Menwith Hill submits new plans to expand

A 45-foot long ‘communications container compound’ could be built at RAF Menwith Hill.

A planning application submitted to Harrogate Borough Council by the Ministry of Defence, which owns the site, says the new building would cover 464 square metres and help ‘meet the operational output of the station’.

There are no other details about what work would take place within the new building. The plans also include provision for a large fuel tank.

Built in the 1950s on the edge of Nidderdale, Menwith Hill is the United States’ largest overseas surveillance base.

Giant radomes, or ‘golf balls’, are a distinctive feature of the site.

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Recent expansion

There have been several planning applications to expand the base in the past couple of years.

Last year the MoD was granted planning permission to build three more radomes.

In February, the council also approved plans for another radome as well as an electrical substation.

Separate plans were submitted to add a new visitor centre, vehicle canopy and changes to the road junction on Menwith Hill Road.

Last month, a new report alleged the base provided intelligence for American drone bombings campaigns in the Middle East, including the high-profile assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

Unemployment in Harrogate district falls despite end of furlough

The number of people receiving out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district has continued to fall, despite the furlough scheme ending at the end of September.

Latest figures by the Office for National Statistics show 2,375 people in the district were claiming the benefits as of October 14.

This is 115 fewer than the 2,490 figure for September 12. The benefits include Universal Credit, which can also be claimed by people who are in work but on low incomes.

The furlough scheme ended on September 30 and supported around 28,600 jobs in the Harrogate district for 18 months.

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The figures appear to have calmed fears raised by the local Liberal Democrats that the scheme would result in up to 3,600 job losses in the district.

Speaking last month, Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the opposition group on Harrogate Borough Council, said the Liberal Democrats both locally and nationally were demanding the scheme be extended to protect jobs.

Harrogate former metalworks could be demolished for housing

Plans have been submitted to demolish the former Franklyn Metal Works on Strawberry Dale Square so it can be replaced with housing.

Developer Hodgson-Jones Developments is proposing to build three four-bedroom houses on the site, which was most recently used by the builder’s merchant Wrayways until May 2020.

For 60 years the site was home to Franklyn Metal Works before closing in 1992.

Planning documents say the buildings should be demolished as it would need substantial investment for it to be reused for commercial purposes.

The plans include five car parking spaces and three electric vehicle charging points.

In 2018, planning permission was granted to demolish some other buildings on the same site to build five homes.

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Green Shoots: The Harrogate wind farm that powers 8,000 homes

COP26 has made it crystal clear that time is running out for the world to shift away from polluting fossil fuels and towards green energy.

Knabbs Ridge Wind Farm on the outskirts of Harrogate on Pennypot Lane. It’s the only large commercial wind farm in the district and is at the forefront of tackling climate change locally.

Its eight turbines, which have mammoth 35m long blades, power around 8,000 homes with renewable energy.

The wind farm is owned by German energy firm RWE Renewables, and the Stray Ferret spoke with its site manager, Richard Couzens, about how Knabbs Ridge works and why it is so important.

Energy generation

Knabbs Ridge is designed to operate unmanned and includes complex computer systems that ensure the turbines run as optimally as possible.

It’s maintained twice a year by engineers, which Mr Couzens described as being similar to servicing a car.

There’s a weather station on every turbine, which will move to tell the systems which direction the wind is coming from.

Each turbine can generate up to two megawatts of power, which at full capacity would mean the wind farm could power the equivalent of 32,000 homes.

There may be times when you drive past Knabbs Ridge and the turbines are not turning, even on a windy day. Critics of wind energy say they are inefficient compared to other forms of energy generation.

This year 7% of the country’s energy mix came from wind, a steep drop from 2020 when it generated 25%.

Mr Couzens said Knabbs Ridge generates around 30% of its total capacity, which he said is normal for an on-shore wind farm.

“Wind turbines don’t run at full capacity so it’s naive to think we can think it will get the full two megawatts [per turbine] 365 days a year. Realistically that’s not going to happen.

