A car window was smashed in Knaresborough last night by a person believed to be using a slingshot or catapult.

Police sent armed officers and a helicopter after receiving reports that a window had been smashed in a car driving along Chain Lane at about 7.25pm.

A North Yorkshire Police statement this morning said:

“Due to the serious nature of the report, specialist firearms officers and the police helicopter were deployed immediately.

“After reviewing dashcam footage, it is a believed a slingshot or catapult-type weapon was used to damage the car window. No one was injured.”

“Enquiries are ongoing to identify any suspects.”

The statement does not say whether anyone was injured in the attack.

Police have asked anyone who witnessed the incident to call them on 101, quoting reference 12220098605.

Environmental campaigner Sarah Gibbs has revived her campaign to oppose the expansion of Harrogate Spring Water‘s bottling factory.

Ms Gibbs played a major role in the previous campaign against the company’s plans to fell trees in the Pinewoods to expand its site.

She stood outside Harrogate Borough Council during winter in a tree costume, urging the local authority to reject the scheme. The council, which received more than 400 objections, rejected the plans in January last year.

Now that the company has announced new plans, albeit on a smaller scale, Ms Gibbs has started campaigning again.

Last weekend she put up banners in the town centre and Valley Gardens for people to see during the jubilee celebrations. She is also considering protesting outside the council offices again.

She told the Stray Ferret she was “trying to do something rather than nothing” because she felt so passionately about the issue.

“I am trying to raise awareness because not everybody will be aware that this is on the agenda again.

“I would like to see our council take the climate emergency seriously.”

Pinewoods Conservation Group has said it is “encouraged” by Harrogate Spring Water’s decision to consult with people about its plans and and its commitment to “work with us and other key stakeholders to achieve a net biodiversity gain”.

Read more:

• Pinewoods tree protester vows to lobby council offices every week
• Harrogate Spring Water to submit new plans to expand bottling plant soon

Harrogate Spring Water said last month it planned to revert to its original 2017 plan to expand its bottling plant.

The move, which would result in the loss of two acres of woodland, would create 30 jobs. A planning application is expected in autumn after a period of public consultation.

Harrogate Spring Water’s offices on Harlow Moor Road.

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

“The town of Harrogate and the local community are at the heart of our business. So it is important for us to ensure that, as we look to grow, create further job opportunities and continue to support the local and regional economy, we also listen to them.

“That’s why we are now encouraging people to engage with us on this process, to give us the benefit of their views and to help shape the future of the company.

“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.”

A mass brawl broke out in Harrogate last night and spilled on to the main Skipton Road.

A large group of men started fighting outside Bilton Working Men’s Club at about  7pm.

At one point the skirmishes extended on to Skipton Road, which affected traffic.

Police turned up shortly afterwards.

Club treasurer Alan Huddart said the incident wasn’t anything to do with the club, adding:

“We had a funeral booking and I believe it related to that but nothing took place inside the club.”

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:

“We were called to the incident last night just after 7pm following reports of a group of men causing a disturbance in the street.

“On arrival the group had dispersed, no allegations were made and no arrests have been made.”

Read more:

• Bilton Working Men’s Club decides on new name
• Yorkshire Water introduces parking charges at Fewston, Swinsty and Thruscross

A Harrogate man has been found guilty of mistreating two pet dogs.

Robbie Nelson, 23, of Woodfield View, appeared before magistrates in York yesterday.

He was accused of failing to provide a suitable environment for a mastiff type dog called Rocco and a lurcher type dog called Smudge.

The case was brought by animal charity the RSPCA.

Nelson failed to turn up in court to respond to the charges on December 17 last year and was found guilty in his absence.

Police issued a warrant for his arrest on the same day and finally arrested him on Sunday.

At yesterday’s hearing, he was remanded on bail until June 28 for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Harrogate digital marketing agency rebrands

Kariba, Harrogate’s oldest digital marketing agency, has rebranded as it celebrates its 25th year.

The business was set up by Chris Wilson in 1997, after being asked to build Harrogate Borough Council’s first ever website.

Since then, Kariba has gone on to design and build websites and provide a range of digital marketing services for clients in Yorkshire and across the UK.

Mr Wilson, who is Kariba’s managing director as well as its founder, said:

“Our brand refresh and new website means we have a more current look and feel, and in turn better reflects who we are and what we do today, so that we can appeal to those ambitious, growth-focused companies whom we love partnering with.”

Read more:

• Harrogate pet store celebrates a decade in business
• Harrogate Oak Beck Bridge project to cost £1m

Building society set to move into Knaresborough Library

Knaresborough Library will close today at 5pm for work to accommodate the new branch Newcastle Building Society that is due to go into the building.

Since the last bank in Knaresborough closed last year, North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council have worked with the society to maintain local access to financial services.

Harrogate Borough Council has also worked with Barclays to bring its mobile banking service to the market town.

The library will reopen on Saturday. The building society is expected to open late this month or early July.

Work to accommodate @NewcastleBSoc at #Knaresborough Library will start this week.

The library will close at 5pm tomorrow and is scheduled to reopen at 9.30am on 11 June.

More: https://t.co/6CqfsfCfjY pic.twitter.com/aOYN06L2Dp

— North Yorkshire Council (@northyorksc) June 7, 2022

Cllr Graham Swift, Harrogate Borough Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, said:

“The issues regarding banking availability in Knaresborough have been well documented, and Harrogate Borough Council has pushed hard to seek a solution.”

A man was rescued from the River Ure at Sharow, near Ripon, today.

Firefighters were called to the river near Lowfield Lane at 9.39am this morning.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log, water crews from Ripon, Boroughbridge, Richmond, Harrogate and Selby “responded to a report of a male partially in the river”.

