Around 30 protesters stood for a silent vigil at Harrogate War Memorial today with placards that said ‘Palestine needs our help’.

The protest was organised by Harrogate and District Green Party and the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases.

Organisers said the aim was to show they stood for peace and justice for Palestinians and campaign for an end to conflict.

The escalation of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in recent days has brought worldwide attention.

Those who attended wanted to take a stand against the conflict in Israel.

The 30 people stood on the grassy verge at the front of the war memorial for around an hour today.

They stood in silence holding numerous placards calling for peace. People read poems they had written about the conflict and gave speeches about what they believe the next steps need to be.

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Shan Oakes, local green party co-ordinator, said:

“When something as dreadful as this is happening in the world, we need to do something about it. We can all do something, write to our MPs and come out here and show we care. There’s a saying ‘evil prevails when good people do nothing’ – people may feel like they can’t do anything by they can.

“Just generally giving solidarity with all the people in the Middle East in this struggle. There are things we can do.”

Lindis Percy, co-Founder of the Campaign for the Accountabity of American Bases, said:

“I think it’s really important that we actually speak out. There are a lot of people that feel desperately about this situation and don’t know what to do. It’s been going on for years but I think it’s very very serious now. It’s terrible some of the stories coming out and we just want peace.”

The Knaresborough branch of the Royal British Legion has designed and planted a flowerbed to commemorate 100 years of the charity’s work.

The Royal British Legion (RBL) has been supporting those in the armed services and ex-servicemen and women for a century and the Knaresborough branch wanted to recognise this locally.

The branch has worked with Harrogate Borough Council for more than two years to create the design, which features two poppies on either side of “100”, for the space next to the bowling green.

A total of 4,000 plants were used in the flowerbed including 3,900 polyanthus in red, white and blue and some black grass for the centre of the poppies.

The flowerbed can be found in the grounds of the castle near the bowling green.

The RBL was formed on May 15 1921 by bringing together four national organisations of ex-servicemen that had been set up after the First World War.

That was also the the first year poppies were sold, with the appeal raising more than £106,000 to help veterans with housing and jobs.

Alan Pitchfork, the chair of the Knaresborough branch, said:

“The Legion was as important now as it was 100 years ago.

“Throughout the last 100 years service men and women had served their country and in many cases this had left them scarred for life, both physically and mentally, with many more losing their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.”

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Each year town residents raise around £30,000 for the RBL, but the branch is hoping more people will join as currently there are just a handful of active members.

Mr Pitchfork added:

“For the branch to keep functioning we do need more people to join.

“The fear also is that soon there simply will not be enough members to sustain the branch, which would mean retiring the Standard and an end to the Parade through the town on Remembrance Sunday.”

Anyone who is interested in becoming a member can call him on 07984700429.

The branch already has further plans in place for this centenary year, including the return of its pop-up market stall and the knitted poppy tribute at Knaresborough Castle this autumn.

A Knaresborough couple are continuing to campaign for change after an inquest found delays in performing a cesarean contributed to their baby’s death.

Whitney and Andy Pickup’s daughter died on July 12, 2018 at just nine days old as a result of a severe brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen.

Mrs Pickup had a difficult birth with her first child, Charlie, at Leeds General Infirmary. Matilda was born at Harrogate District Hospital.

She believes if the notes from Charlie’s birth had been requested by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust a cesarean could have been performed earlier and Matilda’s death could have been prevented.

This was confirmed at the inquest which found that intrapartum (medical intervention) delay contributed to Matilda’s death.

Since Matilda’s death her parents have campaigned tirelessly for “Matilda’s Law” which would make it mandatory for hospital trusts to share maternity notes if a mother changes hospitals.

The pair, who have since welcomed baby Isaac in April 2020, have said they plan to resume conversations with NHS England and their local MP Andrew Jones about the law.

Mr and Mrs Pickup are determined to keep campaigning in their daughter’s name.

Mrs Pickup said:

“I’m glad it [the inquest] is over it was difficult listening to it all again but we are ok we are now pushing for her law so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Sometimes we do still think ‘did it really happen?’. We are doing this for her, it’s Matilda’s legacy.”

The pair were keen to emphasise that the “service is great when it works” but improvements needed to be made.

