Plans have been submitted to build 770 homes and a new primary school at Otley Road in Harrogate.

The development also includes a sports centre, a convenience store and community hub.

Land promoters Anwyl Land and national housebuilder Redrow Homes are behind the Windmill Farm development, which would be the biggest housing scheme to be built in Harrogate for decades.

It would dwarf the nearby village of Beckwithshaw, which has a population of 400.

The homes would be built on green fields on the opposite side of the road from the charity-run nursery Horticap and behind RHS Harlow Carr. Part of the land is currently used by Beaver Horse Shop.

Parameters Plan

A design and access statement, submitted to support the application, says the application has been informed by the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan.

The parameters plan, which has been prepared by Harrogate Borough Council, will be used to identify what infrastructure is required to meet the needs associated with future developments in the area.

It also offers guidance on design, open space and landscaping.

The application says 40% of the homes will be classed as “affordable”, with the remaining 60% sold at market rate and being between two and five-bedroom properties.

The homes would look like these

Forty of the homes would be self-build, which are plots reserved for people who want to build their own home.

Bus stops and three access points would be created on Otley Road to leave and enter the site and a new cycle route would also be installed, which the developers hope will eventually connect to the Otley Road cycle path.

The existing Otley Road/Howhill Road junction would be reworked to include one of the entrance points to Windmill Farm and will have traffic lights.

An energy statement says the homes would not have any low carbon or renewable energy technologies.

They would be fitted with “high-efficiency” combi gas boilers to heat the homes. The government will be ban gas boilers from new homes in 2025.

It says to reduce emissions, the homes would be well insulated and be positioned to make the most of the sun.

There are no firm details included about the primary school and the number of children it can accommodate, but it would be built on the side of the development facing RHS Harlow Carr.

It says the size of the school and its surroundings would be 5.19 acres.

The new primary school would be built near RHS Harlow Carr

Local Plan

The site is allocated for development in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which is a document that lays out where development can take place in the district until 2035. It says 776 homes can be built there.

If the Windmill Farm development is granted full planning approval, it would mean over 1,200 homes could be built on that section of Otley Road.

The government’s housing agency, Homes England, has plans to build 480 homes on Bluecoat Park, near Harrogate police station.

The majority of homes at the 125-home Harlow Hill Grange development are now completed.

Environment concerns

Whilst the development is likely to be granted planning permission in some form due to the fact the site is included in the Local Plan, a spokesperson for Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association told the Stray Ferret in September it was “very concerned” about the scale of the development and its impact on the environment.

Planning documents submitted on behalf of the developer say the scheme is a “high-quality proposal”.

“The proposed layout seeks to meets the aspirations of the draft Parameter Plans for the West of Harrogate masterplan. The proposed scheme provides a residential development that fully integrates built form, landscaping and quality of place in order to provide a high-quality proposal that is where people are proud to live.”

The plans are open for comments on the council’s planning portal and the reference is 22/00089/EIAMAJ

A big budget Netflix movie featuring Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor is being filmed today at the former Harrogate Borough Council offices in Crescent Gardens.

Bank Of Dave will be a biopic of Dave Fishwick, a self-made businessman from Burnley in Lancashire.

James Bond actor Rory Kinnear will play Mr Fishwick, opposite Phoebe Dynevor, who is best known for her role as Daphne in the hit Netflix period drama.

Mr Fishwick became famous after he set up a community bank that was called The Bank of Dave by locals in Burnley. It lent money to businesses in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.

He subsequently became a TV personality, filming programmes about unscrupulous payday loan lenders.

Crescent Gardens has been empty since the council relocated to Knapping Mount in 2017.

Impala Estates, a property investment company in Harrogate, bought the building in January 2020 for £4m. But the last update on its website for the property was exactly one year ago.

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A feud between the owner of Starbeck Post Office and the chair of Starbeck Residents Association has boiled over after the latter decided to stand for the Labour Party in the upcoming local elections.

Voters will head to the polls on May 5 to elect councillors to the new North Yorkshire Council.

This week, Chris Watt was announced as the Labour candidate for the newly created ward of Fairfax and Starbeck.

Mr Watt is also the elected chair of the SRA, which awards grants and campaigns to safeguard local facilities in Starbeck.

However, Andrew Hart, who owns the local post office, believes the resident association’s constitution forbids political allegiances.

He claims Mr Watt is using his position as chair as a means of promoting his political platform and profile, which Mr Watt denies.

Mr Watt (centre) campaigning for Labour last month. Credit: Harrogate & Knaresborough Labour Party

The two have history — there was public acrimony when Mr Watt was appointed chair last year at the residents association’s annual general meeting.

