The Harrogate & Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have said an article on a local Conservative Party website that digs up old Facebook posts from a prospective Lib Dem candidate “shows they are worried” about the upcoming council elections.

The article on Community News, which is run by Andrew Jones MP’s office, posted screenshots from the Facebook page of Michael Schofield, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Harlow Hill & St Georges.

Mr Schofield is the landlord of the Shepherd’s Dog pub on Otley Road.

The article included one of his Facebook posts in 2019, which the Conservatives called an ‘expletive-laden, bizarre online rant’ that referred to Brexit, Donald Trump and Guy Fawkes.

The post from March 2019 was written at the height of the wrangling in Parliament over Brexit. It said:

“This country needs one person to stand up! A Trump, a Thatcher, a Guy Fawkes. Politicians have shown their colours and let our country down. Nail your colours to either side but be Brexit or Remain not one of these self wanting a****** deserve a vote. GUY FAWKES WE NEED YOU”.

The article also posted a screenshot of Mr Schofield reposting a satirical article from December 2019, which said then-Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson should be in Bagpuss’s window with “all the other lost and broken things nobody wants anymore”.

Voters go to the polls on May 5 to elect councillors to sit on North Yorkshire County Council and its successor authority, North Yorkshire Council, which comes into existence in April 2023.

Read more:

• Full list of election candidates in Harrogate district revealed
• Harrogate pub landlord on why he’s standing for the new council

Responding, Mr Schofield said:

“My response is quite clear. I apologise if language was offensive however at that time no party had a leader of credibility and I do believe it was the vote of a lifetime to make a difference.”

David Goode, chair of Harrogate & Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, criticised the campaign tactics used by the Conservatives.

He said:

“It’s no more than we’ve come to expect. It’s very standard practice for them to try and besmirch the opposition. It shows they are worried about the election.

“This election is so important for a whole raft of different reasons and they will try every trick in the book. I’d like to think we’ll keep more to the issues. We’ll have a go at them on their record, not at individuals.”

Mr Goode defended the comments of the publican Mr Schofield, which he said makes him a “far stronger candidate” due to his “passion”.

“At the time there was a lot of emotion flying about Brexit.  From Michael’s perspective, he probably used some language he shouldn’t have used. It reflects his passion and truly that’s what what we need. We need people with passion who care.

“With any political party people fall in and out out of love at certain times. We can’t always be 100% enthusiastic. In a way it makes him a far stronger candidate, he’s gone through bad times with the party and come back.”

What is Community News?

Community News launched in September 2020.

The home page makes no reference to the fact that it’s set up by the office of Andrew Jones.

This only becomes clear when you click on the “About” page, which also says the aim of the website is to provide news stories about Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge in a “positive” and “non-political way”.

Mr Jones’ office manager is current council leader Richard Cooper. The office also employs current Conservative councillors Matt Scott and Ed Darling.

Following the 2019 general election, Mr Jones commented on negative campaigning. He said: “politics needs to grow up” and “I don’t use these tactics”.

Mr Jones wrote on his website:

“I don’t like it when candidates spend much of their time demonising their opponents.

“I don’t use these tactics.  I simply say what I do in the local area and describe how I represent local people and our communities.  My literature and my team were positive about our achievements and our ambitions.  We didn’t pull down opponents or manipulate people to vote differently to their beliefs to ‘stop someone else winning’.

“Politics needs to grow up and step away from this old-fashioned and frankly US-style attack ad approach.  I hope over the next few years – at least locally – there will be agreement to adopt a more positive approach.”

The Stray Ferret asked Andrew Jones, Richard Cooper and the Conservative candidate for Harlow Hill & St Georges, Steven Jackson, to respond to Mr Goode’s comments but we did not receive any responses.

The Hydro swimming pool in Harrogate will close for nine months on Friday ahead of a £11.8m refurbishment.

The facility will get a two-storey extension as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area.

There will also be new diving board equipment, a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.

A computer generated image of how the Hydro will look.

