Drug driver who fled police through Harrogate district at 130mph jailed

A drug driver has been jailed after speeding through villages in the Harrogate district at more than 130 miles per hour while trying to evade police.

William Geoffrey Mann, 22, was found to have used cocaine and was several times over the limit when arrested in September last year.

He reached speeds of up to 137 miles per hour while trying to evade officers on rural roads.

Mann failed to stop in Kirk Deighton near Wetherby before speeding through Hunsingore, Cattal, Whixley, Aldborough, Boroughbridge and Bishop Monkton.

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North Yorkshire Police pursued Mann through the villages around Wetherby and Boroughbridge, where he reached 90 miles per hour in a Mercedes.

Officers closed in on him in Burton Leonard, where Mann crashed into an unmarked police car and was arrested.


Mann, a delivery worker from Wetherby, was taken into custody and charged with drug driving, dangerous driving and failing to stop.

He pleaded guilty and was jailed for eight months at York Crown Court today. He was also banned from driving for a year and will have to take an extended retest.

Sergeant Julian Pearson, of the force’s Roads Policing Group, captured the pursuit on his police in-car video system and led the investigation against Mann.

He said: 

“Mann made a conscious decision to fail to stop for the police, his judgment clouded by his recent drug usage. This, combined with dangerous high speed driving, is a lethal combination.

“This was a prolonged, determined and dangerous attempt to evade capture for drug driving, putting himself, his passengers, other road users and the police at serious risk.”

Sgt Pearson added:

“When a vehicle is requested to stop and the driver refuses, the police have no idea why. It could be for a multitude of reasons and in Mann’s case it was for drug driving. Had he stopped then he would have been dealt for that offence and most likely not in prison as he is today.

“We make absolutely no apologies for catching drivers like Mann  – we regularly see the carnage and heartbreak they cause innocent people. So I’m glad the courts have taken another dangerous driver off our roads and have protected our communities.”

No covid deaths at Harrogate hospital for two months

No deaths of patients who tested positive for covid have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital for two months.

According to latest NHS England figures, the last covid-related death was reported on April 11.

It means the death toll from coronavirus at Harrogate hospital since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.

A further nine covid cases have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

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It takes the total number of infections since March 2020 to 7,881.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 42 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 35 and the rate for England is 60.

Andrew Jones MP ‘very sad’ to lose villages in boundary shake-up plan

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones says he will be “very sad” to lose just under 1,500 constituents under proposals for a major shake-up of parliamentary boundaries.

The Boundary Commission this week announced proposed changes to constituencies across the country as part of a review that aims to make Parliament fairer by giving each MP a roughly similar number of voters.

If approved, the changes could mean Harrogate and Knaresborough, which has been held by Conservative MP Andrew Jones since 2010, would lose 1,469 constituents with several villages north east of the towns falling under a new Wetherby and Easingwold parliamentary area.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Jones said: 

“The proposed boundaries are the subject of consultation now. Many MPs will see changes to the makeup of the constituencies they represent – some will see those constituencies abolished altogether.

“Whatever the outcome I will be very sad to no longer represent some parts of the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency should they be moved into another constituency.

“By the time these changes come into force MPs will have represented constituencies on the current boundaries for 15 years. That’s a long time and many great partnerships between individuals and community groups have been formed.”

The Boundary Commission carries out a review every five years and has put its proposals out for public consultation with a formal report to government expected by June 2023.

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If the proposed changes go through, they will only come into effect in late 2023, which could be too late for the next election if Prime Minister Boris Johnson decides to call it early.

Some MPs could find themselves with safer seats, while others will be more closely contested and some will disappear altogether.

A map of the new constituency and reduced Harrogate and Knaresborough seat under the Boundary Commission plans. Picture: Boundary Commission.

A map of the new constituency and reduced Harrogate and Knaresborough seat under the Boundary Commission plans. Picture: Boundary Commission.

To put the potential loss of 1,469 constituents in Harrogate and Knaresborough into some context, Mr Jones won the 2019 general election by a margin of 9,675 votes, beating his closest rival Liberal Democrat Judith Rogerson.

Mr Jones added:

“The boundary commission always has a difficult job too but they do it independently of the politicians and that is entirely appropriate.

“The most important thing, whatever the new boundaries, is that those close ties between the community and their MP endure. I will do all I can to facilitate that strong working relationship between any part of the current Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency and their new MP should the final boundary changes bring about such a change.”

Elsewhere, Conservative MP Julian Smith’s Skipton and Ripon constituency would engulf Ripley but lose other villages including Bishop Monkton and Burton Leonard under the initial proposals.

Selby and Ainsty, which is held by Conservative MP Nigel Adams and includes areas south of Harrogate, would also be reduced in size to only include Selby and its surrounding villages.

