John Plummer, Author at The Stray Ferret

Another Harrogate district primary school faces closure

Another primary school in the Harrogate district with dwindling attendance could close.

Governors at Fountains Earth CE Primary School, in Lofthouse said today they have made the decision with a “heavy heart” to begin the process of applying to North Yorkshire County Council for a consultation for closure.

The news comes the day after a consultation closed on the proposed closure of Woodfield Community Primary School in Bilton.

Last year Kell Bank Church of England Primary School in Masham said goodbye after 200 years.

Baldersby St James Church of England Primary School is due to close next month.

A final decision on Fountains Earth is due next spring.

The school has 11 pupils on its register, with the same figure due to attend in September 2023.

It belongs to the Federation of Fountains Earth and St Cuthbert’s CE Primary Schools.

The closure proposal does not apply to St Cuthbert’s, which is in Pateley Bridge.

11 pupils on register

A press release by North Yorkshire County Council today said the lack of pupils meant sustaining a varied, thorough curriculum was impossible, due to the lack of age-appropriate peers and the wide age range across the class.

Abi Broadley, chair of governors, said:

“Despite the best efforts of our headteacher, staff and governors, we cannot overcome the challenges of having such low pupil numbers.

“Our pupil numbers have been declining over the last few years and we now have just 11 children. We understand there is no sign of the school population growing significantly in the future.

“With such low pupil numbers and no hope of them dramatically increasing them soon, we will continue to have limited children in each year group. Indeed, some year groups are void of children altogether.”

Ms Broadley added the governors had “exhausted all options”, adding:

“A lot of work has been undertaken by our headteacher and team which has improved the situation, but it just isn’t enough due to a lack of pupils.

“These interventions include introducing a more structured curriculum, structured sessions and interventions from subject lead teachers from across the federation, all in an effort to try to meet educational needs; and Federation Fridays to help to address the social and emotional needs of the children.

“Although Federation Fridays are successful in enriching the lives of our children, they can only cover certain subjects such as personal, social, health and economic PSHE education, music and PE.

“This cannot be a long-term solution and further highlights the fact that our Fountains Earth provision alone does not adequately meet our children’s needs.”

The county council will consider the request for consultation. Its executive member for education and skills, Annabel Wilkinson, the Conservative councillor for Morton-on-Swale and Appleton Wiske division, will decide whether to approve the proposal.

If the consultation to close the school is agreed, it is likely to start early in the new academic year. It will consist of a six-week period of consultation through the autumn term, which will include a public meeting.

A final decision on closure would be made once the consultation responses had been reviewed. That decision is likely to be made in the spring of next year.

Fountains Earth CE Primary School will remain open throughout the process.

Praise for A1 junction 47 upgrade – but overspend remains unknown

The full extent of the multi-million pound overspend on the upgrade to junction 47 on the A1(M) has still not been revealed, months after the delayed scheme was finally completed.

The project, which had an original budget cost of £7.7m, finished in April — seven months later than planned.

North Yorkshire County Council revealed 10 months ago the costs had spiralled to £10m and has not given an updated figure since.

The council issued a press release today in which business leaders praised the initiative, at Flaxby, for improving traffic flow and attracting enterprise.

It said the junction was “already having huge benefits for commuters, residents and holiday-makers amid the summer tourism season”.

Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways, said:

“The upgrades to junction 47 have made a significant difference, reducing congestion and improving road safety.

“The scheme unlocks future growth in and around Harrogate, with the changes helping to manage significant residential and commercial development anticipated along the A59 corridor.”

David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce said:

“Having used it on a number of occasions since its completion, it is not only benefitting commuters exiting the A1(M), but also those accessing it as well as those travelling along the A59.

“Improving transport links to and from the Harrogate district will benefit business too.”

(from left) Y&NY LEP board member Jan Garill, NYCC project manager Richard Binks, Farrans operations director Jonny Kerr, National Highways head of service delivery Kate Wood, Farrans project manager Shane Daly, AECOM site supervisor Kevin Atkinson and Cllr Keane Duncan.

The scheme involved widening three of the four slip roads onto and off the roundabout to increase capacity, as well as a number of junction improvements.

