John Plummer, Author at The Stray Ferret

Naked walk returns to Ripon

People are being urged to strip off their clothes this summer and stroll around gardens near Ripon.

British Naturism is organising six naked walks in Britain to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

One of them is being held at the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, which is situated between Ripon and Masham, on Saturday, June 29.

In a press release today announcing the news, British Naturism said participants would “experience the exhilaration of being nude in the great outdoors, boost their mental and physical health, reducing their stress — and have a lot of fun”.

The walks will be clothing-optional, meaning there is no obligation to be naked. More than 80 people took part in a similar event at the same venue last year.

Andrew Welch, national spokesman for British Naturism, said:

“Taboos around nudity are eroding and the health and well-being benefits of going naked are more widely understood, with more and more people wanting to get the exhilarating feelings for themselves.

“We encourage anyone to come and give it a go — and raise much-needed funds for our charity partner, British Heart Foundation.”

Ben Bishop, fundraising manager at the foundation, said:

“There are lots of ways to support the BHF and, thanks to British Naturism, these now include taking your clothes off and enjoying the great outdoors.”

Tickets are available here.

Local river bathers to get live data on sewage

Outdoor bathers at places such as Knaresborough Lido will be able to get almost real time data this summer on sewage being pumped into rivers.

There has been widespread concern about the state of local rivers, especially the Nidd and Ure.

Yorkshire Water announced yesterday it had launched an interactive map that will provide current information on the operation of storm overflows.

Water companies use storm overflows to release extra rainwater and wastewater into rivers when the sewerage system is at risk of being overwhelmed.

This usually happens during heavy rainfall but there has been concern about the overflows operating at other times and pumping more sewage into waterways.

River Nidd

The interactive map has been launched ahead of the 2024 bathing water season, which runs from May 14 to September 30.

It shows the live status of each of Yorkshire Water’s storm overflows, when they last discharged into a watercourse and for how long. The information refreshes at 15-minute intervals,

Yorkshire has 2,180 storm overflows and Ben Roche, director of wastewater at Yorkshire Water, said the map would increase transparency for customers:

Mr Roche said:

“All the data will be available to anyone accessing the map. We have decided to launch now, ahead of the bathing water season to ensure customers are better informed about our operations in their area.

“We know replumbing the whole of Yorkshire is not a quick fix as it would be both significantly disruptive and costly to customers. The map shows just how big an engineering challenge this is from the vast numbers of overflows we have.”

He added Yorkshire Water was “investing £180m by the end of April 2025 to tackle 134 of the more frequently discharging overflows”.

The £180m investment is split into four areas, he added. They are: increasing storage at Yorkshire Water’s wastewater treatment works and within the sewage network; separating surface water from the combined sewer system; reducing groundwater infiltration into sewers; and changes to the operation of treatment works.

You can view the storm overflow map here.

Police withdraw appeal to find woman with baby in Harrogate

Police have withdrawn an appeal for help finding a woman with a pram in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Police issued CCTV images in the early hours of this morning of the woman.

Officers said they had concerns for her welfare and were trying to trace her.

But in an update this morning, a police statement said:

“We have spoken to the woman and pleased to confirm that everything is okay.”

Harrogate woman given suspended jail sentence for benefit fraud

A Harrogate woman has received a suspended jail sentence for a two-year benefit fraud in which she failed to declare the proceeds from a property sale.

Vanessa Boyd, 49, acted out of “sheer greed” by failing to disclose to the Department for Work and Pensions that she had received £126,518 from the sale of a property, York Crown Court heard.

That resulted in benefit overpayments of just over £13,881 over a period of more than two years from September 2020, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

She said that Boyd started receiving Universal Credit payments in September 2020 due to being out of work and having very meagre savings.

Ms Morrison added:

“However, she informed the Jobcentre Plus that she would have an amount of money coming from solicitors as a result of the sale of a property, but (that there was) some delay in receiving those funds.”

Boyd, of Tewit Well Road, received just over £126,518 in November 2021 from the proceeds of the sale which would have affected her benefit entitlement, but she failed to declare it to the authorities.

Ms Morrison said:

“She had been informed of her need to do so before receiving the funds.”

Boyd made “multiple declarations” about her savings which didn’t include the proceeds from the property sale.

