John Plummer, Author at The Stray Ferret

Bright Friday to begin Christmas season in Knaresborough tonight

The Christmas season will get underway in Knaresborough tonight with Bright Friday.

The event — billed as the antidote to Black Friday — is a free community occasion that includes the Christmas tree lights switch on, a parade to music, mulled wine, Father Christmas and a school choir.

Organised by Knaresborough Town Council, it begins with a performance by Meadowside Academy Choir in the Market Place.

At 6pm, the light parade sets off from the war memorial in the grounds of Knaresborough Castle and at 6.30pm the Christmas tree lights are switched on.

Cllr Hannah Gostlow, the Mayor of Knaresborough, said the event is always held on the same day as shopping extravaganza Black Friday.

She added:

“It’s an antidote to Black Friday because it’s all about community and doing something positive — the true spirit of Christmas.”

‘Absolutely sickening’: 20 Christmas trees stolen in Knaresborough

A trader who runs a business group in Knaresborough has said she is “absolutely sickened” after about 20 Christmas trees were stolen.

Natalie Horner, co-founder of Knaresborough Business Collective, organises the annual distribution of Christmas trees to shops in Knaresborough. The trees make the town more festive and any left over are given to charity.

The trees had been delivered and were in the process of being sent out this week when burglars struck last night.

In a social media post this morning Ms Horner, whose own commercial printing business Sid Horner and Son was burgled six days earlier, said:

“I cannot believe I’m posting this six days after my shop was burgled. Last night two men came and robbed around 20 trees.

“We are going to do our best to get as many shops done as possible but it means we will be short now and will have to refund some businesses.

“The saddest part is any trees left over every year we donate to charities and people who can’t afford a tree.”

The post said the criminals had also broken festoon lights, adding:

“I’m absolutely sickened somebody would do this and it’s just a constant battle at the moment and we are done in.

“If anybody hears of trees for sale or sees them in somebody’s garden today please message us. Also please check CCTV If you are on the High Street as we believe they left via the bottom end of the High Street.”

It’s not the first time one of the collective, which organises initiatives that boost the town centre, has suffered criminal damage.

Several scarecrows that formed part of a half-term trail for children to enjoy last month were vandalised.

Giant snow globe heading to Ripon

A giant inflatable snow globe is coming to Ripon as part of the city’s festivities next month.

Residents and visitors will be able to step inside the inflatable to create a free Christmas photo opportunity.

The globe, which will have biodegradable snow, will be in Ripon from December 14 to 17.

Ripon Business Improvement District, which is funded by traders to increase the number of city centre visitors, has devised the scheme in partnership with tourism organisation Visit Harrogate.

They are marketing the snow globe as “a hugely popular attraction that instantly transports you to your very own winter wonderland”.

It will be in Ripon at the same time as the winter wonderland illuminations in Spa Gardens, which take place from December 15 to 17.

Here’s where you can find the snow globe:

December 14 — 1pm to 7pm The Ripon Inn, Park Street

December 15 — 1pm to 7pm Ripon Cathedral forecourt, Minster Road

December 16 — 1pm to 7pm Ripon Market Square

December 17 — 1pm to 7pm Ripon Market Square

Plans submitted to convert Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens to private road

Plans have been submitted to close Crescent Gardens in Harrogate to public traffic.

Harrogate-based property developer Impala Estates bought the former Harrogate Borough Council headquarters alongside the road for £4 million in 2020.

It received planning permission in May last year to turn the building into offices, a roof garden restaurant and gym, and to create a two-storey extension. Work has yet to begin.

The company has now applied for permission to install bollards and planters to convert the public highway into a private road.

If approved, the road would be maintained by Impala Estates for access to the Crescent Gardens development and associated car parking bays.

The area affected would include the Crescent Gardens road and footpath from its intersection with Swan Road to its intersection with Montpellier Road.

According to planning documents submitted to North Yorkshire Council, the application site “excludes the off-carriageway parking bays to the south of the Crescent Gardens roadway with the exception of a small section (essentially two parking bays) located directly between the Crescent Gardens building main entrance and the path opposite into the Crescent Gardens park”.

Planters and retractable bollards, similar to those temporarily installed on Beech Grove in Harrogate, would be installed at either end of Crescent Gardens to prevent public vehicles passing.

The documents add:

“The former Harrogate Borough Council agreed to dispose of the land underlying the Crescent Gardens roadway on the basis that it would be stopped up, with the roadway becoming privately owned and associated with the Crescent Gardens development.

