North Yorkshire fire service buys ‘pre-loved’ fire engines to cut costs

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has started buying “pre-loved fire engines” to replace its decades old appliances as a means of balancing the books.

A meeting of the North Yorkshire and York’s police, fire and crime panel heard yesterday the service was “very close to breaking” due to a lack of government funding.

This was despite charging residents three per cent more next year for fire services and making £540,000 of savings for the second year in succession.

The meeting heard the service, which protects 820,000 residents, had recently replaced part of its 20-year-old fleet with 11-year-old appliances from a fire service that was replacing its equipment with brand new vehicles.

Chief fire officer Jonathan Dyson said the national standard was for all fire appliances to be replaced by their 15th year because after that time it became “incredibly difficult” to replace parts, but North Yorkshire’s relatively low use of appliances meant fire engines faced less wear and tear.

He said:

“Whichever face I turn someone is unhappy about what we’re trying to do here. Everything is being directed towards frontline prevention or appliances and crew.”

Chief financial officer Michael Porter said the service had ordered 16 brand new vehicles, 12 of which would be delivered next year, and it was also in the process of trying to buy another 15 second-hand appliances.

He said:

“The age of those 15 will be in the region of six to seven years old, so that will mean we will have 31 which will be relatively new, that’s about three-quarters of our appliance stock within the service.”

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Panel member and former judge Martin Walker told the meeting he was particularly concerned about the service’s ability to replace its ageing appliances.

He said:

“With the best will in the world, due to financial constraints, having to buy 11-year-old vehicles, however well maintained or well built they are, is a timebomb. Even with small fire engines, which are becoming more of the norm… we are not talking about a small amount of money.”

Mr Porter said even though the fire service had learnt it would receive about £400,000 more from the government than it had been expecting last month, it would face significant financial distress for years to come if the nationally agreed pay rise for firefighters was above three per cent.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime commissioner Zoe Metcalfe nodded as Mr Porter told the panel:

“It does continue to be exceptionally challenging and tight. The 2.99 per cent proposed increase is below what we expect inflation to be for the financial year and is certainly below what we’re seeing in our cost increases.”

Mrs Metcalfe said she had made “strong representations” to the Home Office about the impact of pay if it went above three per cent and that the government’s funding formula for the service needed reviewing.

She added:

“It’s really innovative practise to be able to buy pre-owned… it’s going to save the service in the long-term millions of pounds. It’s really thinking outside the box as unfortunately we’re not in the position our neighbouring fire services are in.”

New fine dining restaurant opens in Harrogate

A fine dining restaurant has opened in the premises above Sukhothai on Harrogate’s Cheltenham Crescent.

Rhubarb Harrogate serves modern British cuisine under Bradford-born head chef Varun Khanna. Silviu Hasna is the restaurant director.

It offers a tasting menu at £79, a three-course set lunch for £29 and an a la carte menu that includes dishes such as monkfish tail for £29 and venison haunch for £32.

The site has had a chequered recent history. After being occupied by Le Bistrot Pierre for many years. It was briefly Samsons, HG1 Grill and World Bar and most recently The Rooftop.

The latter — a Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar — closed after just two days in August last year.

According to the restaurant’s website, Rhubarb Harrogate is an “understated modern British restaurant, where carefully sourced local ingredients take centre stage” led by “a talented chef with serious culinary heritage”.

It adds:

“Varun provides a dining experience that epitomises quality, sourcing ingredients locally to showcase the very best produce Yorkshire has to offer.”

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‘Warm and welcoming’ Dacre Braithwaite school rated ‘good’ by Ofsted

Dacre Braithwaite Church of England Primary School has been awarded a ‘good’ rating in an Ofsted report. 

Inspectors visited the Nidderdale school in November 2023, and their findings were published on Friday.

The report rated the overall effectiveness of the school as good, but noted that early years provision required some improvement. 

It described the school, which is four miles from Pateley Bridge, as a “warm and welcoming haven set in the Yorkshire Dales.”

