Chris Thompson has been appointed mayor of Pateley Bridge for the next civic year.

Cllr Thompson was elected chair of Pateley Bridge Town Council at May’s annual meeting in May. His wife, Dawn Thompson, is his mayoress.

London-born Cllr Thompson is a former telephone engineer who moved to Glasshouses with his family in 2001.

He suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 2012 and received so much support from the local community he pledged to give back when he’d recovered. He added:

“So in 2014, I became chair of Glasshouses Village Association, organising community events and outings, with a lot of help and support from my wife.

“Then in 2018, I was also co-opted onto Pateley Bridge Town Council. At the same time, my wife and I started working with the Pateley Bridge based community singing group All Together Now to help people with dementia and other memory loss problems.

“I am the organist for Pateley Bridge Methodist Church. We’re also members of the Nidderdale Community Choir, which is a lot of fun as well as singing some great music.”

Cllr Thompson pledged to attend as many community events as possible, support local North Yorkshire councillor Andrew Murday in his bid to establish a youth council in Pateley Bridge and to promote the town as much as possible.

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Three historic hotels in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough have announced details of when they plan to reopen.

The St George Hotel in Harrogate, the Spa Hotel in Ripon and the Dower House in Knaresborough are all currently closed.

They have been acquired by the Inn Collection Group, which has 32 venues in northern England, and are undergoing major refurbishments.

They have also been renamed as the Harrogate Inn, the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn.

An Inn Collection Group spokesman revealed today the Harrogate Inn will reopen on July 3. It will have 96 rooms, six more than previously. The six extra rooms are all ground floor suites.

The former St George Hotel, Harrogate

The Ripon Inn will reopen on August 20 with 58 rooms, compared with 43 previously.

The Knaresborough Inn is expected to be the second of the three venues to re-open. A date has not been set but it is expected to be early August. It will have 57 rooms, compared with 38 previously.

The Harrogate and Ripon inns are both accepting bookings now.

The Dower House has a new name and look

The spokesman said:

“The three sites have have undergone significant refurbishment and investment.

“All three will have new look bar and restaurant areas on reopening, and also have had additional rooms added to their stock.”

As part of the reopening activity, all three sites are running a free dinner promotion for guests.

Read more:

• St George Hotel in Harrogate to close at end of month
• Ripon’s Spa Hotel to reopen following sale
• New opening dates for Harrogate and Knaresborough leisure centres revealed

Harrogate Cricket Club has revealed plans to open an indoor cricket school.

The school would be built on the concrete terraced area at the club’s St George’s Road ground and cost up to £3.5 million.

Architects have drawn up plans for the project, which is likely to take five to seven years to come to fruition.

The school, which would include four lanes of nets as well as other factilities, is in addition to the club’s plans to raise £75,000 on new outdoor nets.

Co-chair Steve Clark said there was a shortage of sports hall space in Harrogate, especially in winter.

He added the cricket school would ensure junior and senior players had a large enough facility for high quality training sessions all year round.

A sub-committee will be set-up to oversee the cricket school project, which will require extensive fundraising, including applications to trusts and foundations for grants.

Mr Clark added:

“The facility will provides a practice facility which can be used when the weather is damp as well as when the sun is shining.

“The nets will be made to a professional standard ensuring the correct bounce and carry for the ball; replicating playing on real grass.”

Outdoor nets

The Stray Ferret revealed in March the club had launched a £75,000 crowdfunding campaign to replace the ageing outdoor nets with new ones.

Fundraising has gone well and the club hopes the outdoor nets will be installed at the end of the cricket season, ready for use by next spring.

Local schools will be able to make arrangements to use them.

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Once the outdoor nets are finished, attention will turn fully on the cricket school project.

Harrogate Cricket Club hosted 98 first class matches between 1882 and 2000 and the two current major projects highlight the club’s ambitions to upgrade the club.

The ground hosted first class cricket for over 100 years.

Pure Gym is to open its newest gym in Knaresborough tomorrow.

The gym, which will employ nine staff, will be open from 6am to 10pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.

It will provide about 40 classes a week free to members.

It has 220 pieces of equipment, a functional zone, a free weights area, cardio equipment and a fitness studio. Certified PTs will be available to help.

Based on the site of the former Lidl supermarket on York Road, the gym will welcome its first customers at midday tomorrow.

A typical Pure Gym layout. Pic: James McCauley

A Pure Gym spokesperson said:

“Our newest gym will offer members high-quality, low-cost fitness facilities and provide them with access to state-of-the-art equipment to use to achieve their fitness goals whenever they choose.”

Tomorrow’s opening means Knaresborough and Harrogate will both have Pure Gyms — but not Ripon. The Stray Ferret asked the company if it had any plans t open in the city.

The spokesperson said:

“We are always on the lookout for new sites that will enable us to provide as many people as possible with access to affordable, flexible fitness.

“We currently don’t have any concrete plans for a site in Ripon, but will continue to keep an eye out for potential locations for our next Pure Gym.”

