Stray Ferret Readers, Author at The Stray Ferret

Stray Views: Skipton Road ‘improvements’ have made delays worse

Stray Views 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.

Skipton Road ‘improvements’ have made delays worse

At 9.30am today (Wednesday) it took me 16 minutes to drive between the New Park and Empress roundabouts in Harrogate, a distance of just over a mile.

The recent ‘improvement’ to the traffic lights at the junction of King’s Road and Woodfield Road has made Skipton Road jams much worse, in both directions.

When will North Yorkshire County Council return to remedy these problems where the traffic lights are not giving anything like enough time to motorists on the main Skipton Road, and how much has this wasted work cost so far?

Liz Carnell, Knox Way, Harrogate

Get it beeping right!

I read your articles about beeps at pedestrian crossings.

I have reasonably good eyesight and hearing but I entirely agree with Mr Raho that beeps are really necessary at pedestrian crossings and should be installed, as they do help so much when trying to cross.

Patricia Perry, Harrogate

Our MP is in first gear

I read last week’s letter about Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones’ lack of communication on his website.

It’s because it’s such a safe seat and he thinks he will walk it again at the next election — he’s in first gear all the way.

Michael Ward, Knaresborough

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Stray Views: Andrew Jones MP should communicate better

Our ‘sunshine politician’ should update us more

I notice on Andrew Jones MP’s website that as of the March 25, the News and Campaigns section was last updated on January 19 with a criticism of the behaviour of the Prime Minister.

Since then, we have had the ‘Russian cash for something’ the Conservative Party has welcomed from oligarchs connected to Putin. Also, the arrival of Russian troops in the Ukraine carrying out an attack on a country and risking the possibility of world war. Not to mention the murderous bombing and shelling of civilians.

As the Conservative Party has the funds to cover MPs’ expenses, why would this website not be covering such important issues that should be reported to constituents by every means possible?

The definition of a sunshine politician is here clear to see.

Andrew Williams, Harrogate

Shops should close their doors to preserve heat

I’m amazed by the number of shop doors open and heating on full blast in the shops. Some particular promoting their green policies but letting expensive heat out of the door.

Rachel Rawlings, Harrogate

Thanks to my lovely helpers

Please would you convey my grateful thanks to all the people who came to my aid when I had an accident in Springfield Avenue on a recent Friday. It’s heartwarming to know there are such lovely people around. I am recovering well.

Joy Garratt, Harrogate

Stray Views: We need action now on speeding in Knaresborough

Boroughbridge Road Blues

I’d like to raise some issues about the impact of traffic on Boroughbridge Road, here in Knaresborough.

I am a resident and very concerned about the impact of heavy vehicles and speeding traffic. Vehicles regularly exceed the speed limit and the size of some vehicles using the road means walking on the pavement is not a great experience and our house regularly shakes as vehicles pass.

I’ve raised these concerns with the highways authority, the police commissioner and my local Harrogate councillors.

I’ve suggested among other things: bigger speed signs, vehicle activated signs, repeater signs, more road markings and a review of weight limits.

It’s fair to say I haven’t made much progress with the the bodies responsible for traffic and speeding. The county council and the police both mainly referred me to the other body. The county council didn’t respond to the weight limit issue.

I appreciate resources are limited but I think it’s high time something was done to address a blight on the lives of our community. My suggestions wouldn’t cost a great deal, especially when considered against the cost of the negative impact the current situation has on peoples’ well being.

I see also it’s recently been an issue in the election material we’re getting through the door, so maybe now is the time to apply pressure on prospective candidates in the forthcoming elections and demand some clear commitments on what they would do in the new council.

All that’s in the future though, what I’d really like to see is some action now!

Ian Brown, Knaresborough

Council got it wrong with Otley Road cycle path

It seems North Yorkshire County Council has got it wrong again with the Otley Road cycle path. Cycle paths and pedestrians should be kept separate! Also spending millions for a minority is ridiculous. I am sure if council tax payers had been asked, it would have been a resounding no.

This is the second time they have made a mess of Otley Road. Several years ago they decided to put bollards in the centre of the road. The result was that buses and lorries were unable to pass.

Another moronic idea was when they changed the road priority in Burn Bridge so that vehicles coming from the left had right of way.

