Two 15-year-old boys have been seriously injured in a collision outside Ashville College in Harrogate this morning..

The Stray Ferret understands a vehicle mounted the pavement and hit a wall along Yew Tree Lane around 8.45am.

An air ambulance attended the scene and the boys from Rossett School were taken to hospital.

Yew Tree Lane remains closed and North Yorkshire Police officers are still at the scene.

Here are today’s developments.

11.53am 

Rossett School has issued a statement. It says:

“Earlier this morning there was a road traffic accident near to the school involving two of our students.

“We are working with the emergency services and supporting the families of those involved.  We would like to thank the staff of Ashville College for their quick response and the care that they provided at the scene.

“Rossett School staff will be providing support to our students during the course of the school day if needed.”

11.22am

Staff from Ashville College gave first aid to the injured teenagers until emergency services arrived on the scene, it has emerged.

In a statement issued just now, Ashville headteacher Rhiannon Wilkinson said:

“Two pupils from a nearby school have sadly been injured in an incident outside the college.

“Staff from the college administered first aid to the casualties and dealt with the scene until the emergency services arrived, which included an air ambulance.

“We have written to our parents informing them of the incident, which happened on Yew Tree Lane as the children were making their way to school at around 8.45am. Our thoughts are with the pupils involved and their families.”

10.56am

Police have put a cordon in place as Yew Tree Lane remains closed after the serious collision this morning.

North Yorkshire Police said:

“Road and path closures are in place, so please plan your travel accordingly.”

10.52am

Police confirm both injured boys were pedestrians and were hurt when the vehicle collided with a wall on Yew Tree Lane.

Both boys have been taken to hospital and their parents have been informed.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police added:

“This will have been a distressing incident to witness, and we urge anyone affected to seek help if needed. If you can help with our investigation, please contact us on 101, reference NYP-02022023-0100.”

10.47am

Two 15-year-old boys have been left with serious injuries after this morning’s incident.

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed officers were called to the scene at 8.46am by a member of the public.

We're attending a serious collision in Harrogate 👇

We are currently at the scene of an incident which has left two 15-year-old boys with serious injuries in Harrogate.

At 8.46am a member of the public called 999 after a collision on Yew Tree Lane, near to Ashfield College. pic.twitter.com/9ar4xNXcQI

— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) February 2, 2023

10.32am

A cordon has been set up around the scene along Yew Tree Lane, as the road remains closed after this morning’s incident.

North Yorkshire Police are still there and the pick-up truck involved remains embedded in the wall.

All ambulances which had previously been in attendance have now left.

10.21am

Nearby residents have told the Stray Ferret they have heard a lot of sirens all morning as the incident unfolded.

One resident of Yew Tree Lane said:

“I saw a lot of flashing lights and heard the air ambulance. I wondered what had happened.”

10.19am

Rossett School has told the Stray Ferret it is dealing with the incident and will provide an update when information is available.

It is not yet known which school the injured students attend.

10.10am

The air ambulance has now left Ashville’s field. It is not known whether it had any casualties on board.

9.40am

Multiple police cars and ambulances are on the scene and a fire engine is also understood to have attended.

A number of people are understood to have been injured, including three school children, in the incident which happened before 9am today.

A message has been sent to parents from Ashville headteacher Rhiannon Wilkinson, saying:

“We are writing to inform you that there has been an incident on Yew Tree Lane, which has now been closed.

“Three non-Ashville children were involved in an accident, which involved a car mounting the pavement. Emergency services are on site, including an air ambulance, and the area has been contained.”

A major road through Harrogate has been closed this morning after a collision that has left a car on its roof.

It is not known whether anyone has been injured in the incident, which happened at around 6.30am.

Police have closed the stretch of Hookstone Road between Hornbeam Crescent and Oatlands Drive while they deal with the scene.

The scene at about 7.30am today.

The road is likely to remain closed until at least 8.30am.

Traffic is diverting down Hornbeam Crescent, Wheatlands Road East and Oatlands Drive, with school buses and commuters likely to be affected during rush hour.

Read more:

• Homelessness ‘significantly increased’ amid cost of living crisis, says Harrogate council official
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Hookstone Road near Hornbeam Park in Harrogate is currently closed in both directions due to an accident.

More details to follow.

Housing officials at Harrogate Borough Council say the number of people presenting as homeless has “significantly increased” amid the covid pandemic and cost of living crisis.

Maggie Gibson, housing needs manager at the authority, told a council overview and scrutiny commission that officers had seen a large amount of people who were in a “higher level of financial difficulty”.

It comes as the housing department has forecast an overspend of £170,000 due to an increase use of bed and breakfast accommodation amid a lack of temporary homes.

Ms Gibson said the council had started to see more people citing financial difficulties as their primary reason for approaching the service.

She said:

“As a backlash of the pandemic, what we are seeing is people who are in a higher level of financial difficulty.

“So whereas we may have experienced problems with affordability, we have a larger amount of people coming forward with that being their primary issue as to why they are approaching our service.

“What we also have is parents who have older children who are now living in their households, they have been struck by the additional costs associated with gas and electric. They want a contribution and maybe those older children don’t want to contribute.

“Therefore, we have those people now approaching our service.”

Read more:

• Homelessness in Harrogate — what’s the best way to help?
• ‘Huge’ increase in demand for Harrogate council homeless services
• Harrogate council paying £25,000 a month on hotels and B&Bs for homeless

The comments come as the Stray Ferret revealed last month that the council had spent £25,000 a month on temporary hotels and bed and breakfasts for homeless people.

The council, which has a statutory duty to prevent homelessness, is paying individual hotels up to £126 a night because its hostels are full.

Ms Gibson said housing officers were now seeing a “different picture” of homelessness due to the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

She said:

“I think it’s a very different picture that we are looking at. Whereas we might have been looking at affordability on it’s own, we have now got affordability coupled with health issues – both mental and physical – which have an impact on where the person is next accommodated.

“If our temporary accommodation is not available and we are using bed and breakfast accommodation – and that will be in extreme situations – it may well be that we are waiting then with a person in bed and breakfast until a vacancy becomes available again in the hostel.”

A developer has withdrawn plans for 55 retirement homes and a community hub in Kirk Hammerton.

SageHaus Living, which is based in the Isle of Man, submitted the proposal to Harrogate Borough Council for land off Station Road in the village.

The proposal would have seen 55 park homes built along with a hub, which would be open for the community to use for meetings and other activities.

SageHause Living, which acquired the site known as Carlton Fields in 2021, said in documents submitted to the council that scheme would help bring more retirement accommodation to the district, while also being environmentally friendly.

However, the developer has since withdrawn the application.

Read more:

• Developer tables plan for 55 retirement homes in Kirk Hammerton
• New Pannal business park rejected

In a letter to the council from Kirk Hammerton Parish Council, the authority objected to the proposal on the grounds of highways, public transport and amenity concerns.

It also added that it had concern that the plan was outside the development boundary.

A visual of the community hub planned for the Kirk Hammerton site.

The council said:

“The majority of the land to be developed is outside the Development Limit shown in the current version of the Local Plan for the Harrogate district. 

“There are some aspects of the proposals which, despite this, are attractive (the carbon neutral/negative nature of the development, the focus on retirement properties). 

“There are, however, some disadvantages to the arguments put forward in the application to justify a development outside the permitted limits.”

In a letter to the council, Spring Planning, agents for SageHause, said it wished to withdraw the proposal in order to consider comments made about the scheme.

The Stray Ferret Business Awards, sponsored by Prosperis, will be held on March 9 at the Pavilions of Harrogate. Early bird tickets are available until February 9. The event will celebrate success and business excellence across the Harrogate district. It’s a night not to be missed! There’ll be a fabulous prize draw for all attending and Richard Flinton, the incoming Chief Executive of North Yorkshire Council, is guest speaker. 

Global hair and beauty brand, Cloud Nine, has opened two new studios at its Harrogate headquarters, bringing all previously outsourced photo and video shoots in-house.

The beauty company says the aim of the new studio is to develop the creative, commercial and media skills of its team.

The hair and skin stylist area has mirrors and lights with different coloured walls to suit models with different skin tones. There’s also a Green Room designed for the models and guests to relax in before and after each shoot.

CEO Martin Rae, who launched the business with his brother, Gavin, in 2009, said:

“We have created our own studios for two very good reasons. The first is we have a fantastically talented team based within our Harrogate headquarters, who are eager to create their own campaigns, from inception through to execution”.

“And secondly, harnessing the artistic skills of our own people makes perfect business sense, and will benefit us commercially”.

