John Plummer, Author at The Stray Ferret

Harrogate Spring Water campaigners step-up plans to save trees

Campaigners are to distribute tens of thousands of leaflets in Harrogate to rally support to oppose Harrogate Spring Water‘s expansion plans.

About 30 people attended a Save Rotary Wood group meeting last night to consider ways to prevent the company, which is part of French-owned Danone, being allowed to fell 450 trees the Pinewoods. The Stray Ferret also attended as part of our ongoing coverage of this issue. You can read a recent summary here.

Danone has submitted plans to North Yorkshire Council to expand its bottling plant into a section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood, where schoolchildren planted trees in the 1990s to combat climate change.

Sarah Gibbs, who has led the campaign, voiced concerns that if this application is approved, further expansion could follow.

She quoted from Danone’s design and access statement, which talks about the company’s growth and need to expand. The document, which is among more than 100 available to view on the council’s planning portal, adds ‘this growth is expected to continue and as such an additional building(s) will be required to satisfy demand’.

Ms Gibbs said the suggestion of more than one new building was “extremely worrying” and indicated “this is not the end”.

A previous banner campaign.

Danone has agreed to plant 1,500 saplings to create a new community woodland in land bought off a local landowner but several people at the meeting expressed fears that once it owned the land, it could be used for future expansion.

Ms Gibbs said:

“The land would be privately owned by Danone so in no way would it compensate for the loss of our community woodland.”

Harrogate Spring Water already has outline planning permission for the site, which means the principle of development has been established.

It has now submitted what is known as a reserved matters application, which seeks approval for details such as design and appearance.

The meeting heard various people give impassioned pleas about the impact of a bigger plastic bottling plant on the environment and how Harrogate should resist it. There were even calls for a legal challenge.

Harrogate Spring Water’s headquarters.

But Arnold Warneken, a Green Party councillor who represents Ouseburn, warned campaigners not to get carried away with their emotions and to focus on legitimate planning reasons for opposing the scheme — and to take inspiration from what happened three years ago when councillors rejected the scheme despite being urged to approve it by a council officer.

He suggested the group may wish to push for the application to be deferred and referred to North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee, which was created to assess major planning applications.

Campaigners agreed to distribute 10,000 leaflets — with tens of thousands more expected to be printed shortly.

You can view planning documents and comment on the application by visiting the council’s planning portal here and typing in reference number 20/01539/REMMAJ where it says ‘enter a keyword’.

Leeds Bradford Airport appoints new lounge caterers

Leeds Bradford Airport has appointed a new catering operator to provide food and drink services for its lounges.

In a press release today, the airport said Elior will serve “a wider range of food and drink options” and “a changing seasonal menu” in its Yorkshire Lounge and 1432 Runway Club.

New technology has also been introduced to the 1432 Runway Club lounge for direct-to-table ordering.

Elior has previously operated in the premium hospitality sector at SkyLounge at Heathrow Airport.

Five new staff roles have been created as part of the new catering arrangement, which started today. The airport is 13 miles from Harrogate.

Elior will now manage the day-to-day operations of the lounges at Leeds Bradford Airport, but the airport will continue to take responsibility for commercial performance, front desk management and sales initiatives.

Airport lounge access will continue to be booked through the Leeds Bradford Airport website.

Calum McLaren (left) and John Cunliffe at the launch event.

John Cunliffe, commercial and strategy director at Leeds Bradford Airport, said:

“This is an important step for us as an airport and one that will support our wider LBA:REGEN development plans to improve passenger experience for customers.”

Calum McLaren, divisional managing director at Elior, added:

“We are delighted to be operating the lounges in Leeds Bradford Airport, bringing to life our passion for delicious freshly prepared food that is locally sourced and seasonal.”

10-point guide to Knaresborough’s 1,000 new homes

Anyone who has driven along the A59 to the east of Knaresborough could hardly fail to have noticed hundreds of new homes going up in recent years.

More are coming. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey held a public consultation event yesterday (Tuesday, February 13) at which it revealed the latest designs for a 402-home scheme called Highfield Farm.