Howard Angel, Harrogate

Stray Views: More houses in Harrogate district should mean lower council tax

New houses should mean lower council tax

Not only do we have thousands of new houses in the district but 1,700 extra have been built! I cannot, therefore, understand why our council tax is going up rather than coming down!

I would assume a surfeit, especially with so many being in the higher bands.

Janet Palmer, Knaresborough

Why are roads constantly being dug up?

Leadhall Lane in Harrogate has been a shambles of a road for many years, with deep potholes causing hazards for motorists and cyclists.

At the same time, numerous gas leaks have been excavated and repaired, to the cost of Northern Gas Networks and the exceptional inconvenience of local road users.

The potholes caused considerable crashes and bangs into the road from school buses and lorries. Hurrah! It was relaid in 2021.

Yesterday there was a gas stink in Leadhall Lane. Today there is a big hole in Leadhall Lane. Northern Gas Networks is digging it up again.

Why do we have to suffer this continual under-performance from the council in relation to controlling the actions of privatised utility companies? Are they incompetent or not?

David Graham, Harrogate

Stray Ferret penalised for reporting facts

It comes as no surprise that your reporter was refused access to Ripon’s new pool when other media was allowed.

You are being penalised for reporting the real facts about the farcical events surrounding the pool and its build not forgetting the extra money we gave the construction firm.

Myself and thousands of others applaud you The Stray Ferret for all your news articles released to us.

Maranda Harling, Ripon

Stray Views: Dog mess in Harrogate cemeteries ‘a wider problem’

Response to Knox Lane housing

Regarding the joint response by Spawforths and Jomast to your article on a proposed housing development on Knox Lane in Bilton.

The consultation by Harrogate Borough Council was held in 2017 for all additional sites proposed for inclusion in the Local Plan. The site in question (H2) was subsequently reduced in size prior to inclusion.

Steve Hesmondalgh & Associates held two consultations in 2018. The first was held on February 15 during half term with little notice given to residents. The second held March 22 was a result of complaints by residents who were unaware or unable to attend due to the short notice given for the first. The consultations were held on behalf of Wakefield and District Housing Association who wished to build 73 (100%) affordable homes on the whole site, including that which had been removed. A planning application was not submitted at that time.

A pre-application meeting was held between Jomast and HBC on the September 30, 2019. Apparently due to covid and the uncertainty to the length of any lockdown, the scheme having already been consulted on and the site now an allocation in the Local Plan, it was considered appropriate to submit the application rather than delay until meaningful consultation could be carried out at an underdetermined time in the future.

In April 2020 an application for 73 homes was submitted. The country was at that time in lockdown. It included some private homes due to HBC not wanting 100% affordable but still left 86% affordable. 23 (100%) of affordable homes were on the unallocated land. Hardly a mixed community with only 10 of the properties of the homes on the allocated land being open market. A revised application has now been proposed for 53 homes on the land with the number of affordable reduced to 56%.

HBC should keep to their agreed policy of 40% affordable homes, which is not only significantly higher than the NPPF 10% guideline but is applied consistently across all sites. It was what our elected representative voted for when they approved the Local Plan.

Local residents rightly still have some concerns. The transport assessment for the site was carried out by interrogation of the TRICS database using the assumption 75% of the homes would be affordable/local authority tenure. The number of residents vehicles was assessed at 30 which would disperse between Ripley Drive and Crab Lane and therefore the impact on the wider network would be negligible in practice.

I doubt in reality the number would be so low nor does it take into consideration the adjacent H69 site which the developer of H2 has to provide access to. The images below highlight congestion problems on Crab Lane.

There is an impact on local wildlife including protected species, nett loss of biodiversity since gardens do not count and could in the future be paved, also mature woodland trees.

According to the Landscape and Visual Impact Statement submitted by the developer with the original application, some homes in close proximity to the site will experience major negative visual intrusion during the construction phase, year 1 of the development and in the long term after 10 years. The numbers of homes affected may reduce slightly due to the revised application but are still disproportionate to the number of homes to be built.

HBC currently does not have a problem meeting the Government’s Housing Delivery Test.
2016 – 2019 1,641 homes, 155% of 1058 required Published 13 February 2020
2018 – 2020 2,355 homes, 229% of 1026 required Published 19 January 2021
2018 – 2021 2,628 homes 266% of 987 required Published 14 January 2022

Harrogate Borough Council has according to their latest report published in April 2021 a land supply of 7.42 years.

