Vicky Carr, Author at The Stray Ferret

Power share bid fails at Harrogate and Knaresborough council committee

A bid to share the leadership of a North Yorkshire Council committee in Harrogate and Knaresborough has failed.

Conservatives sitting on the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee had proposed a shared chairmanship between their councillor, Paul Haslam, and Liberal Democrat Pat Marsh.

Cllr Sam Gibbs, Conservative representative of Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate, said:

“We’ve clearly got two very good, qualified candidates for this role. I know my LD colleagues are really fond of job shares. I was wondering if they’d be interested in job sharing this role over the next 12 months?

“We’ve heard them in previous meetings suggest such things and think it’s a really good idea, so let’s see if they’re keen to follow through on this occasion.”

The proposal caused some confusion, with the council’s democratic services manager Daniel Harry saying no other committee had had two chairmen before on an NYC committee or at North Yorkshire County Council before it.

However, he said there was no legal reason it could not happen, as long as the terms were clear, such as chairing alternate meetings.

Cllr Arnold Warneken, who is not a committee member but attends the meetings as Green party councillor for Ouseburn, said:

“I know I’m not allowed to propose anything or vote, but I’m going to ask a question: do the candidates both agree that they would do that?”

Cllr Pat Marsh, who represents the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone division and was leader of the Liberal Democrats in opposition at Harrogate Borough Council, responded:

“No, I’m not happy to share that. Sorry.”

Committee members were then asked to vote on whether the post should be shared. The five Conservatives all voted in favour, but were defeated by the seven Liberal Democrats who opposed the plan.

Instead, Pat Marsh was elected as chairman with seven votes in favour and five abstentions.

A bid for Cllr Haslam to be elected as vice chairman was also defeated by six votes to five with one abstention. Cllr Monika Slater, the Lib Dem representative of Bilton Grange and New Park, was chosen instead by seven votes in favour to none against and five abstentions.

Cllr Marsh is also chair of the planning committee for the area, where Cllr Haslam is vice chairman. Three other Liberal Democrats and two further Conservatives also sit on that committee.

Residents demand progress on west Harrogate infrastructure plan

Residents’ groups in the west of Harrogate have expressed “total dissatisfaction” with infrastructure improvements in the area.

Seven parish councils and residents’ associations shared their frustrations with the lack of progress as thousands of new homes are built.

They said they had been promised a draft document almost a year ago but were yet to see it, or any other progress.

Rene Dziabas, chairman of Harrogate and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association, spoke on behalf of the groups at North Yorkshire Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee last week.

He said:

“At the time, we expressed the view that much of this work came over as incoherent and lacking any real structure. We were assured that a complete infrastructure strategy and associated delivery schedule would be made available in October of last year.

“Council representatives assured us that these documents would include clear objectives, clear deliverables, timings, supporting data and financial costings. This was a council commitment, not one initiated by us as stakeholders.

“Yet here we are in mid-2023 and the latest position is that consultants are still looking at the viability of what previous consultants have proposed.So far we have seen no hard detail whatsoever in relation to the infrastructure strategy and delivery schedule and no offer of meaningful engagement with the community.

“Recent correspondence would seem to indicate further delays therefore our overall concern is that this work when it eventually emerges will deliver an ineffective and inadequate package.”

Mr Dziabas said there were 4,000 new homes being built around the west of Harrogate, “the equivalent of a small town”.

Residents were concerned about the impact not just on roads, but on medical facilities, schools, buses and other infrastructure.

He said the local plan, which sets out where development can happen, was being put together more than a decade ago, yet there had been no changes to infrastructure to cope with the building that had already taken place.

He added:

“The reality is that we are now some years on and we see nothing that convinces us that there’s any sort of plan in place that will help to mitigate strains on the infrastructure to the west of Harrogate.”

In response, NYC’s planning and transport departments issued a joint statement, which was read out by meeting clerk Mark Codman.

It said the local plan and related documents set a “clear framework” for development, while section 106 agreements with developers were used to leverage investment for infrastructure improvements.

A review and costings exercised had been commissioned by the previous councils, it said, and would provide “clarification and certainty”. It added:

“The complex nature of the work means it is not yet complete. Officers are prioritising this work, however the nature of strategic projects does sometimes involve unforeseen delays.”

