Newsroom, Author at The Stray Ferret

Turf War: Extinction Rebellion return fake grass to Harrogate council

Extinction Rebellion has handed back to the council the plastic grass they took from a raised bed on Cambridge Street.

The controversial plastic grass was removed on Tuesday as a protest and replaced by shade-loving plants taken from activists’ gardens.

Today Extinction Rebellion met at the council offices on King’s Road to return the grass and nails that had held it down. They also had a letter which explained their reasoning to the council, along with annotated extracts from the council’s own environmental policies.

The group asked to hand the grass and their letter over to councillor Andrew Paraskos, the cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling.

However, they were informed that he was not in the building. A council employee took the letter and assured the group he would pass it on to Cllr Paraskos. He also took the grass and a black bag full of assorted material into the council offices.

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Extinction Rebellion activist Sarah Gibbs criticised the council’s handling of the saga, saying:

“The general public feel cautious about taking action. Everyone should feel empowered to take community action, and the council should facilitate that.”

She suggested that given the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the plastic grass, the council should have asked the public what they wanted beforehand:

“If they had done that in the first place, they would have saved a lot of time and money. There’s such a disconnect from nature and community.”

Harrogate Borough Council has faced widespread criticism on social media for installing the plastic grass. On Tuesday it released a statement apologising for the lack of communication with the public.

Appeal launched for Bilton boy Archie’s life-saving treatment

An appeal has been launched to raise money for the family of a young Bilton boy with a rare life-threatening illness.

Archie Flintoft, 5, has Diamond-Blackfan anaemia, an incurable condition whereby his bone marrow doesn’t create the red blood cells he needs to survive.

Only 1,000 people worldwide have the condition and Archie needs to go to Leeds General Infirmary for blood transfusions every three weeks just to keep him alive. He also has to travel to London for a special check-up two or three times a year.

Although treatment costs are covered by the NHS, mum Vicky had to leave her job to take care of Archie. Family visits to St Mary’s Hospital in London can set them back up to £1,000 each time because of transport and accommodation costs.

Two years ago mum Vicky set up a Facebook group called Archie’s Army, where followers can keep up with what Archie’s doing and help out with fundraising projects. But since the covid pandemic it’s been difficult to raise money.

Mum Vicky says young Archie takes everything in his stride:

“When he has his transfusions he has to sit still for six hours, and that’s not easy for a five-year old. So I get him a magazine with a little toy, and that’s his treat. He has lots of videos, games, and a tablet, and we eat snacks as well.”

The current fundraising bid was launched yesterday as part of a community appeal led by Andrew Hart and Asma Ola, owners of the Red Box, a post office and gift shop on Harrogate’s King Edward Drive.

For every pound donated, Post Office Ltd has agreed to add another pound, and Red Box will donate two pounds on top of this. Donations have already reached a total of £800, including the top-ups.

Vicky said:

“We’re absolutely blown away by everyone’s kindness and support. I don’t have the words to say how much it means to us that people are behind us to provide the best care we can for our boy.”

The family aims to get Archie’s hospital fund to £3,000. Any further money received will be given to DBA UK, the charity which supports people with the condition and their families.

Donations can be made in person at the Red Box newsagent in Bilton.

Six more covid cases in Harrogate district

Six more cases of covid have been recorded in the Harrogate district, according to the latest Public Health England data.

No more covid-related deaths at Harrogate District Hospital have been recorded, which means it is almost a month since the last one.

The seven-day average rate of infection in the district is 12 per 100,000 people. A week ago it was 16.

The rate in Harrogate is below both the North Yorkshire and England averages, which stand at 20 and 22 respectively.

The highest rate in North Yorkshire is in Selby district, at 64.

The district’s total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 7,709.

Harrogate businesses frustrated over delayed covid restart grants

Harrogate district business owners have expressed frustration about still waiting for government grants intended to help them reopen safely.

The government announced in the March budget that restart grants of up to £18,000 would be available from April 1.

Harrogate Borough Council, which is administering the grants locally, has previously said it hoped to be able to start awarding grants from April 26.

It has received more than 1,600 applications and although at least a third have been paid, many business owners are still waiting for them and some are exasperated by a lack of communication from the council.

Kate Borgen, owner of Ikonik Hair on King’s Road, was disappointed not to have received the grant before reopening:

“The problem for our industry is that demand is so high right now so all our costs are high because of rising costs for products. Without having that restart grant it’s been quite difficult.”

Matthew Norris, owner of Sandwiches and More in Bilton and on Royal Parade, Harrogate applied for a grant as soon as the scheme opened on April 8 and is still waiting.