The initial proposals will now be subject to revisions and consultations, with the first set to run for eight weeks before closing on 2 August.

A second consultation with public hearings will then get under way in spring 2022, followed by a final four-week consultation on revised plans in autumn 2022.

Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency (proposed new electorate 72,850)

Council wards to be included:

Skipton and Ripon constituency (proposed new electorate 74,270)

Council wards to be included:

To view the current and proposed constituency boundaries in full go to bcereviews.org.uk

10 more covid cases reported in Harrogate district

Ten more positive covid cases have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of infections since last March to 7,872.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 42 infections per 100,000 people.

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The North Yorkshire average stands at 35 and the England rate is 60.

No deaths from patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital since April 11.

The death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic remains at 179, according to NHS England statistics.

Harrogate council lifts cap on wheelchair taxi licences

A limit on the number of wheelchair-accessible taxi licences in the Harrogate district has been removed, despite concerns from cabbies it will have a “devastating” impact on trade.

Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing committee yesterday agreed to the move, which aims to support disabled people in the district.

Campaigners say disabled people have been “cut off from society” and left suffering with “social isolation and frustration” because of a lack of travel options.

But some taxi drivers are against an unlimited number of licences and urged the committee to reconsider sticking to a previous plan to introduce 12 extra plates or risk “deregulating” the trade.

Speaking at a meeting yesterday, Richard Fieldman, who runs A1 Cars of Ripon and Harrogate, said:

“When there are only 10 applicants for the proposed 12 wheelchair accessible plates, why are you considering a proposal to un-limit the number of them?

“This would not only be devastating to the trade but also to the council and its road traffic problems as there is not enough rank space to accommodate this.”

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Kevin O’Boyle, owner of Central Taxis and the longest holder of a taxi license in the district, also said in a letter to councillors before the meeting that the move risked Harrogate “losing control” of how many taxis are allowed on the roads.

He said:

“If you decide to deregulate, you, the council, will lose control and will be letting the genie out of the bottle. A genie I fear that once out, will be impossible to put back.”

Legal threat

In September last year, the licensing committee agreed to double the number of wheelchair-accessible taxi licences from 11 to 23 after a council-run study concluded disabled people were suffering from a “great deal of anxiety” over worries they could not get around.

However, the authority says has since run into difficulties over creating a “fair and lawful” system to distribute just the 12 additional licences, and it believes it could be left vulnerable to legal challenges from disappointed applicants.

Currently there are 22 wheelchair-accessible taxis operating in the district – a figure that has declined in recent years. This decline is something the council believes is partly down to the costs of purchasing a wheelchair-accessible taxi – and it is these costs that it says will “self-regulate” the number of vehicles on the roads.

Cllr Victoria Oldham, chair of the licensing committee, also told yesterday’s meeting that the council was not expecting a “surge” in licence applications and that it had not been made aware of any rank space issues.

She said:

“The purpose of these proposals is to overcome the provision for customers who require wheelchair-accessible vehicles. We know from the work that officers have done that the current provision by the trade is insufficient and does not meet the need.

“Based upon the expression of interests received in January 2021, there is no indication at this stage that there will be a surge in applicants.

“What the proposals will facilitate is the market meeting the existing demand. Numbers will also be naturally limited by the cost in purchasing and upkeeping a wheelchair accessible vehicle.”

The licensing committee voted in favour of the proposals with two amendments to conditions, which mean a review will be carried out in a year rather than five, as well as a requirement for drivers to complete a disability training course within one month of being approved rather than six.

Local taxpayers may contribute to further Tour de Yorkshire funding

North Yorkshire County Council is in early discussions with Welcome to Yorkshire over funding next year’s Tour de Yorkshire if the body fails to get sponsorship.

The event, which is usually held over the May Day bank holiday weekend, has not taken place for the last two years due to covid.

The request for funding in 2022 is understood to have been made to numerous local authorities, which are host towns for the race.

As Harrogate is not a host town, Harrogate Borough Council is not expected to contribute to the costs. But if North Yorkshire County Council agrees to do so then everyone in the county would pay through their council tax.

The race is being promoted as an opportunity to aid economic recovery across the region, and in particular in host towns and cities of Leyburn, Barnsley, Beverly, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Redcar and Skipton.

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Richard Flinton, chief executive at North Yorkshire County Council, said: 

“We are in early discussions about what is needed to enable the Tour de Yorkshire to take place, including whether there needs to be any underwriting of the sponsorship element that Welcome to Yorkshire wants to raise. 

“We have not yet taken any decisions about the Tour de Yorkshire.”

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Richmondshire District Council is among the district councils that may be asked to contribute to the event.