Traffic signals have been installed on the roundabout to improve traffic flow and added to the T-junction between the A168 and the A59 a short distance from Junction 47 on the York side to benefit drivers turning onto the A59 and to improve safety.

To the west of Junction 47, between the A1 and the Flaxby roundabout, a lane has been added for traffic travelling east, so there is two lanes in each direction between those two roundabouts.

‘Bring more events to Harrogate’

Paula Lorimer, director at Harrogate Convention Centre, said:

“We welcome the upgrade as it has significantly reduced congestion and improved road safety for our visitors.

“The shortened travel time strengthens our competitive advantage and will help us bring more large-scale events to Harrogate.”

Delays were blamed on the discovery of a protected species, great crested newts, which legally had to be relocated, as well as poor ground conditions on the southbound slip road.

Asked why it was taking so long for the final costs of the project to be revealed, a council spokeswoman said:

“The latest estimated costs are the subject of detailed discussions with the county council’s contractor and will be publicly available once they have been agreed.”

Fresh concerns over Knaresborough’s ‘most dangerous junction’

Concerns have again been raised about the safety of pedestrian crossings at what has been described as Knaresborough’s “most dangerous junction”.

Former town councillor James Monaghan first raised the issue of drivers ignoring red lights at the four-way junction where York Place, High Street, Gracious Street and Park Row meet in 2017 – and he now says the problem is “as bad as ever”.

He said:

“On a daily basis cars and vans drive through the green man when pedestrians should be able to cross safely.

“This is dangerous enough, but on a crossing used by hundreds of school children daily it is an accident waiting to happen.

“With all the new houses that have been built across the district and the associated cars, congestion has only got worse and it needs to be addressed for everyone’s safety and convenience.”

Mr Monaghan said the problem has not been tackled by North Yorkshire County Council, which changed the traffic lights four years ago to allow more time for the junction to clear before pedestrians are invited to cross.

The county council said the detection system failed “a few months ago,” but has now been fixed with works being completed last week.

Melisa Burnham, highways area manager at the county council, said:

“We know of the concerns around the pedestrian stage of the signal cycle at the junction of High Street and Gracious Street.

“The signals team will continue to monitor the effective operation of the signal equipment and timing.”

Ms Burnham also said it was the responsibility of motorists to ensure they follow the rules of the road. She said:

“We do all we can to ensure this junction operates as effectively as possible, but we also ask drivers who use this junction to respect all road users and the traffic light systems in place, ensuring they are driving safely in accordance with the local conditions.”

Lib Dems on course to take Harrogate and Knaresborough, says YouGov

The Liberal Democrats would win Harrogate and Knaresborough if a general election was held tomorrow, according to polling firm YouGov.

The company has published modelling based on 64 ‘blue wall’ Conservative-Liberal Democrat battleground seats.

The seats were chosen because they were won by the Conservatives at the 2019 general election but the Liberal Democrats received above 20% of the vote.

YouGov predicts the Conservatives would retain 38 seats, the Liberal Democrats would win 24 and Labour would win two.

Among those forecast to fall is Andrew Jones’ seat, which he won with a majority of 9,675 in 2019, relegating the Liberal Democrats to second.

YouGov predicts the Liberal Democrats would get 43% of the vote in Harrogate and Knaresborough, compared with 39% for the Conservatives and 9% for Labour.

It comes days after Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey pledged to make Harrogate and Knaresborough a target seat during a visit to Harrogate.

The polling says the Conservatives would also lose seats belonging to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and former leadership contender Jeremy Hunt to the Liberal Democrats.

The company said in a statement:

“Although constituencies would fall to the Liberal Democrats all across the country, including Harrogate and Knaresborough in the north and South Cambridgeshire in the east, perhaps the most striking losses come in the south west, where we estimate that the Conservative vote share is down by over 16 points on 2019.

“Many more Conservative seats are close to being flipped: no fewer than 11 of the 38 predicted holds would be retained by a margin of less than five points. “

The only Con-Lib Dem battlegrounds region where Labour have increased their vote share on 2019 is in London, where they are up by three points.

In all other regions their vote share in these battleground seats is down – despite Labour’s vote intention being around six to nine points higher than the 32% they managed at the last election.