Catherine Alderson, Knox Lane

‘The Prime Minister should have resigned weeks ago’

I couldn’t agree more with Paul Baverstock’s recent article on the disgraceful behaviour of the Prime Minister and his Conservative Party. Boris should have resigned weeks ago and to add insult to injury I understand he will not be completing truthfully the Metropolitan Police survey into parties etc at No 10. This should come as no surprise but just adds to the appalling situation.

I have voted Tory all my life but won’t be at the next general election.

Andrew Jones should show some commitment to his constituants by calling for a vote of no confidence in the PM.
It is an absolute shambles.

Judy Rowson, Harrogate

Dog mess in cemeteries a wider problem

I was shocked to see your piece about the amount of dog fouling at Grove Road cemetery. Today I visited my parents cremation plaques at Stonefall and found the wreath had dog dirt over part of it and around it. This is both upsetting and shocking that people do not respect the cemeteries. This is obviously a wider problem than just one cemetery.

Patricia Chapman, Harrogate

Stray Views: Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle path benefits neither walkers nor cyclists

Otley Road cycle path benefits nobody

There has been much debate concerning cycle paths in Harrogate with Otley Road being the prime example.

It has been known from the outset that this was not a segregated path like in European cities, rather mainly just shared pavement. However some people are only just realising this.

At side roads there is some segregated cycle path, with the cars set back, blocking the pedestrians who wish to cross. A bus shelter removed, grass removed, more tarmac with 36 new metal signs and 32 painted white cycles on the tarmac over 600m of highway. An attractive entrance into Harrogate now full of street furniture.

At Harlow Moor Road, the grass has gone, trees felled (mainly but not solely for the road users) and the pavement much narrowed, but no decrease in traffic. The junction is much worse for pedestrians, squeezed up next to the road, no grass verge between car and pedestrian.

Government guidelines for good cycle infrastructure design say:

“Cycles must be treated as vehicles and not as pedestrians. On urban streets, cyclists must be physically separated from pedestrians and should not share space with pedestrians”.

The Otley Road cycle path totally disregards this and other aspects of the guidelines. This cycle path is sub-standard; it benefits no-one, not cyclists, not pedestrians, not residents, anything but an example of good design.

I have been criticised by cycling lobbyists for advocating infrastructure that meets modern standards. Being an Otley Road resident, I observe at first hand, much more than the cycling groups or North Yorkshire County Council in Northallerton, what happens on this road. I have much more contact with local residents; the overwhelming opinion, regarding what has happened to our local environment is not favourable.

Everything done by NYCC penalises pedestrians. Pedestrians do not like sharing pavements with cycles passing close by, often unheard. Segregated cycle paths, benefit both the cyclist and the pedestrian. So for a better sustainable transport system, we need much more involvement of local people and wider engagement – why does NYCC exclude residents?

We need this involvement to be fair to all and to get some consensus into this subject. We need to involve other means of transport, e.g. improvements in bus services, park and ride, improvements for pedestrians.

The nature of the existing built environment and maintaining a green environment in a floral town needs to be taken into account too. I fear otherwise Harrogate will only be changed for the worse not the better.

Chris Dicken, Otley Road, Harrogate

Many people in Knaresborough welcome the new pool

Can I just offer an opinion on the contribution entitled ‘Harrogate is riding roughshod over Knaresborough with this unwanted new pool’

As a resident of Knaresborough, can I just say this certainly doesn’t reflect my views so please don’t let this person suggest they speak on my behalf.

I think the new centre is a brilliant idea. We need to get provision into the 21st century. So if this person still wants to wallow in the past, great, but don’t drag the rest of us down with them !

Ian Brown, Knaresborough

Ghosts on the Stray

Me and my husband saw a cult like gathering on The Stray playing bongo drums in the corner where the stone shelter is. It was so creepy and now we have seen that someone else thinks that The Stray is haunted we have come forward.

Carol Moore, Harrogate

Stray Views: Harrogate councillors are riding roughshod over Knaresborough

Harrogate is riding roughshod over Knaresborough with this unwanted new pool

Thank you for the report on Ripon’s issues with Brimhams Active. We in Knaresborough understand that Harrogate Borough Council officers have recommended that Harrogate Borough Council’s plans to demolish the pool and build from scratch be approved despite all the carefully prepared plans for more sustainable, more attractive, more appropriate — and cheaper — proposals.