Cllr Chris Aldred, who represents High Harrogate and Kingsley for the Liberal Democrats, said he was in agreement with the residents.

He recalled hearing a similar call for progress at a meeting a year before, and said he was frustrated to be in the same position now. He added:

“Really, we do need to get our act together on these matters, because people are living in a state of flux where nothing is happening and it’s not fair to the residents.

“I strongly want the executive to get on top of this. I know we’ve had the distraction of local government reorganisation and eight councils into one, but that has now been achieved and we really need to move on with these matters.

“i don’t want to be sitting here in a year’s time and having similar presentations from parish councils.”

Three men charged after stabbing in Harrogate

Three men have been charged with wounding after a man was stabbed in Harrogate on Thursday night.

It happened in the Dragon Road area, where police were called just after 9.30pm to reports a man had suffered stab wounds.

The victim’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The men, all from West Yorkshire, were arrested by North Yorkshire Police and are due to appear at York Magistrates Court tomorrow (Monday).

All three were charged with wounding with intent, while one has also been charged with possessing a knife in a public place.

Another of the trio faces a further charge of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possessing a knife in a public place.

Detective Chief Inspector Fionna McEwan, of North Yorkshire Police, said:

“I hope members of public in Harrogate are reassured by the swift police response in this case, which has resulted in three men being charged.

“Incidents like this are extremely rare in our area. Officers from the local Neighbourhood Policing Team have increased local patrols, and will be happy to speak to residents if they have any further concerns.”

Concerns over ‘undemocratic’ planning meeting on Knox Lane houses

Questions have been raised over whether the planning process is democratic after a controversial housing application in Harrogate was deferred for a third time.

The 53-home proposal for Knox Lane was discussed at a planning committee meeting at the end of May, but councillors were told this week that residents were unhappy about the way it had been conducted.

The plans were recommended for approval, but councillors did not follow planning officers’ advice.

Instead they voted to defer it again because the developer, Jomast, had not carried out the land contamination report requested at the last meeting.

This week, nearby resident Adele Laura Wilson asked North Yorkshire Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee why the report had been brought to the planning committee again by officers when the requested information was still not available.

She also said a motion was put forward at the meeting to reject the application, but officers advised them they needed to have planning reasons for turning the plans down otherwise the decision would be overturned at appeal, with costs to the council.

Ms Wilson added:

“That motion was not allowed to be voted on. This surely is in contravention of the democratic process.”

She also said incorrect information was given to the committee about the site, which an officer said was only partially in a special landscape area (SLA). The whole site was in fact part of the SLA, Ms Wilson said, but there was no opportunity for this to be corrected during the planning meeting.

She said:

“I would ask this committee to consider if the current planning committee is being given the powers to truly consider and question planning applications or are they redundant? And are planning applications being decided by just the planning officers and the solicitors?”

Resident Alison Hayward said she was addressing Thursday’s area constituency committee on behalf of residents in Knox and Bilton, who were “extremely disappointed and outraged” by the situation.

Ms Hayward said:

“We believe that it was unconstitutional and contrary to the principles of fair representation of the community.

“Although we are disappointed in the result [of the vote to defer the application again], this statement is relating to the process of the meeting rather than that result.

“We ask this constituency meeting to reflect on the failures and the conduct of the planning meeting and consider how to correct the injustice to the local community and democracy.”

She said the meeting had been held during the half-term holidays, when fewer local people were available to attend.

Ms Hayward also raised concerns about the fact the planning meeting had not been streamed live, as it would usually be, because of “technical problems” on the day. She said this meant there was no “proper record” of the meeting, as the minutes did not record everything discussed.

In a statement read by clerk Mark Codman, NYC’s legal, planning and democratic services departments responded:

“The council does apologise for the lack of a live stream. The issue was only discovered on the morning of the meeting and it couldn’t be resolved.”

The statement said there was no legal requirement for a meeting to be recorded and minutes were never verbatim. Live streaming was only introduced in Harrogate during the covid pandemic, and was not used for all meetings across North Yorkshire.

The statement also said:

“It was made clear to members of the committee that they were free to vote in whichever way they wanted, but were advised of the implications of their choosing to do so on the basis of inadequate material planning reasons.”

Keen sportsman seeks amputee padel players in Harrogate

A sports enthusiast is looking for the perfect partner to play padel with in Harrogate – with one particular requirement.