Staff from Taylor Wimpey and planning consultants Pegasus Group discussed the plans with members of the public.

The Stray Ferret went along to find out more about the new development, and what it means for housebuilding in that corridor along the A59 just outside Knaresborough town centre, towards the A1.

Yesterday’s consultation event.

Here is a 10-point guide.

1 The 1,000 homes are being built at two adjoining sites: Manse Farm and Highfield Farm.

2 Some 600 homes are being built at Manse Farm by two developers. Taylor Wimpey’s Trinity Fields site accounts for 324 properties while Linden Homes‘ Castle Gate site accounts for the other 276. All 402 homes at Highfield Farm will be built by Taylor Wimpey.

3 Many homes at Manse Farm are already built and people have moved in. But construction has not started at Highfield Farm. Taylor Wimpey has outline planning permission for the site, which means the principle of development has been established. It now intends to submit a reserved matters planning application giving details of the layout and design by mid-March. After a public consultation, North Yorkshire Council will decide whether to approve it.

Taylor Wimpey’s Trinity Fields development at Manse Farm.

4 The section 106 legal agreement between the council and Taylor Wimpey for Highfield Farm commits the developer to pay for the impact of the scheme on local services. The sums awarded to the council include £1.8 million for junction 47 of the A1(M); £1.4 million for education, £874,000 for local highways; £350,000 for bus services and £330,000 for open spaces.

5 A layby on the A59 will be converted into a roundabout, which will provide access to Highfield Farm.

How Highfield Farm will look.

6 The estate will consist of three clusters of homes. Each cluster will be connected by a main road that will be built from the roundabout at the entrance to the estate.

7 A total of 40% of the Highfield Farm homes are classed as affordable.

8 A primary school and community centre are supposed to be built to cater for the influx of thousands of new residents. But there is no sign of work beginning on either yet. An Aldi is the only new shop serving the area so far.

How Highfield Farm will look.

9 Details of how many trees that will be felled and planted as part of Highfield Farm have yet to be revealed.

10 To reduce the impact of flooding, sunken basins will be constructed in the land to collect water in the hope that it will then be released more slowly into watercourses.

Harrogate street evacuated after bomb scare

Police evacuated a Harrogate street due to a bomb scare yesterday.

People had to leave their homes on Leadhall View, which is a cul-de-sac off Leadhall Road, for about three hours while bomb disposal experts arrived on the scene.

The drama began when John Shackleton, who lives on Leadhall View and runs aid missions to eastern Europe, tried to help a woman at his church.

Mr Shackleton, who used to work in bomb disposal, said the woman told him she had a couple of old shells in her attic.

He added:

“I said I would take them home and have a look at them. So I put them in the back of my car and the following day started dismantling them.

“There was a phosphorous liquid and I thought ‘this doesn’t look right’.”

Mr Shackleton told a bomb disposal friend about his concerns and within about half an hour police arrived on the scene and began telling people to leave their homes.

He said the two shells appeared to date back to the Second World War, adding:

“The bomb squad took them away and said they were totally unsafe but I don’t know what they did with them.

“The incident put the fear of god up everyone on the cul-de-sac — I won’t be very popular with my neighbours!”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police today told the Stray Ferret:

“Police officers attended and took photographs of the items which were sent to the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team for assessments.

“The EOD team arrived at 12.45pm and they were able to confirm that the shells were empty and they removed the items.

“Nearby neighbours within a 100m safety cordon were able to return home at around 1.30pm.”

The Stray Ferret has spoken to residents who said they were asked to leave their homes but knew few other details.

Driver in Knaresborough reports himself for drink-driving

A driver in Knaresborough called the police today to say he was “drink-driving and doesn’t know what he is doing”.

The man told the 999 police call handler that he had a heavy weekend when he called just before noon yesterday (Monday, February 12).

He turned out to be more than three times over the drink-drive limit.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement last night officers arrived on the scene in 15 minutes.:

It added:

“A roadside breath test was carried out and the driver blew 118 at the side of the road, the legal limit is 35. The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.