Turbines move when the wind speed is between four metres a second and 25 metres a second.

“Turbines have an operating window where they can generate power. They don’t run unnecessarily when wind speed isn’t running and they protect themselves when the wind is too strong as it can cause damage to internal components.

“There are occasions when the wind is too low, even if it feels theres a breeze, if wind speed is not up to four metres a second for 10 minutes, the turbines will remain idle until wind picks up.”

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Part of the landscape

Knabbs Ridge became operational in 2008 following a bitter battle with residents and Harrogate Borough Council who refused the plans in 2005.

The decision was overturned by the government’s planning inspector who said the wind farm’s green benefits outweighed its visual impact.

At the time, current Harrogate Borough Council leader and then cabinet member for planning Richard Cooper said the decision “flied in the face of common sense”.

But back then the energy mix was still dominated by coal and the climate crisis was not a mainstream concern. Cllr Cooper has since become one of the council’s biggest proponents of green infrastructure, highlighting how attitudes towards wind farms have changed over the last 15 years.

Knabbs Ridge from Beckwithshaw

Knabbs Ridge is now largely an accepted, and for some, admired, part of the rural landscape.

Mr Couzens said:

“I can see why some people want them out at sea, but there’s a great cost. For us a business it’s about balancing cost versus convenience on shore and making sure that balance is done sympathetically.

“Younger children come up and express their opinion on wind turbines, they are not seen as the blot on the landscape as they were seen in the early days.”

Subsidies scrapped

Since Knabbs Ridge was approved, no other large wind farm has been granted planning permission in the Harrogate district.

In 2015 an application to approve a wind farm overlooking Almscliffe Crag was refused by HBC.

Then in 2016, David Cameron’s government announced subsidies for on-shore wind farms would be scrapped, which has seen a sharp fall in new sites across the UK.

Mr Couzens hopes COP26 will help see wind power back on the agenda.

“The construction and development of [wind farms] is ongoing. It’s not ground to a halt, there’s been a reduction in the amount of windfarms, it’s potentially being driven by government incentives.

“I would like to think something meaningful will come out of COP26. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

Story of the lone Japanese First World War soldier buried in Ripon

A lone Japanese soldier is buried among the war dead at Ripon Cemetery.

Private Sannosuke Nishimura’s story reveals attitudes towards immigrants at the time, and how a pandemic cruelly cut short the lives of men who were returning from First World War battlefields.

Ripon resident and military historian Colin Oxley was in the cemetery and found a headstone of a soldier that bore the same surname as his unrelated wife Kazumi, who is from Japan, a country that had very little involvement in the war despite being an ally.

“I was a bit shocked to see the man had same surname as Kazumi.”

The couple used the internet to research how he came to be there and have shared what they discovered with the Stray Ferret.

Emigrated to Canada

Sannosuke was born in Fukushima, Japan, which at the time was a poor part of the country. 

His family, who most likely would have been farmers, emigrated to Canada in the late 1890s in search of a better life.

In their new home of Antelope, Saskatchewan, they were probably not welcomed with open arms as Japanese migrants regularly faced discrimination and racism.

Despite this, around 200 Japanese men volunteered to fight for Canada during the war.

Ripon residents Kazumi Nishimura and Colin Oxley

Ms Nishimura said:

“Discrimination against Japanese migrants was common. They were disallowed the vote and benefits of civil society”.

Sannosuke enlisted towards the end of the war in June 1918 and made the long sea journey to Europe.

There isn’t information on where his battalion was deployed during the war, but he made it out alive.

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The Spanish Flu

Following the end of the conflict, he travelled from France to the massive Ripon demobilisation camp for returning troops awaiting their passage back to Canada.

But in a cruel twist of fate, the troops brought to Ripon with them the deadly Spanish Flu, which ripped through the camp killing Sannosuke and six others. He was 24 years old.

Mr Oxley said.

“It was a disaster. They all came from France and were then shipped out across the Commonwealth spreading the flu. If it wasn’t for the war, it probably wouldn’t have spread like it did. They didn’t have air travel like with covid today.”

Sannusuke’s parents suffered greatly in the years after the war.

After Sannosuke’s mum died in the 1930s, the Canadian government took the Nishimura’s family home off them and sent his father to an internment camp in British Columbia where he died.

Japan was no longer an ally and 22,000 Japanese Canadians were locked up during World War Two in the name of national security.

Mr Oxley said:

“It was a terrible thing that happened, after their son fought in World War One.”

‘I hope he’s not forgotten’

Ms Nishimura said in Japan the war dead are not remembered like they are in the UK.

“They don’t really want to talk about it. War is a disaster history, it’s not celebrated like here.

“Remembrance Day here is fascinating.”

Mr Oxley and Ms Nishimura could not find any living relatives. His younger brother Frank died in 2000 at the respectable age of 94.

Ms Nishimura added:

“I hope his story won’t be forgotten.”

Image Gallery: Cosplayers descend on Harrogate for Comic Con

Hundreds of comic book fans flocked to the Harrogate Convention Centre this weekend for the Thought Bubble Comic Convention.

Three exhibition halls were filled with artists, illustrators and authors who were meeting fans and selling copies of their art. It’s Harrogate’s biggest celebration of comic culture.

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The cosplay phenomenon was popularised in Japan and involves dressing up as a character from a film, book, or video game.

See our image gallery of Saturday’s cosplayers below. Many will do it all again tomorrow.

Which costume is your favourite?

 

120 more positive covid cases in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported 120 cases of covid, according to Public Health England figures.

The district’s 7-day average case rate is 453 per 100,000 people, which is the third-highest rate in North Yorkshire.

Across the county, the average rate is 417 and the England average is 341.

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

Since the pandemic began 197 people have died with covid at the hospital.

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On Friday the gravity of the staffing crisis in social care was underlined as North Yorkshire County Council launched its biggest ever recruitment drive for the sector.

The number of people applying for social care jobs has plummeted, partly due to the introduction of mandatory vaccines for care staff.

Group marches through Harrogate demanding climate change action

A group of over 50 people marched through Harrogate town centre this morning to demand action on climate change.

The good-natured march was organised by Harrogate resident Ian Hallett who was inspired after cycling to COP26 in Glasgow and back.

There were chants and banners with messages about climate change as curious shoppers looked on.

The group included members of Extinction Rebellion Harrogate, Harrogate & District Green Party and Harrogate District Cycle Action,

Mr Hallett said:

“[After COP] it was an opportunity to invite people along for a march.”

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The march was attended by people of all ages. At the front was a colourful banner made by Anna Bryer and her children with the message “Act on the science”.

The colours represent Met Office temperatures from 1850 to the present day and show how the planet has heated.

It was made from recycled fabric, including a prom dress and an old pillow.

Ms Bryer said:

“It’s a striking dramatic and frightening image. It’s based on scientific fact, and we can’t argue with that.

“This is about our children’s future”

Cold Bath Road police chase leads to three drug arrests

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of dealing drugs after police chased a car through the streets of Harrogate.

The arrests took place on Wednesday afternoon after a vehicle failed to stop for the police on Skipton Road, officers chased the vehicle before it crashed on Cold Bath Road with the driver making a getaway.

Passers-by directed police officers towards him and the 23-year-old man was stopped and was arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis with intent to supply, acquiring criminal property, dangerous driving and failing to stop.

The police searched a nearby address and found more drugs and cash. They also arrested two more male suspects, 18 and 15, who were arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

They have been released under investigation while police enquiries continue.

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111 positive covid cases in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported 111 cases of covid, according to Public Health England figures.

The district’s 7-day average case rate is 454 per 100,000 people, which is the third-highest rate in North Yorkshire.

Across the county, the average rate is 417 and the England average is 341.

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

Since the pandemic began 197 people have died with covid at the hospital.

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