Public meeting next week over Harrogate Spring Water expansion plans

Harrogate Spring Water is to hold a public consultation event next week for its plans to expand in the Pinewoods.

The company announced today it would stage the event at Harrogate’s Crown Hotel from 4pm to 7pm on July 13.

Local residents are invited to attend and find out more about the proposals and to share their views.

The event takes place in the Byron suite of the hotel on Crown Place in Harrogate town centre.

Since 2017, Harrogate Spring Water has had outline planning permission to expand its production facilities on its site on Harlow Moor Road.

The company is now putting together a ‘reserved matters’ application which will detail how the new building will look and how the surrounding area will be landscaped.

The controversial plan would involve felling trees in a section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.

Next week’s is part of a series of consultation meetings with the local community and stakeholder groups allowing people to have their say on the design and landscaping of the proposed extension and surrounding land.

A final application will then go on public display before being submitted to the council.

Richard Hall, managing director of Harrogate Spring Water, said:

“As we look to grow, create further job opportunities and continue to support the local and regional economy, it is important that we listen to the local community.

“That’s why we would encourage people to engage with us on this process by coming along to the meeting on July 13, to give us the benefit of their views and to help shape the future of the company.”

Anyone who cannot come along on the day can have their say via a dedicated webpage here.

Rotary Wood campaigners stage demo in Valley Gardens

Environmental campaigners held a demonstration in Valley Gardens at the weekend to raise awareness of the threat to Harrogate’s Rotary Wood.

Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by French firm Danone, has revived 2017 plans to fell trees in Rotary Woods so it can expand its bottling plant.

The company’s plans would involve removing a smaller area of woodland than it proposed in a failed planning application last year.

But campaigners are still concerned about the loss of trees in part of the Pinewoods that was planted by children in 2005 to help tackle climate change.

Harrogate forest school teacher Sarah Gibbs donned her tree costume to join fellow activists during Saturday’s four-hour gathering, which aimed to tell people about Rotary Wood and the company’s expansion plans. She said:

“This issue has really touched my heart. I’m a born and bred Harrogate girl as well as a teacher and knowing children planted this wood to tackle climate change, to say it’s OK to destroy it would send out a terrible message.

“Surely after lockdown we are more aware of the value of green space to the environment and to mental health.”

Rebecca Maunder, who also took part in the protest, said:

“The aim today is to raise awareness that this is on the agenda again. A lot of people still don’t realise it is.

“Harrogate Spring Water wants to have a consultation with local people so they need to be informed about what’s going on.”

Graham Dixon, who was also present, said:

“The best way to get people to care about what’s happening is to come out and tell them.”

‘Net biodiversity gain’

Harrogate Spring Water has said it wants to achieve “net biodiversity gain” for the site, carry out a compensatory tree planting scheme and will make the remaining part of Rotary Wood more accessible to the public.

It is currently consulting on its plans before submitting a formal reserved matters planning application to Harrogate Borough Council. It says the expansion would create 30 jobs.

Richard Hall, managing director at Harrogate Spring Water, said previously:

“We have a shared interest in driving prosperity for the town and creating a sustainable future for a key business that takes the Harrogate name around the UK and the world, and we hope that this process will allow us to come to a resolution which addresses people’s concerns and the town’s aspirations.”

Missing Harrogate man found safe

Police have said that a missing Harrogate man has been found safe.

North Yorkshire Police issued a statement and picture of the missing man last night.

It said:

“We’re extremely concerned for his welfare, and asking anyone who sees him or knows where he is to get in touch straight away.

“Extensive searches are underway to locate him, including with the NPAS police helicopter.”

Police said later last night that the man had been found safe.

We have subsequently amended our article by removing his personal details.

Records broken at today’s Harrogate 10k

The men’s and women’s course records were both broken at today’s Run Harrogate 10k.

A total of 486 adults took part in the event, which was organised by Harrogate Harriers. Another 70 children participated in an inaugural kids’ fun run.

Winner Cal Mills, representing Leeds City AC, set a new men’s record of 33 minutes and 13 seconds to finish 32 seconds ahead of Harrogate Harriers’ Jack Kelly.

Emily Gibbins, of Ilkley Harriers, obliterated the female record by more than four minutes in winning in a time of 38 minutes and 15 seconds.