Pure Gym was launched in 2009 and now has 1.2 million members and 340 UK clubs.

It is majority owned by American private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners.

Read more:

• Pure Gym to open in former Knaresborough supermarket
• New opening dates for Harrogate and Knaresborough leisure centres revealed

The chief executive of Yorkshire Water has apologised today for its record on sewage and said she will refuse any bonus this year.

Nicola Shaw admitted the company has not done enough to tackle storm overflows, which release raw sewage into rivers at times of high rainfall.

Yorkshire Water has been widely criticised for its record on storm overflows and was fined £233,000 in January for discharging 20 million litres of raw sewage into Tong Beck at Bradford.

Ms Shaw joined the company in May last year and has yet to receive an annual bonus. Her predecessor Liz Barber’s last bonus was £679,000 in the 2021/22 financial year.

In a letter to customers, Ms Shaw said:

“There has been a huge amount of criticism of, and anger at, the water industry over recent months.

“I get why people are angry – seeing sewage in our rivers and seas isn’t right. We should have a system that befits the 21st century. So, on behalf of Yorkshire Water, I am sorry.

“We should have acted more quickly to change the situation. That’s why I have decided to refuse any bonus this year as I want us to make progress.”

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Ms Shaw pledged the company would “up its game” by improving the 190 storm overflows “that we know are operating much more than they should” and by “delivering our largest environmental investment ever”.

Yorkshire Water will spend £180m on storm overflow improvements in the next two years, which it said would help to reduce discharges by at least 20%.

The £180m investment will be spent on:

• Increasing storage within Yorkshire Water’s wastewater treatment works
• Preventing surface water entering the sewer system
• Reducing infiltration into sewers
• Small changes to the operation of treatment works.

Harrogate Borough Council spent £14,910 on a final day leaving party for staff, a freedom of information request has revealed.

The bill, footed by council taxpayers, included £3,031 on drink and £4,750 on food. The other £7,000 is unaccounted for.

The Stray Ferret has submitted a freedom of information request seeking a fuller breakdown of the costs.

Seven district councils and North Yorkshire County Council were abolished on March 31 to make way for the new North Yorkshire Council.

Harrogate Borough Council’s final day staff party cost the most.

Scarborough was the next highest, spending £9,004, followed by Hambleton at £3,783. Ryedale awarded staff a £148 bonus and spent £3,001 on a party. North Yorkshire County Council did not spend anything.

When the Stray Ferret contacted Conservative-run Harrogate Borough Council in March about a leaving party, a spokesperson replied:

“I’m not aware of any events today to mark the end of Harrogate Borough Council.”

Now it has emerged a party did take place, a public sector worker in Harrogate described it as a “spit in the face of every taxpayer in these difficult financial times”.

The person, who asked not to be named, said:

“The money could have been put towards a million and one other uses.

“I am appalled, disgusted and downright annoyed that this amount was spent without the prior knowledge and consent of the people paying for it.”

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Conor Holohan, media campaign manager of the pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance, echoed the concerns. He said:

“Taxpayers will be shocked to find they were funding parties for council staff.

“While residents were struggling with the cost of living crisis, town hall officials were charging them for dinner and drinks.

“Bosses in the new North Yorkshire Council should be more considerate when spending taxpayers’ cash than some of their predecessors were.”

The new signs at Harrogate’s Civic Centre

Staff from the district councils, except the chief executives, transferred to North Yorkshire Council on April 1. It said in a statement:

“The new council for North Yorkshire did not play any part in sanctioning or organising any parties.

“For any further comment you will need to ask the district and borough council decision-makers who were in place at those councils at the time.”

When he stepped down as leader of Harrogate Borough Council, Richard Cooper said he would not give any further public comments and he declined to comment when asked about this matter.

North Yorkshire Council has flattened an unofficial bike track created by off-road cyclists in woods near Harrogate.

Cyclists have ridden the makeshift route in Oak Beck Park, which runs alongside Oak Beck on land behind Aldi and Pets at Home, for years.

But the council has removed parts of it following complaints about “vandalism and unauthorised structures”.

Its actions have led to concerns of heavy-handedness towards young people pursuing their hobby.

Cyclists have used Oak Beck Park for years

Barrie Mason, the council’s assistant director for parks and grounds, said:

“We have acted in response to complaints from the public and local conservation groups about vandalism and unauthorised structures in Oak Beck Park over recent weeks.

“The structures have been built over and along footpaths, in areas of high footfall, putting other park users at risk.

“The building of these structures has damaged the surrounding park, including the digging out and removal of three large sleepers from a set of steps, large holes dug into the woodland embankment and across the woodland floor and trees cut down and damaged.”

Mr Mason added excavating large quantities of soil and rock, creating unstable structures and riding bikes over footpaths “is damaging to the local ecosystem and creates hazards and conflict with other park users”.

He added:

“There is an existing historical informal bike track, which is still in situ and has not been dismantled. The structures removed are only those that have been recently created.

