Starbeck is to have two Remembrance Sunday events this year at 11am and 3pm amid a disagreement over the best time to honour the war dead.

A remembrance service traditionally takes place at 3pm at the war memorial on Starbeck High Street.

The afternoon time enables local veterans, dignitaries and anyone else wishing to pay their respects to do so first at the large morning parade in Harrogate town centre.

But some people feel Starbeck should follow the rest of the country by honouring the fallen at 11am.

Last year some residents observed a two-minute silence at the war memorial at 11am — and they intend to do so again this year, even though the afternoon service will go ahead as usual.

Starbeck Residents Association has taken over the running of the afternoon service and lead organiser Andy Dennis said this year’s event, on November 13, would be Starbeck’s official event marking Remembrance Sunday. He said:

“I want to be clear with this, as a local group held an unofficial service at 11am last year and this poorly attended event was projected in some quarters as the community’s response to remembrance.

“The 3pm service is always well supported by the community, it is held at this time to allow dignitaries such as the MP and councillors to attend the Harrogate service at 11am and the the Starbeck service later.”

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Starbeck resident Lucky Hubbard said she was one of about 30 people who observed last year’s 11am silence and she intends to do so again this year. Some, including herself, will attend both gatherings. She said:

“I’m an ex-army wife so Remembrance Sunday has always been a big thing to me, and it’s always been at 11am.

“We are not saying don’t go at 3pm — we just want to pay our respects at 11am.”

Ms Hubbard runs a Starbeck knitting group called Knitwits, which decorated local landmarks with poppies last year. This year it is knitting 2,000 poppies to go on the side of St Andrew’s Church (pictured).

She is also involved with a fundraising event for the Yorkshire Trench project on Saturday, November 12, as well as a veterans’ breakfast after the Sunday morning two-minute silence.

Some of those supporting the morning silence are involved with Starbeck Community Group, which has had an uneasy relationship with Starbeck Residents Association in recent years.

Ms Hubbard said:

“It’s a shame that this spat keeps rearing its ugly head.”

Harrogate Borough Council has refused to say whether its chief executive will receive a payout package when the authority is abolished in April.

Questions over possible payments to Wallace Sampson were raised after a proposed redundancy package of around £225,000 for Hambleton District Council’s chief executive was criticised by “dismayed and angry” union officials.

But when asked if its most senior officer would receive something similar, Harrogate Borough Council only provided the following statement:

“We respect the contractual rights of all our employees, and relevant employment law.

“This applies to all employees irrespective of their salary or position.”

Mr Sampson, who is paid a £118,447-a-year salary, will along with the other district council chiefs in North Yorkshire see his role scrapped when a new unitary authority covering the whole county launches in April.

County officials have repeatedly insisted that most staff will be transferred across to the new North Yorkshire Council.

However, there have been some uncertainties over job security which has led to an increase in staff quitting ahead of the eight existing councils merging into one.

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Unison – which represents over 6,000 local government workers in North Yorkshire – said it was seeking clarity from the existing councils after Hambleton’s proposal which it said “will not go down well” with staff and taxpayers during the cost of living crisis.

The union said in a statement:

“We have already had contact from our members who work for Hambleton District Council to express their shock and disgust at this proposal.

“We will also be writing to the other district and borough councils across North  Yorkshire to make sure they are not tempted to do the same.”

‘Inappropriate expenditure’

The comments come after Harrogate Borough Council was last year told to change its rules on payouts for departing staff after auditors raised concerns over what they described as “inappropriate expenditure”.

Figures published in the council’s annual statement of accounts showed £354,000 was paid out to 19 former employees in 2019/20.

This was an increase from the previous financial year when £278,000 was agreed for 15 staff.

The statement of accounts also showed one member of staff received a £62,000 exit package in 2019/2020, although it is not known what job title they had or how much they were earning before they left their role.

The only member of staff who was named was former director of community Paul Campbell who was paid £55,065 in compensation for loss of office.

It was later agreed that all payments – which can also include allowances and hardship cash – have to be approved by the borough council leader and chief executive, and reported on an annual basis.

Any payments over £100,000 now also require approval from full council.