This means Harrogate Borough Council is, as usual, riding roughshod over the views of the residents of another ancient market town.

Knaresborough Civic Society and many others have objected strongly. Many people are concerned that public land, given to the people of Knaresborough, is being commandeered by the private company Brimhams Active who will then charge inordinately high prices.

The excellent free play area will be built over and may never be replaced, leaving whole year groups of children and families without this valuable resource – possibly forever. About 20 mature trees will be chopped down. The embodied carbon cost of a new build and removal of the current pool would be immense as a pool needs enormous quantities of concrete.

The proposed new build even includes gas heating, which in the context of a climate crisis is an unforgivable gratuitous use of fossil fuels.

Knaresborough wants something to be proud of which gives the right messages, not an inappropriate building tying us in to last century’s costly and dangerous habits. A very big question is who will Brimhams Active be accountable to when Harrogate Borough Council vanishes? Who will own the building and the land? Who will profit?

This is not the time to demolish a perfectly good pool. It could remain open whilst work was done to build around and above it to add facilities such as a treetop cafe and fitness suites.

Nobody asked for a new pool; the concept appeared out of the blue, so the question must be asked — who are the real beneficiaries of these expensive and unsustainable plans? The people of Knaresborough are having free access to green spaces stolen from under their noses.

Shan Oakes, Knaresborough

Boroughbridge school governors need to rethink

As three-times ex-Mayor and a school governor in Ripon for many years, I am appalled and concerned that sixth form provision is proposed to be removed from Boroughbridge High School, especially with the present addition of many new houses in the town.

How can this make sense to the governing body when students will have to travel into Knaresborough, increasing the carbon footprint of St James’ School? Surely governors should be wanting to reduce the carbon output by students in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough.

However, the greatest threat is to the young people of the town. Removing the great opportunities for students that sixth form life offers is unforgivable, unacceptable and unbelievable; the governors need to rethink their action.

Michael Stanley, Ripon

Econ boss is right — we need more apprenticeships instead of third-rate degrees

I wholeheartedly agree with Econ Engineering‘s Jonathan Lupton’s observations about the need for more apprenticeships.

I could rant on, but shall refrain from so doing, about youngsters almost being conned into enrolling at third-rate universities and emerging with commercially worthless degrees.

Apprenticeships for those with A-levels and similar have always been quite readily available. However, the same cannot be said for those who leave school with no qualifications, either because they are not academically inclined or for a variety of other reasons.

It is these youngsters who desperately need to be able and to have the encouragement to get qualifications through apprenticeships. Unfortunately that window has virtually disappeared in this country. I am sure that is not so in the likes Germany, the Netherlands and many of the eastern European countries.

Richard Goldstein, Harrogate

Stray Views: It’s time Killinghall had a bypass

It’s time Killinghall had a bypass

It’s time Killinghall had a bypass. We live in Killinghall on the A62. The noise/air pollution/risk to life and limb on this road is now a serious problem.

Lives and health are worth more than minimal loss of green space. The planners have allowed thousands of new builds in this village, using up suitable routes and causing additional congestion to the already heavy commercial traffic on the A61, without making any provision.

John Hirst, Killinghall

Another historic Harrogate tunnel

Thought the Brunswick Tunnel story was very interesting. I don’t know if you are aware there is a tunnel on Knox Lane. Harrogate. It was the Old Gasworks Line Bilton to New Park, the old abandoned railway embankment is in the opposite field.

Susan Wrightson, Harrogate

‘Horrific’ walk in Ripon

What a horrific walk in Ripon. ten dog mess, three trolleys, six road signs and two open bags of rubbish. Ripon councillors and the mayor should be held to account. That’s just 100 yards of river walk and Ripon should be ashamed.

I lived in Ripon all my life when I was small and love fishing on the River Skell. However today’s visit really shocked me the full length of the river from Williamson’s bridge to Fisher Green is a disgrace to everybody that lives in Ripon. I am contacting Harrogate Borough Council, the dog wardens need to film and fine heavily. It is a disgrace to think tourists would come to Ripon and leave with those images in their mind.