During Matilda’s birth the inquest heard various opportunities were missed including delays in delivering Matilda via an emergency cesarean when her heart rate dropped.

Following an unsuccessful forceps delivery, Matilda was born by caesarean section with severe brain damage.

Mr Pickup said:

“Whatever we do it can’t bring her back but we just hope we can stop it happening to someone else. We had built momentum with the campaign but it was halted due to the pandemic. We respected the NHS needed that time to deal with covid. But now is the time to start again. We have a long way to go but we will keep going.”

He added:

“She’s with us everyday.”

Baby Matilda

Matilda was later admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary before being transferred to Martin House Hospice, where she died.

The Pickups subsequently instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the care provided by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

Victoria Moss, the specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Whitney and Andy, said:

“The past few years have been very difficult for the couple who are continuing to grieve for their daughter while holding many questions over her death, but we’re pleased to have helped provide them with the answers they deserve.

“The findings over the past few days demonstrate the need for improvements, in particular regarding the sharing of patient notes, and we now urge that the hospital trusts work together to implement these fully.

“In the meantime will continue to support Whitney and Andy in their campaigning as they attempt to come to terms with their loss.”

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On behalf of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Jacqueline Andrews, Medical Director, said:

“We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Matilda. Following Matilda’s death, the Trust carried out an in-depth investigation, the detail of which have been shared the family and HM Coroner before and during the inquest.

“Following this investigation and as part of our wider and ongoing commitment to providing high quality care to all of our patients, we have already made extensive improvements to our processes and training. This includes the process for requesting patient notes from other hospitals. These improvements were fully shared with the family and HM Coroner during the inquest.”

Wildflowers will be planted on the Stray tomorrow in an effort to boost biodiversity and bring colour to busy roadsides.

In recent history wildflower meadows have slipped into a dramatic decline as the species-rich grasslands are ploughed up for housing, farming and roads.

This has prompted a push from campaigners for the young wildflowers called “plugs” to be planted and grasslands left to blossom.

Last year members of the Harrogate and District Green Party called on Harrogate Borough Council to take action.

Now, with the help of volunteers from Bilton Conservation Group, 5,500 wildflower plugs will be planted on two areas of the Stray near Leeds Road and York Place.

The trial could see more areas across the district transformed to support the return of insects from bees to butterflies.

Green Party campaigner Rebecca Maunder said:

“This is a really welcome move that we have been encouraging – it can make a big impact in improving local habitats for our declining wildlife.

“There does also need to be a joined up approach required to increase biodiversity locally and we should cease every opportunity we can.”

Planting will now take place across four days in May with the plugs, hopefully, blooming in September.

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Sue Wood, horticultural officer at Harrogate Borough Council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there are other ways the authority hopes to bring back biodiversity. For example, some churchyards in the district have been left untouched by lawnmowers so they can blossom into meadows.

She also said the planting of plugs elsewhere would depend on the success of the Stray scheme:

“Climate problems and the loss of habitats have had an impact on insects and pollinators so we hope by planting wildflowers we can increase biodiversity.

“It will be a trial to start with but we hope to expand it elsewhere in the future.”

Horticultural Strategy 

In September, Harrogate council revealed its new horticultural strategy which set out how the authority will manage its almost 1,000-acres of green space over the next decade.

The strategy included the planting of wildflowers and extra measures to make sure dogs are kept on leads, but was criticised by Green Party members who welcomed some schemes but called for greater ambition and public involvement.

This forced the council’s cabinet member for environment, councillor Andrew Paraskos, on the defensive with him previously saying “it is in our power to make positive change but we can’t do everything overnight”.

Also included in the strategy are plans for a sensory garden, a review of grass cutting and research into whether parks could be used for bee-keeping.

The wildflower planting comes during a week where the council has faced intense criticism for  replacing raised flowerbeds in the town centre with astroturf .

The fake grass created a hugely negative response on social media and the local branch of Extinction Rebellion took action and removed it from one bed and put in its own plants.

Four crews from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the A1 (M) near Boroughbridge this morning after a tanker caught fire.

Crews from Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Tadcaster rushed to the incident at 01.32am this morning.

The brakes and tyres of the tanker, which was carrying sugar, had set on fire. The crews were able to detach the trailer from the cab, which luckily didn’t set alight.

