Proposals for Harrogate Town Council expected next year

New proposals to set-up a Harrogate Town Council are now expected next year, according to North Yorkshire Council.

Harrogate and Scarborough were expected to get their own town councils in May 2024 but the process was delayed after councillors on North Yorkshire Council, which is charged with setting up the local authorities, asked to redraw its ward boundaries.

Residents had previously backed the creation of two councillor wards arranged by the current 10 North Yorkshire Council divisions. Saltergate would have had just one councillor.

However, Conservative councillors on North Yorkshire Council said they didn’t want to proceed with this model and instead wanted to see single councillor wards based around the 19 former Harrogate Borough Council boundaries.

This means there will have to be a third public consultation so the public can have their say on the new wards.

The consultations are a legal necessity but it will take the combined cost of holding them to more than £140,000.

Barry Khan, North Yorkshire Council’s assistant chief executive legal and democratic services, said: 

“Officers are continuing to work on possible warding patterns for both Harrogate and Scarborough town councils and a report setting out options will be taken to the standards and governance committee next year.”

This month, the council revealed the winners and losers of the 12 ‘double-devolution’ bids from parishes that would like to take control of assets in their areas.

Read more:

Harrogate Town Council, if it’s created, could apply to run services in the town such as looking after its parks or the Stray, operating car parks or managing the Royal Hall.

The council has said that households would initially be asked to pay between £40 and £60 on top of their council tax to allow the town council to have an annual budget in the range of £1m to £1.6m.

If residents approve the proposals laid out in the next consultation, the council would likely form in April 2025 with elections taking place in May, although this has not been confirmed yet.

Harrogate poppy appeal seeks volunteers

The Harrogate branch of the Royal British Legion has issued a plea for volunteers to help with this year’s appeal.

Chairman Mike Comerford said the branch needed six to eight people to distribute poppies and collection tins as well as to take part in street collections.

Poppies were due to start going up in Harrogate today ahead of Remembrance Sunday on November 12. Ripon already has a magnificent display.

Mr Comerford said there was a shortage of volunteers this year because some regular helpers were either too old or unwell to give as much time.

He said volunteers who could drive were required from tomorrow (Tuesday) to distribute the poppies and collection tins on prescribed routes.

Street collections begin on Saturday (October 28) but shops can sell poppies before then.

Six hundred boxes, each containing 150 poppies, are distributed as part of Harrogate’s poppy appeal.

The poppy appeal provides support for members of the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, veterans and their families.

The town raised about £50,000 of the £48 million generated nationally by the Royal British Legion last year.

Anyone interested in helping can call Mr Comerford on 07954125891 or email him at mike.comerford@ntlworld.com.

Read more:

 

Rigby & Peller in Harrogate – the art of making all women feel beautiful

The story is sponsored by Rigby & Peller. 

Wearing beautiful lingerie makes a woman feel sensational. It makes us feel confident in our bodies, no matter what shape we are.

At Rigby & Peller in Harrogate, the manager, Donna Rose and her team understand this and have created a bra-fitting experience that is personal, empathetic and joyful. They understand women, our bodies at all ages and put you at ease. They are masters at knowing which of their beautifully crafted lingerie brands will work best with your shape. There’s never any pressure to buy.

This holistic, female-centred approach has been honed over decades. Rigby & Peller was established in London in 1939 and is famous for its ‘fit by eye’ technique which means there’s not a measuring tape to be found in any of Rigby & Peller’s 45 boutiques across the world.

Donna says the power of beautifully made lingerie that fits perfectly can be transformative:

“Our new collections invite you to celebrate your authentic self, elevate your wardrobe from the foundations up, and help you enjoy your inner glamour. Stunning lingerie is not just for special occasions or gifts – it’s a wonderful way to boost your own confidence whilst ensuring you have that silhouette you’ve always wanted.

“Whatever your shape or personal style, there is gorgeous lingerie waiting to flatter, sculpt and support you.”

Campaign photographs showcasing Andres Sarda Miley set (L) and Marie Jo Etoile set (R)

Now the boutique is combining this personal expertise with an innovative 3D mirror. The mirror takes 140 measurements of a woman’s upper body in less than a minute. It can instantly determine your exact bra size. You can then compare styles using photos and see what style of bra and brand is for you.

Donna, says :

“With assistance from one of our stylists, this unique technology helps you find your perfect bra size, as well as giving you a unique shopping experience.

At Rigby & Peller, we’re committed to evolution and this demonstrates just one of the ways we put our clients’ experience and comfort along with the best fit of the highest-quality lingerie and swimwear.”

