Plans for a new 36-flat supported housing development in Harrogate have been given the go-ahead today.
Jackie Snape, chief executive of the Harrogate charity Disability Action Yorkshire, made an impassioned plea to councillors for the scheme to go ahead. She said disabled people wanted to be given more control of their lives.
Ms Snape told Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning meeting that the need for supported housing was growing ever greater as disabled people “want so much more than residential care”.
She was speaking in support of plans to replace the charity’s existing Claro Road care home with 36 flats, which will allow residents to live more independently.
Ms Snape said:
“Disability Action Yorkshire has provided residential care for disabled people in the Harrogate area for the past 60 years, and for at least the last six years we have been working towards stopping that part of our service.
“The reason for this is that the disabled people we work with are telling us very loudly that they don’t want residential care.
“I asked the young disabled people currently living in 34 Claro Road what they thought I should say to you today.
“They said ‘just tell them we are ready, we want choice and control over our own lives, we just want our own front doors, we want what everyone else has.’”
Read more:
Disability Action Yorkshire, which this year celebrates its 85th anniversary, is working with Highstone Housing Association to build three apartment blocks at the Claro Road site.
Residents ‘no longer want residential care’
Ms Snape said the need for this type of accommodation has been growing over the last decade, but became in even greater demand during the pandemic which “solidified the resolve” of Claro Road residents that they no longer want residential care.
She said:
“For the past two years they have been treated differently to the rest of society, at one point not being able to have visits from friends and family while the rest of the country went out to eat out.
“Nearly every day somebody said we wouldn’t be in this situation if we had a home of our own.”
The charity’s plans – which included a mix of one and two-bed flats – were approved with “open arms” by Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee today.
Works will now start later this month to construct the first of the flats on the grounds of the current home and on a derelict playground which was sold off by the council last year.
The existing care home will be replaced with flats, as well as a base for support staff who will be on site 24-hours-a-day.
Speaking at today’s meeting, councillor Stuart Martin said:
New Harrogate Leon set to open early May“This is exactly the sort of development we should be building and it’s one of the easiest decisions I’ve taken on this planning committee.”
The new drive thru Leon restaurant currently being built on Wetherby Road in Harrogate is expected to open in early May.
The healthy fast food chain has about 70 outlets in the UK and opened its first drive thru in Leeds last year. The Harrogate venue will be its second drive thru.
EG Group, which owns the site, received planning permission to open a Starbucks on the site of the former dental surgery.
Work to transform the site on Wetherby Road.
Its planning application was approved despite concerns about the volume of traffic.
A Leon spokeswoman confirmed the site would now be used exclusively as a Leon drive thru, which she added was “scheduled to open in early May”.
Read more:
- Leon to open drive thru restaurant in Harrogate
- Three new restaurants and bars opening in Harrogate in next few days
She said the restaurant would create up to 15 jobs and there would be more than 50 seats inside and about 16 outside.
The spokeswoman added:
Free public Wi-Fi rolled out on in Harrogate“We are so super excited about launching our second drive thru restaurant in Harrogate.”
Harrogate has become the final town of 20 in North Yorkshire to get free public access Wi-Fi.
It means people with limited or no broadband will be able to access the internet more easily in the town centre.
North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council, in partnership with Harrogate telecommunications firm NYnet, have provided the scheme. Public access Wi-Fi was switched on in Knaresborough and Ripon last year.
The scheme aims to support post-covid recovery in North Yorkshire. Harrogate Borough Council has provided £300,000 to provide extra coverage across the district.
Robert Ling, North Yorkshire County Council’s assistant director for technology and change, said:
“Harrogate is one of the largest, busiest towns in North Yorkshire which boasts thriving businesses, tourist attractions and stunning gardens. Our hope is that the free Wi-Fi service will prove popular, as it is certain to boost the town’s digital infrastructure.”
Read more:
- Free Wi-Fi goes live in Knaresborough
- Harrogate Hydro renovations a long-term gain, says diving club
Matt Roberts, Harrogate Borough Council’s economy and transport officer, said:
“By providing free public spaces Wi-Fi it allows people of all ages to keep connected, look up local businesses and discover all that the Harrogate district has to offer. It also supports our economic growth strategy which aims to make the Harrogate district the best place to live, work and visit.”
York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership allocated £3.6million to the scheme part of its allocation from the government’s Getting Building Fund.
