Harrogate Borough Council is facing criticism over its decision to remove videos of council meetings from YouTube after two weeks.

Because the Covid-19 lockdown forced the closure of HBC’s Civic Centre in March, councillors have met online, with meetings streamed live on YouTube.

In July, HBC published a “remote meetings protocol” document that says all council meetings streamed live on YouTube must be deleted after two weeks, with all recordings stored offline.

However, nearby councils, including Leeds City Council and York City Council, have kept videos of their meetings on YouTube since lockdown began for anyone to watch.

Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of Harrogate’s Liberal Democrats and HBC planning committee member, told the Stray Ferret that the council’s decision to remove videos after two weeks was “unfair and wrong” and suggested it was obstructing democracy.

She said:

“I don’t see why they need to take them down. They are public meetings so what’s the harm in having them remaining there? It’s unfair and wrong of them to do that.

“You can catch up on YouTube videos from years ago so I’m at odds with it, I don’t like it. It’s public information being removed. Unless there’s a good reason, I just think it’s wrong.”

The civic centre at Knapping Mount has been closed since March because of coronavirus

Cllr Marsh said residents have enjoyed being able to stream council meetings after they have happened, particularly if they have been away on holiday.

She added:

“[Some councillors] are concerned about their exposure to the world but we’re answerable to these people who elected us. They expect to see you. If they have an opportunity through this new method then that’s democracy at its best.”

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Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association (HAPARA) told the Stray Ferret that removing the videos was “disappointing” and called on the council to continue live-streaming meetings when the civic centre is able to reopen.

A HAPARA spokesperson said:

“We know that the streaming of meetings has been welcomed by many residents. It has given a valuable insight into the working of our local authority at this challenging time.

“However, it is disappointing that full copies of the questions and debates are not being kept online for future reference. We do hope an archive can be kept and streaming will continue when physical meetings resume.”

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said:

“The remote meeting protocol was formally adopted by council on July 8. It was agreed that two weeks was a reasonable period for the meeting recordings to remain on YouTube.

“Should anyone have any questions about a meeting they can, of course, contact us at any time.”

Harrogate Town’s fairytale summer continues tomorrow as they kick off their first-ever campaign in the football league at Southend United.

The Harrogate Town story has captured the imagination of the wider footballing world, with manager Simon Weaver interviewed on BBC Breakfast, the Guardian and BT Sport — but the time for basking in the glory of Town’s Wembley win is now over with League Two, League Cup and FA Trophy fixtures coming up thick and fast.

There are some big dates in the diary approaching, including a trip to Premier League outfit West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup on Wednesday. They then play Notts County away on Thursday in the FA Trophy semi-final, with the winner going on to play at Wembley.

Other key fixtures for the season include Bradford City away on October 11 and a trip to Bolton Wanderers on April 10.

The club’s first few home games will be played at Doncaster Rovers due to Town’s 3G pitch being relayed at the newly-renamed EnviroVent Stadium.

New signings

Weaver has strengthened his promotion-winning team, picking up four new signings: Connor Kirby from Sheffield Wednesday, Jake Lawlor from Wrexham, Tom Walker from Fylde, and Kevin Lokko from Dover. But the club failed in their pursuit of Chester left-back Joel Taylor, which stung.

Weaver admitted to the Stray Ferret last month that players have increased their wage demands now they are a football league club so he will have to box clever in the transfer market.

More signings are mooted, and fans are hoping that last season’s on-loan star winger Jack Diamond will be replaced, as it now looks like he’ll be part of Sunderland’s plans this season.

Read more:

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The Weaver factor

Harrogate will fancy their chances of staying in the league. None of the last 20 teams to gain promotion from the National League were relegated from League Two in their first campaign, with some, including Luton Town and Burton Albion, going on the play in the Championship.

The bookmakers expect Town to finish comfortably mid-table in 14th and they are even a short-priced 8/1 to gain promotion. Unlike the National League, four teams have the chance to win promotion to League One.

The job Weaver has done at Harrogate since taking over in 2009 has not gone unnoticed, and a good start in the league will doubtless see bigger clubs taking an interest in him.

Captain Sir Tom Moore will visit Harrogate’s Army Foundation College later today to inspect graduating soldiers.

The visit is part of his new role as Honorary Colonel Officer of the college.

He will be there to inspect 294 Junior Soldiers from Cambrai Company on their passing out parade.

The Junior Soldiers of Cambrai company began their training in March but due to coronavirus, they had to do 10 weeks of virtual training before returning to Harrogate in May.

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Sir Tom raised £38.9 million for the NHS after completing 100 laps around his garden during the coronavirus lockdown – becoming a national treasure.

He made his first visit to the college in August when he took a tour of the site and met with junior soldiers. The college also gave Sir Tom Moore his new Colonel’s rank slides.

Harrogate people are more likely to switch energy providers than anywhere else in England.

Comparison website Uswitch based the finding on analysis of how often residents changed their gas or electric supplier over the past 20 years.