He told the Stray Ferret he had emailed the council twice in the last week, and sent messages on Facebook and Twitter, without receiving a response.

The scheme has been criticised for coming too late to help many businesses which reopened on April 12.

Its aim was to help non-essential retail and hospitality businesses to reopen safely but stringent anti-fraud checks imposed by the national government on local authorities has meant that almost none were able to send out money in time for the initial easing of lockdown restrictions.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough council said:

“We’ve been working very hard since last year to administer the various financial support schemes the government has offered. Grants worth millions of pounds have been paid to thousands of businesses across the district.

More than 1,600 restart grant applications have been received. So far, we’ve approved 902 of those and payments totalling £6.8 million have been made to businesses. We will continue to work as hard as we can to process the other applications and – subject to the checks that have to take place – we aim to have made all payments by May 14.”

Harrogate’s Commercial Street decked out for Town

Shops on Commercial Street have been decorated in yellow and black bunting today in honour of Harrogate Town’s Wembley heroes.

The club, which has a pop-up shop on the street, supplied the bunting and Town scarves to celebrate the 1-0 defeat of Concord Rangers in yesterday’s FA Trophy final.

Sue Kramer, who owns Crown Jewellers and is manager of the Commercial Street retailers group that has arranged many of the recent improvements on the street, praised the community spirit of the street’s retailers, saying:

“We’ve been here for 21 years and this is the first time I’ve known the street really come together for something.”

According to Ms Kramer, the street’s shop owners have been working closely together with the local council to improve the street.

Harrogate Borough Council recently replaced a bench in the street, while Harrogate Business Improvement District has added the street to its watering round for hanging baskets.

Alex Clarke, owner of Foxy Antiques and Interiors, watched Town beat Concord Rangers 1-0 from the teepee at Cedar Court Hotel on Monday:

“It was freezing, but there was a great atmosphere.”

Gemma Aykroyd, owner of The Cheeseboard, said that footfall had been “great” since the shops reopened. She had bunting up in her windows, as well as black and yellow balloons that she bought herself.

WATCH: Men’s Shed mental health group opens in Pateley Bridge

The Nidderdale and Pateley Bridge Men’s Shed has opened to provide friendship and support to the local community.

They are part of a wider organisation of ‘sheds’ which began in Australia. Their goal is to create a space for people to come together to create and build while making friends and overcoming loneliness.

Despite their name, organiser Alan Cottrill assured the Stray Ferret that the group is also open to women who want to clear their mind through DIY.

“We’re making and repairing things – but also making friendships.”

“There’s been lots of research over the last couple of years which show that this is a good way to get men to talk. Women talk face to face but men talk shoulder to shoulder.”

The Men’s Shed have the premises behind St Cuthbert’s for three years and aim to start working with other charities next year.

Men painting building

Did you make the cut? Beauticians predict full bookings for April

Lockdown restrictions will ease on Monday, allowing beauticians and hairdressers to reopen.

Many people have eagerly awaited haircuts, pedicures and spa treatments since the third lockdown began in early January.

Consequently, businesses in the Harrogate district are bracing themselves for a hectic month. Many customers are struggling to get appointments.

The Treatment Rooms in Harrogate has been shut since December 30 and set up a waiting list six weeks ago to deal with high demand for bookings.

Alex Smith, owner of The Treatment Rooms, said:

“We’re fully booked for the first month and we wanted to make sure we were booking in our loyal customers first before we can fit in new customers.”

Ms Smith said this has been the busiest return from any lockdown so far.

“It could be because the weather’s getting nicer, pubs are reopening or because people have this hope that this will actually be the last time.

“Either way, we can’t wait to go back and see some normality.”

Aimes Health and Beauty in Knaresborough is almost fully booked April, but owner Amy Dodsworth thinks the beauty industry could be adversely affected after the initial rush.

Ms Dodsworth said:

“I think we will be affected by people maybe not feeling safe enough to go out yet, and even working from home might affect business because people won’t want their nails doing as much with no one to see them.

“But we’re looking at the positives. Now is the time to get pampered and have something to look forward to.”

Susan Schofield, owner of the salon Headroom Harrogate described the measures it has instigated to make customers feel safe:

“We have the screens between each customer and all of the team will be wearing masks and visors. We are also doing a few early mornings to ensure we can properly clean each station before every customer.

“Reopening is an exciting time but it is a strange feeling. We’re looking forward to seeing how the first busy week goes.”

Montpellier Beauty in Harrogate, which is also opening its doors on Monday, has kept in touch with clients about government guidelines to demonstrate continuity of care.