When questioned about these omissions by fraud investigators, she claimed she didn’t think she had to declare the proceeds of the sale because “the money was going to be used to purchase another property”.

Boyd admitted fraud by making the false declarations and appeared for sentence today.

Her barrister Benjamin Bell said she had since been making repayments to the DWP at a rate of £55 per month and had never been in trouble before.

Judge Simon Hickey said that Boyd had acted out of “sheer greed” and fraudulently claimed a “substantial amount of money over a substantial period”.

He said the offence was so serious that it had to be met with a jail sentence, but that it could be suspended because Boyd had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had child-caring responsibilities.

The six-month jail sentence was suspended for 18 months. As part of that sentence, Boyd was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and complete 20 rehabilitation-activity days.

‘Unbelievably disappointing’ – cyclists respond to Victoria Avenue plans

A Harrogate district cycling group has described new plans to improve Victoria Avenue as “unambitious” and “unbelievably disappointing”.

North Yorkshire Council announced yesterday it had scrapped plans to create cycle lanes on the avenue in favour of other measures, such as new parking meters and making the Belford Road junction left-turn only.

You can read the proposals here.

The proposals include making it illegal to turn right from Belford Road.

The government body Active Travel England awarded the council £1 million in 2020 for cycling schemes, and £250,000 was allocated towards creating a cycleway on Victoria Avenue.

As recently as February this year the council said the cycleway was a “priority“.

So yesterday’s announcement that it would no longer happen due to “budgetary constraints” has not been well received, particularly as the funding will be spent on other measures to improve the road for pedestrians instead.

In an article on its website, the campaign group Harrogate District Cycle Action said the new scheme “does nothing at all for cycling”.

It added:

“Given that the successful bid for this funding was to build four ambitious cycling schemes, that is unbelievably disappointing.

“North Yorkshire has been making promises of ‘jam tomorrow’ for cycling for at least 10 years. It is always just about to deliver a meaningful cycling scheme, but then at the last minute it changes its mind.”

It cited the second phase of the Otley Road cycleway, the abandonment of Beech Grove modal filters, other undelivered Active Travel England-funded schemes and the watered down Harrogate Station Gateway as examples.

The group has urged people to respond to the consultation by calling on the council to change its mind and support cycling infrastructure.

Beech Grove, pictured from the end of Victoria Avenue.

It called on the council to make Victoria Avenue right-turn only at the junction with West Park to remove traffic from Beech Grove and said the proposed measures would have only marginal benefits.

It said:

“The new scheme for Victoria Avenue is unambitious, and all the cycling elements have been stripped out of it.

“Among other things, the council plans to spend the active travel fund cycling money on car parking ticket machines and a bus stop.

“Whenever we ask for improvements to the cycle network, we are told by the council that it is not possible due to lack of funding.

“Then when they do have funding for cycle improvements, they spend the money on a bus stop instead.”

Have your say

Consultation on the proposals ends on May 12. As part of this, an engagement session will take place from 5pm to 7pm on Tuesday, May 7 at the council office. The address is Stray Room, St Luke’s Mount, Harrogate HG1 2AE.

To comment, you can email Area6.Boroughbridge@northyorks.gov.uk using ‘Victoria Avenue ATF 2 Consultation’ in the title of your email or letter.

Or post comments to: NYC Highways, Area 6 Boroughbridge Office, Stump Cross, Boroughbridge YO51 9HU

Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens set to become private road

A bid to close Crescent Gardens road in Harrogate to the public looks set to clear its first hurdle next week.

North Yorkshire Council has recommended councillors approve an application to install bollards and planters at either end of the road to prevent public access.

The move would involve the loss of 35 public car parking bays and could also eventually lead to the closure of the pedestrian footpath on Crescent Gardens.

Impala Estates, which bought the former Harrogate Borough Council headquarters for £4 million in 2020, submitted plans to close the road to the public last year.

The firm was granted planning permission to convert the building into offices, a gym and a restaurant / bar, and to construct a two-storey roof-top extension in May 2022. However, work has yet to begin.

The public parking bays lost would be retained for the private use of businesses using the building.

A 12-page report by case officer Gerard Walsh to councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee recommends they approve the scheme when they meet on Tuesday, May 7.

The planning application would see the road running between Swan Road to the west and Montpellier Road to the east closed. Block paving would be installed on the road in front of the building to “form a clear pedestrian connection between the building and the Crescent Gardens park opposite”, the report said.