David Dickson, chair of the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership infrastructure and joint assets board, said:
CNG building in Harrogate goes back on the market“This whole programme of work to improve digital infrastructure in North Yorkshire is really important for the region. It will support York and North Yorkshire in becoming a greener, fairer and stronger economy.”
Former CNG building goes on the market
The Harrogate headquarters of energy firm CNG, which ceased trading lat year, has gone on the market.
Montpellier Property Consultants is advertising the four-storey property on Victoria Avenue.
The air-conditioned building was built in the 1990s and refurbished in 2015. The advertisement says:
“It offers modern high specification office accommodation and benefits from the latest systems and technology.
“The quality of its specification and the very extensive office accommodation it provides makes it unique in the business district.”
Slingsby Gin signs sponsorship deal with Ascot Racecourse
Harrogate firm Slingsby Gin has become the official gin supplier to Ascot Racecourse.
Royal Ascot, which is held in June, is one of the premier events on the British horseracing calendar.
The partnership will generate considerable exposure for the local firm through exclusive branding and activations, branded bars for the season and inclusion in event coverage that is broadcast worldwide.
Slingsby Gin said in a statement:
“We are delighted to add this to our existing long-standing sponsorship with one of the golf world’s most exciting events, the BMW PGA Championship, and we hope that the new Ascot partnership will further strengthen our strong sporting connections.”
JB Gill to appear at Great Yorkshire Show
JB Gill
Pop star turned farmer JB Gill has agreed to appear on the new GYS stage at the Great Yorkshire Show.
He will appear twice on stage on Wednesday, July 13, as part of a chat show style section before meeting fans afterwards.
Former ITV Calendar presenter Christine Talbot will host the GYS Stage.
The Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate will take place from July 12 to 15.
JB rose to fame as a member of boy band JLS, who had five number one singles, before setting up a farm in the Kent countryside,
Send your business news to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk
Two cars deliberately set alight in KnaresboroughFirefighters were called last night to deal with two vehicles that had been deliberately set alight in Knaresborough.
A fire crew from the town was summoned to Maundy Grove at 10.22pm.
According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log, they used two hose reel jets and breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze.
No further details are available.
In a separate incident last night, firefighters were alerted to reports of a fire in woodland on Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate.
The incident log, which says the call was received at 5.53pm, adds:
“This turned out to be a camp fire well supervised. Fire service not required.”
Read more:
- Firefighters battle large wildfire near Brimham Rocks
- Traffic lights coming to busy Knaresborough junction
New battle trail to tell of Boroughbridge’s turbulent past
A battle trail is being created in Boroughbridge, telling the story of the town’s turbulent past.
Several thousand soldiers converged on the town on March 16, 1322, when King Edward II’s troops defeated an uprising led by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster.
Boroughbridge recently celebrated the 700th anniversary of the battle with a day of activities, including battlefield tours and re-enactments.
Now there are plans to create a trail that will enable visitors to discover for themselves all about the conflict.
Boroughbridge and District Historical Society and The Battlefields Trust have been collaborating on the initiative since 2019.
The project received £15,000 from the developer Miller Homes, in part-mitigation for being allowed to develop on land adjacent to the battlefield site.
Read more:
- Medieval combat and walks mark 700th anniversary of Battle of Boroughbridge
- Former pub near Boroughbridge to be converted into flats
The history society asked if the trust could produce five information boards.
Chris Rock, the trust’s Yorkshire regional chair, subsequently designed the boards and Louise Whittaker, a trustee, wrote the text.
One of the five information boards.
The boards were then discussed and proof-checked by the historical society, and mock-up boards were shown during the 700th anniversary celebrations.
The organisations are now awaiting planning permission from Harrogate Borough Council to install the boards.
They are due to be erected on either side of the bridge, near Milby Lock, at the Aldborough Road entrance to the footpath leading down to the south bank of the river, and in St James’s Square.
Ms Whittaker said:
“They are intended to be standalone boards as well as forming part of a battlefield trail, and so include the same information at both ends of the board, with a central section specific to the area where it is located.
“Chris and I have also produced a battlefield trail leaflet to accompany the boards, and this will be launched at the same time as they are unveiled.”
Traffic lights coming to busy Knaresborough junction
Temporary traffic lights will operate in Knaresborough during two weeks of roadworks next month.
Multi-way traffic lights will be in place on York Road, at the junction of Wetherby Road, for a fortnight from April 11.
