delighted that the people of York and North Yorkshire will be able to directly elect a mayor to deliver on their priorities.

“Devolution will benefit people across the region and we are committed to boosting more local areas in the same way as we level up the whole country.”

Oxfordshire company given £200,000 contract to review Harrogate junctions

An Oxfordshire company has been awarded £200,000 to oversee a review of junctions as part of mass house building in the west of Harrogate.

North Yorkshire County Council has appointed RPS Consulting Services Limited to oversee the work, which is part of the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy.

The strategy is part of the wider proposals for the area and builds upon the West Harrogate Parameters Plan, which sets out how the area’s infrastructure and services will cope with 4,000 new homes.

The contract will see RPS Consulting Services review the designs of the junctions within the strategy.

Karl Battersby, corporate director for business and environmental services at the county council, said:

“This is a contract to support us in reviewing proposed junction mitigations for the infrastructure delivery plan, which is required to support growth in the west of Harrogate.

“The work will look at the design and timing of various junction changes, as well as the cost and delivery mechanism.

“It includes a number of junctions which will be looked at as part of a cumulative transport assessment carried out by the developers.”

Residents have criticised the delivery strategy for lacking detail and being “incoherent”.

Some people said they were disappointed after a meeting last month over some of the proposals in the delivery strategy.

The document was due for completion in May – but Harrogate Borough Council has now said it expects it to be published before the end of the year.

The Western Arc Coordination Group, which represents a range of Harrogate campaign and residents groups, said in a statement after the meeting:

“On the day, we were asked to provide comments on a document that only consisted of a series of diagrams in relation to a number of road junctions without any supporting data. The whole of this work came over as incoherent and lacking any real structure.”

In response, a borough council spokesperson said the meeting was held to help design the strategy and further consultation will take place with residents groups later in the year.

Traffic and Travel Alert: Roadworks and bus cancellations in Harrogate district

Some roadworks remain in place throughout the Harrogate district this morning which may cause delays.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Drivers should be aware of the usual rush hour traffic on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road, Skipton Road and Knaresborough Road this morning.

Motorists should also be aware of ongoing resurfacing work on Claro Road in Harrogate.

As previously reported, work in the area is expected to continue until August 9. Resurfacing will also be carried out on Devonshire Place and Coach Road during that time.

Northern Gas is also continuing work on Harrogate’s Grove Road where temporary lights will be in place until Friday.

Meanwhile, a road closure will be in place on Sherwood Drive from Hookstone Chase in Harrogate today to allow BT to repair service in the area.

A diversion will be in place from Forest Lane onto the road. The closure is expected to remain in force until Thursday.

Temporary lights are also on Ripon’s Clotherholme Road are still in place as Northern Gas Networks carries out replacement work to gas pipes in the area.

The lights will remain in place for seven weeks.

Meanwhile, long term roadworks are in place on Station Road in Goldsborough. The road will be closed until September 19, 2022, as Stonebridge Homes installs a foul water and surface water pipes to connect to the sewer system.

A diversion route is in place in the village.

Trains and buses

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

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

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

Four teens arrested after burglary in Spofforth

Police have arrested four teenagers after a burglary in Spofforth.

Officers were called to the village after reports of a break-in at a house in the early hours of this morning.

Three 16-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of burglary and a 15-year-old was arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary.

A North Yorkshire Police statement this afternoon confirmed that all four remain in custody and an investigation is ongoing.

MPs watch: PM resignation and a leadership contest

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In July, Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned and a leadership election was triggered in the Conservative party. Two of our MPs have backed Rishi Sunak, but Nigel Adams, who is a close ally of Boris Johnson, has yet to reveal his favoured candidate.

We asked our three Conservative MPs, Harrogate & Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon’s Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but, as usual, we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found out on Mr Jones:

On July 6, Andrew Jones called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign. He said: “I think we have come to the end of the road with this Prime Minister”.
On July 11, Mr Jones was elected to the executive of the Conservative party’s 1922 committee, which can be influential in determining the fate of party leaders.
Mr Jones formally backed Rishi Sunak to be the new leader of the Conservative Party on July 13.
On July 20, he took part in voting on a series of amendments to the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
Mr Jones spoke in the House of Commons to praise local agricultural shows on July 21.
Mr Jones held a surgery at Bilton Community Day on Saturday, July 30.