If approved, the Secretary of State for Transport could then issue a stopping up order extinguishing the public right of way.

The report said:

“Officers consider that the proposed development will have a minor positive impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area and no significant impact on the setting of nearby listed buildings.”

It added:

“The council’s highways team have no objection to the proposed development subject to proposed conditions requiring the submission of a bollard and access management plan, a construction phase management plan, and provision of a tactile pedestrian crossing at the junction of Crescent Gardens / Swan Road to improve the pedestrian facilities on the remaining highway.”

The view from the Swan Road junction.

The report said the loss of parking bays “is not a significant concern and would not warrant refusal, as there are sufficient alternative on-street parking facilities nearby, in addition to an abundance of available off-street parking options in the town centre”.

But Harrogate Civic Society, which lodged one of seven objections, said:

“Loss of public access to the parking spaces on the road would compound the previous loss of parking beside the Royal Hall.

“Crescent Gardens is important as a highway for two-way traffic to ease the passage of vehicles to Ripon Road and to and from Swan Road and the Duchy estate etc. The fact that a route other than Crescent Gardens exists is not a reason for stopping up this right of way.”

The planning committee will vote whether to accept Mr Walsh’s recommendation.

Still no re-opening date for new Knaresborough playground

There is still no re-opening date for the new playground at Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre.

North Yorkshire Council opened the £17.5 million leisure centre in December last year. It said at the time the Fysche Hall Field Play Area alongside it would open in January.

It briefly opened in February but closed after just a few days due to flooding. More than two months later it remains closed.

Cllr Matt Walker, who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, gave an update yesterday after visiting the site with fellow Liberal Democrat Cllr Hannah Gostlow, who represents Knaresborough East.

Cllr Walker said they had a “very productive” meeting with the council and developers, and added:

“They have accepted there are still lots of snagging issues and we sent them home with a very long list to address. This included fixing the inadequate drainage at the playground that is still causing water to pool and stopping the opening.

“Sadly we weren’t give a timescale and I’ve escalated to senior staff to get it resolved. I will be insisting that the council does not pay the final bill until all the issues are resolved.”

The leisure centre, which is run by council-owned leisure company Brimhams Active, has a six-lane 25-metre swimming pool, a slide, and a 60-station fitness suite.

Housing scheme in Knaresborough set for refusal

Revived plans to build eight flats off Stockwell Road in Knaresborough look set to be refused.

Paul Franklin applied to demolish an existing property at 13 Stockwell Road and build six two-bedroom flats and two one-bedroom flats on the site and adjoining land. Parking and landscaping would also be included.

North Yorkshire Council case officer Emma Walsh has recommended councillors on Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee refuse the application when they meet next week.

Mr Franklin submitted plans to the council last year f or nine flats on the plot. But those plans were withdrawn after about 30 residents and Knaresborough Town Council objected, citing concerns the development would be “overbearing and will overlook neighbouring properties”, create parking problems and increase congestion.

The Stray Ferret has followed the issue closely and met residents on site in June last year to hear their concerns and to seek Mr Franklin’s response.

He told the Stray Ferret at the time the scheme would “provide local people a quality and sustainable place to live and enjoy Knaresborough”.

In its response to the consultation on the latest plans, the town council said it “sees no reason to change its objections from the previous applications at this site”.

It added:

“The increase in traffic from this site will have a negative impact on the overall traffic in the area and impact on parking around the St Margaret’s area that already experiences difficulties.”

Ms Walsh’s report said the site is within the development limits of Knaresborough but added the apartment block would be “visually cramped due to the limited width of the site, between St Margaret’s Road and St Margaret’s Gardens”.

It said:

“The development would appear as a visually incongruous addition to the street scene which does not respect the pattern of development.”

The land where the flats would be built.

The report also cited concerns about how close the building would be to neighbours’ homes on St Margaret’s Road and St Margaret’s Gardens as well as “an unacceptable impact on highways safety”.

The report concluded:

“The scale, form and massing of the development would fail to adequately safeguard the character of the street scene.”

Twenty-seven letters of objections were sent to the council.

Councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled planning committee will decide whether to accept Ms Walsh’s recommendation when they meet at the Civic Centre in Harrogate on Tuesday, May 7.