Andrew Simister has only recently tried the sport, but was immediately a fan after his first session at Surge in Harrogate.

However, because he lost his leg last year following an accident and now uses a prosthesis, he needs to find another amputee to join him on the court.

Mr Simister said:

“I tried padel a few weeks ago and I loved it, but I can’t play it unless there is someone to play against. My friends play it, my son plays it, but I can’t at the moment.

“It’s doubles, so I need at least one other amputee on the other team to make it fair.”

Mr Simister’s right leg was amputated above the knee after he was involved in a collision last February.

The company director said he still has “good days and bad days” after the operation to remove his leg in March 2022, adding “on the whole, it’s good”.

He was previously a keen sportsman and has got back to doing as much as he can.

While he is no longer able to run – though is hoping he may be able to use a blade in future – he has a good level of fitness and hopes he can find someone of a similar level to play against.

He added:

“I would like some sort of competition – someone that’s going to be of a similar standard.

“I don’t suppose they have to be amputees, but some sort of disability that means they would be a good match for me.”

Anyone interested in playing padel with Mr Simister can find him on Instagram, or contact the Stray Ferret.

Staff sent home as Knaresborough housebuilder seeks urgent investment

A housebuilder based near Knaresborough has reportedly sent its staff home this afternoon after reports it was urgently seeking investment.

Ilke Homes is said to have told several hundred staff not to come into work at its Flaxby factory until further notice.

They have reportedly been told they will be paid, and will be called back in when the company finds an investor. Managers will continue to work in the 250,000 sq ft factory next week.

The company, which manufactures modular homes, was reported by industry publication Building to have been seeking a new investor this week.

Last week, Companies House began action to strike Ilke Homes off the register of companies because it was late filing. It discontinued the action two days later.

The company said it had been given an extension until the end of this month to file its accounts, during which time it was aiming to secure new funding.

Chief financial officer Patrick Bergin told Building:

“We can file, the accounts are ready, [but] the final conversation with the auditor is around whether they include a caution in the audit report that references the severe but plausible downside scenario.

“I’m shooting for the cleanest outcome.”

The Stray Ferret has attempted to contact Ilke Homes but not had a response.

Mum of boy seriously injured on school run in Harrogate issues plea for 20mph limit

The mother of a 15-year-old boy seriously injured in a collision on the way to school in Harrogate has issued an emotional plea for road safety improvements.

Stephanie Talbot’s son Reuben was one of two Rossett School students hit by a pick-up truck on Yew Tree Lane on February 2.

Four months on from the collision, she has given her backing to a campaign to impose a 20mph limit on streets across a swathe of south and west Harrogate.

In a statement read by road safety campaigner and fellow parent Jenny Marks at today’s meeting of North Yorkshire Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, she said:

“They were on the pavement [when they were hit]. My daughter was also involved in the collision as her car was hit by the same truck. My youngest son was right behind his brother on the pavement and so witnessed the whole incident.

“My husband and I were right there within a few minutes of the accident happening. Reuben’s body had landed in positions it should never be in.

“Pieces of wall had to be removed from his body and he had eight broken bones: arms, leg and back… I was later told that when the paramedics arrived his stats showed that he could easily have died while on the ground there.

“I will never get over what I saw and heard that day.”

Some members of the committee were moved to tears as Dr Marks continued to read Ms Talbot’s statement.

It said her daughter had never felt safe walking to school in the area and had even been hit by a car near Rossett Sports Centre last September – which also happened while she was on the path.

Ms Talbot said she felt a 20mph network around schools in Harrogate would make children and parents feel safer to walk and cycle around the area, adding:

“Putting action in place should not be done as a consequence to a child’s injury or even death, but this accident should be a wake-up call to all parents, grandparents and the community to know that we need to make a change in our beautiful but busy town to enable our children to feel safe.

“Seventeen weeks on and many aspects of our lives are still on hold because of these injuries. I cannot even explain the pain and trauma that we have all gone through and will live with for the rest of our lives.

“Please be the people that make a difference.”

Petition

Campaigners Hazel Peacock and Vicki Evans presented a petition at the meeting with 924 signatures from people in support of reducing the speed limit to 20mph across the Oatlands, Hookstone, Pannal Ash and St George’s areas, where around 9,000 children attend local schools.

Ms Peacock told the meeting that evidence from other projects around the UK showed the reduction could have a significant impact on the severity of collisions.

