A nine-year-old boy has raised more than £1,000 for a cause close to his heart — and helped the environment too.

Owen Sutcliffe set himself the challenge of collecting 100 bags of litter in just six weeks to raise money for K’Rescue Knaresborough.

The animal enthusiast went out in all weathers to ensure he completed his challenge – often helped by his friends and family. Mum Clare said:

“It should be an activity for kids, because all of Owen’s friends have joined in. They’ve got right into it.

“I can’t get over how much they’ve all loved litter picking!”

Owen told the Stray Ferret:

“I’m the coolest kid in my class. I’m saving the planet and the animals!”

Owen filled his final three bin bags at the weekend before returning to school after the Easter break.

Asked whether he was proud of his achievement, he added:

“Yes – but my arms hurt!”

Over the last six weeks, Owen has picked litter from parks and footpaths across the Harrogate area, from near his primary school, Hookstone Chase, out to Ripley and Killinghall.

He and his friends have made some interesting discoveries in the undergrowth during that time, including half a pram, a broken lawnmower and an open packet of unused nappies.

Alongside online donations of £900, further contributions in cash have brought the total raised to £1,100.

Owen with Dan, right, and K’Rescue volunteer Anna

Owen has now told the rescue centre’s owner, Dan Holmes, how much he has raised. The money will be used to help cover the £1,500-a-month running costs and to carry out some essential maintenance work

Dan said:

“We are very grateful for all Owen has done. He is one of the few that have done such a big fundraiser to support us and it’s fantastic what he has achieved.”

Mr Holmes said the rescue centre welcomes visitors during its opening hours. Visits are free, but donations are welcome. Many of the animals are also available for adoption.

Read more:

• Schoolboy aims to clean up in aid of Knaresborough rescue centre
• Masham animal centre to open featuring real-life characters from popular children’s books

Traffic will be prohibited on several roads in Harrogate on Sunday afternoon for the annual St George’s Day parade.

The parade, which was held for the first time in three years last year, sees hundreds of Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Cubs and more join together in uniform to mark the occasion.

North Yorkshire Council, the highways authority, has issued temporary prohibition of traffic orders lasting from 1.30pm to 3pm.

It covers Victoria Avenue and parts of West Park, Beech Grove, Station Parade, Marlborough Road, Queen Parade, North Park Road, Coach Road and Christ Church track.

Victoria Avenue is among the roads affected.

Alternative routes will be signposted.

The closures do not apply to emergency vehicles.

Read more:

• Regal floral art wows visitors at Harrogate Flower Show
• ‘It will hurt businesses’: Lib Dem councillor to vote against Harrogate’s Station Gateway

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The fourth in our series of networking events, with Banyan Bar & Kitchen, is a breakfast event on April 27 from 8am.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate environmental firm has agreed a contract to deliver services to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

Adler and Allan, which is based on Station Parade, confirmed the contract with VINCI Facilities to carry out maintenance work across the Ministry of Defence’s fuel infrastructure in the south east.

The work comes as part of the Future Defence Infrastructure contract with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which oversees the MoD’s estate.

Charles Price, fuel infrastructure director at Adler and Allan, said: 

“We look forward to a successful working relationship with VINCI Facilities over the coming years. Adler and Allan is committed to ensuring day-to-day delivery of great customer service and performance across the remit of our work at the 58 MoD sites under VINCI Facilities FDIS Built Estate Contract in the South East.

“Our experience working with MOD facilities across the design, build, installation and ongoing maintenance of fuel infrastructure, and our continued account management and sustainability credentials, positions Adler and Allan as a key supply chain partner for FDIS primes.”

Truth Legal launches new website

A Harrogate law firm has launched a new website.

Truth Legal, which is based on Victoria Avenue, set up the site to make the firm’s services “easily accessible”.

The Harrogate firm specialises in personal injury, immigration, clinical negligence and employment law.

However, the new site also includes information on the company’s professional negligence and business services.

Louis MacWilliam, director at Truth Legal, said in a post on the firm’s site:

“It has been carefully designed to make our wide range of services and free legal resources easily accessible to all.

“And with its open, clean, and vibrant style, we believe it perfectly reflects our values of truth, morality, and the determined pursuit of justice.”

Read more: 

• Business Breakfast: Harrogate businesswoman wins lifetime achievement award
• Business Breakfast: Harrogate property specialists move to new office

A stunning golden cloak, crown, orb and sceptre fashioned out of flowers is one of the star attractions at this year’s Harrogate Flower Show.

Today’s first day of the show saw around 15,000 enthusiastic visitors. This year’s theme was the coronation of King Charles III.

The show, which is organised by the North of England Horticultural Society, is the first big gardening event on this year’s UK calendar. More than 50,000 people are expected over the four days.

Nick Smith , show director, told the Stray Ferret:

“We’re so pleased to see the amount of quality horticultural we’re seeing here today. After such a miserable winter, it’s just fantastic to see everybody come here and celebrating spring.

“Some might think the principle of floral art is quite old fashioned, but flower arrangers have created fantastic things – to see the range and quality in the Floral Pavilion is just amazing.”

The royal cloak, crown, orb and sceptre were designed and created by Harrogate florist, Helen James – who is no stranger to winning awards for floral artistry.

This display however, was not made to be judged but to promote the show and has done its job — images of her work graced the front pages of the national press this morning, much to the delight of show organisers.

A close up of the cloak’s beautiful floral fabric

Helen James has created promotional displays for the show for the past eight years but she said this one in particular seemed to have captured people’s attention:

“We’ve started off with a base cloak of fabric and then overlaid it with organza to create a luxurious, padded look and then applied the floral material onto that. The flowers were either stitched on or we used special glue.

“The colour inspiration came from something regal but it’s also fitting for springtime. The flowers are orchids, anthuriums, craspedia, kangaroo paws and mix of ferns and foliage, some have been coloured to fit the colour scheme.”

The work took Helen and her team four days to create, then the cloak was gently draped over a table, put in the back of a van and taken to the Great Yorkshire Showground.

A 99-year-old tradition of model boating looks set to continue in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.

Members of Claro Marine Modellers and a representative from North Yorkshire Council held talks at the boating lake today about a new fountain.

The model boating club was concerned the fountain would damage boats and bring an end to their hobby in Harrogate.

But Adrian Selway, the new club secretary who has been sailing model boats for 30 years in Valley Gardens, said the talks had reached a solution.

Mr Selway said the council had agreed the fountain will not operate when club members sail their boats on Sunday mornings all year round and on Wednesday evenings during summer.

He added:

“It was a very amicable meeting and the outcome was favourable. The council was anxious to support the club.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to spend £6,000 installing the fountain prompted concerns of boats running aground on the structure.

There were also fears spray from the fountain could ruin boats.

Harrogate Borough Council was abolished at the end of last month. North Yorkshire Council has inherited its assets, including Valley Gardens.

Read more:

• Harrogate model boating club could fold due to Valley Gardens fountain
• Regal floral art wows visitors at Harrogate Flower Show

A lorry driver who lost control on the A59 at Blubberhouses on Tuesday was three times over the drink-drive limit.

Jacek Borowski, 51, from Poland lost control of his HGV heading down the hill.

His vehicle blocked the road completely for most of the day, causing significant disruption on the main route between Harrogate and Skipton.

Nobody else was involved or injured.

The lorry blocked the road for most of the day.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today Borowski had been banned within 24 hours of the incident. It added:

“Officers breathalysed the driver who blew 92 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milligrams of breath – almost three times the legal limit.

“He was remanded into custody immediately and put before York Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 19 April where he pleaded guilty to driving over the prescribed limit and was disqualified from driving for 23 months.”