The existing gas boilers will be replaced with air source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, as well as new metering and energy monitoring and control systems.

The pool is run by Brimhams Active on behalf of Harrogate Borough Council.

It means until January, the nearest available council-run pools will be in Starbeck, Knaresborough, Patelely Bridge and Ripon. Opening times are available on the Brimhams Active website.

Read more:

• Harrogate Hydro renovations a long-term gain, says diving club
• Hot Seat: Leading the Harrogate district’s leisure revolution

The project will be carried out in phases, with the refurbished pool hall and changing rooms re-opening in January 2023 and the ‘dry side’ activity space by April 2023.

How the new Knaresborough Pool will look.

Work to build the new Knaresborough Pool will start on April 26. The current facility will remain open.

Wallace Sampson, Harrogate Borough Council’s chief executive, said:

“This investment at both the Hydro in Harrogate and a new facility in Knaresborough follows our investment at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon and shows our commitment to providing first-class leisure facilities for Harrogate district residents.”

North Yorkshire residents should see a “seamless transition” of council services when a new unitary authority covering the whole county launches in April 2023, council chiefs have said.

The new North Yorkshire Council will replace the existing county and district councils – with elections set to take place on 5 May.

It will mark the biggest changes to local government in the county since 1974 and will see key services from bin collections to social care, and street cleaning to leisure centres, come under the control of the new council.

Wallace Sampson, chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council, told a virtual public meeting on Monday that the transition was now fast approaching and staff from all existing councils were working together to ensure services run smoothly from day one.

He said:

“There isn’t a lot of time to prepare for local government reorganisation and the new authority coming into force from 1 April 2023.

“All eight councils are really working hard to make sure the transition to the new North Yorkshire Council is as seamless as possible.”

The restructuring is linked to a devolution deal for North Yorkshire which could get millions of pounds in funding, more decision-making powers and an elected mayor by 2024.

The government had stipulated a key requirement of any deal was for the current two-tier councils system to be replaced by a single unitary authority.

Read more:

• How the Harrogate district’s wards will change ahead of local election
• Dispute over Harrogate council by-election raised in House of Lords

The aim is to streamline structures and save money, with some of the savings coming from a reduction in senior staff including the eight current chief executives.

Paul Shevlin, chief executive of Craven District Council, told yesterday’s meeting that another aim is to “keep the local in local government”.

He said each of the seven districts – including Craven, Harrogate, Selby, Scarborough, Richmondshire, Hambleton and Ryedale – would each still have a local council office under the reorganisation plans.

Mr Shevlin said:

“We need to look after not just the most vulnerable, but everybody in our society so a local office is going to be crucial.

“Some of the judgements on day one will be: Did you notice a difference? Could you access your local council?

“If the answer to those is yes, then we will have made a successful immediate transition.

“After that comes the transformation.”

Mr Shevlin also said six local area constituency committees were likely to be created on the new council – with 15 councillors on each given decision-making powers over services including licensing and planning.

In total, 90 councillors will be elected on 5 May to serve one year on North Yorkshire County Council before transitioning to the new unitary authority for a four-year term.

Mr Shevlin added:

“This really is the most important election in North Yorkshire since the last local government reorganisation in 1974.

“Please make sure you are registered to vote, and please do vote.”

A series of virtual events are being held this month for residents to find out more about the new North Yorkshire Council.

For more information go to www.northyorks.gov.uk/new-council-virtual-roadshows

Harrogate BID (Business Improvement District) has sent a crew to steam clean and jet wash ‘hot spots’ across the town centre.

Ahead of the Easter holidays, the BID has paid a team from UK Nationwide Cleaning to spend ten nights removing grime and chewing gum.

Harrogate BID manager Matthew Chapman said:

“Walking around the town centre, it is clear to see where our cleaning team have been, giving pavements a much needed deep clean.

“Our cleaning crew is working across numerous areas, making sure the town centre looks in pristine condition for the traditional start of the 2022 tourism season.