Photo of a customer trying on lingerie during a fitting session at Rigby & Peller, using new 3D mirror technology.

Rigby & Peller’s new technology takes 140 measurements of a client’s body to find the perfect fit for its luxury lingerie.

To celebrate this new addition to the Rigby & Peller experience, the boutique on Station Bridge is holding an event on Thursday November 9 between 6pm and 8pm.

Hobbs clothing and luxury skincare brands Temple Spa and La Prairie will also be showcasing their exceptional seasonal products.

To meet Donna and her team and to book your place at this special event, call the boutique on 01423 521613 or email harrogate@rigbyandpeller.com

 

Find out more: 

No appointment is needed at Rigby & Peller, but they are available if your time is more limited.

You can book a free lingerie styling appointment online. 

To view Rigby & Peller’s latest ranges, visit the shop at 1-2 Station Bridge in Harrogate or head to the website.

Met Office issues another rain warning in Harrogate district

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain in the Harrogate district.

The warning is in place from 3am until 4pm tomorrow (October 24).

It warns the district could see heavy rain, which may lead to further flooding.

Land remains saturated in the wake of Storm Babet, which disrupted travel and closed attractions across the district.

All Storm Babet flood alerts and warnings for the district have now been removed.

An alert for the River Ure in Ripon was taken down this morning.

Read more:

 

North Yorkshire Conservatives dismiss claims over residents’ questions ban

Conservative leaders on North Yorkshire Council have dismissed claims they are attempting to “stifle democracy” by banning residents who cannot attend their weekday daytime committee meetings from having their questions read out.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of the authority, said the move had been proposed by a cross-party group of councillors earlier this month and was designed to prevent council meetings becoming overwhelmed by questions, impeding debates and council business on the agendas.

Cllr Les was speaking after the authority’s executive pushed forward a series of changes to its constitution last week, including banning questions from residents unless they attended meetings, which are all held from Monday to Friday and during conventional working hours.

The cross-party group of councillors had considered whether the discretion of the meeting’s chair to allow questions to be read out in the questioner’s absence should be removed.

The group has proposed that unless there was an exceptional reason, such as a disability, any member of the public wishing to ask a question should attend the meeting or send a representative to do so.

Failure to do so would mean the question not being read at the meeting, however a written response from council officers would be provided.

Read more:

The group also felt that meeting chairs should be able to handle the 30-minute public question time at the start of meetings “in their absolute discretion”.

The proposals, to be put before a full meeting of the authority next month, follows criticism that reducing the number of councillors in the county from more than 319 to 90 in forming the unitary council had produced “a democratic deficit”.

The criticism follows the administration facing fierce opposition to setting a time limit on councillors’ questions to the council’s executive members at the quarterly full meetings of the authority, the only opportunity in which elected community representatives can raise issues before all their counterparts.

Liberal Democrat councillor Steve Mason said the proposals to be put before a full meeting of the authority next month were “deeply concerning”.

He said: 

“Over the past two years we have seen democracy and community engagement attacked and blocked again and again with local government reform.

“There is a growing mistrust of underhand tactics which undermine basic British democratic values. Opposition councillors have already been censored, now they are going after the public rights as well.”

Independent group leader on the authority, Cllr Stuart Parsons added: 

“This is yet another attempt to stifle democracy and limit legitimate scrutiny at North Yorkshire Council.

“It also show that the Conservatives have failed to understand that people have busy lives and are not always available at 10am. Perhaps if North Yorkshire Council held its’ meeting at times suitable for the public then more people would be able to attend.”

The administration, which after seeing its narrow overall majority slip away has merged with three Independent members to form a Conservatives and Independents ruling group, claimed setting a time limit was necessary to ensure the council’s business would not be impeded by endless questions.

Cllr Les said: 

“It is a bit disingenuous to say it is the executive driving this through. What we are doing is acting what the cross-party group has spent some time talking through and coming up with a majority, if not unanimous view.

“Certainly we are not against members of the public speaking at committees.”

When asked if he was concerned many members of the public could struggle to attend the weekday meetings, Cllr Les said the objectors had raised “a valid point”.

He added: 

“The counter point is you could then have a lot of written questions to any meeting and it might get difficult to manage.

“If you had 100 people writing in with a question the committee would only ever spend its time talking about the questions that have been put by absentee members of the public.”

Artist and designer open gift shop in Harrogate

An artist and designer have combined their talents to open a gift shop in Harrogate.

