Ripon City Council has cleared an important hurdle in its double devolution bid to take control of city assets.

North Yorkshire Council invited town and parish councils to submit expressions of interest to run local services in November last year.

It was part of the Conservative-controlled council’s double devolution agenda which pledges to let local people take control of local assets.

The council said it would choose up to six locations this autumn to put forward full business cases. Final decisions are expected in spring next year before assets are transferred to successful bidders later in the year.

This afternoon Ripon City Council was notified by council assistant chief executive Rachel Joyce the evaluation board proposed to to set up individual project teams to work with Ripon and Selby.

The news is likely to come as a blow for other towns, including Knaresborough, which also expressed interest. Harrogate was unable to bid because it does not have a town council.

Ms Joyce said in correspondence with the city council:

“Two expressions of interest that were considered, submitted by Ripon Town(City) Council and Selby Town Council; were both ambitious and multi-faceted, with a number of service areas involved in the evaluation of their expressions of interest.”

Ripon Town Hall

The Ripon devolution bid sought management of Ripon Town Hall, Market Place and Car Park, public toilets within the city and the Wakeman’s House listed building.

Ms Joyce said:

“Whilst the bids were considered to be showing the level of ambition for their areas that was originally envisaged for the double devolution project they highlighted that the evaluation criteria was not sophisticated enough to manage a wide range of services within its scoring mechanisms.

“It is therefore proposed by the evaluation board that individual project teams are set up to work with Ripon City Council and Selby Town Council to bring forward double devolution proposals to be considered by the executive in these two areas recognising that these may require more support.”

The news has been welcomed by Cllr Andrew Williams, the Independent leader of Ripon City Council, who also represents the Minster and Moorside division on North Yorkshire Council.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“We have cleared an important hurdle and that’s very good news for Ripon as we seek greater say over our own destiny.

“We put forward a very strong double devolution bid and North Yorkshire Council has shown that it is willing to listen to us and work with us — in considerable contrast to the relationship that we had over almost 50 years with Harrogate Borough Council.”

Read more:

• North Yorkshire Council to pick double-devolution winners in October
• Claim Ripon’s bid to control town hall and market square a ‘done deal’

A councillor has said funding intended for Harrogate’s £11.2m Station Gateway should be spent in Skipton if the scheme falls through.

Last month, senior Conservative councillors in Northallerton agreed to consider different options to rescue Harrogate’s troubled transport project.

The most likely option for North Yorkshire Council is to focus on its less controversial aspects, which might include public realm improvements at Station Square and One Arch, in an attempt to deliver the scheme in some form.

But alternative options could also fail to win support and the council may decide to scrap it altogether.

Station Square

Rather than handing money back to government, Andy Brown, the Green Party councillor for Aire Valley  told the council’s Skipton and Ripon planning committee this week the Harrogate money could be used to improve Skipton’s own £7.8m Station Gateway scheme.

Like Harrogate, it’s being paid for through the government’s Transforming Cities Fund but has proved far less controversial with the public than across the A59.

The planning committee met on Tuesday afternoon in Skipton to consider replacing a footbridge over the Leeds and Liverpool canal, which forms part of the Skipton Gateway proposals.

Councillors approved the replacement bridge but its design was strongly criticised as it does not offer ramped disabled access.

Cllr Brown queried if Harrogate Transforming Cities Fund money could be spent on the bridge to improve accessibility.

He said:

“We should be sending a message [to the council] that they seek every alternative source, including if the Harrogate scheme falls through, to achieve disabled access”.

Read more:

• ‘Collective will’ at council to rescue £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway
• Harrogate Station Gateway ‘on life support but not dead yet’

A report prepared for the council’s Conservative-run executive in September confirmed that funding would be able to be transferred from the Harrogate scheme to Skipton or Selby with approval from the government.

It said:

“In principle, this funding may be able to be reallocated to either or both the Selby and Skipton Transforming Cities Fund projects in North Yorkshire. Written approval from the funder would be required which would be requested should this be necessary.

“The full business cases for these projects would have to justify any proposed reallocation in addition to agreement from the funder.”

North Yorkshire Council has said it will put forward its next steps for the Harrogate Station Gateway before November.

The line-up has been revealed for the first Harrogate Music Weekender, which begins in seven days.

Thirty events will take place from Friday, October 13 to Sunday, October 15 and feature everything from rock and acoustic to Ibiza anthems and throwback hits.

Fifteen venues including Manahatta, Husk Beer Emporium, Artizan Café, Piccolino, The Den and Foundry Project will take part in the music extravaganza.

Harrogate Business Improvement District, which is funded by local businesses to increase the number of town centre visitors, has organised the event.