She added:

“You have just heard of the devastating effects of the collision on Yew Tree Lane in February, and you are also aware of the collision outside Oatlands Junior School, also on the pavement, in January.

“These awful events coupled with overwhelming evidence of the benefits of 20mph limits demonstrate why change is urgently needed.”

Hazel Peacock handed the petition to North Yorkshire Council last month, with support from councillors and campaigners

While councillors on all sides of the chamber gave their support to the calls for a reduced speed limit, the Conservatives highlighted the fact that a pilot project had already been requested.

North Yorkshire Council is developing a policy on 20mph limits around schools and other urban areas, and Cllr John Mann (Conservative, Oatlands and Pannal) said he was keen to see the results of that work guide how a lower speed limit could be used in the area.

Conservative Cllr Sam Gibbs of the Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate division said:

“I do have one very slight reservation: 99% of the roads that are in this scheme I don’t have an issue with. However, the main roads of Leeds Road and Otley Road would be a slight concern to me if they were brought in to 20mph.”

Cllr Paul Haslam, the Conservative councillor for Bilton and Nidd Gorge, said there needed to be a shift in attitudes and behaviours to make the school run safer, adding:

“We can put in a 20mph speed limit, but at the end of the day it’s all about behavioural and attitude changes to this. When we did the stats on Harrogate in 2018, I think more than 60% of the journeys in this town are less than 1.8km – not even miles, 1.8km.

“Surely we should be able to walk those distances, and a lot of that is to do with school commuting.”

The Liberal Democrats put forward a motion in support of the petition, calling on North Yorkshire Council to deliver a 20mph limit on streets across the area.

The proposal was voted through and will be passed to NYC’s executive.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Matt Walker, representing the Knaresborough West division, added:

“This is an opportunity that we should not miss and we need to show the executive our views on this.

“This tragedy should not have happened and it’s within our gift to send that message on our views to the executive so that this does not happen to anybody else.”

Harrogate councillors renew calls for public involvement in Station Gateway plans

Councillors from Harrogate and Knaresborough have reiterated calls for “meaningful” involvement in the £11.2 million Station Gateway scheme.

The request followed the news that representatives of the Department for Transport and West Yorkshire Combined Authority visited Harrogate yesterday.

They were given a tour of the town centre and shown through plans for major changes to Station Parade and surrounding routes.

Speaking at today’s meeting of Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, North Yorkshire Council‘s head of major projects and infrastructure Richard Binks said:

“It was the first time they had actually visited the site in person. They were really taken with what they saw.

“They really think the scheme’s fantastic and were showing a great deal of support for the project.”

However, members of the committee expressed surprise that they were unaware the visit was taking place.

At a heated meeting on May, the same committee had agreed to support the project, provided the committee was given “meaningful involvement” in its execution.

NYC’s officers were also asked to meet face-to-face with local residents and businesses, which today’s meeting also heard had not yet happened.

The committee members were presented with a petition of 2,000 signatures opposing the Station Gateway project by local resident Rachel Inchborough, who told the meeting:

“We feel we’ve had a lack of any in-person consultation for residents and it is of a key significance. We’ve been offered a quick Zoom session online, at short notice, to tick boxes.

“Residents feel this was a complete insult.”

Councillors voted in May to support the Station Gateway scheme

Some of the committee members queried the petition’s veracity, saying its signatories included people from as far away as South Africa.

They also pointed out that even 500 local signatures – the threshold needed to have the petition debated by the committee – were not representative of all views from local residents.

Several Conservative members of the committee said they did not want to undermine the original vote in May to support the proposal.

Cllr Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, added:

“There’s a fundamental point here that this committee passed a resolution that we wanted a meaningful role in the implementation of the scheme.

“The chair is against the scheme. The chair wants to stop the scheme. The chair, despite what this committee said, went to the executive committee and implored them to stop the scheme. The petition wants to stop the scheme. The two things are at odds.

“We’re talking about people who want to stop the scheme, not who want meaningful input in the scheme. You can say what you like, but that’s the fact of the matter.

“I’m quite happy to have a meaningful role in implementing the scheme but we’re kidding ourselves if we think this is what this is.”

However, other councillors called for officers to uphold the wishes of the committee to engage with the community about the detail of the proposal.

