Plans have been revealed to create a major new community sports facility in the Harrogate district.

Boroughbridge Sports Village would include a games field, a one kilometre running track, a 100 metre sprint track and a multi-use games areas for team sports such as five-a-side football and netball.

The 10-acre site would also host a gym, functional strength and CrossFit centre, health food café as well as a community meeting room and nature reserve.

The scheme is a joint venture between Boroughbridge gym Absolute Fitness, which is owned by former World’s Strongest Man competitor Darren Sadler, and Boroughbridge Town Council.

They have created a charity called Boroughbridge Sports Village to develop the project, which would be built on land between Aldborough Cemetery and Boroughbridge allotments on Chapel Hill,  near to Aldborough Gate.

Residents are being invited to complete a phase one consultation form to gather views before a planning application is submitted.

The consultation document says the sports village would “enhance the quality of life for residents of Boroughbridge and neighbouring communities”, adding:

“It is intended that this proposed development will increase the number of people participating in physical activity, contributing to improved health and well-being of local residents and act as a central hub for the community to come together.”

You can complete the consultation form here.

Read more:

• The pub entrepreneur putting Boroughbridge on the map
• Two new shops set to open in Boroughbridge next month

The government has awarded £380 million of reallocated HS2 funding to improve transport in North Yorkshire.

The seven-year funding, from April 2025 to 2032, has been hailed by ministers as the “first fully devolved transport budget of its kind targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas”.

It will be spent on schemes such as new roads, filling in potholes, tackling congestion, increasing the number of EV chargepoints and improving public transport.

The new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which will be overseen by whoever is elected mayor on May 2, will decide how to spend it.

The £380 million awarded to North Yorkshire represents the lion’s share of an overall £950 million package to the Yorkshire and the Humber region announced today.

The Department for Transport said in a statement the deal was on average at least nine times more than local authorities received through the local integrated transport block, which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements in their areas.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the funds would “deliver a new era of transport connectivity” and help to level up the country.

He added:

“Through reallocating HS2 funding, we’re not only investing nearly £1 billion directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across Yorkshire and the Humber, but we are also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matters most to them – this is levelling up in action.

“This unprecedented investment will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done, and comes alongside the billions of pounds of funding we’ve already invested into our roads, buses and local transport services across the country.”

‘Truly game-changing’

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the investment would deliver an unprecedented long term funding uplift across the region over seven years.and give local authorities long-term certainty to invest in “transformative and ambitious transport improvements” from next year.

Mr Harper said:

“Today’s £947 million investment is truly game-changing for the smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across Yorkshire and the Humber, and is only possible because this government has a plan to improve local transport and is willing to take tough decisions like reallocating funding from the second phase of HS2.”

The money is from the DfT’s Local Transport Fund, which compensates the north and Midlands for the decision to scrap the northern leg if the high speed rail route HS2. It is also specifically for communities in the north and Midlands outside city regions – who already receive City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements.

The South and West Yorkshire Combined Authorities already benefit from £1.4 billion of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements from 2022-2027.

Today’s DfT statement said the investment “demonstrates our commitment to reinvest all of the £19.8 billion from the northern leg of HS2 in the north”.

Lord Patrick McLoughlin, chair of Transport for the North, said:

“We welcome this funding for our local transport areas as a sign of progress towards transforming the north to a more inclusive, sustainable and better-connected region. By having greater clarity on the funding that’s available, and consolidating funding streams, it helps remove inertia and accelerates delivery on the ground.”

Sums awarded

* Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Read more:

• Skills and transport: What does the Harrogate district need from the new combined authority?
• Council pledges further action after ‘shocking’ repair of Knaresborough road

Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This letter is in response to an article about Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council, being awarded a pay rise.

Who sanctioned Richard Flinton’s pay rise?

He was already on a near £200,000 salary and is now to be awarded nearly another £6,000 – can’t he survive on what he already gets?

It is rather ironic when others are struggling with the cost of living and expecting a 5% rise in council tax.