The incident log adds:

“The man was brought back up the embankment by fire crews and paramedics on a spinal board, to a waiting helicopter, for transfer to hospital with hypothermic symptoms.”

No further details have been provided.

Read more:

• Hotspots cause second fire in days at old rectory near Ripon
• Cuts to Harrogate fire crews would ‘put money before lives’, says ex-firefighter

Police have found a missing man from Ripon after appealing for information from the public to find him.

The man disappeared after being seen in Sainsbury’s in the city at around 2.30pm yesterday.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement saying officers had “concerns for his welfare and are trying to locate him”.

It appealed for information about his whereabouts but later said the man had been found safe.

We have subsequently updated this article by removing the man’s personal details.

Read more:

• Police appeal after man in Harrogate damages car by climbing on it
• New horn is the jewel in the crown of Ripon’s royal celebrations

The chief executive of the new North Yorkshire Council will be paid a maximum salary of £197,000, it has been revealed.

The new council, which will employ more than 10,000 staff, will come into existence on April 1 next year.

Seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, will be abolished, along with North Yorkshire County Council.

The chief executive recruitment process will be overseen by a cross-party chief officer appointment and disciplinary committee, which met today to consider the salary as well as the recruitment process and job description.

One of the committee’s roles will be to decide whether to appoint an executive search agent, at an anticipated cost of £30,000, to help the process.

A report on the recruitment process to councillors at North Yorkshire County Council said the salary package had been benchmarked against similar public sector roles nationally. The report adds:

“The sample data shows the pay for unitary councils of a similar size to North Yorkshire falls within a salary range of £188,000 to £216,000 per annum.

“However, the proposed salary limit for the new chief executive is £197,000.

“Set against the current combined packages for the eight chief executives of North Yorkshire councils, this would deliver an annual saving in excess of £1 million.”

Read more:

• Decision on Harrogate town council could take two years
• Harrogate district’s leisure and housing companies ‘will transfer’ to North Yorkshire Council

£30m saving a year

Ending the two-tier system of local government in North Yorkshire is expected to save about £30m a year in total.

Carl Les

County council leader Carl Les, who is chairing the chief officer appointment and disciplinary committee, said:

“Our new council will be one of the largest local authorities nationally, providing essential services to more than 600,000 people.

“The chief executive will need to manage a revenue budget of around £1.4 billion and the new council will have an ongoing capital programme of around £350 million.

“In addition to the vast array of council services and functions, this job also includes heading up the council’s commercial operations at a critical time.

The report to councillors includes details of the current salaries of council leaders in North Yorkshire. It can be seen below.

Harrogate Borough Council staff should receive a minimum £2,000 salary increase, according to trade unions.

Unison, GMB and Unite today formally lodged the 2022/23 pay claim for local government workers.

The claim also called for a covid recognition payment, a national minimum agreement on homeworking policies for all councils, the introduction of a home working allowance and a reduction in the working week to 35 hours.

It is the start of a negotiation process with the Local Government Association, the national membership body for local authorities. The claim is for all council workers in England and Wales.

David Houlgate, secretary of the Harrogate local government branch of Unison, said council employees had seen their pay reduced by 27% in real terms over the last decade.

He added:

“Councils can’t get staff and they can’t keep staff because of pay. They need to wake up and smell the coffee.

“It is impacting services, such as swimming pools being open for reduced hours, bins not being collected as often, streets not being cleaned and streetlights not being fixed.

“I’ve worked for the local council for 25 years and I’ve never known it to be as bad as this.”

Read more:

• Woodfield school closure ‘an absolute disgrace’, says union
• North Yorkshire fire service ‘struggling to buy the basics’, says union

Mr Houlgate said staff morale was poor and the looming abolition of Harrogate Borough Council had created extra uncertainty but the key issue was pay and recruitment. He added:

“If local councils can’t be competitive with other employers we are not going to overcome the recruitment problem.”

Responding to the unions’ claims, Cllr Sian Timoney, chair of the National Employers at the Local Government Association, said:

“We will be consulting with councils during June to seek their views which will inform the National Employers’ response to the unions.

“Local government continues to face significant financial challenges, which became more acute during the pandemic, having lost more than £15 billion in government funding since 2010.

“As well as rising inflation, cost of living, energy and fuel prices, the forecast increases to the National Living Wage also presents a significant cost to local government that will put further pressure on council budgets.”

A former Knaresborough cadet played a major role in the jubilee celebrations when he captained the Lancaster bomber that flew over Buckingham Palace.

Flight Lieutenant Paul Wise was in charge of the aircraft that flew over the palace following Thursday’s Trooping the Colour parade.

Flt Lt Wise joined the RAF’s 1953 (Knaresborough) squadron in 1993.

Paul Wise (centre) Pic courtesy of Tim Holderness

After leaving cadets in 1999, he joined the RAF and flew the C-130 Hercules for many years before becoming a qualified flying instructor with 45 squadron at RAF Cranwell, training the next generation of RAF multi-engine pilots and crew.

He still performs this role with the RAF, however in 2018 he also joined the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight as a Dakota captain and co-pilot for the Lancaster. This year he became a captain of the Lancaster.

Flt Lt Wise said:

“I still remember visiting Battle of Britain Memorial Flight as a cadet whilst on Easter camp with Knaresborough ATC.

“Never did I think that one day I would be in the privileged position to captain the Lancaster for the Queen’s platinum jubilee flypast.”

The flypast started in the Wash and included much of southern England, including the palace.

Read more:

• Last remaining Sam Smith’s pub in Knaresborough closes
• How did a First World War bomb end up in Knaresborough?