“It is also understood that the local highway authority has no objection in principle to the Crescent Gardens roadway being stopped up.”

An impression of how the redeveloped site would look.

James Hartley, director of Impala, told the Stray Ferret,

“The road was discussed at the time of the sale and has been approved by the council at committee. As part of the process, we have been working with the Department for Transport on the stopping up order and North Yorkshire Council on the submitted planning application.

“The changes to the road will assist in the construction of Crescent Gardens along with providing the building with a well-managed and enhanced setting once the works have been undertaken. This will link the building better with the gardens opposite, achieving a clear public benefit.”

Asked if the company’s plans for the redevelopment of Crescent Gardens had changed, or if a starting date was known, Mr Hartley said:

“Nothing has changed with the broader redevelopment, we are working hard with our design team to develop out the design allowing it to go out to tender.”

Sharow road closed yet again

For the second time in 14 weeks, a section of Dishforth Road/Sharow Lane between the Ripon bypass roundabout and the traffic calming island on the approach to St John’s Church, was closed this morning following a burst water main.

Yorkshire Water and its contractor have been working at the scene, which is close to the location of the previous burst main that forced the closure of the same section of road from August 7 to 11.

More recently, the road in Sharownwas hit by flooding on November 14 caused by Storm Debi and back in December/January, there was three weeks of major traffic disruption when Yorkshire Water replaced a ruptured pipe at the sewage pumping station on Dishforth Road. This work involved the felling of a tree and a round the clock convoy of tankers removing sewage from the site and taking it by road to the sewage treatment works off Boroughbridge Road.

Workers at the scene this morning.

James Thornborough who lives in Sharow, supplied these photos, told the Stray Ferret:

“There has been chaotic scenes during this morning’s rush hour with no advance warning of the diversion route for drivers to take, causing them to have to do three point turns in the road.

“The regularity of major mains failures on this key traffic route, points to the need for a resilient wholesale solution to be put in place.”

Firefighters tackle car fire at Aldi in Knaresborough

Firefighters were called to a car fire in the Aldi car park in Knaresborough yesterday.

A full-time crew from Harrogate was joined by on-call firefighters from Boroughbridge to deal with the incident.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to the incident at 5.54pm.

It’s incident report gives no details other than to confirm the fact that firefighters attended.

The car was situated close to the store’s main entrance and eye-witness reports said the site at Swallowtail Way was evacuated.

Frustration grows over ‘rubble on the road’ saga in Knaresborough

Residents and businesses in Knaresborough have expressed exasperation at the length of time it is taking to resolve the collapsed wall on Briggate.

Traffic lights have been in place since a section of the wall came down more than two months ago.

The lights have caused frequent delays on a key route in and out of Knaresborough, with traders claiming it is deterring people from shopping in town.

North Yorkshire Council has said work will finally start on Monday — but lights are likely to remain for several months.

Local people do not understand why a pile of rubble is proving so difficult to deal with, and fear it will hamper Christmas trade.

Bob McRae, who has lived in Knaresborough for 40 years, wrote to the council about the issue.

He praised council leader Carl Les and corporate director for environment Karl Battersby for replying promptly but said he failed to understand why this had become such a big issue. He said:

“People are frustrated. It’s just a bunch of rocks that have been sitting there and it seems nobody can pick them up. There could have been a temporary fix to get the traffic moving.”

Mr McRae also questioned whether council officers in Northallerton understood the impact the situation was having on the town.

The wall collapsed in September.

Hairdresser Kelly Teggin agreed, adding:

“I don’t believe in this day and age nothing can be done to get both lanes back open as soon as possible.

“All other roadworks should have been suspended as soon as the wall fell in September.

“Town and trade is massively affected and it’s not going to change before the end of January, which is disastrous for our town.”

‘We cannot avoid emergency works’

Mr Battersby said the work was more complicated than initially thought.

He said:

“We have been working hard to prepare plans to rebuild the collapsed wall on Briggate in Knaresborough, which is currently under two-way lights to protect road users and ensure traffic can move safely.

“Due to concerns of the residents with cellars – who were directly impacted by the collapsed wall – the works are now more complex than first anticipated.

“Work will start on Monday, November 27, under the existing two-way lights, and is due to be concluded in late-December. In the new year (date to be confirmed), further maintenance work along the rest of the wall will take place – again, under two-way lights – to ensure its future integrity is maintained.”

The traffic lights on Briggate.