Paul Taylor, Ripon

Can you help reunite a family with a long-lost relative?

We’re hoping that your readers can help us trace a long-lost relative as part of our increasingly complex task of reuniting descendants of 8 brothers born in Aberdeen just over a century ago.

What started as a favour to my mother-in-law during lockdown to help rediscover her Scottish family has included the formation of a private Facebook group where members can share and exchange all sorts of information, and this is helping to gradually fill in the many gaps.

One of these unknowns is Fred Smollet – one of my mother-in-law’s cousins – who would be around 74 years old, and whose last known address and contact details – although proven to be now out-of-date – show that he lived in Franklin Mount, Harrogate in the 2000s.

Fred lost his mother at a young age and spent a lot of time with his uncle Lewie and aunt Maisie, and his cousins Alistair (sadly no longer with us) and Ronnie (who recalls smoking together as teenagers).

Our research, primarily carried out using the resources accessible via the Ancestry and ScotlandsPeople websites, indicates that Fred married his first wife Catherine in the Claro area of the Yorkshire West Riding in 1968, and subsequently emigrated Down Under.

Reaching out to Facebook members with the Smollet surname has recently unearthed Fred’s two daughters, who were born, and still reside, in Australia. They have said to us that they would understand if he didn’t want to make contact, however if they knew that he was alive and well at the very least then that would be OK.

Fred, Catherine, Jackie and Jane returned to the UK in the late 1980s, but by the early 1990s they had divorced, with Catherine and the two girls returning to Australia, where she passed away in 2020.

Fred remained in the UK and later married, but then separated from, his second wife Patricia in the early 2000s.

The photo (above), taken at my mother-in-law’s grandfather’s funeral wake in Aberdeen in 1966, shows the eight Smollet brothers with their recently widowed mother Barbara.

Back Row (left to right): Fred (Senior, Fred’s father), Jock, Lewie, Jim (my mother-in-law’s father) and Doug; Middle Row (left to right): Dod, Don and Bill.

Fred’s father, also called Fred, lived for some time in Knaresborough, and passed away in the early 1980s, so there are apparently no family members in that branch of the tree other than Fred – hence this appeal for information!

We are happy to act as intermediaries if he doesn’t wish to have direct contact with his daughters.

Lee Everitt, Southampton

Stray Views: Harrogate’s John Shackleton deserves an honour

John Shackleton deserves an honour

I’ve just watched John Shackleton’s interview on BBC feature stories. I know him from St. Robert’s Church in Harrogate, he’s a dear friend and a great supporter of the youth.

I think what he’s done over these years is remarkable and extraordinary. He has served not only our local community but also our European neighbours especially those in need.

John is an amazing person who has touched and changed so many lives and it’s time he is recognised for his bravery, selflessness, generosity and service. I would like to make an appeal to nominate him for the Queen’s honours.

I tried to apply online but I wasn’t very successful. He deserves the gratitude not just from us but from the world. If we are all a little bit like John, the world would be a much better place to live.

Joy O’Brien, Harrogate

Objections to proposed mosque

We live very close to the proposed development and have canvassed our neighbours, none of whom have received one piece of paper through our letterboxes opposing this development. I should also point out there has not been one piece of publicity supporting this development.

No one who lives near this development supports it, but the reasons for this are not based on race or religion. This development is surrounded by residential properties and a primary school on three sides then joined to a retail premises on the fourth, all of which have to cope with horrendous traffic and pollution as it is.

Traffic from two hotels, two pubs, a 24 hour gym, a primary school, the Alms houses and a church already pass our doors at all hours of the day and night.

Does anyone really think adding to this with a community building that opens 24 hours, catering for up to 200 people a day together with the attendant traffic will in some way improve the quality of life and air pollution and congestion in this small area of Harrogate?

I also note that of those who support this plan, not one of them lives in the area so would not be affected by it.

Brian Preston, Harrogate

Influencer post has more channels

Commenting on your council influencer story. Facebook is not the influencer’s primary channel. A two-minute tally of Instagram shows 300 likes for her Harrogate post series (eight posts) and 5,000 video views across two Harrogate/ North Yorks videos.