“In the first ever survey asking Levy Payers what they wanted us to do, cleaning was the priority, and with our cleaning contractors, together with our Street Ranger, this is what we are delivering.

“This is the first of a number of visits this year for our cleaning crew, and they will be back on at least two more occasions cleaning different parts of the BID area.”

Harrogate was the first town in the district to form a BID in 2019. Almost 500 businesses pay 1.5% of their rateable value each year.

It’s estimated that the Harrogate BID brings in around £500,000 from levy payers annually.

Read more:

• Harrogate BID launches £750 grant scheme to help businesses

• Ripon BID begins to light up the city

A report from the national charity SAVE Britain’s Heritage has named the former Debenhams buildings in Harrogate as one of 18 former ‘cathedrals of commerce’ that should be spared from demolition and repurposed.

Wetherby-based property company Stirling Prescient is behind a proposal to demolish the three buildings on Parliament Street and replace them with 50 flats and two commercial units.

The site on Parliament Street has been home to different retailers for over a century. Before Debenhams, it housed the Buckley’s and Busby’s stores.

But the developer has said there is no market for the building to be reoccupied as a department store, and the 1902 and 1920-era buildings should be torn down.

Departing stores

The report, called ‘Departing Stores’, sounds the warning klaxon for a group of former department stores across the UK that are at serious risk of being permanently lost.

As well as Harrogate’s Debenhams, it includes large empty buildings in Liverpool, Bristol and London.

The report says:

“In a new era when large-scale retail is no longer sustainable, these fine structures are at risk of dilapidation or even demolition. And as these hubs of daily life are erased from the map, local communities feel increasingly disenfranchised.

“Protecting and reviving these buildings is not only a matter of preserving precious and distinctive architecture; it is an opportunity to restore a sense of place.”

The report says the demise of Debenhams alone left a hole of 1.3 million square metres of space across the country, with 90% of stores still empty a year later.

Read more:

• Harrogate council conservation officer ‘cannot support’ Debenhams demolition
• Plans submitted to demolish former Harrogate Debenhams

A new fate

The developer Stirling Prescient said in planning documents that there was no scope to convert the Harrogate Debenhams into smaller units “due to its internal layout and the age of the building”.

It said its new plan will “strengthen the town’s vitality and viability, increasing footfall and contributing to the local economy.”

However, the report includes 14 case studies of former department stores that have been successfully regenerated.

These include Bournemouth’s former Debenhams building that closed as a department store in May 2021 and is now home to a wide range of community activities:

“Developers Verve Properties have been imaginative in their ideas for keeping the building in active use. Besides retail, the store now houses an art gallery, beauty parlour and Bobby’s, Bournemouth local makers’ market.

“Later this year a food hall and rooftop terrace bar will open. Several spaces have a social function, hosting knitting meet-ups and children’s entertainers. The varied mix of community-focussed uses seems most faithful to the original department store – a place where people from all walks of life can gather and enjoy themselves.”

Read the full report here.

A politician promising change is often an alluring prospect for voters, and five fresh faces are hoping to steer Harrogate in a new direction on the new North Yorkshire Council.

Anna McIntee (Stray, Woodlands, Hookstone), Lucy Gardiner (Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate), Sarah Hart (Harlow Hill and St Georges) Daniel Thompson (Coppice Valley and Duchy) and Jon Starkey (Boroughbridge & Claro) have all put their names forward for the election on May 5.

The independents have aligned together and last week launched a website called ‘Time for a Change’ that is critical of decisions such as housing developments in the Kingsley area and the ongoing Harrogate Station Gateway project.

The Stray Ferret interviewed Ms McIntee, Ms Hart, and Mr Thompson yesterday to find out what they stand for and what they think needs to change.

Why are they standing? 

Ms McIntee is a mum-of-three and said she is normally a Tory voter. However, she believes the local party has ignored businesses and residents to the detriment of the town.