Read more:

• Harrogate firefighters release images of Blubberhouses collision
• ‘It will hurt businesses’: Lib Dem councillor to vote against Harrogate’s Station Gateway

A six-week consultation on a neighbourhood plan which will guide development in Pannal and Burn Bridge is underway.

The consultation is the last chance for local people to have their say on how the area around the two villages will be shaped going forward.

The Pannal and Burn Bridge Neighbourhood Plan, which was drawn up by the local parish council shortly after it was created in 2016, is the first such document sent out for consultation by the new North Yorkshire Council.

If approved, it will be considered alongside in all future planning applications — although it can be overruled.

It has already been the subject of local surveys – but this new consultation is the last before it goes for independent examination.

Those surveys aimed to ensure the plan reflects aspirations and concerns and showed that green area conservation was a prime factor, along with the need to address traffic pollution and parking congestion around the school.

Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council chair Howard West said:

“We realise the villages need to grow, but we trust that any future development will be in keeping with the local area.

“We want to retain and cherish the rural character of our villages while still catering for our future employment and residential needs. Village protection is at the heart of this plan and we urge people to make sure they have had their say.”

Read more:

• 200-home Pannal Ash scheme ‘fails to address infrastructure’, say residents
• New book reveals storied history of Pannal and Burn Bridge

North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative executive member for open to business, Cllr Derek Bastiman (pictured above), said:

“Neighbourhood plans are an important part of the planning process, allowing communities to help shape their area and therefore guide future developments.

“North Yorkshire Council has to consult on the plan the parish council has submitted and we are calling on people to express their views before it goes for final examination.”

The consultation runs until Wednesday, May 31. The documents and comment forms are available here and representations can be submitted online.

Alternatively, the comment form can be downloaded and comments sent to PlanPolicy.har@northyorks.gov.uk or Planning Policy, North Yorkshire Council, PO Box 787, Harrogate HG1 9RW.

Updates and information on earlier stages of preparing the plan can be found here.

A Liberal Democrat councillor in Harrogate says he will not be voting in favour of the controversial Station Gateway proposal next month.

Michael Schofield, who represents Harlow & St Georges, is the first local councillor and first Liberal Democrat to confirm which way he will vote when the decision is made by the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee in May.

The controversial £11.2 million project has been in development for three years after funding was won from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund to make the town centre more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians.

North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative executive member for highways Keane Duncan has said the council will follow whatever decision Harrogate and Knaresborough councillors take at a meeting on May 5 regarding the scheme.

But Cllr Schofield, whose division includes the troubled Otley Road cycle path, says he will not be voting for the gateway to go ahead “in its current guise”.

He cited concerns over its design, cost, and impact on businesses.

The councillor is also the landlord of the Shepherd’s Dog pub on Harlow Hill and said the disruption during construction could lead to financial hardship for town centre shops, bars and restaurants. He said:

“Our independents were once thriving; they have have had to deal with covid and the cost of living crisis. I therefore cannot vote for something that may potentially deal them yet another blow.”

Since the scheme was announced, the cost of building materials has rocketed and inflation has topped 10%.

Cllr Duncan has said the scheme’s build quality will not be compromised but Cllr Schofield said this could result in higher costs for taxpayers. He said:

“Unless corners are cut, who will pay? It is unfair to ask other towns within North Yorkshire to foot the bill at the expense of their residents as it is also unfair to expect the good people of Harrogate to foot the bill.”

Read more:

• D-Day looms for £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway
• £3m from parking fines won’t be spent on Harrogate Station Gateway if costs rise

The gateway scheme would see Station Parade reduced to one lane which has been unpopular with some residents and businesses as has the proposed part-pedestrianisation of James Street. Cllr Schofield said other designs should have been considered. He added:

“It is my belief that there are other plans out there created by retired professionals in the field of urban design that have not been considered and are more sympathetic to not only the public realm but also the businesses in the town centre.