“He currently remains in custody.”

GALLERY: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Harrogate

There was a slightly surreal start to the day in the Starbeck area of Harrogate when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dropped by.

Mr Sunak, on his first engagement of the week, visited the Harrogate Bus Company ‘s depot to show support for Conservative MP Andrew Jones, who will attempt to win the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat for a fifth time at the next general election.

The Stray Ferret joined the media melee at the depot this morning for the hour-long visit, which got underway shortly before 9am.

Journalists waited in an upstairs meeting room for a brief round of questions after the PM and former transport minister Mr Jones had finished touring the site and speaking to engineering apprentices and trainee drivers.

The Harrogate Bus Company, a subsidiary of Transdev, is getting 39 new all-electric buses at a cost of £21 million, part funded by £7.8 million from the government.

Transdev’s managing director Henri Rohard and operations director Vitto Pizzuti showed Mr Sunak and Mr Jones around the depot before Mr Sunak and Mr Jones cheerfully breezed in to greet the media, saying:

“Sorry we are in a rush. We will just whizz round — one each.”

After answering questions on whether to dual the A64, local government finance, bus franchising and the economic forecast, the Stray Ferret asked Mr Sunak and Mr Jones when was the last time they had caught a bus.

Mr Sunak replied that “with my job it’s taken out of my hands these days” and went on to talk about HS2 money being reinvested on bus services and £2 fare caps. When we asked if that meant he couldn’t remember when, he said:

“I’ve had this job for the last year which obviously makes my transport slightly different but before that I took buses in my constituency in particular to focus on provision of buses in rural areas. It’s not about me it’s about everyone across communities using buses.”

Former transport minister Mr Jones said:

“I can answer that question very clearly. I catch the bus quite regularly here and when down in Westminster. The last time I caught the bus here was the 36 into Leeds and I catch the 24 between where I stay during the week and Parliament. So I am on the bus every week.”

As Mr Sunak left the room, he turned back to say he used to catch the 45 and 45 blue line services in Southampton, where he grew up.

Speaking after the PM’s visit, Mr Rohard said government investment was helping “us to deliver a revolution in the quality and sustainability of public transport in Harrogate and North Yorkshire”.

He added:

“In combination with our existing eight Harrogate Electrics-branded Volvo 7900E electric buses, the first of their kind in Britain, 47 fully-electric vehicles will be in service when our project is complete by this summer. All our bus fleet will be renewed, giving the Harrogate Bus Company the most modern and passenger oriented network in Britain.

The 20 new Mercedes-Benz E-Citaro all-electric single deck buses will be used on route 1 between Harrogate and Knaresborough, route 7 linking Harrogate, Wetherby and Leeds, and route 24 between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge.

A further 19 new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400EV fully electric double deck buses will relaunch the company’s flagship route, the 36 linking Ripon, Harrogate and Leeds.

Here are some images from today’s visit.

Shaking hands with Mr Jones.

Managing director Henri Rohard and operations director Vitto Pizzuti show Mr Sunak and Mr Jones round.

Meeting drivers and engineers.

Aboard one of the new buses.

Harrogate teen jailed for terrifying knifepoint robbery

A Harrogate teenager has been jailed for an attempted knifepoint robbery in which he lunged at the victim with a serrated blade after warning him: “Don’t think I won’t take your life”.

The named victim and his female friend heard the “click” of a folding knife after Danny Smyth crept up on them in King Edward’s Drive in the Bilton area of Harrogate and demanded his mobile phone.

Smyth, 19, from Pannal, had followed the two friends onto King Edward’s Drive and crossed over onto their side of the street before creeping up behind them, prosecutor Kelly Clarke told York Crown Court.

The victim asked him:

“What’s your problem? What’s wrong?”

Smyth replied:

“Don’t think I won’t take your life.”

The victim and his friend then heard a “click” and saw Smyth holding a three-inch serrated switchblade which he “flicked out”.