Lenny Redmond, Harrogate

Keane Duncan should ‘increase his quest to 365 days’

This letter is in response to Keane Duncan’s 100-day campervan trip around North Yorkshire.

The best thing Mr Duncan can do is to increase his campervan quest for mayorship to 365 days a year.

Hopefully, that will keep him out of the way from making anymore huge mistakes such as the Harrogate Station Gateway project that he pursued, which fortunately didn’t come to fruition after wasting £2 million of public funds.

Gordon Lund, Sawley

Read more:

• Readers’ Letters: Hookstone Woods being turned into a ‘light-polluted’ disco
• Readers’ Letters: ‘It suddenly clicks – you’re not alone’, says Andy’s Man Club member

Yorkshire Water will face ‘many complaints’ over reservoir parking charges

This article is in response to the parking charges recently imposed at reservoirs in the Harrogate district.

For background, my partner and I are well into our 70s. I have poor eyesight and can’t drive, and she has chronic arthritis and a limited walking range. We absolutely love walking around the Washburn Valley reservoirs, it’s flat and it’s most beautiful for mental uplift, so it’s a trip we do quite regularly from our home in Ilkley.

On January 18, I saw an article in The Stray Ferret about the car parking charges being introduced at the reservoir car parks from the following Monday. Despite my having a blue badge parking permit, I have to apply for a special permit to use it under the new scheme. That, in itself, is indicative of the problems which are going to arise for Yorkshire Water.

I immediately went on the website, completed the form, and applied for my special permit. But three weeks later, and still no sign of any acknowledgement from the parking company. 

Nevertheless, last week we decided to venture up to the reservoir and pay our £1 charge; it goes against the grain but needs must.

To our dismay we first of all found that the registration number has to be typed into the ticket machine, but the keyboard is far too small both for me to see to use it, and for my partner to use it with her arthritic fingers — if nothing else that is surely against the spirit of the disability discrimination legislation. And in any case the machines don’t take cash, only card: not anticipating this we had not brought a card with us, but I’m very reluctant to use one anyway in such circumstances.

So we drove back home, unable to take our much anticipated exercise because of our disabilities. How Ironic!

Imposing parking charges and the way they are collected is a dreadful situation for a renowned beauty spot, and the income likely to be generated is very low.

Yorkshire Water is going to be faced with a great many complaints, especially when the parking company starts dishing out the massive fines for inadvertent breaches of their ridiculous regulations.

A very sad situation indeed, and extremely bad public relations.

Steve Broadbent, Ilkley

Old wounds between Harrogate and Ripon councillors reopened this week over council tax as North Yorkshire Council agreed proposals to increase its charge by 4.99%.

The increase will result in almost £90 added to the average Band D bill, with senior councillors arguing the rise was crucial to protect frontline services and to keep up with inflation.

But during the debate in Northallerton, the Liberal Democrats suggested an amendment, which was ultimately rejected, that would have seen council tax limited to 3.99% instead.

Councillor Bryn Griffiths, the leader of North Yorkshire Council’s Liberal Democrat group, told councillors that residents should be paying less following an additional £6m government grant.

Cllr Griffiths said this should be used to protect residents from “execessive” tax rises during a cost-of-living crisis.

This led several councillors, including Andrew Williams, an independent who represents Ripon Minster and Moorside for the Conservatives and Independents, to accuse the Liberal Democrats of political posturing.

He referred to a song from the movie Wonka called A World of Your Own”and said:

“It seems this is where the Liberal Democrats reside most of the time”.

Cllr Williams added:

“What we have here is literally a nonsense. It’s an attempt to grab an election leaflet headline and as usual has no substance behind it from the Liberal Democrats.

“What the people of North Yorkshire need are sensible people taking sensible decisions that protect the long-term future of services.”

Cllr Williams’ comments provoked an angry response from Cllr Philip Broadbank, a long-serving councillor who represents Fairfax and Starbeck for the Liberal Democrats. He then accused Cllr Williams of voting to increase Ripon City Council’s council tax precept by 9% at a meeting last month.