He added:

“We also have an embargo on other road works in the local area during this time. However, it is worth stressing, we cannot avoid emergency works.

“We appreciate Knaresborough Christmas events are due to take place in the coming weeks, and this may cause some delays, but safety must come first. To help prevent any delays, we will be manually controlling the lights during the Knaresborough Christmas Market, to ensure the movement of traffic.”

Harrogate man jailed for insulting magistrates

A Harrogate man has been jailed for insulting magistrates and kicking court furniture.

Samuel Hughes, 46, of Swarcliffe Road, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Friday, November 17.

Hughes had previously been found guilty of assaulting a named woman in October 2021 — a charge he denied.

He received an 18-week suspended prison sentence in May last year, and was required to attend a building better relationships appointment in July this year.

But he failed to do so and when he returned to court last week, he was charged with “wilfully insulting the magistrates”, according to court records.

The records added he used “foul and abusive language to the bench upon sentence being pronounced”.

He also kicked court furniture and attempted to resist handcuffs being put on and was committed to jail for four weeks.

Autumn statement will boost business and pay in Harrogate and Knaresborough, says Andrew Jones MP

Andrew Jones MP has said today’s autumn statement will “benefit businesses here in Harrogate and Knaresborough and boost the pay packets of tens of thousands locally”.

However, the Liberal Democrat hoping to replace him at the next general election said Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s statement amounted to “empty promises and stale nonsense”.

Mr Hunt’s hour-long statement this afternoon included cutting the main rate of National Insurance contributions from 12 per cent to 10 per cent, increasing the state pension by 8.5% from April 2024 to £221.20 and a reduction in business rates.

But next year’s economic growth forecast was downgraded from 1.8% to 0.7%.

Andrew Jones

Mr Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:

“This was an impressive autumn statement delivered by a Chancellor who understands his brief. Mr Hunt announced a series of measures which will benefit businesses here in Harrogate and Knaresborough and boost the pay packets of tens of thousands locally.

“The cut to national insurance contributions and the increase to the national living wage will put more cash in the pockets of the least well-paid. This is very important in an area like ours that depends on the often less well-paid hospitality sector.

“The hospitality industry will be further supported with a freeze in alcohol duty and by the changes to business rates and hospitality and leisure relief.”

Tom Gordon

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next election, accused the government of being “content with local health services crumbling” by failing to provide additional funding for local health services.

The party had called on the Chancellor to invest in a NHS rescue plan and inject £20 million into repairing crumbling concrete at Harrogate District Hospital.

Mr Gordon said:

“This Conservative government seems completely content to sit back and allow Harrogate and Knaresborough’s local hospital to crumble. They are either so out of touch they cannot see how many people are struggling to access healthcare, or they simply do not care.

“The Autumn Statement was an opportunity to get people off NHS waiting lists and allow them to return to work so we can rescue our flatlining economy. Instead we got empty promises, stale nonsense and a tax cut that’s not even a drop in the ocean compared to what people have already paid.”

Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty renamed National Landscape

All designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales, including Nidderdale, have been rebranded National Landscapes from today.

The new name aims to create greater understanding and awareness of the sites’ environmental importance in combating issues such as climate change.

There are 46 AONBs in the UK, covering 14% of England, Wales and Northern Ireland including moorland, farmland, coast, forests and International Dark Sky Reserves. The first to be designated an AONB was the Gower Peninsula in 1956; the most recent, in 1995, was the Tamar Valley, which spans Devon and Cornwall.

All are now known as National Landscapes.

Iain Mann, lead officer for Nidderdale National Landscape, said:

“Nidderdale’s landscape is treasured by those who live here and the many people who come to visit.

“Next year will mark 30 years since our partnership came together to conserve and enhance this special place. We look forward to continuing to work with the wide range of partners, from farmers and landowners to volunteers and conservation organisations, as we jointly face up to challenges such as climate change and nature recovery.

“Our new name reflects the national importance of this work and, we hope, sends a welcoming message to people who don’t yet know us to come and visit.”

Pateley Bridge

Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England said:

“For decades the AONBs have helped protect the beauty of our finest landscapes. Today though we need so much more from these wonderful places, helping us adapt to climate change, catching carbon, restoring depleted wildlife and encouraging more people outside, at the same time as producing food, sustaining local communities and enhancing historic environments.

“Modern challenges require new approaches and today marks the beginning of a new phase for our National Landscapes.”

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‘We cannot avoid emergency works’

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