They said they heard the flick or lock knife “crack into place”.

Smyth then told the victim:

“Don’t think I won’t stab you. Don’t get lippy.”

The terrified victim quickly crossed the road to try to escape. As he walked away, he said to his friend: “What was all that about?”

Ms Clarke said that Smyth must have heard him because he crossed the road again towards the victim and repeated: “Don’t get lippy.” Ms Clarke added”

“He saw the phone in (the victim’s) hand and demanded it. He then lunged at him with the knife.”

The knife missed and the victim struck Smyth in the face in self-defence, knocking him into a bush. The victim and his friend then ran away and called police.

They said the victim’s eyes were “like saucers” and that he was clearly under the influence of some kind of substance.

Officers soon located Smyth and arrested him. He was taken to Harrogate Police Station where he became extremely aggressive and verbally abusive with officers.

Abused police

One officer was called a deeply offensive name as Smyth threatened to “knock her the fxxx out” and spit in her face, before kicking that officer and her colleague repeatedly in the arms and legs.

The shocking series of events occurred on June 13 last year while Smyth was already facing a public-disorder charge at the Crown Court following a previous violent incident in Harrogate on April 16, 2021, when police were called out to Knox Chase by neighbours.

“Police were called (out) to reports of…males fighting with residents,” said Ms Clarke.

One of Smyth’s co-defendants in that case, 20-year-old Lewis Edmondson, of Byland Place, and a youth who can’t be named for legal reasons, had been walking along the street when the youth fell into a hedge outside a property in Knox Chase.

Neighbours Neil Lyons, 51, and Andrew Preston, 50, came out of their property to confront the pair because there had been “a number of incidents involving youths in Knox Chase in the past”.

Ms Clarke said a fight broke out among all five males present, including Smyth. The incident was captured on CCTV and witnessed by residents including an elderly woman.

All five males were charged with an offence under the Public Order Act, namely using or threatening unlawful violence. They all admitted the offence and appeared for sentence today – almost three years after the incident.

Defence counsel for all but Smyth were spared the need for mitigation after judge Sean Morris said that all the defendants would be receiving 12-month conditional discharges for the offence.

However, as Smyth’s co-defendants walked free from court, he remained in the dock to be sentenced for the attempted robbery, carrying a knife and two counts of assaulting police officers during the incident in June 2023, all of which he admitted.

14 previous offences

Before sentence, Ms Clarke reminded the court of Smyth’s six previous convictions for 14 offences including carrying a knife, public disorder, battery and racially aggravated threatening behaviour.

Defence barrister Kristina Goodwin said that Smyth, a former Harrogate College student, had mental-health issues and traits of an anti-social personality disorder.

She added that Smyth, who had once been involved with the Sea Cadets and gained a Prince’s Trust award at college, had endured a difficult childhood and turned to alcohol and drugs to cope. He had been using cocaine “for a few years” and the drug abuse had resulted in him starting to get into trouble by 2020.

She said that Smyth, of Pannal Green, had been remanded in custody since his arrest in June last year, which was the equivalent of 16 months’ jail time already deemed served.

Judge Mr Morris, the Recorder of York, told Smyth he was “so lucky you didn’t kill someone” in the attempted knifepoint robbery.

He added:

“Knives are the scourge of the city streets at the moment and you would have been up for murder (if the attack had been fatal). You should hang your head in shame.”

Handing Smyth a two-year jail sentence, he told the teenager he already had a “nasty” record for one so young.

However, Smyth will only spend half that sentence behind bars, less the time he had already spent on remand, before being released on prison licence.

Harrogate firm sold to Irish multinational

Harrogate firm Groundtrax Systems has been acquired by an international company based in Dublin.

Groundtrax, which was founded by Simon Adams in 2011, has a storage and distribution facility at Station Yard in Ripley. It provides specialist ground protection products, such as reinforced paving, for roads, car parks and commercial sites.

According to a media release issued today, it has been bought for an undisclosed sum by Origin UK Operations Ltd, which is part of Irish multinational Origin Enterprises PLC.

