Council approves conversion of Harrogate strip club into flats

North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to convert the former Kings Club in Harrogate into 12 flats.

The proposal was submitted by Harrogate developer Forward Investments LLP last October.

The move will see the first and second floor of the building on Oxford Street, known as the Villa Mercedes, converted into residential use.

The Kings Club, which described itself as ‘Yorkshire premier gentleman’s club’, offered topless pole dancing, topless stage strip tease and full nudity lap dancing.

However, the club has since closed.

The proposal will see a mixture of one and two bedroom flats created at the site.

In documents submitted to the council, James Robinson, the planning agent representing the developer, said the conversion of the building would be a “significant improvement” for the area.

He said:

“The proposed conversion of the upper floors of 1 Oxford Street will have a significant net improvement to the surrounding area and economy over the existing strip club use.

“This is an important building, located in a very prominent town centre location, and its current use as adult entertainment is not fitting for the surrounding area.

“As mentioned the current use attracts anti-social behaviour, and the conversion to high quality flats is a much more appropriate and viable use for the building.”

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Andrew Jones MP: climate policy shift ‘practical and pragmatic’

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has described major changes by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the government’s net zero policies as “practical and pragmatic”.

Mr Sunak announced at a press conference yesterday that a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars would be delayed by five years until 2035.

He also confirmed a nine-year delay in the ban on new fossil fuel heating for off-gas-grid homes to 2035.

The Prime Minister also raised the boiler upgrade grant by 50% to £7,500 to help households who want to replace their gas boilers.

Mr Sunak said the government “risks losing the consent of the British people” if it moved too fast on green policies.

In response to the changes, Conservative MP Mr Jones said the decision by Mr Sunak would still tackle the government’s net zero target.

He said:

“The most important point from the Prime Minister’s statement was that net zero by 2050 is still central to the government and is still mandated by law. I am wholly supportive of our efforts to cut carbon and protect our planet for future generations.

“Indeed, the UK has decarbonised significantly faster than all other G7 nations. Since 2010 UK carbon emissions per capita have fallen by nearly 40%, almost double the fall seen in the EU.

“This statement made two changes to the timetable for two elements of our national progress. They were practical and pragmatic.”

Mr Jones added:

“We also saw increased financial support for boiler upgrades and this comes on the back of more progress for onshore and offshore wind, plus carbon capture.

“There had been growing concern, particularly in off grid rural areas, that the rules on changing boilers were very difficult and presented many households with bills they would struggle to meet.

“It is important now to use the time to continue the national work to achieve net zero and to do this is in a way that is fair.“

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‘Rolling back commitments’

Tom Gordon

Tom Gordon

However, Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have described the move as damaging to the UK’s reputation.

Tom Gordon, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for the constituency, said:

“What Rishi Sunak should see in front of him is the opportunity to embrace the industries of the future and protect our environment and planet for coming generations. 

“Instead he is set to on rolling back our country’s climate commitments, damaging our reputation as a global leader, and has blatant disregard for the UK car industry.”

The Stray Ferret also approached Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, Julian Smith, and Labour MP for Selby and Ainsty, which includes south Harrogate, Keir Mather, for their views on the subject but did not receive a response.

21% price increase at Bewerley Park proved ‘prohibitive’ to schools

North Yorkshire Council has said a 21% price increase for trips to its outdoor learning centres proved “prohibitive” to some schools.

The council runs outdoor learning sites at Bewerley Park near Pateley Bridge and East Barnaby at Whitby.

It hiked fees and charges by 21% this year to reflect increases in inflation and costs.

However, Teresa Thorp, head of outdoor learning service at the council, said in report:

“There have been a few schools who have found the increase in fees and charges for 2023-24 prohibitive, demonstrating that last year’s fees and charges increase has adversely affected the take up of services in some cases.”

Ms Thorp added the council had to compete with other outdoor learning centres, such as Low Mill, Robin Wood and Carlton Lodge.

Robin Wood is currently charging £250 for a three day and two night stay compared to £275 at a North Yorkshire Council run site.

Competitor prices for outdoor learning centres. Picture: NYC.

Competitor prices for outdoor learning centres. Picture: NYC.

In her report, Ms Thorp said that the market would “not sustain a further price increase”.

As a result, the council has proposed keeping charges the same for the academic year from September 2024 to March 2025.

However, the authority has proposed to increase course fees offered by the outdoor learning service by 6.8% in line with inflation.

It also plans to implement charges for corporate and conference facilities to generate income.

Ms Thorp added:

“It is believed that continuing with our fees and charges for school residential will enable the service to retain its current customer base, recruit new customers and compete with its surrounding competitors, all of which will result in increased bookings and customer retention.”

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Business Breakfast: Harrogate education companies to host schools conference

Three Harrogate district education companies are set to host a conference for the school sector.

BlueCow Education and Pobble, both from Harrogate, and Ripon-based Picture News have organised the event, which will see more than 100 school leaders from across the UK “inspire, innovate and improve” as the latest challenges in education come under the spotlight.