It hopes the event, along with next week’s Visit Harrogate Restaurant Week and the ongoing Harrogate Comedy Festival will provide a town centre boost in the pre-Christmas lull.

DJ Mark Green will kick off the weekend at the Yorkshire Hotel at 6pm on the Friday night with an Ibiza-themed closing party.

As well as the events across the weekend, Harrogate BID will have a walking DJ booth and street performers in the town.

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager said:

“We are looking forward to making this a successful annual offer in the Harrogate events calendar and hopefully bring people from far and wide into the town to experience the vibrant live music offer that we have.”

Here is the line-up.

Read more:

• Free parking in Harrogate multi-storey to boost town centre
• Plan to install electric vehicle charging bays at Harrogate M&S approved

Friday, October 13

Opening event – 6 – 8PM – The Yorkshire Hotel Sky Bar – DJ Mark Green

5:30pm – 7:30pm – Foundry Project – Robbie Miller

7pm – 9pm – Doubletree by Hilton Majestic Hotel & Spa – DJ in Fredericks Lounge

7pm – 11pm – West Park Hotel – DJ & Sax

7:30pm – 9:30pm – Artizan Café – Musical Empowerment, a local inclusive band

8pm – 10pm – Piccolino – DJ

8pm – 10pm – Manahatta – North Road live band

8pm – 10pm – Husk – Biz & Jason band

8pm – 10pm – The Yorkshire Hotel – DJ Dean Snowdon

8pm – midnight – Doubletree by Hilton Majestic Hotel & Spa – Abba Tribute Night (ticketed)

8pm – late – Foundry Project – DJ Patrick Wood

10pm – midnight – The Den – The Robbie Miller Band

Saturday, October 14

2pm – 4pm – HMV, Victoria Shopping Centre – Ade Payne

2pm – 6pm – Harrogate Theatre – Ember and Matt Edgington

3pm – 5pm – The Den – Biz Denton

3pm – late – West Park Hotel

Opening event – 6pm – 8pm – The Crown Hotel – Singo Bingo

7:45pm – 9:15pm – The Den – The Henri Gaston Experience Nigel Clark

8pm – late – Revolucion De Cuba – Mariachi Band and DJ

7pm – late – Manahatta – DJ Max Czernik

8pm – late – Foundry Project – DJ

8pm – late – Piccolino – DJ Josh Farcas

9:45pm – 10:45pm – The Den – Jonny Skinner

11pm – 12:30am – The Den – Nigel Clark (90’s front man from Dodgy)

Sunday, October 15

12pm – 4pm – Husk – Husk’s Sunday Wax – Bring Your Own Vinyl and we’ll play at least 1 side!

1pm – 5pm – Cedar Court Hotel Tipi on The Stray – Nathan – So ‘n’ So Music

4pm – 7pm – Banyan – North Road lead singer and drummer double act

4pm – 11pm – Husk – Harrogate’s Indie’s Block Party DJ Takeover featuring Pizza Social, Husk, Lillypad & Mabgate Bleach on the decks

7pm – 8:45pm – The Den – Jake Pattinson

9pm – 11pm – The Den – Hobo Chic

Twenty three community organisations have shared £55,000 in the latest round of grants awarded by The Local Fund for the Harrogate District.

The successful applicants are small organisations that can use the funding to make a big difference on a range of initiatives, including helping older people participate in activities and addressing loneliness.

They include fortnightly lunch club Lifeline Harrogate,  Knaresborough Museum Association, Jennyruth Workshops in Ripon and Boroughbridge and District Community Care.

The Local Fund was created in 2017 to fund local voluntary organisations.

It is supported by North Yorkshire Council, Harrogate and District Community Action and Two Ridings Community Foundation. It also receives at least 10p from every ticket sold by the Local Lotto.

Read more:

• Ripon’s Blue Cross charity shop closes today
• Polish shop in Harrogate moves to bigger premises as demand grows

Celia McKeon, chief executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, said the grants would “make a huge impact on the wellbeing of local people all over the district”. She added:

“This round of funding has been really interesting and far reaching, distributing grants to address rural isolation alongside activities and support in the local towns.”

Ms McKeon urged local people and businesses who wanted their charitable giving to benefit the communities they live in to invest in the fund.

Here are details of the successful applicants.

North Yorkshire Council looks set to bid for up to £1.7 million worth of funding to help ease pressure on hospital emergency departments.

The Department of Health and Social Care has invited local authorities to apply for grants to help with discharges in social care, which in turn will support accident and emergency units.

Ministers have allocated North Yorkshire as one of the authority areas which has the “greatest health and care challenges”.