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

On July 7, Julian Smith heavily criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson during an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He said Mr Johnson was causing a “constitutional crisis” by refusing to resign amid a series on ministers quitting his cabinet.
Mr Smith tweeted the same day that the civil service had been “attacked and maligned” and had “held the country together” during the resignations of the cabinet.
On July 10, Mr Smith tweeted that the European Convention on Human Rights was “key” to the Good Friday Agreement. He warned against the Conservative leadership contest undermining the agreement.
On July 18, Mr Smith voted with the government on a confidence vote held in the House of Commons.
Mr Smith met with local farmers in Boroughbridge to discuss agricultural, as well as food security and production.
Following the resignation of Mr Johnson, Mr Smith declared his support for Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest on July 20.
On July 24, Mr Smith was in attendance for Mr Sunak’s visit to Black Sheep Brewery in Masham as part of his leadership campaign.
Mr Smith tweeted on July 29 that he had been to Ripon Tennis Club to try the facility’s new padel tennis courts.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams:

Instead of tweeting about resignations in the government, Mr Adams posted a tweet on July 5 congratulating the England cricket team on defeating India by seven wickets.
Mr Adams, who sits in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, has remained silent throughout the leadership election and has not yet revealed who has backed for leader.
Reports emerged in the Observer on July 18 that Mr Adams could face a by-election as he could be offered a peerage by Boris Johnson.
On the same day, he voted with the government on a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
Mr Adams tweeted on July 27 that he had met AstraZeneca in Tokyo to “discuss innovation and partnerships”. He tweeted again the following day that he had met the 2025 World Expo organisers in Japan.

Traffic and Travel Alert: Harrogate district traffic roundup

Traffic is moving as normal through the Harrogate district this morning.

However, a road closure will be in place in Harrogate today as resurfacing work continues.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Motorists should be aware of a road closure on Claro Road in Harrogate today as North Yorkshire County Council continues resurfacing work in the area.

As previously reported, work in the area is expected to continue until August 9. Resurfacing will also be carried out on Devonshire Place and Coach Road during that time.

Northern Gas is also continuing work on Harrogate’s Grove Road where temporary lights will be in place until August 5.

Temporary lights are also on Ripon’s Clotherholme Road are still in place as Northern Gas Networks carries out replacement work to gas pipes in the area.

The lights will remain in place for seven weeks.

A diversion route is in place in the village.

Trains and buses

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

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

‘Play like the star you are’: Harrogate gets behind Rachel Daly ahead of Euro final

Harrogate has thrown its support behind Rachel Daly ahead of England’s Euro final against Germany on Sunday.

Daly, who went to Saltergate and Rossett schools in Harrogate, will be among the squad which walks out on the hallowed turf at Wembley in front of a sellout crowd.

The Lionesses have captured the hearts of a nation during the tournament, which has seen late goals and thrashings of the likes of Norway.

Ahead of the semi-final against Spain, Mike Sweetman, who coached Daly at Rossett, told the Stray Ferret he was not surprised at her success.

“I’m not surprised she has had more than 50 caps for England.

“In all my years teaching I had not seen a better female player, saying that, she struggled with a bad knee at school and you definitely need a lot of luck along with talent to cement your place in an England team.”

‘Play like the star you are’

Now, Daly has the chance to make history and help lead England to their first Euro trophy.

Ahead of the seismic tie against Germany at 5pm on Sunday, the Stray Ferret asked our readers on social media what message they had for Daly as she prepares for the big game.

Jean Daly said:

“Play like the star you are – my lovely granddaughter.”

Lorraine Simcock said:

“Whatever the outcome, we are so proud of you all, you have done so much to inspire the younger generation and to promote women’s football. Good luck and best wishes.”

George Miller added:

“Smash it up in the final this Sunday, we’re all cheering you on.”

Deborah Risdon said:

“Good luck we are behind you all and most important enjoy the moment.”

Tracy Atkinson said:

“Wishing you all the very best for the final, your dad will be so proud of you and he’ll be watching over you on Sunday.”

Residents criticise key Harrogate planning document as ‘incoherent’

A residents group has criticised a key council planning document for the West of Harrogate as lacking detail and “incoherent”.

The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy was due for completion in May – but Harrogate Borough Council has now said it expects it to be published before the end of the year.

It forms part of the wider proposals for the area and builds upon the West Harrogate Parameters Plan, which sets out how the area’s infrastructure and services will cope with 4,000 new homes.