She said:

“It all started when North Yorkshire County Council tried to make Oatland’s Drive one way, it was ludicrous. I made a petition that got 2,000 signatures. Then I got more and more involved. It was like Pandora’s Box.

“With the election coming up, it’s the perfect time to make a difference. Our background isn’t in politics but we are just residents who are really really passionate and feel we can make a difference.”

Ms Hart has lived in Harrogate on and off since she was born and would normally vote Liberal Democrat. She said:

“I went to HBC cabinet meetings and scrutiny meetings and thought – hang on a minute – some of the things they are doing are not right. I was involved in the Local Plan and spoke at the public enquiry.

“I’m a resident at Harlow Hill and the West Harrogate Parameters Plan and Rotary Wood are huge issues, I heard about these secret meetings behind closed doors and thought, I have nothing to lose. I’m going to go for it”.

Mr Thompson was born in the town, owns a shop on Cold Bath Road and went to Ashville College. He said:

“I joined the Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce and attended a Zoom meeting where Harrogate Borough Council council leader Richard Cooper was a guest speaker. He ruffled my feathers and got my back up with the way he presented himself and the way he is tackling the issues of the town.

“I went to another meeting about the Station Gateway that was a sham. I was embarrassed for the council. It was a shocking display to be honest. That meeting really riled me. They have lost touch with reality.”

‘Had enough’

Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, which sets out where new homes can be built until 2034, was signed off two years ago following a tortuous process that lasted over a decade.

You can see its impact when you travel around the periphery of Harrogate with swathes of green fields lost to housing. Ms McIntee said residents have now “had enough”.

More than 13,000 new homes could eventually be built when the plan is concluded. The Stray Ferret has calculated that at least 700 football pitches of green field land across the district will be lost.

A snapshot of development. Credit – HAPARA

The group of independents, who are self-funded, said with the new North Yorkshire Council there could be an opportunity to revisit the Local Plan much sooner than in 2025, which is the current proposal.

Ms Hart called the Local Plan “a car crash”.

“We need the right homes in the right places. We don’t need them in green fields miles away from sustainable transport.”

Mr Thompson pointed the finger at conservative council leader Richard Cooper and chief executive Wallace Sampson for their track record on housing.

“The one job they had to do was create a Local Plan that was fit for purpose and they failed. For Richard Cooper and Wallace Sampson to still be where they are when they failed miserably is truly astonishing.”

Richard Cooper (left) and Wallace Sampson

The independents won’t be the only party campaigning on housing. It will also be a focus for the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens.

But Mr Thompson said the Lib Dems have little credibility on housing as its councillors signed off on the Local Plan too.

“The Conservatives have lost their way but the Lib Dems were sat in meetings and also signed off on Local Plan. Both parties are complicit.”

‘Cars = sales’

Ms McIntee works part-time in a town centre shop and Mr Thompson owns an interior design shop on Cold Bath Road with his sister, Lucy Gardiner, who is standing as an independent in the Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate ward.

The Station Gateway scheme has pitted many town centre businesses against those who support the scheme and want fewer cars in the town and more walking and cycling.

Ms McIntee said the proposal has been pushed through without listening to retailers who live and work in the town.

Station Gateway visuals that show Harrogate’s James Street pedestrianised.

Mr Thompson said the town centre is looking “tired and vulnerable” and Harrogate should forsake the car at its peril.

The group would like to see free Sunday parking as well as the first hour of parking free throughout the week to encourage more motorists to shop in the town centre.

He said:

“Cars equals sales. Everybody in retail knows that. You cannot ignore the power of the motor car. The car is not the enemy.”

An alternative vision?

Almost half of CO2 emissions in the Harrogate District are from transport.

Cars also contribute to poor air quality in our town centres, which studies have found contributes to a myriad of health impacts including lung and heart disease.

Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council as well as green groups such as Zero Carbon Harrogate believe it is critical that Harrogate residents reduce their car use to help tackle climate change.

But Ms McIntee has been opposed to the Otley Road cycle path, Station Gateway, Oatlands Drive changes and Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood and her critics say she offers no solutions to the net-zero question.

She said this is unfair as the independents will campaign to introduce a park and ride scheme, subsidise school buses, introduce more electric vehicle charging points and plant more trees to absorb CO2.

The group would also like to see pavements improved to encourage walking in the town.

Mr Thompson said:

“There’s always an alternative vision, we’re just saying we don’t like the current vision, I don’t think that’s negative.”

Election Day

The group has a loyal group of supporters on social media but how successful the five would-be councillors will be on May 5 be is hard to predict.

They could split the Tory vote and help the Liberal Democrats or the opposite could happen.

But if they do manage to tap into the genuine anger felt around housing and transport they could cause a major upset.

Ms McIntee said:

“People need to vote for change, never before has that need been greater. There are independent councillors all over the UK that are doing a good job. It’s not a wasted vote. If all five of us get in we’ll have huge impact.”

Mr Thompson said

“Residents have been blatantly ignored and silenced. It’s offensive. We have a wealth of talents in the town and that’s the saddest part. The councils’ divide to conquer, that’s not how it should be. They have set groups against each other to railroad through their schemes.

“The council should be fighting for existing people of town, it’s not about NIMBYism, it’s about common sense.”

The full list of candidates standing on May 5 will be announced tomorrow. The Stray Ferret will be profiling the other political parties and candidates in the coming weeks.

Five independent candidates are to stand for the new North Yorkshire Council in Harrogate and Boroughbridge.

Anna McIntee (Stray, Woodlands, Hookstone), Lucy Gardiner (Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate), Sarah Hart (Harlow Hill and St Georges) Daniel Thompson (Coppice Valley and Duchy) and Jon Starkey (Boroughbridge & Claro) have all put their names forward for the election on May 5.

They say they are hoping to capitalise on anger felt towards new housing and cycling schemes in Harrogate.

The independents are aligned together and last week launched a website called ‘Time for a Change’ that is critical of contentious decisions, such as housing developments in the Kingsley area and the ongoing Harrogate Station Gateway project.

Ms McIntee and Ms Gardiner set up Harrogate Residents Association website and Facebook group last year.

The five independents believe there is an appetite in the district for an alternative to Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors, who they believe have let the town down.

Ms McIntee said:

“I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m really passionate about Harrogate. I’m really concerned about what’s happening to the town. If we don’t get in, where’s it going to end?”

Full interview to follow tomorrow.

Three teenage girls arrested after two police officers suffered serious injuries at McDonald’s in Harrogate on Friday night have been released on bail pending further enquires.

The police community support officers from Harrogate’s neighbourhood policing team were called to the McDonald’s on Cambridge Road following reports that the girls, aged 13,14 and 15, had entered despite being banned due to anti-social behaviour earlier in the evening.

The group refused to leave when asked by officers and trouble flared at around 7pm.

One of the PCSOs suffered a suspected broken nose and the other sustained tissue damage to the cheek. Both received hospital treatment.

Detective Constable Amy Sharrad, who is leading on the investigation, today thanked people who had given information. She added:

“We are aware of some footage circulating on social media of the incident, and would ask that those who have posted footage to contact us as soon as possible with any information.”

Anyone who has any information that can assist the investigation can email Detective Constable Amy Sharrad at amy.sharrad@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101.

Read more:

• ‘Serious concerns’ over 770 homes planned for Harrogate’s Otley Road

• Future of ex-Harrogate council building could be decided this month

A decision on the future of Harrogate Borough Council’s former Crescent Gardens offices is set to be made this month, according to site owner Impala Estates.

The Harrogate-based property investment company bought the building in January 2020 for £4m.

It submitted a planning application in March 2021 to transform the site into offices, a gym and a rooftop restaurant.

Under the plans, the empty building, which was built in the 1890s, would be extended by adding two floors.

James Hartley, director at Impala Estates, told the Stray Ferret in an email today that it expected the proposal to be considered by councillors on the planning committee on April 21.

‘Much-needed’ office space

Documents submitted by the developer in November said the conversion would add “much-needed” office space into the town centre.

It said:

“It has been noted that there is a significant lack of high quality office space within the centre of Harrogate along with more office buildings being approved for conversion to residential within the town centre, this being exacerbated by changes in permitted development rules”.

Read more:

• Plans for 350 ‘eco lodges’ and hotel in Flaxby refused
• Harrogate Tory leader attacks Lib Dems for using Dundee printers

In December, the public body Historic England said it objected to the two-storey roof-top extension and would prefer a “suitably designed” single-storey extension instead.

It said:

“Whilst we remain supportive of the proposals to sustainability reuse the former council offices, the revised scheme does not address our previous concerns and our position remains unchanged. Unfortunately, the two storey upward extension is still being pursued.”

The Stray Ferret asked the council to confirm whether Crescent Gardens will be on the agenda at the next planning committee meeting but we had not yet received a response by the time of publication.

The saga of the former council site

The future of Crescent Gardens, which has been empty for five years since the council relocated to Knapping Mount in 2017, has become a long-running saga.

Harrogate Borough Council announced when it moved into its new offices that local developer Adam Thorpe would buy the site for £6.31 million.

Mr Thorpe said he would spend £75 million on a refurbishment, which would include an art gallery, underground car park, swimming pool, restaurant and luxury apartments.

Two years later he said he had agreed the sale of 10 of the 12 properties but Mr Thorpe’s company, ATP Ltd, then collapsed with debts of almost £11million, including £24,394 to the council.

The site then went back on the market and was eventually sold to Impala Estates.

It set up a website outlining its vision for the building. The ‘project updates’ section has not been updated since April 1 last year.

Harrogate Borough Council has refused a bid to build a luxury eco-resort with 350 lodges on the former Flaxby golf course.

The plans included a hotel, outdoor swimming pool, spa and sports area as well as a pub/cafe, farm shop, gift shop and activity hub.

The developer Flaxby Park Ltd had previously said the resort would attract “the most discerning visitors” and would have a focus on sustainability to allow families to “reconnect with nature”.

But council planning officer Kate Broadbank said the development would have a negative impact on the district’s natural environment as well as harming views from the nearby Temple of Victory, which is Grade II* listed.

The golf course, off the A59 and A1(M), closed in 2014 and has been derelict ever since.

Ms Broadbank wrote:

“The scale and layout are considered to have an unacceptable adverse impact upon the district’s natural and historic environment.

“In addition, the application site is not considered to be accessible to local services nor is it demonstrated that an acceptable connection to public utilities can be achieved.”

Read more:

• Flaxby parish council calls for government to reject eco-homes
• Business park near Flaxby that could support 2,000 jobs approved

The application generated 31 objections, including one from Knaresborough Town Council which feared the hotel would never be built and the site would be re-marketed as a residential development.

An aerial computer generated image of the proposal. The A1 (M) is to the east and the A59 is to the south.

The council added:

“The applicants seem to have no experience of running a holiday park, have no proven business case and have not considered the constant traffic noise from the adjacent motorway.”

The Stray Ferret has approached Flaxby Park Ltd for a response but we had not received one by the time of publication.

History of the site

In 2008 The Skelwith Group bought the site from farming family the Armstrongs for £7m. It published plans for a 300-bedroom five-star hotel on the site that it touted as the future “jewel in Yorkshire’s tourism crown”.

But in 2016 the company went out of business after these plans never materialised.

Flaxby Park Ltd is a company made up of businesswoman Ann Gloag and regeneration specialists Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner.

It bought the 260-acre golf course site from administrators in 2016.

Its original proposal for the site was to build 2,750 homes and a rail link at Goldsborough. But these plans ended after the council chose the Green Hammerton area as the site for a new settlement in the district.

In October 2020, the developer challenged the council’s decision in the High Court but was unable to overturn it.