Previously, the payments were signed off by a monitoring officer and only those made to senior staff were reported annually.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire County Council’s chief executive Richard Flinton was earlier this year appointed to carry out the same role on the new unitary authority at a crucial time of change for the county.

He will earn up to £197,000 a year with responsibility for an annual budget of £1.4 billion and a workforce of 10,500 staff.

Former Calendar news presenters Christine Talbot and Gaynor Barnes are to attend this month’s Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival.

The pair will be putting their presenting skills to use when they each interview one of this year’s guest writers.

Christine will interview Antique Roadshow star Ronnie Archer-Morgan about his autobiography, Would it Surprise You to Know…? at 11.30am on Saturday, October 22.

Gaynor will have a conversation with Radio 5’s Nihal Arthanayake – whose book is coincidentally titled How to Have Better Conversations at 1pm on Saturday, October 22.

The festival runs from October 20 to 23. Further details are available here.

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North Yorkshire County Council has revealed it is exploring new plans to cut congestion and improve road safety on one of Harrogate’s busiest routes.

Bus lanes, junction upgrades and cycling and walking improvements are being considered for the A61, which is a key artery connecting Ripon and Leeds.

There are also the long-discussed proposals for a park and ride scheme, which could have multiple sites in Harrogate.

The plans form part of a latest study that is underway after debate over the town’s £11.2 million Station Gateway project last year ignited calls for the Parliament Street section of the A61 to revert to two-way traffic as it was pre-1971.

However, the county council has repeatedly rejected the idea, saying the projected £30 million costs were not manageable.

Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation, has again reaffirmed the authority’s stance whilst also revealing that a second phase of the Harrogate Transport Improvements Programme study is now focusing on other proposals for the A61. He said:

“Our position on the A61 one-way system remains unchanged.

“A two-way system would be likely to have a detrimental effect on Parliament Street and West Park, increasing congestion along this corridor and worsening air quality for people who live, work and spend time in the area.

“In addition, initial estimates of re-introducing two-way traffic indicated the cost would be at least £30 million. This would now be significantly higher following recent rises in inflation.

“We are preparing a number of proposals for the A61 corridor in line with government guidance on the development of major schemes.

“Detailed work is expected to be complete by the end of this year, after which we will take options to the public for consideration.”

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After launching in 2019, the Harrogate Transport Improvements Programme has been hit by recent delays because the work is “extremely time consuming and complex”.

That is according to a council report, which also highlighted how there were further setbacks when the council’s £116 million bid to the government’s Bus Back Better scheme failed to secure any funding.

At the centre of the bid was plans for a Harrogate park and ride scheme and the council has again insisted that this is still a priority.

More than 100 possible sites have been examined and the two most promising were previously revealed as land near Pannal Golf Club and the Buttersyke Bar roundabout south of the village.

These were identified as they connect to the 36 bus service which runs between Harrogate, Ripon and Leeds on the A61.

Keane Duncan

But Cllr Duncan said more than one park and ride site would be needed in order to make the scheme a success and encourage people to change their travel habits. He added:

“If park and ride is developed further, we will hold further discussions with bus operators, because proximity to existing bus services is crucial to a scheme’s financial viability and sustainability.

“The Harrogate Transport Improvements Programme study focuses on improving provision for walking and cycling, improvements to junctions and enhanced priority for buses along the A61 Leeds Road, and the feasibility of park and ride services across the wider Harrogate area.

“Our aim is to deliver long-lasting benefits in a consistent, co-ordinated way.”

A six-week consultation has begun on the Harrogate district’s proposed new town.

Maltkiln is expected to be built in the Hammerton and Cattal area and include between 3,000 and 4,000 homes, two primary schools, shops and a GP surgery.

With an estimated population of up to 10,000, it is likely to be bigger than Richmond and similar in size to Thirsk.

The development moved a step closer this week when Harrogate Borough Council opened a consultation on its draft new settlement development plan document, which sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how Maltkiln is designed and developed.

The consultation documents cover issues such as the impact of the development on flood risk, heritage sites and climate change.

A section outlining the council’s ‘vision’ for Maltkiln describes it as “a garden village with a distinctive identity” that is “developed around convenient rail access to Harrogate, Leeds and York” and “people are not dependent on a car”.