The release added the business, led by Mr Adams and supported by director Laura Tyrrell and sales manager David Marsh, “has experienced strong growth in recent years” and has “built a UK-wide customer base of high-profile organisations that operate in the construction, hospitality and transport sectors, amongst others”.

Mr Adams, who will remain with the business, said:

“I am exceptionally proud of what we’ve built at Groundtrax Systems with a prestigious portfolio of customers and a reputation for quality and service.

“As part of Origin, the business will experience the next stage of its growth, benefiting from the strong presence the group has in a diverse range of industries, supplementing where we already operate. I’m excited to support the Origin team as we integrate into the group and deliver new opportunities for the business.”

Advising Mr Adams, who was the 100% shareholder of Groundtrax, was north-east based RG Corporate Finance. LCF Law provided legal advice.

Chris Clark, managing director of Origin Amenity, said:

“Groundtrax Systems is a welcome addition to our amenity and landscaping operations as we accelerate the diversification of the group beyond our core agricultural business.

“There are strong synergies with our existing amenity businesses and its products and distribution capabilities will add value to our expanding offering to our key sector client base.”

Origin Enterprises provides a range of agricultural advice, services and products to arable, fruit, vegetable growers amenity and landscaping professionals in the UK, Europe and Brazil.

Photo caption: Simon Adams, managing director of Groundtrax, with its trackway and truck grade cellular paver products ready for dispatch from the company’s facility in Ripon.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Harrogate

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited the Harrogate Bus Company‘s depot in Starbeck today.

Mr Sunak arrived at about 9am to support Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones.

After the two looked round the depot, he briefly answered questions from a pool of journalists, including the Stray Ferret.

Mr Sunak, who lives 35 miles away in Richmond, previously visited Harrogate in August last year when he went to Busy Bees nursery ay Hornbeam Park.

The Harrogate Bus Company is owned by French firm Transdev. Last year it placed orders worth £21 million for 39 new buses.

We will provide further details and photos of the visit later today.

Taylor Wimpey to reveal plans for 402 homes in Knaresborough

Taylor Wimpey is to hold a public consultation event tomorrow (Tuesday, February 13) to discuss plans to build 402 homes in Knaresborough.

The housebuilder is set to submit a planning application for a mixture of two, three and four-bedroom homes at York Road, close to the 600-home Manse Farm development.

The prospect of 1,000 new homes has reignited concerns about the volume of housing being built along the A59 to the east of the town centre and whether local services can cope.

Taylor Wimpey said the development, known as Highfield Farm, “will provide much needed housing in the borough” and boost local businesses by creating extra customers.

Its website added a Section 106 legal agreement with North Yorkshire Council would “cover any required improvements to the existing and local infrastructure and services as well as community projects”.

Its added:

“We have also proposed an extensive open space, with footpath and vehicle links throughout, linking the development to the surrounding wider area.”

The consultation exhibition will take place at the Trinity Fields sales centre on York Road from 3pm to 7pm on February 13.

‘Additional pressure’

North Yorkshire County Council unveiled plans in 2020 to open primary schools in Knaresborough and Northallerton “to serve housing growth”.

The Stray Ferret reported last month that the school in Northallerton, where the council is based, is due to open in autumn this year.

But no work has taken place in Knaresborough, where the school was supposed to cater predominantly for newcomers on the Manse Farm and Highfield Farm estates. A second proposed opening date of September 2024 looks certain to be missed. There has also been no progress on a community centre.

This illustration of the school was produced three years ago.

Cllr Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, said:

“If this development is approved it will put additional pressure on the town’s schools, doctors and other services and the right infrastructure must first be put in place.

“The developer hasn’t delivered on the building of the community centre that was in the original scheme. It’s disappointing that North Yorkshire Council is dragging its feet and has made no progress on the building of the primary school.”

The council will decide whether to approve the planning application when it is submitted. However, the proposal is on land currently allocated for housing.

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Abused police

14 previous offences

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

‘Additional pressure’

Read more: