Storm Barra: Warning for strong winds and snow in Harrogate district

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for strong winds and snow tomorrow in the Harrogate district.

Storm Barra is expected to arrive at 9am and could last until midnight.

A yellow warning for wind has been issued from 9am until midnight and covers most of the district.

Another yellow warning for snow has been issued from 11am until midnight. It suggests snowfall is likely to hit Pateley Bridge and other parts of Nidderdale.

BBC Weather says there is a chance of snow in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon tomorrow afternoon.

The Met Office warns there may be delays to public transport and there is the possibility of power cuts.

Storm Barra comes just over a week since Storm Arwen, which cut electricity to thousands of homes and caused damage to trees and property.

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Harrogate council gets £100,000 to help turn brownfield sites into housing

The government has awarded Harrogate Borough Council almost £100,000 to help turn three brownfield sites in Pannal, Ripon and Sharow into social housing.

Harrogate is one of 15 councils to receive funding from the £75m Brownfield Land Release Fund, which aims to build more affordable homes.

The three sites to be awarded funding are council-owned garages that HBC wants to demolish and replace with social housing. These are:

Holmefield Road in Ripon (£35,000), Church Close in Sharow (£30,000) and Pannal Green in Pannal (£30,000).

The plans for Ripon and Sharow have already received planning permission.

In October, HBC was awarded £50,000 from the same fund to bring forward housing on two underused garage sites in Bilton and Knaresborough.

A council spokesperson said: 

“This is a fund specifically aimed at the cost of infrastructure requirements on council-owned land.

“By helping meet these costs, sites will become viable for development, either by the local authority directly or by private developers, enabling the site to be placed on the open market.”

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The Harrogate district has an acute shortage of homes built for social rent.

Last month The Stray Ferret reported that just 52 social homes were built last year in the Harrogate district, despite there being 1,867 households on the social housing waiting list.

Lib Dem leader on Harrogate Borough Council Cllr Pat Marsh, who also sits on the council’s planning committee, said the council needs to be more proactive instead of relying on developers to build them.

Last gasp winner puts Harrogate Town into FA Cup Third Round

Harrogate Town beat Portsmouth in the FA Cup Second Round this afternoon thanks to a goal from Jack Diamond in the fifth minute of injury time.

It means the Sulphurites will play in the Third Round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, and could look forward to a mouthwatering tie against the likes of Leeds United, Liverpool or Manchester City.

122 Town fans made the long trip to the south coast today to watch Town take on Pompey, who are two-time FA Cup winners and were big favourites to advance.

Luke Armstrong’s goal was cancelled out by Portsmouth’s Ellis Harrison in the first half and it looked like the game was heading for a replay at the EnviroVent Stadium.

But it was on-loan winger Jack Diamond who once again wrote his name into Town’s history books when he tucked away the winner to send the travelling Town fans into raptures.

The Third Round draw will take place at 7pm on Monday on ITV4.

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Christmas candlelit vigil planned for Stonefall war dead

Candles will be lit for more than 1,000 fallen soldiers at Stonefall Cemetary on Sunday December 19.

Harrogate mum Benji Walker has been running Candles for Heroes every year since 2018 because she does not want the men to be forgotten.

Ms Walker said:

“I have a son who serves in the Yorkshire Regiment. It’s important to me. They should be always be remembered. Christmas is a special time anyway for family, so it’s a nice time to remember the sacrifice they gave.”

Stonefall is one of the largest war grave sites in northern England.

The cemetery was created in 1914 but most burials are airmen who died during the Second World War when bomber command bases were established in Yorkshire. About two-thirds of the dead are Canadian.

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In 2019 around 80 people came to pay their respects where a service was held including sea and air cadets as well as a bugler playing the Last Post.

Last year was a private service was held due to covid restrictions.

This year anyone is invited to attend at Stonefall Cemetery on December 19 at 4pm.

Donations are appreciated with all money raised shared between Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Help for Heroes.

For more information visit the Candles For Heroes Facebook page.

Plans to convert landmark pub near Pateley Bridge into holiday cottage refused

Harrogate Borough Council has refused plans to convert The Birch Tree Inn in Wilsill into a holiday cottage.

The pub is a notable landmark on the main road from Pateley Bridge to Harrogate and has stood there for over 100 years.

Much of the building was converted into three holiday cottages five years ago, with the pub continuing to trade in a smaller area.

But documents submitted on behalf of the landlord said two tenants tried and failed to make the pub work since 2016.

It has been closed since the beginning of the covid pandemic in March 2020.

When a landlord wants to convert a pub into housing, HBC asks that the building be marketed as a pub for at least 12 months. This is to show that there is no longer interest in it operating as a public house and that the community would not be unnecessarily losing an asset.

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Documents submitted on behalf of the landlord said they had discussed opportunities to take on the pub with local restauranteurs and bar operators including William & Victoria in Harrogate.

However, they said the pub was now “unviable” as a business and so wanted to open a fourth holiday cottage, which have proved to be popular.

“[The pub] was already proving unviable, with social distancing and reduced opening hours simply reinforcing this. Now as ‘accidental landlords’ they find themselves with ongoing liabilities, without the prospect of income, even in the long term.

“These are extraordinary times the entire country finds itself in, with the whole hospitality industry under incredible pressure and all parties desperately trying to keep their heads above water”

However, HBC was not satisfied the landlord had sufficiently marketed the building as a pub and refused the plans.

Case officer Mark Williams wrote:

“In the absence of a sufficient marketing effort, the proposed development would lead to the loss of a community facility and service.”

 

81 more positive covid cases reported in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported a further 81 covid cases, according to today’s government figures.

The district’s covid rate now stands at 483 infections per 100,000 people.

Across the county, the average stands at 419 and the England rate is 470.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England.

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Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground will reopen as a coronavirus vaccination centre on Monday.

The site is aiming to give 20,000 covid booster jabs in two weeks.

The showground clinics are being run by Yorkshire Health Network, an organisation that represents GP practices in the Harrogate district.

Ripon MP Julian Smith resigns from second jobs worth £144,000

Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon Julian Smith has resigned from three roles advising businesses that earned him £144,000 a year.

The latest MP’s register of interests, published today, shows Mr Smith ended contracts with Hygen Energy, Simply Blue Management and MJM Marine on November 16.

Mr Smith was dragged into the debate around Tory ‘sleaze’ following the resignation of Owen Paterson MP. Mr Smith is paid an £81,932 salary for being an MP.

He received criticism from Brian McDaid, former parliamentary candidate from the Skipton and Ripon Labour Party, who accused Mr Smith of not focusing his time on his constituents.

Mr Smith resigned from his three roles the day before Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed to ban MPs from acting as paid political consultants or lobbyists.

All the roles were approved by the Advisory Committee of Business Appointments.

The Stray Ferret asked Mr Smith to comment but we did not receive a response.

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Mr Smith’s second jobs

Mr Smith was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July 2019 to February 2020.

In August 2020 he began advising Hygen Energy, previously known as Ryse Hydrogen. Its chief executive Jo Bamford also owns Wrightbus, a Northern Ireland bus manufacturer. The contract was for £60,000 for 20 hours of work.

He was also paid to work for 30 to 40 hours over 12 months for MJM Marine, a cruise ship refurbishment company based in County Down. This contract was also for £60,000.

In January 2021 he began another role, advising Cork-based sustainable energy and aquaculture company Simply Blue Management. He was paid £24,000 for up to two hours work per month.

Another 113 covid infections reported in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported a further 113 covid cases, according to today’s government figures.

The district’s covid rate now stands at 483 infections per 100,000 people.

Across the county, the average stands at 439 and the England rate is 440.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England.

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Today public health officials in North Yorkshire said the army could be drafted in to help with the Harrogate district’s booster vaccine rollout amid concern about the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

The council is looking at ways to increase capacity for vaccines after the minimum gap for boosters was halved to three months.

The Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate will re-open as a vaccine site for coronavirus booster jabs on Monday.

Viper Rooms bids to extend weekend opening hours until 6.30am

The Viper Rooms nightclub on Parliament Street has applied to Harrogate Borough Council to extend its opening hours on Friday and Saturday nights until 6.30am.

Harrogate’s only nightclub reopened in July after being closed due to covid restrictions since March last year, except for one night on Halloween last year.

It currently serves alcohol until 4am and closes at 4.30am. The application seeks to extend both by two hours.

Owner Paul Kinsey told the Stray Ferret the nightclub is still busy at 4am, so closing later would stop revellers leaving the club all at once. He added there was also a demand from customers to stay out later.

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Mr Kinsey said:

“Since reopening we have monitored customer trends closely and we have seen that we are still very busy at 4am.

“Therefore to have a more orderly dispersal of customers and not move several hundred people onto the streets at one time. It’s more sensible to trade later and allow a staggered dispersal of customers as well as catering for customer demand for a later finish to their night.

“We have trialled the later closing hours in recent weeks and it has gone without any issues at all.

“It’s not our intention to trade every night until 6am. it’s just having the permission to do so if needed.”

Harrogate council to commission climate change study for new 3,000-home settlement

Harrogate Borough Council will hire consultants to produce a “comprehensive climate strategy’ for plans to build 3,000 homes in the broad location of Green Hammerton and Cattal.

The council is currently preparing a development plan document (DPD) for the new settlement. This is a document that will guide how it will look and when it will be built. A public consultation on the DPD ended in January.

This week the council agreed to spend £60,000 on consultants to help them produce the document. HBC said it requires “specialist expertise and capacity not currently available within the council.”

It will firstly commission consultants to look at how the new settlement will be an “exemplar” of sustainable design.

This includes how it will utilise renewable energy, encourage active travel and how homes will be heated.

Although it warns that measures to maximise the energy efficiency of homes will have to be balanced with the “commercial realities” of housebuilding.

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Consultants will also produce a plan to estimate what financial contributions are expected from developers for infrastructure, and to advise them on future planning application revisions.

A report on the DPD is scheduled to go before HBC’s Conservative cabinet member for planning, Cllr Tim Myatt, on December 14. It will set out the updated timetable for the New Settlement work.

A long-running battle over whether the new settlement will be built in Flaxby or Green Hammerton was finally settled at the High Court in late 2020.