Harrogate topped the table with 196 switches per 1,000 people, whereas London was bottom with only 116 per 1,000.

London is believed to be last because more people rent than own their own property and are therefore less inclined to switch.

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Will Owen, energy expert at Uswitch.com, said:

“Northerners are showing southerners how it’s done when it comes to switching, with Harrogate residents switching at twice the rate of those in central London.

“Yorkshire residents are earning their reputation for being frugal, with five locations in the top ten being from God’s Own Country.”

Leeds was fourth, with 182 people switching per 1,000.

According to government energy regulator Ofgem, households can save on average £300 a year by switching energy providers.

The daughter of Coach and Horses landlord John Nelson has applied for a licence to run the pub.

In the latest twist to a saga that has rumbled on all summer, Samantha Nelson has applied to take over the pub after her father’s licence was revoked.

In July, Harrogate Borough Council’s sub-licensing committee heard how John Nelson was “aggressive and abusive” to council officials and showed a “blatant disregard” for social distancing guidelines over the course the weekend of May 30.

Mr Nelson’s lawyer Paddy Whur said his client “accepted he made a chronic error of judgement”.

In August, Mr Nelson lodged an appeal against the council’s decision to revoke its licence. No date or location for the hearing has been set and the situation may not change for several months as the courts struggle to deal with a backlog in cases. The pub remains closed.

The Stray Ferret asked Mr Whur if the appeal has now been withdrawn but we had not received a response by the time of publication.

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The Coach and Horses is one of Harrogate’s oldest pubs, having opened in 1827. John Nelson had been the licensee for 33 years.

Samantha Nelson already holds a personal licence to sell alcohol but now wants to be the sole licensee of the premises.

According to the application, the pub would open from 10am to 00.30am, seven days a week. Interested parties have until October 1 to send Harrogate Borough Council their views.

Last month, 449 people signed a petition calling on the council to give Ms Nelson a licence to run the pub.

A 38-acre employment site near Knaresborough that could support 2,000 jobs has been sold for an undisclosed fee.

Ilkey property developer Opus North and London-based fund manager Bridges Fund Management have bought the site from a private individual.

They say the development could make a “significant contribution” to the local economy.

The site, located south-west of junction 47 of the A1(M) near to Flaxby Park is allocated as an employment site in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, which sets out the area’s policy and planning framework until 2035.

The site benefits from existing planning permission for over half a million square feet of development for employment uses.

The two companies will now develop a masterplan for the site, alongside stakeholders including Harrogate Borough Council, which “maximises its job-creating potential”.

An Opus North spokesperson told the Stray Ferret a decision on what type of employment the site could support will be made at a future date.

An outline planning application will be submitted to HBC later this year.

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Ryan Unsworth, development director of Opus North, said:

“This is a site with clear potential to make a significant contribution to the local economy through job creation and also through the delivery of high-quality office and logistics accommodation to meet existing and future market demand.

“With our joint venture partner, we are in a position to bring this development to life and are looking forward to continuing our discussions with both the council and local stakeholders to create an exemplar development to address the local and regional shortages of employment space.”

Harrogate Borough Council wants to dip into its reserves to pay for an external consultant who would help develop three council-owned sites, including at Harlow Nurseries next to the Pinewoods where 40 homes are mooted.

A report is due to go before HBC’s cabinet on Wednesday that says the consultant would explore “quality place-making” on the sites and would assess options for how they could deliver the housing and employment needs of the district. The report does not say how much the external consultant would cost.

The three sites are at Harlow Nurseries, Dragon Road car park and land south of Almsford Bridge in Pannal. They have all been designated within the council’s Local Plan, which says where development will happen in the district over the next 14 years.

Harlow Nurseries sells council plants, pots and compost to the public, but would be relocated to another location if the housing went ahead.

Earlier this year, Harrogate Borough Council asked residents their views about Harlow Nurseries, with one respondent saying “it would be a very, very sad day if the site was sold off for housing.”

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At Harlow Nurseries, a condition of development is that it must provide “appropriate mitigation and compensation” to reduce any adverse environmental impacts on the Pinewoods, which is 96 acres of council-owned woodland adjacent to the site.

A spokesperson for the Pinewoods Conservation Group told the Stray Ferret:

“The development of the Nursery site adjacent to The Pinewoods was inevitable after its inclusion in the recently approved local plan. This will see further enclosure of The Pinewoods and the likely loss of many trees within the nursery site if the 40 houses are built. It is also a key access point for many residents and visitors that could be at risk as part of any major development.

“This is one the group will monitor over the next year and we can only hope that the council, and its appointed consultant, will look to engage with us on the site’s future.”

Harrogate’s Citizens Advice Bureau says they are “bracing themselves” for a sharp rise in unemployment in the town when the furlough scheme winds down.

Ed Pickering, who runs the Harrogate branch of the charity, told the Stray Ferret that whilst the scheme has protected employees from losing their jobs, he expects the economic impact of coronavirus to eventually hit workers in the district.