The report said:

“It is a friendly, caring school. Pupils enjoy being part of the Dacre Braithwaite ‘family’. They say they are proud to attend here.”

It said children feel safe and behave well and the school is ambitious for pupils’ achievement.

Reading is “given high priority”, staff are “well trained” and “staff and pupils talk about phonics with confidence”.

Three areas of improvement were identified in the report, which said “children are not as well prepared for the next stage in their education as they might be”. Some activities can lack purpose, or are without sufficient challenge to the pupils, inspectors added.

Dacre Braithwaite, which has 84 children, is part of the Leeds Diocesan Learning Trust. 

Headteacher Jo Dobbs said:

“We are very pleased with the results of the report.”

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Car destroyed by fire on Harrogate street

A car was destroyed by fire on a street in Harrogate today.

Firefighters from Harrogate and Knaresborough were called at 11.20am to the vehicle, which was between Silverfields Road and Roseville Avenue, near Granby Corner in Harrogate.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident report, the car was well alight by the time the crews arrived.

The report added:

“The car was destroyed by fire and fire had spread to fencing close by. Crews extinguished the fire using breathing apparatus and a hose reel.”

Pic: Bill Shaw

Earlier at 10am, Harrogate crews were called to a burst boiler in town that had flooded a property and had affected the electrics.

Firefighters isolated the electricity and helped the people at the scene.

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Harrogate man recovers from loss of leg to play international padel tournament 

Harrogate businessman Andrew Simister has recovered from the loss of a leg to take part in an international padel tournament.

Disability Action Yorkshire trustee Andrew teamed up with son Max at the Inclusive Padel Tour competition in Milan last month.

The tour, which involves 60 disabled players across five nationalities, creates tournaments where people with and without disabilities can play together. 

Andrew suffered a broken back in a car accident and had his right leg amputated above the knee in 2022. 

Until the accident, he was a keen sportsman who had taken part in two marathons in New York, played cricket and coached a junior Beckwithshaw Saints football team. 

He was determined and continued to take part in sports after the accident with, as he describes – his “bionic leg”.

Andrew said:

“It was a fantastic weekend. It was incredible to be with so many other players ranging from amputees to wheelchair users.

“It’s the first time I’ve felt part of a community since my accident, and there’s a real sense of family and inclusion.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get out of the group stages this time as the standard was really good.”

Andrew Simister playing padel

Andrew Simister in action

Andrew has exercised as much as possible since recovering from his injuries, and was introduced to padel tennis by friends. 

The Stray Ferret previously reported he was seeking other amputee padel players in June, 2023. He often plays at Harrogate Spa Tennis Club and praised coach Carolyn Rothwell for her advice and encouragement. 

His participation in the event came only months after discovering the existence of the tournament – and then contacting the organiser to become a competitor. 

Andrew is keen to highlight the impact disabilities have on mental as well as physical health. 

He said:

“Lying there, having my leg amputated, thinking my life was over and then accepting what happened and knowing I could recover. My leg had gone. I wasn’t going to die then and I knew it was going to be fine. I liken my situation to having an electric car. The destination is the same, but you have to plan your journey differently.”

“I was a victim of an accident, but I wasn’t going to be a victim.

“Recovery, and I spoke to a lot of people about it, is 20 percent physical and 80 percent mental.”

Andrew plans to travel to all remaining Inclusive Padel Tour tournaments this year with the final competitions taking place in Dubai and Nairobi, as well as continuing advocating for disabled people as part of Disability Action Yorkshire.  

Disability Action Yorkshire, which was established in 1937 and is based in Harrogate, provides services for the disabled to aid them in achieving their aspirations.

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Harrogate gets two new takeaways

Two new food venues are to open in Harrogate.

Pepe’s Piri Piri welcomed its first customers on Knaresborough Road this week while fish and chip shop Portside is preparing to open soon.

The piri piri chicken chain is known for its six different flavours, with options ranging from mango and lime to extremely hot. 

Store manager Rana Hossain said after Thursday’s opening:

“I love the community, the customers were fabulous and polite.