Northern Gas Networks, the gas distributor for the north of England, is replacing metal pipes with plastic pipes.
It said in a press release today the work would “ensure a safe and reliable supply of gas to customers now while getting the network ready to transport alternative greener fuels such as hydrogen in the future”.
The work has been planned in collaboration with North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority.
Read more:
- Knaresborough man denies sexual assault and child exploitation charges
- Traffic and Travel Alert: Three days of roadworks to start at Prince of Wales roundabout
Scott Kitchingman, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks, said:
“We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused during these essential works. However, it is vital we complete them in order to continue to maintain a safe and reliable gas supply to our customers in Knaresborough.
“We want to assure residents and road users that we will be working hard to complete this essential scheme as safely and as quickly as possible.”
Cold case review aims to solve 40-year-old murder mystery with Ripon link
“Near Scawton Moor House, you will find a decomposed body among the willowherbs,” said a well-spoken voice during a phonecall to Ripon Police Station in 1981.
The caller refused to give his name, citing national security reasons, and hung up.
That anonymous call only lasted a few seconds. But it sparked one of the most enduring mysteries North Yorkshire Police has ever encountered.
And more than 40 years on, the mystery remains.
After the call ended, officers went to the scene near Sutton Bank and found the woman’s decomposed remains in the undergrowth, exactly as the caller described.
Despite extensive investigations at the time and in the years that followed, she has never been identified.
But today, a specialist cold case team is revisiting the investigation in a bid to finally solve the mystery.
They now believe gaps in people’s family tree could give them fresh leads that could finally unlock the secrets of the case.
Body exhumed
The last time detectives actively investigated the case was 2012 when her body was exhumed from an unmarked grave to gather new DNA evidence.
And while there have always been theories that foul play was involved, there has never been enough evidence to officially categorise it as homicide.
The case was featured on Crimewatch Live last night. Credit: BBC/Crimewatch Live
Adam Harland, a former detective who is now head of North Yorkshire Police’s Cold Case Review Team, is leading the review and has launched a fresh appeal.
“This has been one of the most enduring mysteries I’ve worked on,” he said. “It’s highly unusual for someone who has died in these circumstances to remain unidentified for decades.
“Despite the passage of time, nobody deserves to be simply forgotten about – this was someone’s mother. And it’s likely she had friends who cared about her.”
Past investigations have been extremely thorough. But science and forensics have come on leaps and bounds since the 1980s.
Mr Harland said:
“If names are put forward, we’re now in a position where we can apply this information to our DNA forensic records for this lady.
“Local knowledge may offer up this information. People’s lives and allegiances move on, and time can tease out information that has been closely guarded in the past.
“Another possibility is someone who’s researched their family tree might have found a gap, or discovered a relative who disappeared from official records around 1979 to 1981 without any clear explanation.”
“Police forces have used similar techniques for cold case investigations in the past and while they may seem unconventional, they can provide the missing piece to the jigsaw.
“I’d rather 200 names were put to us and 199 were wrong than nothing to work from at all. That one piece of information could be all we need now to solve a decades-old mystery.”
Probably died in 1979
To help people narrow down the search, North Yorkshire Police has confirmed the mystery woman was probably born between 1935 and 1940, making her between 39 and 44 when she died.
It was impossible to determine an exact date of death. But other evidence at the scene, and her advanced state of decomposition, led detectives to believe she probably died in 1979.
A post-mortem showed she gave birth to two or perhaps three babies, who could now be in their 60s.
She was white with brown hair, around 5ft 4ins tall and wore size-four shoes.
She had several distinguishing features, including a mild upper spine malformation that could have made her hold her head at an unusual angle.
She also had several missing teeth and other evidence of a lifestyle that involved regular smoking and drinking.
The wax model.
A wax model of her face was sculpted in the 1980s, based on skeletal evidence, and investigators still believe this is a reasonably accurate depiction.
The case was featured on the BBC’s Crimewatch Live yesterday.
DNA advances
The press at the time dubbed the case “the nude in the nettles” – a reference to how the woman’s body was found, although she was actually discovered in a willowherb patch by the side of a rural road on the edge of the North York Moors.
The development of a DNA database which is now used extensively in suspicious death investigations would not exist for another 14 years.
Because of this, a DNA match would now rely on a living son or daughter of the woman committing a crime and being added to it, which is unlikely given their age range – most crimes are committed by younger people.