Councillors from Harrogate and Ripon would regularly clash on the old Harrogate Borough Council.

Cllr Broadbank said:

“Some points we’ve heard them all before from the same people.”

However, Cllr Williams, who is also the leader of Ripon City Council, did not attend the Ripon budget meeting where the 9% increase was confirmed due to a family bereavement.

He demanded that Cllr Broadbank withdraw his accusation but he refused.

Cllr Williams told the Local Democracy Reporting Service afterwards that he was going to make a complaint.

He added:

“It’s appalling to be accused of something when I wasn’t even there”.

Read more:

• Harrogate BID and council silent on free parking U-turn 
• Bid to make Ripon businesses more disability friendly 

The days are lengthening and spring is coming, which means only one thing – Knaresborough Tractor Run is approaching. Having attended the last two departs, I can say it’s quite a spectacle. Read about it here.

The week has been dominated by the anti-semitism row concerning Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh. We have a feature on the fallout tomorrow morning.

Last September, I joined other journalists at a drenched Nidderdale Showground at a media gathering celebrating the launch of a new event called the Long Course Weekend.

The event, which is sort of based on triathlon, but a similar gathering in Wales attracts thousands of people and is being promoted as a major boost to Nidderdale sports tourism.

But amid less fanfare this week, the council revealed the event had been moved from Pateley Bridge to Masham because of unspecified difficulties with the Nidderdale Showground.

Is the Debenhams building in Harrogate finally set to be revived? Heritage groups that previously objected to demolition indicated this week they were happy with the new plans to convert it to flats and retail units.

One Harrogate building that has been revived is the Woodlands Pub. I went there this week for a sneak peek.  It’s all happening at that junction: a new Asda convenience store is being built and we still await the opening of Starbucks in the former Leon site.

Read more:

• Harrogate serial rapist jailed for 18 years
• Council pledges further action after ‘shocking’ repair of Knaresborough road
• Harrogate Town Council: Lib Dems issue plea to ‘get on with it’

North Yorkshire Police has said it was lucky nobody was killed when a car ploughed into parked vehicles and overturned outside Harrogate’s largest school this week.

The Stray Ferret reported on Tuesday that a man in his 50s had been arrested following a crash on Arthurs Avenue, close to Harrogate Grammar School, on Monday evening.

Officers revealed further details of the incident last night and appealed for anyone who spoke to the driver to come forward.

The statement said:

“We arrested a suspected drink driver after a car ploughed into parked vehicles and overturned in Harrogate.

“It happened at around 6.30pm on Monday (February 19) on Arthurs Avenue and involved a Renault Clio colliding with parked cars on the street before flipping over.

“The driver of the Renault is believed to have left the scene of the collision on foot after briefly speaking to witnesses.”

The statement added a man in his 50s, thought to be the driver, was “promptly arrested in a nearby street”.

He was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and taken into custody.

Police added:

“We’d like to hear from anyone who witnessed the collision, and specifically anyone who spoke to the driver of the Renault Clio.”

Anyone with information can email chris.storey@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101, select option 2, and ask for traffic constable 13 Chris Storey.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Quote reference number 12240030987.

Read more:

• Man arrested for driving while unfit following Harrogate collision
• Sneak Peek: The Woodlands in Harrogate reopens after £300,000 refurbishment

One of Harrogate’s best known pubs is to reopen tomorrow after a £300,000 refurbishment.

The Woodlands on Wetherby Road has been closed for about six weeks for work to take place.

The Stray Ferret visited today for a glimpse of the new-look venue, which is owned by Star Pubs & Bars and managed by Paul Caunt and Matthew Carr.

The two men have been in the trade for 30 years and previously worked for Mr Carr’s father, who had the lease of the pub for many years.

Paul Caunt (left) and Matthew Carr display the plans before the refurbishment.

The yellow exterior has a new grey-blue look as well as fresh signs. The interior has also been repainted and although the layout is unaltered the red carpets have been replaced by wooden and tiled flooring to accentuate the more modern feel.