Cllr Monika Slater, a Liberal Democrat who represents Bilton Grange and New Park, said:

“This isn’t about trying to overthrow a motion we already passed at the previous meeting.

“This is genuinely about looking at the concerns of specific individuals and seeing if there are ways of mitigating and therefore bringing more of the public on side of actually supporting a scheme and involving the local councillors much more in that process.”

Councillors voted by eight to four in favour of asking for a full list of meetings to be held with local groups and for committee members to be invited as well. They also supported the proposal of a working group being set up, with representation from both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, to focus on the Station Gateway project.

Cllr Chris Aldred, the Lib Dem representative for High Harrogate and Kingsley who put forward the motion, said:

“This is not designed to stop the scheme. It is designed for a scheme to continue.

“I voted for the original proposal and I’ve always said there are some parts of this scheme I find really attractive, One Arch being one of them.

“I do sincerely believe that we need to demonstrate that we’ve listened to the voices of the people who came to the last meeting, the people who’ve signed this petition.”

Harrogate estate agency blames pandemic as it goes into liquidation

A Harrogate estate agency founded 14 years ago has gone into liquidation, blaming difficult trading conditions during the pandemic.

Hopkinsons Estate Agents, a trading name of Howroyd Estates Limited, went into insolvent liquidation yesterday, Monday, June 5, according to a notice in The Gazette today.

The Harrogate-based business was founded in 2009 and Jeremy Hopkinson had been the sole director since 2015.

He has applied to continue using the trading name of Hopkinsons Estate Agents and has vowed to continue trading with his existing team.

Mr Hopkinson told the Stray Ferret:

“Howroyd Estates Limited has entered voluntary liquidation due to trading difficulties during the pandemic period.

“A deal has been agreed to acquire the business to continue to trade as Hopkinsons Estate Agents.

“There are no staff redundancies and the business will continue to offer its quality services to its existing and new clients.”

Mr Hopkinson was seriously ill with covid in the early days of the pandemic and required a lengthy stay in hospital. He then suffered from long covid for a further 18 months.

The company has also been the victim of an alleged fraud, in which a couple are said to have claimed to be wealthy in order to make financial gains.

A warrant was issued for the couple’s arrest at the end of last month after they failed to appear at York Crown Court.

Holroyd Estates’ most recent accounts show debts of just over £550,000, up from £162,000 in 2018.

Fashion event set for return after boosting shops’ sales in Harrogate

Retailers in Harrogate have been celebrating after analysing the results of a fashion-focused day designed to boost the town centre.

The Celebration of Fashion, organised by Harrogate Business Improvement District, saw hundreds of garments brought to the catwalk by dozens of local models.

Wall-to-wall sunshine helped to bring out the crowds for the event outside Victoria Shopping Centre, while the Stray Ferret, as media partner, shared it with tens of thousands more viewers online.

The catwalk was filled with everything from charity shop finds to wedding dresses, featuring outfits from retailers including LK Bennett, Marks and Spencer, Morgan Clare, Primark and more.

The organisers and participants have now analysed the results for the day and they make for impressive reading.

Harrogate BID manager Matthew Chapman said:

“We are very proud to have planned and delivered such a successful event, working with the Stray Ferret and Victoria Shopping Centre.

“Over 40 retailers took part in the day, with over 20,000 visitors walking through the shopping centre during the event. The retailers all saw an increase in sales in the days and weeks after, with certain items that had been showcased selling out on the actual day – which is fantastic to hear.

“We are very much hoping the event will return in 2024 and that it will be bigger and better.”

Crowds watch the action on the catwalk

For Hoopers, the make-up demonstration created an “instant reaction” in encouraging customers to shop in the store, and the menswear department saw a “great reaction” after the wedding and bridal show.

General manager Nick Hubbert said:

“The day was fantastic and for me personally it was about working with the local community of retailers.

“Commercially it’s more of an advert and opportunity to show case our fashion offer, more of the planting the seed and awareness of the product available in Hoopers.”

Adding his voice in praise of the event, Victoria Shopping Centre manager James White said:

“Wow – I think it’s safe to say that the Harrogate celebration of fashion was a true success. I, along with everyone in the town, was truly blown away!

“The event brought a brilliant energy to the town centre, and it was fantastic to see that reflected in both sales and footfall for our retailers. We were thrilled to be able to host the event at Victoria Shopping Centre.”

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