Residents said they were disappointed after a meeting earlier this month over some of the proposals in the delivery strategy.

The Western Arc Coordination Group brings together organisations including Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, Duchy Residents’ Association, Hampsthwaite Action Group, Zero Carbon Harrogate, Harrogate District Cycle Action and Pannal & Burn Bridge Parish Council.

After the meeting with the council, the group said:

“On the day, we were asked to provide comments on a document that only consisted of a series of diagrams in relation to a number of road junctions without any supporting data. The whole of this work came over as incoherent and lacking any real structure.

“After more than two years we would have expected far more detail than we were presented with and we still have real concerns that the end result of all this time (more than two years) and work will not bring about any significant improvements to overall infrastructure or tackle the existing, and increasing, traffic problems. At the very least we would have expected clear statements on why this work is being done and what it will achieve.

“Our argument has always been that the end result of all the West Harrogate Parameters Plan (WHPP) and associated works should be a series of mitigations that prevents the overall infrastructure problems from getting any worse, and preferably should also help overcome some of the existing problems.”

West Harrogate was identified for major expansion during the creation of the district’s Local Plan when a government inspector ordered the parameters plan to be made.

Once complete, both the delivery strategy and parameters plan will be used together to shape decisions on how west Harrogate will cope with 2,500 new homes – although as many as 4,000 properties are set to be built in the wider area by 2035.

A borough council spokesperson said the meeting was held to help design the strategy and further consultation will take place with residents groups later in the year.

In response to the concerns, they said:

“The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy (WHIDS) document – that is designed to help the long term co-ordination of infrastructure across the West Harrogate sites – will be signed-off later in the year.

“The information sessions recently held are helping shape this document, along with the support and guidance from technical officers and our appointed consultants.

“There will be further targeted engagement with stakeholders later in the year before the documents are signed off.

“This engagement, will also help inform other working draft documents such as the cumulative transport strategy, which will be subject to public consultation before any decisions are made on live planning applications in West Harrogate.”

Harrogate Town to kick off third Football League season

Harrogate Town are set to kick off their third season in the Football League this afternoon.

Town will take on Swindon Town at the EnviroVent Stadium at 3pm.

Simon Weaver’s men will be hoping to consolidate their position in the EFL League Two and build upon last season’s 19th place finish.

Speaking ahead of the opening day, Weaver said pre-season had gone well for Town.

He said:

“It’s been a positive pre-season, as tough as we have ever given the lads to be honest both in the physical workloads and the games and the opposition they have had to face.

“When you take into consideration quite wholesale changes to the squad, it’s been quite challenging. But I think the last three performances have been positive and the results have suggested an upward curve as well.”

Wholesale changes

Town have made 10 new signings during the summer transfer window so far and seen 11 players leave the club.

Among the new arrivals is Tyler Frost, who signed a six-month deal this week and will be available for the Swindon clash.

Weaver said the squad needed to improve defensively on last season.

He said:

“We were reflecting on last season and there was no getting away from that defensively we weren’t good enough.

“We looked at how we could revamp it individually. First of all, we started with the shape and looked at the shape of our team and then looked at the players – round pegs for round holes – and then fitted the players for each of those positions we needed to sort out.

“There’s more youth about us as a squad, but also at the same time it has been more challenging bringing in more pedigree as well which is necessary. We looked at little bit raw for the level at times last year.

“But hopefully there is more flexibility within our squad now to be able to tweak and change when necessary, even within games. But overall we’re happy with the recruitment.”

Tough opening game

Town will take on last season’s play-off semi-finalists Swindon Town for their opening game.

Rory McArdle will miss the game with an injury sustained at the end of last season.

Meanwhile, skipper Josh Falkingham also misses the game through injury, but is closer to a return to action.

New signing Max Wright will also miss out with an ankle injury which will keep him out for four months.

Weaver described the clash against Swindon as a big game for the opening match.

He said:

“They don’t get much bigger do they? They reached the play off semi-final stage last season and they’re a strong outfit, aren’t they?

“Historically, they’ve played at the top level and they’ve got some good quality players and it will be a test.

“This week, we’ve just tried to inform the lads of what to expect in terms of their style of play and how they like to keep the ball and get into key areas.”

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Historic deal

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Roads

Trains and buses

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Roads

Trains and buses

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‘Play like the star you are’

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Wholesale changes

Tough opening game

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