“People seemed excited for Pepe’s coming to Harrogate, and seemed to really like the food.

“I was not expecting the sort of opening we had, to say we had not done much advertising and faced a complicated process in preparing for opening – but I am happy with the team and the nice Harrogate community. 

“We have a big venue and huge variety on the menu.”

Pepe’s in Harrogate

Fish and chip business Portside already has premises in Leeds, Pontefract and South Elmsall. 

The chain offers vegetarian and vegan options, and says it cooks all its fish and chips in vegetable oil. 

Its arrival will increase competition in Starbeck, which already has Bradley’s Fish and Chip shop at 12 High Street, and Drakes on Knaresborough Road. 

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Yemi’s Food Stories: A review of The Curious Cow in Harrogate

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition.

Every Saturday Yemi writes on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food and shares cooking tips – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

 

Every time I drove past The Curious Cow, located off the A59 near Harrogate, I made a mental note to drop by and check it out.

This week, that’s exactly what I did.

The bar area was a little noisy as there was a new parents and babies meet-up happening at the time. That is to be expected from an event like that, but I do wish we had been seated in a quieter area.

Once seated, I ordered a virgin mojito, which had the right balance of sour and tart flavours.

Starters

To begin, we ordered the signature sharing platter, which was £18.25. It included baked lamb koftas, buttermilk chicken tenders, crispy coated barbecue cauliflower wings, hummus and flatbread.

I absolutely love both hummus and pesto, but I think the mix of the two was a little overpowering. They both have such powerful and punchy flavours, which I felt clashed a little. However, it was a slight marmite dish, and I think some people would have loved it.

I loved the lamb koftas. They were crispy on the outside, and well-seasoned and juicy on the inside. The yoghurt sauce complimented the meat well, and the salsa brought a lovely touch of heat. This is a starter that I would definitely order again.

The sharing platter

I found the chicken tenders were not so tender. They were a touch dry, felt over-fried and a little over-seasoned for me, unfortunately, although they were compensated by the cauliflower wings, which were a revelation! I could have eaten bowls of it. It was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I almost thought I was eating juicy prawns. They were delicious, especially with the accompanying sauces.

Main courses

For mains, we ordered the pan-fried sea bass, which came with crushed new potatoes, green beans, mangetout, peas, pesto and caper butter.

It was well-plated, and the fish was tasty, but the dressing did leave an oily aftertaste. I think a garnish of sliced lemon to squeeze over the fish would have lifted the dish and cut through the oiliness.

Our second main was the steak and hobgoblin ale pie with a short crust pastry base, caramelised onions and a puff pastry lid. It was served with mashed potatoes, green beans, mangetout, and honey glazed carrots.

The vegetables were well-seasoned and had just the right bite, while the carrots were perfectly caramelised.

The beef was super tender and was served in a rich, dark gravy. The consistency was almost reminiscent of brown sauce. The different types of pastry – flaky and short crust – gave a lovely contrast of textures.

This is a meal made for the pie lovers; it’s everything you’d want the classic pub dish to be.

Pudding

We ordered two puddings to bring our meal to a close.

The first was described as a chocolate brownie crowned with a melting chocolate dome, served with salted caramel sauce and hot toffee sauce.

The dome was a little thick – and required a few whacks of the back of the spoon to break through – but did taste delicious. The sauces were also tasty, but I did feel they weren’t hot enough when served.

The second was a described as warm chocolate brownie with raspberry compote and chocolate blood orange ice cream. However, I couldn’t taste the blood orange in the ice cream and the compote was missing. It was a shame, as I felt it was needed to cut through the rich and dense brownie.

The brownie was a chocolate lovers dream, but, for me, it could have used something like whipped cream or fresh fruit – or the missing compote – just to lighten the taste.

My visit to the Curious Cow was a tale of two halves, with some hits and some misses.

It has a great menu selection, but I do wish we had been offered a quieter area to sit. However, I left knowing which dishes I would definitely order again.