Mr Hart set up a rival group called Starbeck Community Group, in part due to what he thinks are the failings of Starbeck Residents’ Association.

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Mr Hart said it was “an insult to the community” that Mr Watt was standing for a political party and called on him to step down from his role as chair.

He said:

“Last summer I asked Chris Watt several times if he would be standing for Labour in these elections, he refused to answer. At the SRA AGM I asked him again but he refused to answer in public. I stated that it was against the constitution, it was also morally wrong and not transparent as he was already a political officer for the Labour Party.

“The very least he should do is explain why he would not admit he wanted to stand at the AGM when he was repeatedly asked and how can he justify canvassing whilst he is supposed to be the impartial chair of the SRA.

“He must resign now and seek re-election if he fails to become a county councillor. This has nothing to do with political allegiances it is about transparency and clear rules.”

‘I want to give something back’

In response, Mr Watt said:

“I love living in Starbeck so want to give something back to our local community. I’m proud to serve as chair of the Starbeck Residents’ Association and work in partnership with local people in the best interests of our area, regardless of their political affiliation.

 “I’ve never made any secret of my campaigning work with the local Labour Party. It was raised at the Starbeck Residents’ Association AGM and I was pleased to be elected overwhelmingly by over 80 local people with only two people voting against me.

 “I am doing my best to repay the trust that local people placed in me and would be honoured to serve them further as their local councillor.”

The Harrogate Club has honoured its longstanding member, Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam, by naming its dining room after him.

The club on Victoria Avenue, which dates back to 1857, provides a variety of events, dining, and social occasions to members and their guests.

Mr Neesam was at the club today for a special lunch to mark the naming of the dining room, which is now called The Malcolm Neesam Room, and to unveil the latest Harrogate Civic Society plaque.

The plaque, close to the footpath on Victoria Avenue, gives details about the club, why it was set up and what it stands for.

The historian had a hand in designing the civic society’s first Harrogate plaque at Tewit Well in 1971. The latest plaque is the 89th to be installed in the town by the group.

Harrogate Civic Society has a website and app with walking trails between different plaques.

L to R: Stuart Holland (Harrogate Civic Society), Janet Chapman, Malcolm Neesam, Kevin Parry (The Harrogate Club), Trevor Chapman.

Read More: 

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The club’s president, Kevin Parry, said it wanted to honour Mr Neesam for his contributions to the venue and to the town over many decades by naming its refurbished dining room after him.

It was officially unveiled by the mayor and mayoress of Harrogate, Trevor and Janet Chapman.

Mr Neesam gave a typically interesting and humorous talk to around 30 people who attended.

Some of his speech is below:

“The club’s early members were deeply embedded in the life of the town. Most notably was in the Great War, when the club opened its doors to army and navy servicemen.

“I have done guides to the club, and people ask, ‘what does the club actually do?’ Actually, the club does nothing, it’s the members who do it.

“When I joined the club, it was male-only and the conversation could be terrible. The quality has improved immeasurably since females joined!

“The club will continue to thrive, continuous of younger members joining whose views may be very contrary to the established membership, but they represent the future and their views will triumph in the end, as has always been the case with the club.

“I have always valued above else the fellowship to members, not just to me.

“No better example than that is the wonderful plaque which I do not deserve. It touches me very much, and to the heart, that the club has done this wonderful gesture.”

Ripon-based soldiers in the 21 Engineer Regiment have begun a deployment in Cyprus as part of a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force.

The soldiers will spend the next six months carrying out patrols on the buffer zone that runs between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

The UN force was set up in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the two island communities.

Sappers from the regiment took up their duties on Monday in a ceremony in the country’s capital, Nicosia.

Lieutenant colonel Perry Bishop, commanding officer of 21 Engineer Regiment said:

“Peacekeeping poses some unique challenges that I have not experienced elsewhere in my career.”

“The Regiment’s soldiers understand the importance of this mission, and are eager to put the British Army’s world-leading training to good effect.”

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21 Engineer Regiment has three squadrons based in Ripon.

In recent years, it has seen a significant focus on support to UN peacekeeping operations.

This has included deployments to Cyprus, Somalia, and South Sudan.

Harrogate Islamic Association has said it is confident of raising enough money to buy the former Home Guard Club and convert it into the town’s first mosque.

A price of £500,000 was agreed to buy the building, which is on the corner of Tower Street and Belford Road, before the association obtained planning permission.

The current owner set a deadline of Monday next week to complete the sale.

The group already has several hundred thousand pounds set aside to buy the building but does not yet have enough to pay the full asking price.

After planning permission was granted last month by Harrogate Borough Council, the association launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the extra money needed to buy the building as well as for much-needed repairs, setting a target of £200,000.