Harrogate Harriers won both the men’s and women’s team events.

Struggling up the ‘Crimple killer’ in the final kilometre of the race.

The race, which was sponsored by Knaresborough renewable energy firm Harmony Energy, started and finished at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre.and took runners around Crimple Valley.

Entrants enjoyed mercifully cool conditions over the multi-terrain course, which finished with the notorious uphill Crimple killer last kilometre.

In line with many running events this year, entries were down on last year. full results are available here.

‘My 50-year friendship with kind, generous Malcolm Neesam’

The death of Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam this week prompted a German friend of his, Benedict Hess, to contact us about their 50-year friendship. Here are his words.

With great sadness, I learned this week about Malcolm’s death. It’s exactly 50 years this summer since he paid his first visit to Munich.

His and my parents became friends some years earlier when they met by chance on holiday in Italy and my dad came up with the idea of Malcolm coming to Munich to stay with us for a couple if weeks.

Although my brother and I were considerably younger than Malcolm — he was 26, my brother was 10 and I was only eight — we were fascinated by this young man who spoke good German, and we became lifelong friends.

Over the next decades, we saw each other on several occasions, either in Harrogate or Munich.

Benedict (left) and Malcolm (third left) with friends in Munich in 1983: Pic by Benedict Hess

My grandparents owned a little holiday home on the Côte d’Azur, where my family spent many happy summers in the seventies and eighties, and Malcolm joined us there.

In retrospect, I always thought that Malcolm was a little suspicious of all those French people there, although he really admired the beautiful landscape. He was a Yorkshireman through and through, as he also was a true Englishman, both of which I truly admired.

I remember one day marvelling over a wooden model of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the V&A Museum, I believe. When I said that much of its architecture reminded me of classic Italian buildings, his response was rather indignant, he said: “We’re in the north. Who needs Italy?” It was then and there that I realised how proud Malcolm was of Great Britain’s rich history.

1972 Olympics in Munich

When he first came to Munich in the summer of 1972, the city was right in the middle of the Olympic Games. I remember us three, Malcolm, Daniel and myself, strolling through the city and the Olympic Park for hours and days on end. The sun shone every day and though I was only eight at the time, I clearly saw and felt that those days were very, very special.

But I also remember clearly those fateful hours when terrorists assaulted Israel’s Olympic team. My parents, Malcolm, Daniel and I were glued to the TV until late on September 5. And then two helicopters, flying very low, passed over our house on the way to Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, where, as the world was about to learn, everything ended in total disaster. Terrible memories and I know that Malcom also never forgot.

In 1988, as a young adult, I decided to go to England alone, after we went there as a family in the jubilee spring of 1977 (I have many happy memories from our stays in London and Harrogate from that). Malcolm and I agreed to meet in London for a few days before traveling to Harrogate.

Malcolm in London in 1988. Pic by Benedict Hess

He asked me if there was anything in particular I would like to do and I said that I really would like to see a musical. And we went to a musical, 42nd Street, starring a barely 19-year-old Catherine Zeta Jones in the lead. But that was not all, because Malcolm also purchased tickets for the Proms, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park and for a comedy at The Swan Theatre in Stratford- upon-Avon. Malcolm was a generous man, a thoughtful and kind man who did everything to make you feel welcome and comfortable.

The year before last, we resumed the habit of telephoning and emailing regularly again and that was how I learned about his illness. And, although I knew, I am in a state of shock right now. My thoughts are with Malcolm and also with Tom and Jamie, his nephews.

I didn’t mean to write so much but I simply got carried away by so many fond memories of a man I knew for 50 years and who is now gone forever. But not in the minds of so many people who will always remember him.

It is very consoling to know that Malcolm Neesam was widely loved and regarded and that he will never be forgotten in Harrogate. Never ever. Neither will he be here in Munich. He will be sorely missed. And always be remembered with the deepest affection.

Hundreds attend Harrogate fire station open day

Hundreds of people visited Harrogate fire station today for an open day.

Children got the chance to sit in the fire engines and watch demonstrations while parents were able to receive advice on fire prevention.

There was also the chance to sit in police vehicles.

The station, on Skipton Road, has 40 firefighters operating on four watches.

Harrogate firefighters