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Harrogate’s ‘biggest dance music festival ever’ coming to the Stray

Record label and house music brand Love To Be is to host a dance music festival on the Stray in Harrogate, on Saturday, September 14. 

In a social media post announcing the event, Love To Be said it would be ‘the biggest dance music festival ever to take place in Harrogate’.

Love To Be, which has been staging events for 30 years, said it would be a full festival production with two arenas, VIP entry and a food court lasting from 1pm to 11pm. It added:

“A massive and unmissable line up of international house music DJs, Vocalists, musicians and performers will be revealed soon

“In our 30th anniversary year we’ll be bringing you 30 years of house plus the sounds of Ibiza!”

The organisers said demand for the Harrogate festival had been “absolutely insane with 1,000 plus sign ups in 24 hours”. They added:

“Our 30th year is looking like our biggest year to date and we can’t wait to create some amazing dance floor moments with you all this year.”

Love To Be began in 1994 at Sheffield’s Music Factory. Its 30th anniversary celebrations also include events at Mint Warehouse in Leeds on February 10 and a ay festival in Sheffield on April 27. 

Other events include headliners including Bez from the Happy Mondays, DJ Grant Nelson and Sheffield talent Adelphi Music Factory. 

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What will the new combined authority mean for Harrogate?

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority had a launch event yesterday in the grand surroundings of York’s Guildhall.

The new public body will see four councillors from York and North Yorkshire work with a newly elected mayor to deliver schemes worth £18m a year related to transport, housing, net-zero and business.

The combined authority era will begin in earnest after mayoral elections on May 2.

But for all the aspirational talk from leaders at the launch about “historic milestones” and “flourishing together”, what will it actually mean for people living in Harrogate?

The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of North Yorkshire Council and James Farrar, interim head of paid services for combined authority, to try and get a better sense of how the combined authority will work — and how the mayor could use their new powers to improve Harrogate.

Some key decisions will be made in Harrogate

A common criticism of North Yorkshire Council is the location of its headquarters in Northallerton with it frequently being described by Harrogate residents as remote and out-of-the-way.

The combined authority will have two main offices — in York and at County Hall in Northallerton.

Cllr Les disputed the argument that this means even more decisions affecting Harrogate will not be made locally and he insisted the town will have a voice.

As the mayoral role will also include the brief of the current Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe, her office and staff at Harrogate Police Station on Beckwith Head Road will come under the control of the mayor.

Although the crime and fire duties will be led by a deputy mayor who will be appointed after the election.

Cllr Les said:

“Devolution is the holy grail of local government. It’s about moving decision-making away from Whitehall to County Hall and to York. I’ve been around local government for nigh-on 30 years and I’ve never met a councillor who doesn’t believe we can’t make better decisions locally.”

The mayor could help fund the Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment.

North Yorkshire Council has a £49m problem with what to do with the ageing Harrogate Convention Centre.

It’s seen seen two funding bids rejected by government to help pay for a planned redevelopment that it inherited from the defunct Harrogate Borough Council.

It was even recently suggested by council chief executive Richard Flinton that the council-run facility could be sold to the private sector.

However, Mr Farrar said the convention centre redevelopment project could win funding from the mayor providing it delivers “good bang for the buck”.

Cllr Les was more enthusiastic about the idea and said “absolutely” when asked if the mayor could help pay for it.

He added:

“That’s a discussion we’d want to have with the mayor, whoever he or she is.”

The launch event today.

The mayor could reverse cuts to Harrogate’s fire service

Conservative fire and crime commissioner Zoe Metcalfe has faced strong criticism from fire unions and the public over her decision to reduce the number of fire engines available in Harrogate overnight to one.

She also recently announced that from April, four firefighters based in the town will lose their jobs, saving £210,000.

Last month, Ms Metcalfe said she was going to write to local government secretary Michael Gove to plead with him for an increase in funding available to the fire service through council tax.

Cllr Les admitted government hasn’t always listened to the requests of crime commissioners but said that could change with a more high-profile mayor who may be able to negotiate more money for North Yorkshire’s cash-strapped fire service.