With days to go until the owner’s deadline, the crowdfunder is currently on just £18,000.

However, Zahed Amanullah, a member of the association, said there was no risk the deal could fall through because it had loans in place to cover any shortfall.

Mr Amanullah said:

“We are on our way to getting the money. It’s not all reflected in the crowdfunding campaign, which we’re extending to the end of April, which is the month of Ramadan, and will be used to pay back loans.

“We’ve been raising money from other sources, such as pledges from the community directly.

“Where there might be a shortfall, we have people to loan us the difference, so we can pay them back. Our intention is to make the payment in time with a combination of loans and crowdfunding.”

Read more:

• ‘Community goodwill’ helped to overcome anti-mosque campaign, says Harrogate Islamic Association

• Plans for Harrogate’s first mosque approved

• Malcolm Neesam History: the colourful past of what could become Harrogate’s first mosque

The association, which was set up in 2011, has been looking for a permanent home for several years, with previous attempts at securing a site falling through. Around 100 Muslim worshippers currently meet in the Quakers’ Friends Meeting House on Queen Parade.

The association also organises prayer sessions at Chain Lane Community Hub in Knaresborough.

Mr Amanullah said once the group has the keys to the building, the immediate focus will be on repairs and restoring original features.

All being well, it could open to the public by the end of the summer.

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

This month the war in Ukraine dominated the news, with constituents across the district raising money, donating goods and offering their homes to refugees.

We asked our three Conservative MPs, Harrogate & Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon’s Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but, as usual, we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found out on Mr Jones:

• Mr Jones spoke about the Ukraine war nine times in the House of Commons this month. On March 2, he said: “My constituents have told me that they want to see the government continue to support the Ukrainian resistance in three ways: humanitarian assistance in the region; welcoming refugees here; and military aid.”
• On March 1, the Conservative leader of Harrogate Borough Council, Richard Cooper, who is also Mr Jones’ office manager, told a council meeting that the MP had written to Boris Johnson to ask if council housing stock could be used to house Ukrainian refugees.
• On March 4, Mr Jones met with the new acting chief executive of the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, Jonathan Coulter, to discuss catching up on elective care and visiting arrangements at the hospital.
• Writing on his Community News website, Mr Jones praised the local fundraising efforts in Harrogate and Knaresborough for Ukraine. He wrote: “Locally, the outpouring support is typical of the generous and compassionate nature of our communities.”
• On March 22, the MP voted in favour of Clause 9 of the Nationality and Borders Bill. The clause is controversial and gives the Home Office the right to strip people of UK citizenship without warning. A petition calling for its removal received 325,000 signatures.
• Following news that rail operator Northern would be cutting several train services from Harrogate station, Mr Jones wrote to the company’s chairman urging it to ‘rethink’. Despite his plea, Northern announced on March 29 that the cuts would be staying.
• On March 24 Mr Jones called on the government to tackle fake ads that purport to be from consumer journalist Martin Lewis.
• On March 29, Mr Jones posed for a picture at a Sight Loss Councils event in Westminster. The group briefed MPs on issues affecting blind and partially sighted people.

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• New gritter tracker shows which roads in Harrogate district are being treated

• Harrogate council ranks in lowest 15% of local authorities for tackling climate change

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

• The Ripon MP praised Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky following his speech to MPs at the House of Commons on March 8. “Incredible leadership and resilience,” he tweeted.
• On March 9 in the Commons, Mr Smith called on the government to “look again” at its approach to Ukrainian refugees.
• On March 14, he thanked his “many constituents” for offering their homes as part Homes for Ukraine scheme that launched that week.
• The former Northern Ireland secretary attended a St Patrick’s Day event at the Ireland Embassy in London on March 16.
• Eight of his 11 tweets were related to Northern Ireland.
• On March 14, Mr Smith voted against a Liberal Democrat amendment to the government’s Animal Welfare Bill that would force the government to publish the number of animals killed by sewage dumping in rivers every year.
• Posting on his website on March, 18, Mr Smith said he was pleased to hear that work on the A59 at Kex Gill is expected to start at the end of this year.

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams:

• On March 30, the MP praised the bravery of fellow Tory MP Jamie Wallis for coming out as trans.
• Whilst attending the Conservative Party spring conference in Blackpool, Mr Adams had another confrontation with ‘Stop Brexit Man’ Steve Bray. The MP said in a video: “I see a village has lost its idiot”. Last year, Mr Adams told Mr Bray to f*** off outside Parliament.
• On March 20, the MP met the Ukraine ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, in Blackpool. He said it was “great to see him join the standing ovation for Boris Johnson”.

Ofsted has rated Acorns Playgroup in Bilton ‘outstanding’ following a recent inspection.