But investigators hope the passage of time can now provide the missing link that enables them to finally identify the woman and resolve a decades-long mystery.
Mr Harland said:
“Someone, somewhere could be sitting there with information they’ve never felt able to share, or a family tree wondering who this person was. My message to them is simple: I’d like to hear from you.”
If you have information that could help this North Yorkshire Police cold case review, email coldcasereviewunit@northyorkshire.police.uk with a summary of the information you have. A member of the cold case team will record it and may make contact with you to discuss it further.
Andrew Jones MP urges Northern to ‘rethink’ cuts to Harrogate trainsHarrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has written to the chairman of rail operator Northern urging him to “rethink” reductions to the service between Harrogate and Leeds.
The Stray Ferret reported last week that the 6.07am from Harrogate to Leeds — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.
Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group, branded the move ‘disgraceful’ and called for a rethink.
Now Mr Jones has also said the decision should be reconsidered. The Conservative MP said:
“Over the last 12 years we have seen steady improvements to our local rail services. The hated pacer trains have gone, we have more direct services to London with the Azumas and we had seen welcome increases in services to Leeds and York.
“Many groups and individuals lobbied hard to get those changes and we worked with regional and national rail companies in a positive and constructive way. None of us want to see these hard-won improvements lost.”
Read more:
- Red Arrows set to fly over Harrogate district this week
- Early morning train from Harrogate to Leeds cancelled
- Andrew Jones MP welcomes pause in smart motorway rollout
Mr Jones added that some long-term changes were understandable because of the trend towards working from home. He said>
“However these changes won’t be forever and there are other pressures in the local and national economy – such as the increase in fuel prices, the strength of the jobs market, the re-opening of the conference and exhibition business and the emphasis on greener methods of travel – which seem likely to lead to an increase in public transport use.
“It is simply therefore too early to judge whether it is right to consolidate the cuts made during the covid lockdowns into the timetable and add new reductions on top of that.”
Mr Jones said he had written to Robin Gisby, chairman of Northern, “asking him to pause any proposed service reductions between Harrogate and Leeds and consider reversing the earlier reductions in stages so that we get back to the level of service we had pre-pandemic”.
Boroughbridge gets free public WiFi — and Harrogate is next
Boroughbridge is one of three towns in North Yorkshire to benefit from the latest phase of the roll-out of free public Wi-Fi.
North Yorkshire County Council is working in partnership with Harrogate telecommunications company NYnet to roll out the scheme in 20 market towns across the county to support recovery and growth.
The final town to benefit will be Harrogate later this month.
Free public access Wi-Fi means people with limited or no broadband can connect to the internet more easily.
Boroughbridge, Settle and Sherburn in Elmet are the latest to be switched on.
Boroughbridge and District Chamber of Trade said in a statement:
“The coverage runs from the Post Office, along Fishergate, up the High Street and to the St James Square area.
“It should be good for business, adding to the town’s appeal and helping us present a modern image to our residents and visitors.”
Boroughbridge
Robert Ling, assistant director for technology and change at the council, said:
“We know that the offer of free Wi-Fi in public spaces is drawing people into our town centres to both work and visit.
“Anybody visiting these three towns will now benefit from savings to their mobile data plans by accessing the internet for free with no time restrictions.
“We are nearing the end of the scheme, which represents the latest investment to improve North Yorkshire’s digital infrastructure.”
Read more:
- Medieval combat and walks mark 700th anniversary of Battle of Boroughbridge
- Sneak Peek: Boroughbridge pub reopens after six-figure refurb
York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership awarded £3.6m for the initiative as part of its allocation from the government’s £900m Getting Building Fund, which boosts infrastructure in areas facing the biggest challenges caused by the pandemic.
David Dickson, chair of York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s infrastructure and joint assets board, said:
“This whole programme of work to improve digital infrastructure in North Yorkshire is really important for the region. It will support York and North Yorkshire in becoming a greener, fairer and stronger economy.”
The towns included in the scheme are: Northallerton, Leyburn, Scarborough, Ripon, Skipton, Malton, Richmond, Whitby, Selby, Stokesley, Pickering, Knaresborough, Tadcaster, Catterick, Thirsk, Easingwold, Boroughbridge, Settle, Sherburn in Elmet and Harrogate.
Harrogate will be the final one to be switched on.