Cllr Les said:

“They could [reverse the cuts].  But if the mayor wants to reverse the savings, they have to find the money.”

Mr Farrar added that the budget of the fire service will be “entirely down to the mayor”

More active travel schemes for Harrogate?

Harrogate’s £11.2m Station Gateway has turned into one giant headache for North Yorkshire Council.

The active travel scheme has been drastically scaled-back following opposition from local businesses and the finished version could end up satisfying nobody.

One of the mayor’s responsibilities is to bring forward a strategic transport strategy for the region and Mr Farrar said this could include suggesting new schemes to promote cycling and walking in Harrogate.

He added:

“We’ll be looking at how people move around in Harrogate in an effective way.”

But how will the combined authority be able to succeed where the council has arguably failed?

Cllr Les said:

“The station gateway is a classic example of putting forward a scheme and finding two distinct lobbies in Harrogate where there are well-educated people who know how to put a coherent argument forward.

“Its very clear a lot of people wanted a scheme that’s much more pedestrian and cycle-friendly, other people wanted it to be more business-friendly. We’ve tried to strike a balance, whether we’ve got it right, only time will tell.”

One of the first jobs in the mayor’s in-tray could be repairing the fractured relationship between Harrogate businesses, cycling community and the public sector following the station gateway debacle.

But if he or she decides to encourage more active travel in Harrogate, they could also run into the same problems and divisiveness faced by North Yorkshire Council.

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Rivers Nidd and Ure named among UK’s most polluted rivers

A report from the Angling Trust has found the Nidd and Ure to be among the most polluted rivers in the UK.

The results are contained in the first water quality monitoring network report published by the organisation, which represents anglers.

The report is based on the findings of 641 anglers from 240 angling clubs who monitored pollution on 190 rivers.

Twenty flyfishers from four clubs on the Nidd collected 165 water samples from 13 locations over a period of a year as part of this national project, which the Angling Trust has hailed as ‘the UK’s largest citizen science water testing’ project.

The report found 83% of English rivers now show evidence of high pollution and deteriorating water quality. 

An Angling Trust press release said:

“Mapped catchments with the highest phosphate site averages were the Medway; Swale, Ure, Nidd and Upper Ouse; Severn Middle Worcestershire; Loddon and tributaries; Wey and tributaries; Warwickshire Avon; Ribble; Hampshire Avon; Upper and Bedford Ouse.”

The Ure at Boroughbridge.

The Nidd flows through Pateley Bridge and Knaresborough as well as many villages near Harrogate. The Ure passes through Masham, Ripon and Boroughbridge.

The organisation conducted the Water Quality Monitoring Network testing as part of its Anglers Against Pollution campaign. It also did so because of reduced essential testing from the Environment Agency.

Angling Trust chief executive Jamie Cook said:

“The first annualWater Quality Monitoring Network report proves that across the country rivers are suffering from too much phosphate which is extremely damaging in freshwater.

“We need to see much more enforcement and an update of existing laws to tackle the scourge of river pollution and hold polluters to account.”

The Nidd has been the subject of an ongoing clean-up campaign dating back to the formation of the Nidd Action Group in October 2022.

It organised sampling along the length of the Nidd in August and October last year, which found high levels of phosphates and E.coli in much of the main river and also its becks.

David Clayden, chair of Nidd Angling Group, said:

“Yorkshire Water has proposed to reduce phosphate levels from discharges from its assets, and Nidd Action Group intends to scrutinise the delivery of those improvements and the actual results of their actions over the next several years.”

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has led a campaign for the Nidd to achieve bathing water status at the Knaresborough Lido, which, if achieved, would lead to measures to improve water quality.

Andrew Jones (right) and Environment Secretary Steve Barclay discuss the bathing water status bid.

The application was submitted to the government in October 2023. A decision is expected in spring.

The Stray Ferret previously reported concerns about the Nidd, including reports of bathers falling ill with sickness, as well as wider pollution concerns. 

A report claimed that the equivalent of 317 Olympic swimming pools worth of raw sewage was discharged into Nidd in 2020. 

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