“We have been told it is the plan on the table or nothing which is very undemocratic when other plans are available that should be considered.”

A third round of public consultation about the scheme was published in January and showed 46% of views were negative and 45% were positive.

Cllr Duncan said previously:

“While overall opinion of the scheme is split almost 50:50, key elements of the scheme received positive support from the public who took part.

“They told us they believe the scheme will be positive for business, make getting around the town centre safer and encourage more people to walk and cycle.”

Liberal Democrats have come out in favour of the creation of a Harrogate town council.

A second consultation on whether to set-up a town council runs until May 5.

North Yorkshire County Council said in March the move would require 35,000 households to pay an additional council tax charge of between £40 and £60.

But local Liberal Democrats said today a town council would enable locally-elected councillors to take control of assets such as off-street car parks, the Stray, Royal Hall, Sun Pavilion and Valley Gardens.

Harrogate and Scarborough are the only parts of the county not to have a parish or town council.

Eight Liberal Democrats, including former Harrogate borough councillors and current North Yorkshire councillors, signed in support of a town council.

Cllr Pat Marsh, chair of North Yorkshire Council‘s area constituency committee for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said her party supported devolving power. She added:

“Without a new town council, Harrogate would be at a real disadvantage when bidding for services to remain local.

“Harrogate residents need to have a voice when it comes to the future of local assets, just as those in Knaresborough, Ripon, Pateley Bridge, Boroughbridge and many other villages in North Yorkshire have.”

Pat Marsh

Cllr Marsh said “unique decisions relating to Harrogate should be being made in Harrogate by people who have received the endorsement of Harrogate residents” rather than councillors in places such as Catterick, Ryedale and Scarborough.

She added:

“Assets that could be considered for control by the town council include off-street car parks, the Stray, Royal Hall, Sun Pavilion, Valley Gardens and the other green and floral spaces within the town.

“Without local protection, these assets are always in danger of being cut by North Yorkshire councillors not from Harrogate.

“A Harrogate town council would also provide a formal representative voice for local residents on planning applications and other consultations.

“Harrogate is a very special place and decisions about our town need to be made by local people who know, love and understand this town.”

Read more:

• Second consultation to be held on whether to form Harrogate town council
• Just 3.5% responded to Harrogate town council consultation

A total of 75% favoured setting up a Harrogate town council in last year’s first consultation but only 1,250 homes — 3.5% of those affected — responded. The low response rate triggered concerns about the validity of the response.

The statement urges residents and businesses to respond to the second consultation before the May 5 deadline.

The Lib Dem councillors who signed today’s statement are:

Pat Marsh — Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone.

Philip Broadbank — Fairfax and Starbeck.

Chris Aldred — High Harrogate and Kingsley

Peter Lacey — Coppice Valley and Duchy

Mike Schofield — Harlow and St Georges

Monika Slater — Bilton Grange and New Park

Honorary alderman Trevor Chapman

Honorary alderman Matthew Webber

A plan to convert a 150-year-old church in Harrogate into a house has been approved.

All Saints Church on Otley Road was formerly opened in 1871 as a cemetery chapel.

It was designated as a grade-II listed building in 1975, but was forced to shut in November 2006 due to wet and dry rot.

Three-years later the church closed for good as it was considered unsafe.

Now, North Yorkshire Council has given the go-ahead for the church to be converted into a three-bedroom house.

Read more:

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• First Harrogate church with solar panels on roof wins eco award

The application, submitted by ELG Planning on behalf of Mr and Mrs Hunter, said the church could be salvaged and brought back into use.

In a planning statement, the developers said:

“The former Church of All Saints is a building in much need of attention. 

“The applicant has belief that the existing building can be resurrected with restoration and modification to form a long term home for themselves and enjoyed by family members. 

“Without foresight the building can, with the right approach be salvaged, and put to continued use as a sanctuary and place of continued life.”