Heineken-owned Star Pubs & Bars said last month it planned to “transform it into the best family-friendly community and sports pub in the area”.

The dining area.

The new pool table.

Mr Caunt said the sports feel is one of the most noticeable changes. Besides showing live sport, The Woodlands has a new pool table. It will also host twice-weekly quizzes.

The pub will open from noon to 11pm daily and serve food from noon until 8pm except on Sundays, when the kitchen will close at 5pm.

The bar

The Woodlands can seat 50 people for food. Its new menu includes pub classics and a two for £16 deal on weekdays. New beers include Beavertown and Heineken Silver.

Mr Caunt said:

“It’s an opportunity to put the pub back on the map.

“We hope to attract a younger clientele while keeping existing customers. We get a lot of people visiting when anything is on at the Great Yorkshire Showground and we are also close to Harrogate Town’s ground.”

Star Pubs & Bars owns 2,400 pubs, most of which are leased to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Read more:

• £300,000 upgrade of The Woodlands in Harrogate to begin next week
• The pub entrepreneur putting Boroughbridge on the map

A defiant Pat Marsh has said she will not resign as a councillor following comments on X about Jews that have been widely condemned as antisemitic.

In a series of posts made over the past month related to the conflict in Gaza, Cllr Marsh described Jews as “vile”, “evil” and “a disgrace to the world”.

It led the Liberal Democrats to suspend her from the party yesterday but she denied the comments were antisemitic and said they were made to highlight her opposition to the ongoing war and the deaths of thousands of children.

Despite senior councillors on North Yorkshire Council calling on her to quit, Cllr Marsh told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this morning that she intends to sit as an independent for the remainder of her term of office, which is another three years.

She claimed she had received emails of support from residents urging her to carry on serving them in her Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone division.

Cllr Marsh said:

“I do not intend to resign I will complete this term of office as an Independent. I am receiving quite a few emails of support from my residents asking me to remain as their independent councillor.

“I have worked for my residents and the wider community for 33 years and will continue to do so until my term of office ends.”

However, Cllr Marsh’s comments about Jewish people may find her in breach of the council’s code of conduct which all councillors sign up to.

This includes ensuring councillors do not discriminate against any person, treat others with respect and must not bring the council into disrepute.

The Local Government Association says a councillor can be removed from their role by the local authority should they be found to have committed a serious breach of the code.

Council leader Carl Les said a complaint has been made to the council’s monitoring officer which could lead to a referral to North Yorkshire Police.

Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones raised Cllr Marsh’s comments in the House of Commons yesterday evening during a debate about antisemitism.

He said:

“The most senior Liberal Democrat councillor in Harrogate and Knaresborough has been exposed for tweeting horrendous antisemitic comments for the past five weeks.

“She had hundreds of followers, including many senior local Liberal Democrats; she tweeted over 500 times on the subject, and those tweets were read over 10,000 times, so it beggars belief that no Liberal Democrat knew what she was saying.

“They must have known, but in the five weeks she has been tweeting, they did nothing until it was exposed in the media today.”

A Liberal Democrats spokesperson said there was “literally no evidence” to back up Mr Jones’ “unsubstantiated” claims.

They added:

“Ms Marsh was removed from her role in the party long before Andrew Jones made a comment. Andrew Jones had never raised these appalling remarks with the Liberal Democrats, until this afternoon in a press comment. These antisemitic views have no place in our party or our country.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism said the party had acted in a “swift and decisive” manner following the Tweets.

Read more:

• Lib Dems axe Harrogate and Knaresborough leader over anti-semitism row 
• Andrew Jones MP says Lib Dems ‘must have known’ about local leader’s anti-semitic tweets 

The Reform UK parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough has backed Independent Keith Tordoff to be Mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

Mr Tordoff, from Pateley Bridge, is the sole Independent candidate standing for election on May 2.