The government has given the council an indicative funding amount of £1.1 million, but has encouraged it to apply for up to £1.7 million.

A report by Abigail Barron, assistant director for prevention and service development at the council, has proposed a number of measures as part of the council’s bid.

Among them include employing additional agency social workers to speed up discharge allocations, establishing winter grants for the voluntary sector to help with prevention and developing additional support for unpaid carers.

Ms Barron said the measures would help to “avoid hospital admissions and expedite discharge and flow”.

She added:

“The schemes will also assist North Yorkshire Council’s strategic objective of both supporting hospital discharge and reducing reliance on short stay residential beds.”

Read more:

• Health chief pledges to help patients at Harrogate NHS dentist
• ‘No timeline’ for £1.8m care facility at Cardale Park

The move comes after Harrogate District Hospital managers raised concern that patients were staying in hospital longer than they should because of a lack of private care services.

Last year, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said the issue had a knock on effect on emergency departments and was the “biggest issue” that the trust faced.

In September 2022, the trust also outlined plans to launch its own home care service in a bid to free up hospital beds.

At the time, the move was met with some concern by councillors who said it could “distort the market”.

Parents from Harrogate took part in a demonstration yesterday calling for better school provision for children with special educational needs.

SEND Reform England is staging peaceful protests outside town halls across the country this autumn. Parents from Sen Hub Harrogate joined the latest one in Leeds yesterday.

They are campaigning about issues including lack of spaces at special educational schools and unlawful rejections for Education, Health and Care Plans, which set out what additional support is required by young people with additional needs.

Emily Mitchell and Ashlie Charleton, who co-founded Sen Hub Harrogare to help parents of children with special educational needs, were among the Harrogate contingency in Leeds yesterday.

Emily, whose daughter Elsie is autistic and non-verbal, told the Stray Ferret parents should not have to fight for an education for their children. She added:

“I joined the protest due to my own fight with getting my child into education.

“I am currently going through a tribunal process to fight the local authority who aren’t taking my child’s needs into any consideration.”

Read more:

• Huge interest in new group for Harrogate parents of neurodiverse children
• GALLERY: Rachel Daly returns to Harrogate’s Rossett School

The Stray Ferret Business Club’s next meeting is a breakfast event on Thursday, October 26 at Banyan in Harrogate from 8 am to 10 am. 

The Business Club provides monthly opportunities to network, make new connections and hear local success stories. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

The makers of TV’s The Great British Bake-Off were desperately searching for some retro fridges recently and had their wishes fulfilled by an electrical retailer in Boroughbridge. 

Love Productions was combing the UK for a specific model of fridge-freezer but was drawing a blank because it had been discontinued by Italian manufacturer Zanussi. 

Fortunately, G Craggs, which also has a shop in Ripon, had recognised how popular they were and had bought the last ones in January. The production company sought them out and a deal was done. 

Enjoying the moment, the company posted on its Facebook page: 

“To celebrate this wonderful partnership there are complimentary cakes in store for all customers while stocks last. You might even be served by team member Paul Bakes!”, adding: “Yes… that really is his name!” 

New business director for net zero firm

A Harrogate firm that specialises in carbon accounting and net zero delivery has announced a senior appointment as part of its growth strategy.

Rob Conway joins Flotilla to lead sales and business development operations after 15 years’ work with B2B scale-ups.

Flotilla, which is based on Station Parade, works with client companies to reduce their CO2 output, and its science-based carbon reduction service has been recommended by the United Nations Climate Change initiative.

Rob said:

“After a number of years in the tech space, it was seeing the world through my daughter’s eyes and seeing her interest in the environment, combined with ever-increasing extreme weather events globally, that made me rethink my career path. When I saw the role at Flotilla, I knew that this was the right place and the right time to make a meaningful impact through my role.

“By increasing the number of clients we work with, the larger environmental impact we can have.”

Read more:

• Business Breakfast: Construction firm hires two new directors
• Business Breakfast: Knaresborough company acquires local financial firm
• Business Breakfast: Harrogate marketing agency hires new head of social media

A Polish deli in Harrogate will relaunch in new town centre premises at the weekend. 

Cracovia, which used to occupy a small shop on King’s Road, will reopen on Saturday in a larger unit on Bower Street. 

Owner Maciek Bujakowski told the Stray Ferret: 

“Our little shop on King’s Road had become slightly too small, so we’re moving to a bigger shop where we’ll have more space. The uniqueness of our home-made products, such as pâtés, meatloaves and sausages, gives us a strength over other shops, so we’ve become quite popular. 