Over 15,000 people in Harrogate and Knaresborough have had their jobs protected through the furlough scheme.  New claims for out-of-work benefits such as Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s allowance stabilised over the past few months.

Local MP Andrew Jones previously said concerns over a surge in unemployment at the end of the scheme were “alarmist”.

Mr Pickering called the last few months “the calm before the storm” but said the charity is already starting seeing to see people who are furloughed in Harrogate and concerned about losing their job.

He said:

“A lot of people are now coming to us with employment problems. The furlough scheme has protected them but now they may be discovering that they won’t have a job.

“We’re starting to see it already and we’re bracing ourselves for the impact. There are people who’ve never dealt with the benefits system and we’re pretty well geared up for that, but it’s a little bit like ‘calm before the storm’.”

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In 2019 the government announced that the Harrogate Job Centre would be the first place in the country to pilot the Universal Credit managed migration programme, which transfers people claiming other benefits such as income support and job seeker’s allowance onto Universal Credit — but the process was beset with delays.

The Harrogate pilot was announced with great fanfare, including a visit from then-Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd. Ms Rudd said 10,000 benefit claimants would eventually move over to Universal Credit at Harrogate, but figures released to the Stray Ferret by Harrogate Borough Council revealed that only 64 people had by the end of last year.

The pilot was suspended in March this year, Mr Pickering says news on the scheme has gone “very, very quiet”, with the charity in the dark on whether it will even continue.

But despite a challenging 2020 with charity staff now working from home and speaking to clients over the phone, Mr Pickering praised the dedication of its volunteers:

“We’ve been incredibly busy but our staff of volunteers have been amazing.”

Harrogate Railway will offer one year of free football training to under 5s and under 6s, to try and spur on the next generation of footballers in Harrogate.

Richard Foster, youth development officer at Harrogate Railway, told the Stray Ferret that there’s been “no better time” to be involved in youth football in the town, thanks to the recent promotions of Harrogate Town and Leeds United.

At one stage in the 2000s, Harrogate Railway were synonymous with football in Harrogate, especially after their FA Cup second round tie against Bristol City, which was watched by 3,500 supporters and shown live on the BBC. However, the club, which is based in Starbeck, has struggled in recent years and in 2019 were relegated to the eighth tier of English of football.

Richard Foster, youth development officer at Harrogate Railway.

Richard said Railway is putting their hopes into youth football to try and inspire local youngsters and potentially provide new players for their first team.

He said with many children forced to stay indoors during lockdown for months, it’s meant they’ve been more used to playing FIFA 20 on an X-Box than kicking a ball around with friends, but he said some age groups at Railway have now started to return to regular football.

He said:

“We have seen some regression both socially and psychologically from players, this accounts for 50% of the player’s abilities so we have had to work hard to build these key areas back up.

“These issues are due to the lockdown, excessive playing of videos games, and a lack of a structured educational setting. This has hampered some age groups return, with some players and parents still not wanting to return, but on the whole, we are in a healthy position.”

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Grassroots football in England has declined sharply in recent years, with the FA reporting thousands of clubs folding over the past decade.

Richard said the club wants to offer a clear pathway from grassroots through to the first-team to give their young players something to aspire to. The club will also offer financial support to adults looking to get their UEFA coaching licenses.

Details of the free coaching programme will be announced over the next week weeks.

Richard added:

“This past six or seven months have been hard for the entire community and as a club we are here to support and serve them. The club has been here 85 years and is still going strong.”

Harrogate Borough Council is looking to loan its housing company Bracewell Homes £10m to invest in shared ownership homes.

A report is due to go before HBC’s cabinet next week to rubber-stamp the move, which would see the authority make more investments like its recent unprecedented £4.5m spend on 52 homes on Whinney Lane.

With shared ownership, people buy between a quarter and three-quarters of a property from the council but then have the option to buy a bigger share in the property at a later date. The scheme is aimed at people who don’t earn enough to buy a home outright.

The council sees shared ownership as a way for people earning a modest salary to get on Harrogate’s notoriously unforgiving housing ladder.

HBC’s draft housing strategy 2019-24 said the town was one of the most unaffordable places to live in England, with average house prices around 11 times the median annual income of people who work in the town.

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HBC asks housing developers to include 40% “affordable” housing in every development, which can include shared ownership homes.

When the council formed Bracewell Homes in 2019, a key part of its business plan was to purchase affordable shared ownership homes from developers, as it is doing on Whinney Lane.

With several major developments planned for the district over the coming years, HBC now says it wants to accelerate these types of investments.

Bracewell Homes has also earmarked other sites in the district to develop, including Frogmore in Knaresborough, on vacant and derelict land behind some council homes.

A council spokesperson said:

“The report going to cabinet next week is to seek approval for Bracewell to borrow £10m to acquire properties. If approved, this will include 16 shared ownership at Whinney Lane.

“Bracewell Homes has sold three properties and offers accepted on a further six.”