Among those taking part in panel discussions will be the Harrogate Grammar School head Neil Renton, who will also be signing copies of his new book New School Leader: What Now? at the conference.

Other speakers include Dave McPartlin – the head famous for taking his school onto TV’s Britain’s Got Talent programme; the world-leading authority on artificial intelligence in education, Dan Fitzpatrick; and Simon Hunt, the BBC Bitesize teacher.

Simon Blower, co-founder and director of Pobble, said:

“As a company with strong Harrogate roots, working closely with North Yorkshire schools, it has long been an ambition to bring a high-quality event to our home town.

 

“These leading experts-in-their-field will help those attending to think about new ways to innovate, inspire and improve pupil outcomes, whilst reflecting on today’s challenging climate for current and aspiring leaders.”

The event will take place at the Crowne Plaza in Harrogate on Friday, October 13, from 9.30am until 3.30pm.

For more information visit the Blue Cow Education website here.

Harrogate company agrees deal to expand into Africa

A Harrogate telecommunications company has agreed a deal to expand its presence into Africa.

Mobile Tornado, which is based at Cardale Park, has reached the agreement with communications company Instacom which extends its partnership until 2026.

Instacom, which has headquarters in South Africa, provides critical communications solutions to government agencies and private enterprises on the continent.

The agreement will see the company extend its resell contract of Mobile Tornado’s push-to-talk over cellular technologies.

It will also see the Harrogate company act as exclusive UK reseller for Instacom’s PTX personnel management platform.

Luke Wilkinson of Mobile Tornado, said: 

“We have been working with Instacom since 2010 and are thrilled to be taking our relationship to the next level. 

We are looking forward to working more closely and sharing our mutual knowledge and expertise. 

“We are already discussing a number of exciting ideas and can’t wait to start implementing them. 

“The continued growth of mobile network coverage across Africa is creating big opportunities for government agencies and private enterprises to increase safety, reduce costs, boost productivity and improve efficiency among their remote workforces.”

Business Breakfast: Care recruitment event to be held in Harrogate

A recruitment event for the care sector will be held in Harrogate.

Yorkshire Care Alliance, a charity which was launched to help recruit staff, is set to host a workshop on September 26.

The event will take place at Pavilions in Harrogate from 10am until 11.30am.

Facilitated by Nick Bramley from Impactus Group, the workshop will focus on the challenges care companies face both recruiting and retaining staff.

Nick Swash, chief executive of Yorkshire Care Alliance, said: 

“There are so many challenges facing not only care companies, but unpaid carers and the whole industry.

“No one organisation exists to take on these challenges and look for solutions. We have set up the Yorkshire Care Alliance to fill this void and bring together people from across the whole sector to help address the problems.

“It is all about working together, positivity and finding solutions together. This is why we launched with six free sessions across the region, each covering different topics such as CQC inspections, insurance and recruitment.”

Harrogate independent nursery makes new appointments

A Harrogate independent nursery has appointed new senior staff.

Magic Tree Nursery, part of independent Harrogate prep school Belmont Grosvenor, has appointed a new head and deputy head of early years to lead the nursery.

Mother-of-two Hayley Thompson, 37, and Sarah Birt, 27, have been appointed to the roles.

The pair will be tasked with leading a new ‘curiosity approach’ to early-years learning and development.

Nathan Sadler, headmaster at Belmont Grosvenor School, said:

“There have already been a number of changes in our early years department over the summer, and we are excited about the future as we help build strong foundations for our children to thrive in an ever-changing world.”

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Fundraiser set up for well-known Harrogate woman who has died

A fundraiser has been launched for a well-known Harrogate woman who has died.

Helen McCallum, who was described as a “wonderful member of the community”, died on Saturday.

She had worked as bar manager at Harrogate Hockey Club and volunteered at Harrogate Cat Rescue during the covid lockdowns.

A fundraiser has been set up by Mandy Lotts to help give Helen “the wonderful send off that she deserves”.

At the time of writing, the page had raised £2,556.

In a social media post, Harrogate Hockey Club said:

“Helen has been at the club for several years, greeting everyone who walked into the bar with open arms and a smile.

“Her passion and dedication to her role led to the transformation of Hockey Saturdays and an increase in social activity at the club.”

Harrogate Cat Rescue said:

“Helen offered to help. All through the lockdowns, she home checked everyone who applied for a cat or kitten. 

“She was professional and thorough and helped me enormously in preparing all the paperwork necessary to run a rescue. Helen only retired from the role when she no longer had time – due to work commitments.”

For more information, visit the GoFundMe page here.

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Plan to convert former Harrogate hostel into flats set for approval

A plan to convert a redundant homeless hostel in Harrogate into housing looks set to be approved.

The former Harrogate Borough Council submitted the proposal to convert Cavendish House on Robert Street into six flats.

The house was formerly a hostel, which was operated by the borough council between 1983 and November 2021.