Katie and Howard Shelmerdine opened Lighthouse Lane on Royal Parade.

The couple, who have two other shops, describe the venture as a “design-led gift, art, homeware and greetings card brand”.

Katie is responsible for the artwork and Howard specialises in the Yorkshire product range.

About half of the products are designed and often made in house.

Katie said:

“We opened our first retail store in Haworth in 2015. After welcoming our first child, we left our jobs working for a high street bank and decided to give running a business a go.

“We had no experience in the creative world but knew we were passionate about it and decided the time was as right as it could have been.”

They opened a second shop in Skipton in 2019 and have now set-up business in Harrogate. Katie said:

“We are very excited to become a part of the community of vibrant Montpellier independent retailers, cafes and bars.

“We hope that our store is a welcoming, fun and relaxing place to visit where you might find that special something to treat yourself to.”

Read more:

 

Rose arch erected — but will Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens be renamed?

A rose arch has been erected in Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens — but a decision on whether to rename the area has yet to be finalised.

Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished in April, announced plans to re-landscape Crescent Gardens in February, shortly after it hosted an ice rink and funfair last Christmas.

The activities are due to return for a longer period this year and for the following two years.

A report at the time by Kirsty Stewart, the council’s parks and ground maintenance manager, said “we would like to take the opportunity to upgrade the area to enable better accommodation of future events with less disruption to the planting in this area”.

The report also proposed changing the name of the area to The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Garden as part of the £21,000 makeover, stating:

“A large plaque in the central bed to be relocated is dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The plaque has recently been removed as it required repair.

“Given the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II, the relocation of the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother plaque and the sale of the Crescent Gardens building, we are proposing the gardens area is renamed as the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Gardens and would welcome cabinet members view on this.”

Although Harrogate Borough Council approved the recommendation, the Stray Ferret asked the successor authority North Yorkshire Council if the new name will be adopted.

Jonathan Clubb, head of parks and grounds at council, said:

“In February, the former Harrogate Borough Council agreed to look into whether the area of Crescent Gardens can be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Garden.

“There is a process we have to follow to apply for the naming and we will continue to pursue this.”

The steel rose arch, which will nurture climbing roses, has been installed along with flower beds as part of the re-landscaping, which used £10,000 of the budget.

The works were part of the ongoing management of Harrogate’s parks and grounds to maintain a vibrant, attractive location for residents and visitors, Mr Chubb added.

However, the nearby pavilion remains sealed off by fencing after it was recently used by a group of homeless people.

Read more:

 

North Yorks Council warns action to plug £25m black hole is essential

The politician charged with ensuring a range of key services are maintained for North Yorkshire’s 618,000 residents has warned unless the authority strips back £25m of annual costs its ability to fulfil a range of economic goals will be significantly curtailed.

North Yorkshire Council‘s executive member for finance, Councillor Gareth Dadd, issued the alert as the authority’s executive met to consider pushing forward the recently launched unitary council’s first economic strategy.

The meeting heard the five-year plan was set to be launched next year and aim to support business growth, key sector development, generating inward investment and prioritising regeneration while improving infrastructure and connectivity.

Executive members were told the vision is to be “an innovative, carbon negative economy driven by our productive and entrepreneurial business base and the places and communities that make North Yorkshire distinctive”.

Cllr Dadd, who is also the authority’s deputy leader, said as moves to consider next year’s budget were getting underway, even with grant funding for some of the economic development opportunities the council was pursuing it would still need to financially support the schemes.

Referring to the strategy, he said:

“It is a salutary reminder of the importance of us getting our revenue budget in ship-shape order for us to make choices over some of the priorities that this document will produce.”

After the meeting, Cllr Dadd said the council was set to make “substantial in-roads” into the £25m black hole in the coming months, with authority prioritising making operational efficiencies, while not ruling out cuts to services.

He emphasised while creating the unitary authority had presented savings opportunities, many councils across the country were facing “immense financial challenges”.

He said:

“If we don’t sort the revenue budget out and continue taking from reserves then our ability to fulfil the economic development plan will be rapidly diminished because we will not have the reserves to support it.

“The first station of this train journey has to be to have a sustainable revenue budget which will then lead to council tax cuts or investment in services.

“Clearly that puts us in a great position to make those choices and if we do decide to invest then we need to prioritise that as well. There is no running away from it – everything is underpinned by the revenue budget.”

The authority’s recurring annual deficit is forecast to have fallen by about £5m since the start of the financial year, partly as a result of having increased buying power following the merger of eight councils.