“Our action is led solely by the desire to protect the environment and for the safety of everyone who uses the park.”

The council’s actions led to comments on social media saying bike trails and jumps had been “completely demolished”, ruining a healthy hobby among young people. One said:

“Then the council go on about kids up to no good. No wonder, there is nothing else to do. Don’t see anything wrong with them having a bike trail.”

Another added:

“They just want to ride their bikes and chill out.”

Oak Beck flows through the woods

Cllr Monika Slater, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange and New Park said “it was a real shame” to lose something that was “used regularly and enjoyed by many young people”.

She said she was talking to the council to try to find a solution, adding:

“I realise its unofficial, but it’s not doing harm and it has been there for a while.

“I want to keep dialogue open with the council to get something back in place, but that’s in it’s early stages.”

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Three times more businesses oppose the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway than support it, according to a survey.

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce revealed the results of a members’ questionnaire at its monthly meeting last night.

Asked whether they were in favour of the scheme, seven respondents said ‘yes’ while 21 said ‘no’.

Members were also asked if they felt the scheme, which would see James Street partly pedestrianised and a section of Station Parade reduced to single lane to make way for a cycle route, would make business in the town better or worse.

Eighteen said it would make it worse, four said better and six either felt it would be the same or expressed no opinion.

Nineteen opposed the pedestrianisation of James Street, while nine supported it.

Asked whether the scheme would “encourage you or your team to participate in more active travel”, five replied ‘yes’ while 23 said ‘no’.

Martin Mann, acting chief executive of the chamber, said:

“No-one’s in any doubt the town centre needs some work, but the answer is not this design.”

Read more:

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Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat leader in Harrogate and Knaresborough, told the chamber meeting North Yorkshire councillors should visit the affected area before deciding whether to proceed with the gateway on May 30.

Cllr Marsh, who was one of three councillors to oppose the scheme when it was voted through by North Yorkshire Council’s area constituency committee this month, said:

“If this was a planning decision we would be having a site visit and we would walk the route before making a decision. The same should happen.”

“I’m so against this scheme, I can’t tell you.”

Two major local leisure centre projects in Harrogate and Knaresborough have been delayed — and will cost more than expected.

The new North Yorkshire Council gave its first update on the refurbishment of Harrogate Hydro and the construction of Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre today.

It revealed the Hydro is now due to re-open in August following a £13.5 million refurbishment.

The facility, which will be renamed Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre, was originally due to re-open in January this year and the project was due to cost £11.8 million.

But it now won’t be open for the start of the summer holidays.

A council statement today said:

“It had been hoped the new facility would be ready to open earlier in the summer but a number of unanticipated issues with the building were found during the construction process.”

The new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre is due to open in November at a cost of £17.6 million.

The project was initially due to re-open at the end of summer and cost £17 million.

The existing Knaresborough Pool was due to be demolished once the new facility was open.

But to keep construction costs as low as possible, the current pool will close and start to be demolished in early September following the opening of the Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre.

It means Knaresborough is likely to be without a pool for two months.

Hydro overhaul

Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre will include a 400 square metre fitness centre, a new sauna and steam suite, improved reception and café, as well an overhaul of the existing gym, spin, leisure and swimming facilities.

The diving structure is also being replaced.

Outside, the building is being remodelled to provide a reconfigured car park, bicycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.

The existing gas boilers have already been replaced with air-source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, as well as new metering and energy monitoring and control systems.

Read more:

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The energy efficiency measures were made possible by a £1.8 million grant from the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy public sector decarbonisation scheme, and will halve the carbon footprint of the leisure centre.

The latest delay to the re-opening is to allow improvements to the fire protection of the steel frame, as well as the addition of new wall restraints, the replacement of corroded steelwork and fixing an issue that was causing an air leak and heat loss between the roof and the external walls.]

Today’s statement added:

“As a result of this additional work, the refurbishment project at Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre is now set to be completed by the end of July and will reopen in August, once staff from Brimhams Active have had a chance to familiarise themselves with the health and safety and operating procedures of the improved facility.

“Further details about the official opening will be announced in the coming months.”

Six-lane pool in Knaresborough

Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre, which is being built next to the current Knaresborough Pool, will include a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.

It will incorporate high-efficiency building materials, air source heat pumps and solar panels to reduce the carbon footprint.

Today’s update said:

“Unfortunately, due to an unavoidable delay involving the new electrical supply to the building, the leisure and wellness centre will now open in November.

Once the existing pool has been demolished, a new play area in front of the new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre will be installed.

Cllr Simon Myers, the council’s executive member for culture, arts and housing, said:

“We want to ensure a healthier, more active population that is living longer and more independently. By investing in leisure facilities, such as this, we can continue to make that happen.

“Unfortunately, refurbishment projects often uncover historic issues that need to be resolved. But by carrying out the work now, the building can conform to the latest legislation, be as energy-efficient as possible and allow people to keep fit and active for many years to come.”