An officer’s report to a council meeting next Tuesday said in addition to the usual estimated costs of hosting a stage of the event, “there may be a requirement to underwrite a further amount by the end of June to allow Welcome to Yorkshire to commit to the race”.

The report states there would be a potential extra £100,000 cost to Richmondshire council alone, on top of the £160,000 it has already agreed to pay, if Welcome to Yorkshire is unable to secure sufficient sponsorship.

The report suggests some of the extra funds could be drawn from the council’s dwindling reserves.

Richmondshire council’s corporate board spokesman, Cllr Stuart Parsons, said the authority would debate whether offering extra funds on a weather-dependent event would be value for money.

He said: 

“Personally speaking, if we are able to raise the money that Welcome to Yorkshire expects we should be investing that money in expanding events that directly function in Richmondshire, like the Swaledale Festival and Richmond Walking and Book Festival as they would bring in a much longer term gain for the local economy.”

‘No better promotion’

However, Cllr Carl Les, Welcome to Yorkshire board member and county council leader, rejected the criticisms, saying it was a duty of councils to promote their areas to a wider audience.

He added: 

“I am satisfied with the probity and governance arrangements around Welcome to Yorkshire. There’s a new chairman and a new chief executive in place, new board members and audit and other controls in place following reports by Clarion Solicitors and accountants BDO.

“While staycation is going to of benefit this year, in future years we are going to have to be more competitive with other destinations, so we need to set out our stall the best we can, and there isn’t a better way of promoting the geography of an area than following a cycle race as it goes on television for hours. If you had to buy that sort of advertising it would cost millions.”

Harrogate district daily covid infections rocket to 28

The Harrogate district has recorded another 28 cases of covid, according to today’s statistics from Public Health England.

It is the highest daily number since February 17, when 31 people tested positive.

However, although the number of cases has increased, health bosses in North Yorkshire said today that no covid patients are currently being treated in Harrogate District Hospital.

And there hasn’t been a covid-related death at the hospital since April 11. The hospital covid death toll remains at 179.

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According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said it was too early to say whether the county’s hospitals will see a spike in covid admissions.

She told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum press briefing today:

“The numbers of patients in hospital are increasing very slowly and we are watching them very closely, but we do know as more people have their second jab the vaccination provides significant protection against serious illness.

“We will see the data in the next few weeks about the impact of the Delta variant on the number of patients requiring hospital treatment, and any impact in terms of death, but it is too early to say.

“All of our hospitals have surge plans in place to cope with any increased demand and they will flex accordingly, but hopefully with the continued success of the vaccination programme we will see lower levels of hospitalisations as we move forwards.”

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 37 per 100,000 people after today’s figures.

The North Yorkshire average stands at 32 and the England rate is 51.

 

Harrogate residents prepare to fight Starbucks second appeal

Harrogate residents fighting plans for a Starbucks drive-thru are getting ready to do battle next week when a second appeal into the rejected proposals gets underway.

A government planning inspector will on Tuesday open a hearing into the controversial plans for the former 1st Dental surgery on Wetherby Road.

The plans have already been refused three times over concerns about highway safety, air quality and the impact of nearby residents.

Retail firm Euro Garages is behind the scheme and will feel it now has its best chance yet of winning approval after Harrogate Borough Council last month withdrew an objection and chose not to contest the appeal, instead leaving it in the hands of residents.

Headed up by ward councillor Pat Marsh, locals are now preparing to take their fight to the June 15 hearing, which is expected to return a decision before the end of the month.

Cllr Marsh said:

“We are so committed to making sure the right decision is made by the inspector. This is a site that has been refused all the way down the line, including a decision from a previous inspector, so our case must have some validity.

“What we are talking about is a business which would only attract more cars to an already busy area. The name drive-thru is a good clue and it will mean cars upon cars upon cars.

“The developers will have all kinds of legal people to try to knock us down. We are not legal people, we are just normal residents who appreciate where they live and want to stop this inappropriate development in an inappropriate area.

“Residents have made a really strong case to fight this appeal and I will be there right behind them.”

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After the plans were first refused by the council in 2017, a key moment came a year later when a first appeal was dismissed by an inspector on the grounds that the site would cause “unacceptable” harm to nearby residents.

Euro Garages then submitted a revised scheme after what they said was “very careful consideration” of the inspector’s ruling, with a reduction in the size of the proposed building and relocated parking.

These latest plans were still rejected by the council in 2019, and are what will be up for debate at next week’s appeal.

‘Angry and upset’

The reason for the council not wanting to contest is because it previously made a recommendation in support of the plans, which it believes would have hindered an argument against.

It also said it was unable to find lawyers willing to fight the appeal for them.

Cllr Pat Marsh, who is also leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat party, said she was “angered” by this decision but vowed to fight on.