Cllr Dadd added:

“Our priority will always be efficiencies in operations rather than service cuts. We are looking at back office first and the premium from unitary is there to be taken. It won’t all come at once.

“I can’t guarantee there won’t be service changes, but as long as I have a breath in my body and in the position I am, the influence I have got will be used to protect services for vulnerable people.”

Read more:

 

Business Breakfast: Connexions to withdraw Knaresborough-Harrogate bus service

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

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

Connexions, the family-run bus operator based at Tockwith, is to withdraw its X1 service in two weeks’ time.

The last X1 service, which runs from St James’ Retail Park to Harrogate via Knaresborough High Street and Starbeck, will run on Friday, November 3.

Connexions managing director Craig Temple told the Stray Ferret:

“We do have quite a lot of passengers on that route, but it loses more money during the school holidays than it makes during term-time.

“Our costs have soared – it’s incredibly difficult. Since covid, not many people want to drive buses, so we’ve had to put up wages by 25% over the last two years.

“Fuel costs have risen, insurance has gone up by a third, and concessionary fare reimbursement hasn’t kept up with rising costs. We’re also losing money because of the £2 fare-cap because the government doesn’t cover the costs adequately.”

He added that customers would not be left “high and dry” because the X1 route was serviced by other buses, and said that all the company’s other routes remain unchanged.

Connexions currently operates 37 bus services, including many school buses, on routes around York, Leeds, Tadcaster, Otley, Harrogate and Knaresborough.

CNG liquidator appointed

A liquidator has been appointed to oversee the final chapter in CNG Group’s saga.

The commercial gas supplier was once one of Harrogate’s fastest-growing and most successful businesses, and a sponsorship deal with Harrogate Town AFC even saw the club’s ground renamed the CNG Stadium.

But a surge in wholesale gas prices made it uneconomical for many providers to continue to trade, and CNG collapsed in November 2021 owing £82m, with the loss of all 145 jobs. At the time, it was the 19th energy supplier to fail that year.

The group’s creditors have appointed Timothy Bateson, director of national business advisory company Interpath Ltd, as liquidator.

Read more:

 

Stray Views: Valley Drive parking fines a ‘money spinner’

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Valley Drive parking fines are a council money spinner

It is little wonder the council makes so much money from parking fines on Valley Drive in Harrogate as one side of the road permits three hours of parking whilst the opposite side gives only one hour.

It’s fairly obvious that if someone who does not know the road parks on the one-hour side and looks across to the other and sees the three-hour parking sign, they may well think that applies to their side too without checking.

It has always seemed unfair to me that this anomaly could catch many people out. I daresay the council realises the anomaly too but are hardly likely to remedy it when it is such a money spinner.

Carol Trueman, Harrogate

Ripon councillors still dining out on anti-Harrogate rhetoric

Ripon city councillors have dined out on anti-Harrogate antics from 1974 to 2023 — almost 50 years of negative opposition instead of creative engagement — ensuring the continuous election of the same.

How long before they then turn their sights on the new North Yorkshire Council for failing to give them what they want, which is complete control of everything Ripon-related?

The ‘leader’ of Ripon City Council (actually a parish council) — is there even such a role in most parish council standing orders? — was elected as an ‘independent’ but has subsequently decided to support the Conservative councillors on North Yorkshire Council.

John Edmonstone

(Ex-parish councillor nearby to Ripon)    

Read more:

Why weren’t pedestrians consulted about Station Parade roadworks?

I was disappointed to see that pedestrians have been given little thought in the redevelopment of Copthall Towers on Station Parade. The footpath along one whole side of Station Bridge is now entirely blocked off.

I walk this way on the school run daily, coming from the direction of East Parade. This obstruction means we have to go clockwise around the roundabout in order to reach the far side of Station Bridge.

This may not seem like a significant detour to some, but try adding a pushchair and early walkers into the mix.

More significantly, it also necessitates crossing two roads which don’t have a pedestrian crossing, one of which has two lanes approaching the roundabout.

Was any thought given to adding temporary pelican crossings at Station Avenue and North Park Road? Or perhaps, giving pedestrians priority over Station Bridge, rather than drivers?

It would be refreshing to see our elected leaders and planning officials put pedestrians first for a change; prioritising greener, more sustainable travel choices and making it easier and safer for people to walk.

It’s already hard enough to navigate the piles of dog excrement, pot holes and parked cars which furnish our pavements so abundantly.

Jessica Eaton, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.