People have until November 14 to make comments on the proposal. You can do so online or at the council’s Civic Centre in Harrogate or at libraries in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Poppleton.

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The Liberal Democrats could take Harrogate and Knaresborough off the Conservatives at the next general election if people vote tactically, a poll suggests.

The New Statesman published an article today about the impact of tactical voting at the next election.

The findings are based on questions put to 2,500 voters a week ago by polling company Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

It forecasts tactical voting would lead to a Labour landslide and reduce the Conservatives to just eight seats in northern England — with Mr Jones among the victims.

Data by New Statesman and Redfield & Wilton Strategies

The article says Conservative Andrew Jones is currently set to win in Harrogate and Knaresborough for the fifth consecutive time, taking 35% of the vote compared with 32% for the Liberal Democrats and 25% for Labour.

But with tactical voting, the Liberal Democrats would win with 42% compared with 37% for Mr Jones. Labour’s vote would slump to 13%.

The figures are extrapolated from YouGov polling in May, which revealed 50% of Labour voters would consider voting for the Liberal Democrats — but just 13% would consider voting for the Conservatives. The article says:

“Tactical voting would see some voters switch to the Conservatives, without doubt, but the overwhelming majority who would change their vote would change it against them.”

Applied nationally, both for Con-Lib marginal seats and Con-Lab marginal seats, three to four dozen seats would change hands.

The Conservatives would win just 117 seats overall, the Liberal Democrats would win 41 and Labour would end up with 408 seats.

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The article warns:

“These types of polling questions come with a health warning about hypothetical data, but they can aid us in modelling the next election.

“They let us look at seats where the Lib Dems are in second and gauge how many Labour voters might switch to help them over the line.”

The Liberal Democrats upgraded Harrogate and Knaresborough to a target seat this year, which prompted the selection process for its next prospective parliamentary candidate to be restarted.

North Yorkshire Police has urged people not to support online child abuse activists and said it will not work with them.

The constabulary issued a statement today saying the number of online vigilante groups had increased in the county but they risked hampering prosecutions and often targeted innocent people.

Such groups often use a decoy victim – an adult pretending to be a child – to snare suspected child abusers.

They then live-stream or post videos on social media of them confronting suspects, often calling the police at this stage.

The statement said:

“We have specialist teams working hard around the clock to identify and bring offenders to justice and all too often these groups put the lives of innocent people in danger, interfere with our ongoing investigations and risk the course of fair justice.”

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Detective Inspector Paula Eccles, from North Yorkshire Police’s safeguarding team, said:

“The police service does not endorse online child abuse activist groups and we will not work with them.

“Unlike our highly-trained officers in the online abuse and exploitation team and the digital forensics unit, they operate without any procedures to keep people safe.

“Accused people can become vulnerable to self-harm and there are cases around the country of people dying by suicide because of the action of such groups.”

‘Cause cases to collapse’

Det Insp Eccles added some groups operated as a cover for crimes like blackmail and extortion and there was “no way of making sure that these groups act on reliable evidence”.

She added:

“The standard of evidence that is gathered is also often poor, there are issues with legal disclosure, and the way the groups share their evidence publicly online before it has been tested at court.

“Some evidential issues can even cause cases to collapse. This is completely unacceptable.”

Police nationally arrest more than 400 people for child sexual abuse and protect more than 500 children from harm each week.

North Yorkshire Police said its specialist teams “have the expertise and experience to carry out thorough, complex and intelligence-led investigations, as well as preparing evidence that can stand up to scrutiny by the Crown Prosecution Service”.

It urged anyone concerned about indecent images of children and sexual abuse to report it online via its website or by calling 101, or 999 if it’s an emergency.

Homeless people are set to benefit from new purpose-built housing in Bilton after plans were given the go-ahead by councillors.

Harrogate Borough Council has approved its own plans to demolish 10 garages on Woodfield Close to make way for two homes providing temporary accommodation.

Maggie Gibson, housing needs manager at the authority, told a planning committee meeting yesterday that the single-bed properties will be for people who are unable to use shared accommodation because of their complex needs. She added:

“This is accommodation where they will reside in for an extended period of time, but it means they can move on and enable other people to also use the pathway.

“It could be up to two or three years that they stay there because people’s circumstances change.”