A section of the A1 (M) near junction 47 and 48 was closed for 90 minutes.

In its incident summary, the fire service said:

“Crews used two breathing apparatus sets and two hose reel jets.”

Highways England said it was called at the same time to patrol the traffic.

All lanes were reopened by 2.57am. The last of the fire crews left the scene at 2.45am.

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Plans to convert a car park in Bilton into council housing have been sent back to the drawing board.

Harrogate Borough Council’s housing team wants to build the two-bed properties near Dene Park and Woodfield Road to provide what it described as “much-needed” accommodation for some of the hundreds of people on the social housing waiting list.

Planning assistant Arthama Lakhanpall told a meeting on Tuesday that 1,700 households are currently in the queue for council homes, with 316 specifically requesting two-bed properties.

He asked councillors to approve the plans but was told to take another look at the layout and designs.

Conservative councillor Nigel Simms, who represents Masham and Kirkby Malzeard, said the proposals were “just not right yet” and “completely at odds” with existing properties in the area:

“I would like to see something that represents the vernacular that surrounds it, not something that looks as if it has just been brought out of a design brief.

“This needs to go away and come back with something that reflects the local distinctiveness.”

There were also questions over why seven car parking spaces – including three disabled bays – were needed in the plans, with councillors suggesting that more or larger homes could be built.

They also said eco-friendly methods of heating, such as air source heat pumps and solar panels, should be installed instead of gas.

Conservative councillor Andrew Paraskos, who represents Spofforth with Lower Wharfedale, said:

“We could make better use of the land that is there. Whether it is more houses or bigger houses I’m not sure, but it should be sent back for reworking for a scheme that we actually need and is more fitting.”

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A report to councillors said the homes would provide a “modest addition” to the council’s housing stock and that the loss of 12 ‘underused’ car parking spaces would not have a negative impact on the area.

It said:

“The design of the dwellings would respect local distinctiveness and there would be no significant harm to local residential amenity.

“The development would provide off-street parking and additional tree planting. It is considered that the housing development would provide a more efficient use of the site.”

Councillors unanimously voted to defer a decision on the plans at Tuesday’s meeting.

Storms kept many of us awake last night as thunder and lightning struck the Harrogate district at about midnight.

We asked our readers to send us their images and videos of last night’s weather.

This photo was sent in by reader Elaine Alder.

David Hodgson caught this shot of a lightning bolt above nearby houses.

Kaizer Herrington took this just before midnight last night as lightning hit Starbeck.

Scott Lambert watched the lightning as it crashed over Harlow Carr last night.

This one kept Danni Greig awake last night!

A rewards card that gives people incentives to shop in Knaresborough is being launched today.

The community website Knaresborough Online is behind the Love Knaresborough Rewards Card initiative.

It hopes the card will boost footfall in the town centre after a difficult 12 months for businesses.

The card offers a wide range of discounts, such as a free flake and sprinkles on ice cream, two for one cocktails and a free yoga class. Seventy-five businesses are taking part in the scheme.

The card costs £10 to buy and is valid until March 31 2022. Knaresborough Online is holding a stall on the market today selling the cards it is also available in 10 other designated sellers.

Susanna Lewis, owner of Knaresborough Online, said if each of the 13,000 adults living in Knaresborough spent £5 a week in the town it would bring an additional £3.4million into the town’s economy. She added:

“We have researched and visited over 30 other similar card schemes within the UK to try and develop the best possible card scheme for Knaresborough.

“We want the scheme to be attractive to both consumers and businesses and we hope the card will help encourage confidence in local shopping once more.”

A European funded post-covid recovery grant was used to fund the initiative.

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One of the designated sellers is Alex Chaytor, owner of The Black Mulberry on Waterside, said:

“As a business owner in Knaresborough I am really excited about this new card scheme. It has been a difficult year for us all, but this project gives us positivity and hope for the future.

“Anything that helps increase footfall through the town is welcome and I am excited to see the launch of this card.”

Knaresborough Online has worked throughout the pandemic to work with local businesses offering them support via social media, writing press releases and promoting the area.

Harrogate Borough Council will not fight controversial plans for a Starbucks drive-thru after planning officers, lawyers and councillors refused to take on the legal challenge.