“If you come along on Saturday between 9am and 6pm, you’ll be able to taste different kinds of Polish food and drink, and everybody’s welcome.” 

The new shop on Bower Street in Harrogate.

Maciek and wife Kasia not only own the Harrogate shop, but also a restaurant in Chapel Allerton and shops in Armley in Leeds, Acomb in York and Hessle in Hull. In total, they employ 15 people, including four in the new Bower Street shop. 

Originally from Krakow in southern Poland, Maciek began his career with a four-year catering degree and represented his country in international food competitions. 

Kasia and Maciek Bujakowski.

He came to England in 2004, moving around the country for various chef positions, culminating in being made executive chef of the Kimberley Hotel in Harrogate. He opened his first shop, Magic Meat – a wordplay on his first name – on King’s Road in 2015 to cater to the town’s then-growing Polish community. 

He said: 

“When we opened our first shop eight years ago, about 80% of our customers were Eastern European and only 20% English, but now the balance is about 50/50.  

“With Polish food it’s exactly the same as with other kinds of foreign food. People come here from other places, local people try our food and like it, and it becomes more popular. I wouldn’t be surprised if in 30 years’ time, you would see Polish restaurants like you see Indian and Chinese restaurants now. It’s just the evolution of knowledge of food, and it’s changing all the time.”

Read more:

• Gallery: Harrogate’s first Polish Heritage Day
• World food supermarket opens in Harrogate today

England footballer Rachel Daly returned to Rossett School in Harrogate today to rename a 3G sports pitch in her honour.

Rossett’s most famous former student brought the place to a standstill as pupils and teachers turned out to cheer her.

Headteacher Tim Milburn greeted the Aston Villa striker at 10am before she was whisked away to meet staff and tour the building.

When she re-emerged about half an hour later, pupils formed a guard of honour as she walked from the school buildings, accompanied by her dog Dexy, to the pitch.

When they got there, Rachel — wearing white trainers and clothes by her street fashion brand sponsor Hera — joked about how much Dexy loved the attention and thought it was for her.

Dexy was certainly a hit but Rachel, who was accompanied by her family, was the undoubted star on a rare return to the school she left in 2010.

After a short speech from Mr Milburn, Rachel removed a black blanket to reveal a sign for the newly named Rachel Daly 3G Pitch. Behind her, a group of girls played football on the pitch. She said:

“It’s an honour for me to be here and have this named after me.

“It’s great seeing the young girls out here today and having them on a pitch that’s named after me. It’s a feeling I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.”

Rachel, the current PFA Players’ Player of the Year, spoke about coming home with sand burns after playing on the old astroturf pitch and how Rossett and Harrogate held a “special place in my heart”.

Read more:

• Pub landlord councillor creates tribute to Rachel Daly’s dad Martyn
• Celebrations mark Rossett School’s 50th anniversary

Mr Milburn described Rachel, who started out at Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club, as an inspiration not only for Rossett pupils but also for anyone who uses the sports facilities. He added:

“She’s not just a Rossett hero, or a Killinghall hero, she’s a town hero. Why wouldn’t we want to honour her?”

Although the school has been quick to honour Rachel, North Yorkshire Council has yet to indicate whether it will support a call from Killinghall Nomads, supported by the Stray Ferret, for Rachel to receive civic recognition.

The Conservative-controlled council said two months ago it was urgently considering a policy on how to recognise achievements by local people.

The Stray Ferret asked Cllr Simon Myers, whose portfolio oversees such matters, what progress had been made since then but has not received a response.

Here are some images from Rachel’s return to Rossett today.

Headteacher Tim Milburn welcomes Rachel Daly to the school.

Pupils form a guard of honour.

Dexy the dog was never far from Rachel’s side.

Rachel Daly, alongside the Rachel Daly 3G Pitch.

The Rossett Lioness and the sign she unveiled.

Current Rossett footballers look on as Rachel talks to her family.

With current footballers on the 3G pitch.

Dexy takes centre stage again.

North Yorkshire Police has said it has closed part of Harrogate town centre in response to a report of a serious sexual assault on a woman.

Areas of James Street, Petergate and Market Place have been cordoned off to “allow officers to carry out a full and thorough investigation”, the force said in a statement this afternoon.

Four police officers were stationed at the various points along Petergate at lunchtime as a scene guard to preserve any possible evidence.

Petergate today

The little used route at the rear of James Street is lined with commercial waste bins.

The statement added:

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances around the incident.

“Residents and local businesses may notice an increased police presence in the area, as officers continue to gather evidence.”

Read more:

• Police cordon off Harrogate town centre street
• Plan to install electric vehicle charging bays at Harrogate M&S approved