Harrogate College’s £22m rebuild plans approved

North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to demolish the main building at Harrogate College and build a hub to train students in green technology.

The £22m proposals will see new state-of-the-art facilities at the Hornbeam Park college including a mock hospital ward, digital technology suite, electric vehicle workshop and a construction centre focused on modern building methods.

The college said it hopes it will become a “centre of renewable and sustainable excellence”.

Harrogate College, part of the Luminate Education Group, caters to a range of full and part-time students, including offering apprenticeships as well as education for adults.

The plans were approved by a council officer last week and the project is expected to be completed by July 2025.

Planning documents state the main office block that was built in the 1980s has fallen into disrepair.

The replacement will be 2,000 square metres smaller than the former building which documents said will make education more efficient and streamlined for students.

The plans received 28 objections with some people unhappy with a reconfigured car park that will see the number of spaces reduced from 242 to 88.

However, the college said there is an over-provision of parking at the current car park of 48%.

Danny Wild, principal of Harrogate College, said the approval was “great news for the college, town and North Yorkshire.”

He said:

“This £22 million redevelopment will enable us to upgrade our campus to enhance our industry-standard training facilities, including an electric vehicle workshop, mock hospital ward, and a renewable energy technology hub.

“It will help us provide even more targeted support for local employers by tailoring our training to produce the skilled workers they need to plug gaps and prosper. The main building phase of our project is set to be completed for the 2025-26 academic year and we look forward to welcoming students, parents and guests into our new campus.”

Mr Wil added:

“To minimise any impact in the local area we are instructing staff not to drive to college but to switch to public transport instead, and we will be covering the parking costs of all colleagues who do so.

“We will also be employing staff to patrol the local area to ensure things go smoothly, and disruption is kept to a minimum, during the construction. We’ll be formalising those details, and other arrangements including those for our contractors, as part of the conditions attached to the planning permission.”

Council has pumped almost 3,000 tonnes of grout into Ripon void

North Yorkshire Council has revealed it has pumped almost 3,000 tonnes of grout into a void underneath Ripon leisure centre as part of ground stabilisation works that began last summer and have cost £3.4 million to date.

The Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre opened in March 2022 but whilst the pool is in use, plans for a gym at the previously built leisure centre on the same site were delayed after an underground void was discovered.

This prompted an investigation by engineering firm Stantec, which found evidence of multiple voids and “significantly weak” areas of ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre that was built in 1995.

It warned that not carrying out remedial repairs would be “unacceptable from a public safety perspective”.

Ripon is susceptible to voids and sinkholes because it lies on a layer of water-soluble rock called gypsum.

North Yorkshire Council began works to stabilise the ground last summer by pumping it with grout.

A council spokesperson said that as of this month, 2,810 tonnes of grout has been used during the works, costing £3.4m.

They were unable to say exactly when the work will finish, only that it would be this year.

It means a temporary gym costing £300,000 that was erected in the leisure centre’s car park last year will remain open, despite the council previously insisting it would be removed by March 2024.

Retired chartered engineer Stanley Mackintosh campaigned against the site being used for the leisure centre due to the gypsum issues.

Mr Mackintosh told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the ground stabilisation works has become a literal example of a “sunk cost fallacy” for the council. He said he also has concerns about its environmental impact.

He said:

“The works are essentially ineffective and structurally dangerous, but I’m also concerned about the related release of thousands of tonnes of CO2 into our atmosphere during that process.”

The topic of the leisure centre was raised at a recent mayoral hustings event held by Zero Carbon Harrogate.

Independent candidate Keith Tordoff described the works as resulting from “gross incompetence” by leaders at the now defunct Harrogate Borough Council, which chose the site, and North Yorkshire Council.

He said:

“They knew about the sinkholes around Ripon and were advised about it. It’s a disaster and typical of the council. They are pumping our money into it.”

Kerry Metcalfe, the council’s assistant director for property, said:

“The ground stabilisation work underway involves pumping grout into voids under the ground. These works are expected to be completed later this year and are necessary to make the leisure centre building safe so that it can be refurbished and re-opened for public use.

“The cost for this work so far is £3.4m. Refurbishment work to the leisure centre was paused when the need for ground remediation work was identified and will therefore be finished after completion of the ground stabilisation works.

“The nature of the work is complex and is under constant review, reopening dates will be announced when they are confirmed.”

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