Owner Judy Robson said this lockdown has caused stress and uncertainty for the business.

“It has prevented us from implementing some development plans moving the business forward, but has also afforded us some reflection time to brainstorm!

“We have been in survival mode, but are now emerging excited about reopening and thankful that all our lovely, loyal clients have been so supportive and we can’t wait to get back.”

Has your hair got out of control since lockdown? Send images to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk and we will publish the best ones.

Harrogate rugby league club raises money for South Pacific island

The Harrogate Fire Ants are raising money to improve sanitation on the small island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

The Port Vila Fire Ants, Vanuatu, came to the Harrogate Fire Ants attention in April 2020, when they discovered they shared the same name.

Along with New Zealand based charity the Butterfly Trust, the Harrogate team are now fundraising to build toilets, hand washing stations and clean water pumps from materials sourced in Vanuatu.

Chair of the Harrogate Team, Stuart Morris said:

“We realised quite quickly that locals in Vanuatu struggle a lot. They suffer from typhoons which are often category 5, knocking out entire infrastructures. We wanted to do something that would benefit them and raising money gives the locals a decision of how we can help, like what they want doing and where.

We share the same name so we are just us two, just 9,800 miles apart!”

Rugby League for Harrogate

The Harrogate Fire Ants were only established in April 2020 as an attempt to encourage rugby league in the Harrogate area.

Since then, they have already gained a spot to play at Ashville College, where former New Zealand and Leeds Rhinos league player, Gary Mercer is head of rugby.

Mercer is the liaison between the team and Ashville and will be offering a coaching session for the Fire Ants. In the off season for rugby league, Ashville’s rugby team will be using the Fire Ants for training and fitness.

The Harrogate Fire Ants say that starting a rugby league team hasn’t been the easiest, and said they faced some difficulties setting up a league team in a union dominated area.

Stuart Morris, Chairman of the Harrogate Fire Ants said:

“The hardest part was trying to work around the differences between league and union in this area. Ideally we wanted to be in Starbeck but there wasn’t enough space so we’ve moved from Rossett to Knaresborough until we finally got space at Ashville College in Harrogate.”

The team are due to start training again on May 4.

Ripon’s Himalayan Garden set to reopen today

The Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park near Ripon is set to reopen today. The 45-acre site in Grewelthorpe is home to 80 outdoor sculptures and nearly 20,000 plants.

The gardens were shortlisted for the BBC Countryfile Magazine awards 2020 and were winners of the Yorkshire in Bloom tourist attraction award in 2018 and 2019.

A spokesperson for the gardens said:

“We believe that being outdoors and in beautiful gardens is restorative and important for people’s wellbeing. It can be a source of much-needed tranquillity in these super-anxious times.

“We are, however, mindful that the safety of visitors and our staff is our number one priority. We’re pleased to welcome visitors, that they may enjoy the blooms of spring in a safe and tranquil environment.”

The gardens have implemented additional staff training and measures to ensure key points, such as the visitors’ entrance, are safe. Natural materials have been used to create one-way systems and social distancing markers. Visitors must book tickets in advance. The plant sale area will be open and the tearoom and refreshment horsebox will be serving takeaways.

The spokesperson added:

“Thankfully, our attraction benefits from being in the great outdoors with plenty of space.”

The actor Joanna Lumley, who is patron of the gardens, said:

“They are a slice of paradise. Gardens are the greatest healers on earth, and as our stressful anxious lives tie us up in knots, we may turn to the sweet silence of the great green earth for solace.”

Wildfire fears over Easter weekend

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue have asked locals not to have BBQ’s or campfires in the countryside this weekend.

Since lockdown restrictions were eased on Monday and travelling further afield is allowed, the Easter weekend is expected to be a busy time for countryside walks.

This raises concerns that walkers may use disposable BBQs and campfires to enjoy the outdoors.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“Every year we attend grass and wild fires that are started accidentally by people having barbecues on grass or through campfires that have spread.”

“You can help us reduce these types of fire by listening to our advice and sharing it with friends and family. If you spot a fire in the countryside please report it to us by dialling 999.”

In 2018, a fire caused by a disposable BBQ at Brimham Rocks led to 8,700 square metres of damage to moorland.

Countryside visitors have also been asked to leave everything as they found it and keep their dogs under control.

Spokesperson for the National Trust Yorkshire said:

‘We know lots of people will be heading out to enjoy the Yorkshire countryside over Easter, and we’re asking them to help us protect the outdoor places we care for and make sure everyone can enjoy their visit by following government guidance and observing the Countryside Code.”