The education inspectors visited the setting, which operates at Bilton Grange Community Primary School on Bilton Lane, in February.

It has 30 children registered between the ages of 2 and 4.

Ofsted found that children “excitedly enter the safe and vibrant pre-school” and are “deeply engrossed in a limitless range of first-class activities and experiences”.

The report said:

“Children’s interests and ideas are at the heart of staff’s thinking when they implement the curriculum.”

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The inspector praised the playgroup for its safeguarding procedures and said staff give the “utmost priority” to keeping children safe.

It said staff have “very high aspirations” for all children and swiftly identify any possible developmental delays to help any child catch up. It said staff at Acorns have an “admiral passion and dedication” to their jobs.

The report added:

“Children demonstrate exemplary behaviour and play extremely well together. They solve problems while building impressive constructions, excitedly dig for ‘treasure’ in the large sand pit and make ‘Chinese noodles’ in the exploratory kitchen. Older children play a mathematical card game skilfully and ensure everyone plays fairly and follows the rules.”

Catherine Kaiser, director of Acorns, thanked staff following the report

She said:

“The staff here are fantastic, we’ve all worked really hard and the report reflects that. It’s our fourth ‘outstanding’ rating in a row. It really has been a team effort.”

Woodlands Kids Club

Earlier this month Woodlands Kids Club, at Willow Tree Primary School on Wetherby Road, received a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted.

Inspectors visited the setting on February 1 and praised staff for offering a welcoming and encouraging environment for young learners.

The report said:

“Staff know the children well and respond to their interests. They extend their learning as they play together. Children greet staff with huge smiles as they arrive at the end of the school day. They show a good sense of belonging as they excitedly talk about their day.

“They form meaningful relationships with the staff and follow instructions well. Staff use their knowledge and experience effectively to support those children who need additional help and encouragement. The strategies they use are highly effective.”

Northern will press ahead with plans to cancel the 6.07am train service from Harrogate to Leeds, as well as some other services, despite lobbying from Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Conservative MP Andrew Jones.

The Stray Ferret reported this month that the 6.07am service — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.

The early service was popular with business travellers as a way to get to London King’s Cross before 9am.

The decision to cut the service was branded as “disgraceful” by Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group.

Urging a rethink

Last week, Andrew Jones MP wrote to the chairman of Northern, Robin Gisby, urging him to “rethink” reductions to the service between Harrogate and Leeds.

Mr Jones wrote that train services in Harrogate had got better over the past decade but cuts could risk losing these “hard-won improvements”.

However, a Northern spokesperson said today that the operator, which is now owned by the UK government, confirmed the cuts will still take place from May 15.

They said the cuts were primarily due to driver shortages and not a reduction in passengers since the pandemic.

However, the spokesperson added Northern will look to reinstate some services during the rest of 2022.

Read more:

• Andrew Jones MP urges Northern to ‘rethink’ cuts to Harrogate trains
• Harrogate disability charity explains why some crossings don’t beep

The spokesperson said:

“We recognise that some of our customers are disappointed with the upcoming changes to their service. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

“Along with the rest of the industry, some amendments to the timetable will be made from 15 May 2022.

“For the remainder of the year, services will be reinstated where possible with the intention of a larger uplift in December 22.

“These reinstatements will take us more in line with December 2021 service levels although any changes are dependent on several factors. We will share the final plans when we can.”

Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group said news that the 6.07am cut would remain was “not good enough”.

He added:

“I was expecting them to keep that one. I’m very disappointed.”

Cancer Research UK is inviting people to take part in Race for Life in Harrogate on Sunday, July 10.

Women, men and children can choose to enter 3k, 5k and 10k events in the town that all start from The Stray.

There is also a chance to take part in obstacle courses Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids.

Race for Life was cancelled in 2020 due to covid but returned to Harrogate in September last year.

Money raised from the event helps scientists find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

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• Harrogate disability charity explains why some crossings don’t beep

Siobhan Byrne, Race for Life spokesperson for Harrogate, said:

“Our Race for Life events are open to all. For some people, the Race for Life is literally a walk in the park. Slow and steady still wins. For others, it’s a jog. Others may opt to push themselves harder, taking up the challenge of the 10k distance and even pushing for a new personal best time.

“But what is for certain is we’re looking forward to welcoming people of all ages and abilities. Race for Life Harrogate will be fun, emotional, colourful, uplifting and an unforgettable event this year.”  

Anyone who signs up between Monday April 4 and Monday April 18 can claim a 30% off the entry fee as part of a special sale by using the code EASTER30.

Besides the entry fee, competitors will be asked for £50 minimum sponsorship.

To sign up, visit raceforlife.org.