I’m not suggesting that is good value (at 7p per like or view on insta) or that the council’s mico-influencer strategy is correct, but I normally find the Stray Ferret a lot more accurate and feel that’s really important when reporting on public spending.

If we slate every penny the council spends, when they really misspend the public’s ears will be closed to it and we only really have the Stray Ferret to shine a light on this matters.

Kate Garrett, Harrogate

Stray Views: Doubts remain about Harrogate Station Gateway

Do the councillors voting on the Station Gateway know what’s best for Harrogate?

As we are all aware there has been quite a bit of publicity locally on the Harrogate Station Gateway project — mostly negative but some positive.

I object to the proposals as they stand and have written individually to each councillor sitting on the executive committee of North Yorkshire County Council on this basis.
The Station Gateway will not improve the visual appeal or the environment of the town centre. It is purely a highway engineer’s solution to the problem and one which is focussed on cycling in an attempt to reduce car usage. It will be a disaster for the town. What a legacy to leave us!

It will be interesting to see how many of them out of courtesy respond prior to the meeting.

So far I have had a response from Cllr Carl Les, chair of the committee and Cllr Don Mackenzie, although at this stage both are non-committal.

Looking at the mailing list for the executive, it is interesting to note that out of the 10 members sitting only two are residents of Harrogate. The remainder are scattered to all corners of North Yorkshire but will be making a critical decision on the future of Harrogate. It makes you question how many of those councillors know Harrogate and how well and how many of them have actually visited the town.

I’m not against cycling even though the cycling lobby appear to get the most publicity, but just the way it has been pushed in Harrogate because NYCC have applied for available funding without any prior thought on how they are going to implement schemes. As I have said many times over the last few years, “putting the cart before the horse”. I would respect them much more if they admitted they have got it wrong.

Much more could be achieved in Harrogate and make it a great town once again otherwise we will be left with a mess for the next fifty years.

Barry Adams, Harrogate

Station Gateway will turn shoppers away

Which idiot came up with the Station Gateway proposal – are they trying to kill all the shops in Harrogate?

Many years ago when they first brought in pay parking (20p per hour ), people were that angry everyone went to Clifton Moor, which had easy parking and was free. It took years to get them back.

Maybe the proposers live in Wetherby or Skipton Road and are jealous of the relatively free-flowing of traffic through town.

I can just see my 80-year-old mother-in-law going shopping with all those bags on her bike.

I don’t live in Harrogate anymore but we’re looking to return and relocate our shop there (not if this happens). Probably Northallerton for us now then.

John Dalton, Hornsea

Has Wallace Sampson visited the rest of North Yorkshire?

Further to your article on the economic power of the Harrogate area, one does wonder if Wallace Sampson, the chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council, has ever visited the North Yorkshire Council area and appreciated the economic contribution of Scarborough, Skipton or Northallerton.

He seems to be besotted by Harrogate town and its dying spa importance, and fail to realise how the spa town in the district was really supported by Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Masham and Pateley Bridge.

David Rhodes, Harrogate

Skipton Road ‘improvements’ have made delays worse

Get it beeping right!

Our MP is in first gear

Our ‘sunshine politician’ should update us more

Read more:

Shops should close their doors to preserve heat

Thanks to my lovely helpers

Boroughbridge Road Blues

Council got it wrong with Otley Road cycle path

New houses should mean lower council tax

Why are roads constantly being dug up?

Read more:

Stray Ferret penalised for reporting facts

Response to Knox Lane housing

Read more:

‘The Prime Minister should have resigned weeks ago’

Dog mess in cemeteries a wider problem

Otley Road cycle path benefits nobody

Read more:

Many people in Knaresborough welcome the new pool

Ghosts on the Stray

Harrogate is riding roughshod over Knaresborough with this unwanted new pool

Read more:

Boroughbridge school governors need to rethink

Econ boss is right — we need more apprenticeships instead of third-rate degrees

It’s time Killinghall had a bypass

Another historic Harrogate tunnel

‘Horrific’ walk in Ripon

Read more:

Can you help reunite a family with a long-lost relative?

John Shackleton deserves an honour

Objections to proposed mosque

Read more:

Influencer post has more channels

Do the councillors voting on the Station Gateway know what’s best for Harrogate?

Station Gateway will turn shoppers away

Read more:

Has Wallace Sampson visited the rest of North Yorkshire?