Retail firm Euro Garages has spent almost a decade trying to win permission to open the coffee shop at the former 1st Dental surgery on Wetherby Road, Harrogate but has been refused three times by councillors and once by a government inspector.

The most recent refusal came in 2019 when councillors went against an officer’s recommendation for approval to reject the plans because of concerns over road safety, idling cars and the impact on residents.

Now the developers have lodged a second appeal in what marks their best chance yet of winning permission.

This is because officers said they are in no position to fight the case for the council given their previous recommendation and that they had also been unable to find lawyers willing to do it for them.

It left councillors in what they described as an “appalling dilemma” with two options on the table: take on the legal challenge themselves or withdraw their objection.

£50,000 legal costs

Speaking at a meeting last night, councillor John Mann, chair of the planning committee, said councillors did not have the legal expertise or experience to fight the appeal which would see them “batted for six by the professional lawyers of the applicants”.

John Worthington, the council’s executive officer for development management, said officers could not stand successfully at appeal because their previous recommendation would “undermine” their case and that losing also risked legal costs of over £50,000.

He said:

“The report that was put before members of the committee in December 2019 concluded on all issues that the scheme was acceptable.

“As with all decisions to refuse, that decision then has to be defended and as officers we can not then about-face and suddenly present an appeal to say actually we have now changed our mind.

“But where there is a defensible case, we will defend it, no matter what the cost.”

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Meanwhile, councillor Robert Windass said he felt “betrayed and let down” by planning officers. He said:

“We are here to make decisions and they say ‘we can’t defend so it’s up to you’ – that is wrong, wrong, wrong”.

Councillor Pat Marsh also questioned:

“Where are the residents’ voices here? We are supposed to represent these people yet we come up against a brick wall when we have got developers like these.

“They are determined to do what they want and they have got the money to do it. We are in a no-win situation here.”

Appeal in June

Councillors agreed to withdraw their objection rather than stand during the appeal, which will still go-ahead on 15 June.

The applicant and objectors will give evidence during a hearing across several days before a government planning inspector makes a final decision.

Speaking after tonight’s meeting, a council spokesman said not contesting the appeal “hasn’t been an easy decision to make” but was “the best way forward in this instance.” He said:

“Officer recommendations are always taken with a balanced approach and are based on careful consideration of a wide range of issues, including local and national planning policy, case law, consultation responses and anything else considered to be ‘material’ to the decision, including the comments of local residents.

“In this case, the officer recommendation of approval was overturned by the planning committee and permission was refused, which has led to an appeal by the applicant.

“Following this recommendation, along with feedback from relevant consultees and comments made by an independent inspector – who considered a previous appeal at the site for a similar proposal – we believe the most sensible and cost-effective approach would be to not defend the appeal.”

A number of Harrogate shop keepers have called in a local charity to help them become more accessible for disabled customers.

Disability Action Yorkshire is working with some retailers on Commercial Street in a move that it is hoped will also make them more profitable.

The spending power of disabled people and their families, known as the purple pound, is estimated to be worth £249 billion and increasing each year.

Josh McCormack, Disability Action Yorkshire’s think access co-ordinator, has been advising businesses.

Mr McCormack recommended the owner of The Cheeseboard, which is a small store and has a step in the entrance, put a sign in the window saying, “If you can’t come into to us, we will come out to you”.

This informs customers with wheelchairs or prams that they are welcome and can get help.

Mr McCormack said:

“More and more businesses are now looking at making their premises accessible to all, particularly as online shopping became a way of life during the three national covid lockdowns.

“In many cases, becoming accessible need not cost a penny. Businesses are starting to realise the value of the purple pound and to become accessible they need someone who can advise them.

“My role at Disability Action Yorkshire is to go into a business, conduct an audit, and them produce a report. Disabled people want to enjoy the same experiences as everybody else, and a business becoming accessible makes complete sense.”

The charity has said it is keen to work with shops across the Harrogate district that want to become more accessible.

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Gemma Aykroyd, the owner of The Cheeseboard, said:

“I’d like to thank Josh for visiting our shop and speaking to me about what we could do to become more accessible.

“Whilst the limited space and step are a barrier, Josh offered us some very practical and simple advice. This simple measure says we will go that extra mile, ensuring we cater for everyone.”