Reform UK is not fielding a candidate but Richard Brown, who will stand for the party in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the general election, has given his support to Mr Tordoff and suggested the alliance could extend beyond May. He said:

“My focus is on becoming the MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, so working strategically with Keith would be beneficial, not just to both us, but the whole region”.

“Having spoken to Keith, I have got to know about him and what he believes in. Working with him now, and going forward would be very useful.

“I think people want to see the country come together. They also want parties to work together, where there is common thinking, to give focus on delivering for the people.”

Mr Tordoff said:

“While I am not affiliated to a political party as an independent, I do of course need to work with other parties going forward.

“It is certainly true that many are watching the development of Reform UK, some welcoming the possibility of change and others still unsure — Reform UK does though, have the potential to change UK politics fundamentally and in my opinion for the better.

“I share their views that there needs to be fundamental change to how politics operates in this country.”

In a statement today announcing the news, both men highlighted concerns about the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme, which has recently been scaled back after North Yorkshire Council admitted its initial plans were legally flawed.

Mr Tordoff said it “has been fraught with problems from day one, and now we have a project that is proceeding with little focus over the benefits”.

He added:

“Fundamentally it’s an example of a mismanaged project, without a clear set of objectives, and it seems to divide the community, but North Yorkshire Council are pushing ahead regardless.”

Mr Brown described the gateway as a “fiasco”, adding:

“I think we need to develop a better understanding of how the Station Gateway project has gone wrong for Harrogate, and what that means for the project going forward.

“It will give important learning for similar projects that come under the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. We need to do much better than we have done, or are doing.”

Whoever is elected mayor will oversee a new combined authority, and a multi-million budget in areas such as housing, transport and the police and fire services.

Read more:

• Mayoral candidate calls for review of Harrogate fire service cuts
• Lib Dems chose Swinton Park owner to stand for North Yorks mayor
• Tory mayoral candidate to spend 100 days in campervan

Harrogate Civic Society and Historic England have supported plans to convert the former Harrogate Debenhams building into shops and 34 flats.

Debenhams closed on Parliament Street in 2021 after the company went into administration.

Wetherby developer Stirling Prescient initially applied to demolish the building and build 50 flats but withdrew these plans in May 2022 after widespread opposition.

But Harrogate Civic Society and the non-departmental public body Historic England, who were among those objecting, have backed latest proposals submitted to North Yorkshire Council in November last year.

The new application is to convert the first floor into 34 flats and use the ground floor and basement as a ‘flexible commercial space’ or a ‘drinking establishment’.

It also proposes erecting a rooftop extension, the removal and replacement of canopies, shopfronts and the slate roof, and re-cladding the part of the building with a 1960s facade. The plans also include a secure cycle store and seven car parking spaces.

Stirling Prescient has said the development would “provide a high quality and vibrant new residential development” as well as “a new focal point along Parliament Street”.

The civic society submission to council as part of the consultation process says it is pleased demolition is no longer being proposed, adding:

“We are content with the currently proposed uses of the building and are keen to see it returned to beneficial use and retain its positive place in the conservation area

“Loss of the existing façade of the 1960s building next to the Westminster Arcade will not be mourned, likewise the ugly canopy that does the conservation area no favours.

“Overall, we are very pleased to see this proposal for re-use of the building and look forward to it making a positive contribution to the conservation area and the vitality of the town.”

Debenhams on Parliament Street closed in January 2021.

Suzanne Lilley, inspector of historic buildings and areas at Historic England, said in its consultation submission the site at 22-30 Parliament Street “forms part of an iconic commercial street-scene”, adding:

“The proposals have benefited from pre-application engagement with Historic England and we now welcome the approach taken by the applicant.

“There is an exciting opportunity here for a positive restoration and conversion scheme which enables these buildings to be appreciated and enjoyed by the public.”

You can view details of the application on North Yorkshire Council’s planning portal here, entering the reference number ZC23/03273/FULMAJ.

Read more:

• Plan to demolish Harrogate Debenhams withdrawn
• Plans submitted to convert Harrogate Debenhams into 34 flats