It closed after the council opened its new homeless centre, Fern House in Starbeck.

In planning documents published before it was abolished at the end of March, the borough council said converting Cavendish House would make a small dent in its social housing waiting list, which now features over 2,100 households.

It said:

“The building was utilised previously as temporary accommodation for single homeless households, however it is no longer fit for purpose and does not meet the needs of this client group (Fern House, a new facility for the same client group, has recently been completed at Spa Lane).

“The building has been empty since November 2021. As such, it has a negative impact on residential amenity and increasingly risks attracting anti-social behaviour.

“The development proposals will deliver much needed affordable accommodation in a redundant building and a highly sustainable location, complying full with national and local planning policy guidance.”

The proposal will go before North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency planning committee on September 26.

North Yorkshire Council officers have recommended the plan be approved.

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Government approves Harrogate aparthotel plan

The government has approved a plan to convert the upper floors of a Harrogate town centre building into an aparthotel.

Leeds-based Countrylarge tabled the proposal to create the 17-bedroom scheme on the floors above the Oliver Bonas store on James Street.

Aparthotels are serviced apartments with a hotel-style booking system. London-based operator, Beyond, was brought in to run the aparthotel.

However, in November 2022, Harrogate Borough Council rejected the plan on the grounds that the scheme would “not enhance or preserve the character and appearance of the conservation area”.

The developer took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes.

Now, Graham Wraight, planning inspector, has given the proposal the go-ahead.

In a decision notice, Mr Wraight said the development would provide “acceptable living conditions” should restrictions be made on length of stay — contrary to the council’s reasons for refusal.

He said:

“There would be some benefit in this flexibility in terms of providing a supply of such accommodation. As a whole and in the specific circumstances of this appeal case that I have outlined, a restriction of 90 days strikes an appropriate balance.

“I therefore conclude that, subject to a restriction on the length of stays to a maximum of 90 days, the proposed development would provide acceptable living conditions for the future occupants of the aparthotel.”

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Business Breakfast: Harrogate law firm appoints first apprentice solicitor

A Harrogate law firm has appointed its first apprentice solicitor.

McCormicks, which is based on East Parade, has hired Sophie Hussain to the position.

Ms Hussain graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2020 with a first-class dual honours degree in law and criminology.

She will be based in the firm’s commercial property team and work on all aspects of transactional property work.

Claire Baker-Kemp, head of commercial property at McCormicks, said: 

“Sophie has come to us with more than two years’ solid commercial property experience, which makes her appointment a real benefit to our clients.

“I am also very impressed by Sophie in the short time she has been here.”

Hull company acquires Harrogate care home

A Hull-based care company has acquired a Harrogate care home for an undisclosed sum.

HICA Group has taken on Hampden House on Duchy Road from Elizabeth Finn Homes.

The 66-bed purpose-built nursing home is located within the Duchy Estate and provides nursing care, short-stays and end-of-life care.

The employment of all 70 plus staff has been secured in the handover to new ownership and general manager Jane Hooren continues to lead the team.

Terry Peel, chief executive at HICA Group, said: 

“This new venture marks a significant milestone for us, as we expand our commitment to delivering exceptional care and support services to our community.

“As we extend our care footprint with the introduction of Hampden House into the HICA portfolio, we are excited about the opportunities it brings to enrich the lives of our residents and their families.”

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Controversial Knox Lane 53-home plan recommended for approval

Council officials have recommended a controversial plan to build 53 homes on Knox Lane in Harrogate be approved.

The proposal, by north-east property developer Jomast, was deferred by councillors at the end of May for a third time.

It comes after concerns have been raised over land contamination at the site.

The meeting in May also proved controversial after proceedings were not broadcast live on North Yorkshire Council’s YouTube channel due to a “problem with the connection”.

Now, the proposal will return to the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency planning committee on September 26.

A 45-page report published before the meeting by case officer Andy Hough said the plan is “considered to now be in compliance with development plan policy” and should be approved.

It adds that the reasons for deferral at the last meeting would “not form reasonable reasons for refusal”.

The report also said approval would be subject to conditions and the developer paying a section 106 agreement to compensate for the impact of the scheme on local infrastructure.

The application has proved controversial with residents in the Bilton area.

Campaign group Keep Knox Natural has previously called on the council to remove the parcel of land from the Harrogate District Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place.

Cllr Robert Windass, a member of the council’s planning committee, previously vowed not to vote for the scheme until he felt the “land is safe”.

The proximity of the land to power lines has also been raised as a concern.

But the report said:

“The Planning Inspectorate has made clear that there is no justification within policy for withholding planning permission based on unsubstantiated evidence and claims of a link between ill health and the proximity of power lines.

“The onus is not on the applicant to demonstrate there would be no risk to human health in these circumstances but is on the council to show that demonstrable harm would be caused to interests of acknowledged importance if the scheme were to go ahead. The council do not have such evidence.”

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