She said: 

“I still feel angry and upset because when we previously voted for refusal, and even though it was contrary to officer recommendation, we had sound planning reasons.

“At the time, a legal officer for the council never stood up to question this. Clearly what we had done was seen to be acceptable and we thought the council were on our side.”

A council spokesman previously said not contesting the appeal “hasn’t been an easy decision to make” but was “the best way forward in this instance.”

They said: 

“In this case, the officer recommendation of approval was overturned by the planning committee and permission was refused, which has led to an appeal by the applicant.

“Following this recommendation, along with feedback from relevant consultees and comments made by an independent inspector – who considered a previous appeal at the site for a similar proposal – we believe the most sensible and cost-effective approach would be to not defend the appeal.”

Shop vacancy rates fall in Harrogate district, according to council figures

Shop vacancy rates across Harrogate district have fallen over the last year, according to latest borough council data.

The figures for March 2021 show most areas saw a decrease in the number of vacant units on the same time last year.

Boroughbridge was among the best performing with just 1.5% of shops in the town empty – a drop from 6.1% on March last year.

According to the council’s data, just one out of 64 shops were vacant in the town.

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Meanwhile, Harrogate town saw the number of empty units fall from 9.5% in March 2020 to 7.3% in the same period this year.

However, figures for the Harrogate suburbs increased from 3.9% to 4.4%.

Pateley Bridge’s rate stayed the same, while Ripon fell to 6.6% and Masham dropped by 2.2% to 11.1%.

Overall the district has 83 out of 1,211 units sat empty, according to the data.

In a post on his news site, Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, said:

“These have been difficult times and we are still not through them. Retail and hospitality are going to face ongoing challenges but these figures are positive and an improving position on much of the last few years.

“While the Harrogate town centre vacancy rate is at its lowest since June 2015 this is somewhat masked by the fact that a few really large units in prominent positions are empty which smaller units are generally being occupied.

“Knaresborough’s figures should improve even further when the long-term empty properties on the High Street come into use later this year. They were derelict until Harrogate council bought them and refurbished them.

“The Boroughbridge story is amazing and a tribute to this positive, community-oriented outlook. The town even featured on the BBC news described as ‘Boom town Boroughbridge’; quite an accolade.”

Harrogate district bids for £432,000 post-Brexit boost to economy

A bid for almost half-a-million pounds of post-Brexit cash to support the Harrogate district economy is to be submitted to a new government fund.

North Yorkshire County Council is hoping to win £432,009 from the Community Renewal Fund, which has been launched as a replacement for the loss of EU funding streams after Brexit.

The funding would be used to invest in skills, jobs and local communities.

Thirteen projects from businesses and community groups in the Harrogate district have been shortlisted for the funds, although full details have yet to be announced.

Speaking at a meeting yesterday, Cllr Andrew Lee, executive member for open to business at the county council, said the wider North Yorkshire region had bid for a total of £8.4 million, which he hoped would provide a “shot in the arm” for the county’s Brexit transition and Covid recovery.

He said: 

“The Community Renewal Fund is seen as an essential tool in the government’s levelling up agenda and I’m exceptionally pleased we have been able to secure 66 applications.

“Our officers have managed to shortlist these applications down to 28 projects with a total of £8.4m that we now intend to submit to government.

“If this is successful, we believe this will provide a real shot in the arm for our county.

“I believe we have certainly hit the government’s brief which is to enable innovation. I hope we will secure the full £8.4m for North Yorkshire and I look forward to hearing from government on the final funding award in July and August.”

Of the £8.4 million, Harrogate would receive the lowest sum, while Scarborough and Richmondshire would get the most with £2,981,341 and £1,904,097 respectively after being identified as priority areas by the government.

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Applications for the cash closed in May. The government will have the final say on which projects are granted funding, with an announcement expected in July or early August.

The Community Renewal Fund fund is initially being trialled as a pilot scheme before the Shared Prosperity Fund, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in November’s spending review, is fully rolled out next year.

North Yorkshire County Council will also make a bid to the government’s Levelling Up Fund, which will provide a one-off capital investment of up to £20 million “in infrastructure that improves everyday life”.

Feasibility studies have already been carried out into several local projects, including an anaerobic digestion plant in Ryedale, an electric vehicle charge network and the renewal of Ripon Barracks.

Karl Battersby, the county council’s corporate director of business and environmental services, told Tuesday’s meeting that the authority had now shortlisted three projects, with the full details to be revealed after the bid is submitted.

He said: 

“There is currently a round one for submissions and a round two which has yet to be announced. What we have determined in numerous discussions is that it would be much better for us to submit a comprehensive round two bid where we can maximise the opportunities that the Levelling Up bid presents.”