Using garage sites to bring forward new homes has been a tactic used by the council to tackle Harrogate’s housing problems, with plans for affordable homes recently approved in Pannal and Ripon.

The Woodfield Close site is located near the footbridge which connects to the Nidderdale Greenway, and some garages will be retained.

The area will also be resurfaced to provide five public parking spaces, with potential for electric vehicle charging points.

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No solar panels

There are, however, no plans for solar panels on the two properties after council officers said they ran into complications with tariffs and shared roof spaces.

Councillor Pat Marsh, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group, expressed disappointment over this and that the homes are to be heated by gas boilers and not more environmentally-friendly methods such as air source heat pumps. She said:

“I will support this because of the need for this type of accommodation, but I’m really upset that this local authority hasn’t thought of another way of using anything but gas.

“We know that in a few years gas boilers are being phased out by the government.

“This council has got to start to grasp that there is a climate emergency.”

People who have lost babies are being invited to light a candle or leave a message at St Peter’s Church, Harrogate next week.

Baby Loss Awareness Week, which runs from October 9 to 15, is an awareness and support campaign around pregnancy and baby loss.

One in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage and 250 babies are stillborn every day in the UK.

Reflect, a pregnancy loss support charity, will be holding a Light a Candle remembrance event from 12.45pm to 2pm on Tuesday at St Peter’s Church. People will be able to light a candle or leave a message in remembrance of their loss.

Baby Loss Awareness Week, now in its 20th year, enables those affected to come together to remember and commemorate lost children.

The week also provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the impact of pregnancy and baby loss and the importance of bereavement support.

Tanya Allen from Reflect charity said:

“We hope that our Light a Candle event will provide an opportunity for local bereaved parents and families to remember their precious babies. We also would like anyone dealing with the pain of pregnancy and baby loss to know that there is support available; at Reflect we provide free one-to-one support for individuals and couples.”

Baby Loss Awareness Week is observed internationally and culminates with the Wave of Light on October 15, when people across the world light a candle at 7pm local time and leave it burning to remember all babies that have died too soon.

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A decision on plans for 53 homes in Harrogate has been delayed after concerns were raised that the site is likely to be contaminated by coal and tar spillages from a former railway track.

More than 300 residents objected to the Knox Lane plans and also paid for their own experts to assess the site, which was once part of a railway that transported carriages between gasworks and Bilton Junction.

An agent for the developers Jomast told a Harrogate Borough Council meeting today that the firm had carried out initial ground investigations and was committed to providing more information to council officers who had recommended approval.

However, councillors said they could not support the plans until they had seen the full investigation outcomes for themselves.

The proposed development

There were also further concerns over flooding, the discovery of badger setts, a lack of public transport connections and that the development of the site near Oak Beck could cause “ecological damage”.

Councillor Robert Windass, a Conservative who represents Boroughbridge, said much more work was needed on the proposals which he described as “wrong, wrong, wrong”. He said:

“I’ve heard nothing from the developers or our officers that would make me wish to support this application.

“Unless I feel the applicant has done a proper contamination assessment and got a full report when it comes back to this committee, I’m afraid I won’t be supportive.”

The plans first submitted in April 2020 initially included 73 homes, but this was reduced to 53 after local complaints.

Despite further changes, residents have continued to strongly oppose the development with a total of 313 objections and no letters of support being submitted to the council.

Residents’ concerns are so strong that they commissioned a toxicology specialist to examine the proposals.

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Dr Damien Bowen told today’s meeting that he believed “extensive investigations” were needed due to the health and environmental risks of the likely presence of contamination. He said:

“While the potential land contamination is considered, concerns over polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), other toxic metals and their known adverse health effects cannot be dismissed.

“Humans may be exposed to PAHs in the air, water and food, and when such a site is distributed these compounds are distributed into the environment.”

The field earmarked for development.

Ward councillor Paul Haslam also argued that these concerns have not been taken seriously enough by the council, which he claimed had taken no notice of “compelling” evidence that the plans should not be approved. He said:

“The developer’s hands seemed to have been held throughout this process, whereas residents have been ignored.”

The proposals – which include 30 homes classed as affordable – will be brought back to another meeting of the council’s planning committee in the coming months.