Read more:

• Harrogate man wins landmark disabled settlement against major gym chain
• Family of WWI soldier find where he was killed – by chance

Knaresborough business group supports Ukraine

A lorry full of of medical equipment, blankets and warm clothing, supplied Knaresborough charity PhysioNet and the town’s Rotary Club, is due to arrive in Ukraine today.

The lorry left Knaresborough five days ago and has made its way to Zaporizhzhia in the South East of Ukraine.

Knaresborough Rotary President and Chairman of Physionet, David Kaye, said:

“This is the sixth PhysioNet consignment for Ukraine. The £6,000 transport costs have been paid for entirely by Rotary in Yorkshire”.

PhysioNet was founded in 2005 by Knaresborough Rotarian Peter Thompson.

It collects and refurbishes discarded mobility and physiotherapy equipment – including wheelchairs, Zimmer frames, crutches and walking sticks – and redistributes it for use by the disabled in developing countries.

PhysioNet and Rotary volunteers gave up their Saturday morning to load the lorry for Zaporizhzhia.

Harrogate is not known for its high-end contemporary architecture, but the few examples that come up for sale tend to be rather special. 

Greenway, a detached four-bedroom property off Rossett Green Lane, is the latest of the genre to hit the market, and its price tag alone suggests something a little out of the ordinary. 

Its guide price of £1.5m is several times the average asking price for the district, but then, this is no average property. 

Accessed from a private road and standing behind solid-oak electric gates, Greenway is nothing if not exclusive. Once you’ve got past the intercom entry system, you find yourself in a light, spacious central reception hall with bespoke cupboarding, double-height window and a steel-spined handmade oak staircase with glass balustrade.

The hand-made oak staircase winds round a steel spine.

The L-shaped dining kitchen is state-of-the-art, with wine cooler and boiling water tap, and the dining and family areas open up onto the large outdoor terrace. There’s also a home office, an integral double garage, and a 25-foot-long living room with remote-controlled gas fire.

At the top of those oak stairs, there are four double bedrooms – three of them with en suite bathrooms, two with dressing rooms, and one with a balcony area. 

The kitchen includes integrated appliance, wine cooler and boiling water tap.

As if all that weren’t enough, what really gives this house an edge is its technology. There’s smart underfloor heating throughout, it’s fully networked with wireless access points and ethernet cabling, and all the windows have electric blinds which can also be controlled remotely. In fact, the whole property is protected by an intruder alarm and external camera system – which can also be controlled remotely.

There are also gardens with a hidden patio, which currently houses a rotating seven-seater garden pod.

The lounge in Greenway opens out via sliding glass doors onto the terrace.

Greenway came onto the market yesterday and is marketed by Harrogate agent North Residential. 

Director Harriet Cheshire told The Stray Ferret: 

“There’s not much out there at the moment in the £1.5m bracket, but there are a lot of people out there with cash for the £1.25-1.5m price range, so we expect this property to attract quite a bit of attention. 

“Its technology is a definite plus. A lot of people nowadays are very tech-savvy and want to be able to control everything in their home by phone, so some will really see the premium in it.” 

Read more:

• Harrogate councillors approve sixth Kingsley housing scheme
• Free security upgrades for some Harrogate district homes and farms
• Harrogate Knight Frank directors set up North Residential estate agency

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local Conservative MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In January, the Harrogate district was hit by strikes by ambulance workers, nurses and rail staff. Meanwhile, one Harrogate district MP was revealed to have received free tickets to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

We asked Harrogate & Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular, but we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found on Mr Jones:

• At the start of the month, Mr Jones welcomed a £2 cap on bus fares across the Harrogate district.
• On January 11, Mr Jones wrote on his Community News website that he held a meeting with Nicola Shaw, chief executive of Yorkshire Water, over his campaign for bathing quality status at the River Nidd in Knaresborough.
• On January 17, Mr Jones wrote on his website that he visited Daikin Sustainable Home Centre in Harrogate, which has been set up by Daikin UK and Duftons Plumbing and Heating Supplies.
• Mr Jones spoke in Parliament on January 26 regarding a meeting with the English Football League over the government’s fan-led review into the governance of football. He called for a debate over the government’s next steps following the publication of the review.
• Mr Jones also posted on his Instagram a video with Harrogate Town chief executive Sarah Barry talking about the review.
• He also posted on his Instagram about a visit to Pannal Ash Juniors FC.
• On January 27, Mr Jones signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment.
• On January 30, Mr Jones voted in line with the government on its strike bill. Under the bill, some employees, including in the rail industry and emergency services, would be required to work during industrial action – and could be sacked if they refuse.

Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

In Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

• Mr Smith posted no updates on his website in January.
• He also made no spoken contributions in the House of Commons last month.
• On January 26, Mr Smith posted on Twitter that he met with former Irish politician Bertie Ahern to discuss Northern Ireland.
• Mr Smith voted in line with the government over its strike bill on January 30.
• He paid tribute to Harrogate borough councillor Bernard Bateman MBE, who died last month. Mr Smith said Mr Bateman was a “hugely committed councillor and community campaigner”.

Read more:

• MPs Watch: A new Prime Minister and government U-turns
• MPs Watch: ‘Wrong’ tax cuts and the death of the Queen

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

In rural south Harrogate, he is what we found on Mr Adams:

• Mr Adams posted four times on his website in January on matters relating to solar farms in Camblesforth, energy support payments and Selby volunteers heading to Ukraine.
• On January 7, Mr Adams posted on Twitter to thank NHS and Yorkshire ambulance staff for helping his 88-year-old dad following a fall.
• The Stray Ferret revealed on January 16 that Mr Adams had received free tickets and hospitality valued at £2,880 to the FIFA World Cup from the Qatar government.
• On January 23, he posted an article by former Prime Minster Boris Johnson calling for support for Ukraine. Mr Adams said Mr Johnson “was not wrong”.
• Mr Adams made no spoken contributions in the House of Commons in January.
• Mr Adams voted in line with the government on its strike bill on January 30.

Harrogate Borough Council has seen a ‘significant’ fall in the number of planning applications submitted this year — resulting in a shortfall of £320,000 for the authority.

Councillors met this week to discuss a quarter three financial report that provides a summary of how different departments are performing in line with the overall budget for 2022/23.

The council is the district’s planning authority and therefore has the final say over developments ranging from a kitchen extension to major housing schemes with hundreds of homes.

When a planning application is submitted the council asks for a fee. For an outline planning application where the site is bigger than 2.5 hectares, the fee is £11,432 plus an additional £138 for every 0.1 hectare.

For a single house extension, the fee is £206.

The council, which will be abolished at the end of next month, also offers a pre-application service where anyone can get advice on the likelihood of a proposal receiving planning permission.

Fees range from £90 for advice on an extension to £3,000 for developments with more than 50 homes.

Read more:

• Harrogate councillors approve sixth Kingsley housing scheme
• RHS Harlow Carr to pay Harrogate council to divert footpath

But after a spike in applications during the covid pandemic, the council says there has been a slowdown in the number of both large-scale and smaller applications.

It is anticipating a shortfall of £270,000 in planning application income and £50,000 in pre-planning application income.

The cost of building materials has also sky-rocketed in the last two years and the report says the council expects the number of smaller applications submitted to remain lower than expected as the national cost-of living crisis impacts on household spending.

The trend in the Harrogate district is in line with the national picture, where planning application submissions have dropped by an average of 15% over the last year.

Harrogate Borough Council is set to spend £55,000 on consultants and other professionals to help develop a new horticultural nursery to the north-west of the town.

In December, the council revealed it had identified an unspecified site in the Hampsthwaite and Killinghall ward to build a new nursery, which will pave the way for its current site in Harlow Hill to be sold for housing.

A report that will go before Conservative councillor Graham Swift, the council’s cabinet member for resources enterprise and economic development, next week, says the council now needs professional consultation and site investigations to complete the next phase of the project.

It asks Cllr Swift to approve £20,000 being spent on a consultant partner and £35,000 to undertake initial site surveys, investigations, planning fees and other works.

The council, which will be abolished at the end of next month, has said the construction of a new nursery will be financed through capital investment funding, money raised from the sale Harlow Hill nursery and income generated from the nursery.

The project will transfer to the new North Yorkshire Council after April 1.

Why does the council want to move from Harlow Hill?

Harlow Hill nursery is where Harrogate Borough Council grows flowers for its award-winning displays across the district. It also sells plants to members of the public to bring in revenue.

The nursery is a significant earner for the council with its 2020/21 annual report saying it brought in income of £153,477.

However, the council says it the facility is “no longer fit for purpose” and is unsuitable for redevelopment.

Read more:

• Harlow Hill and Pannal Ash residents bracing themselves for ’15 years of disruption’
• Losing horticultural nursery will be ‘big, sad loss’ for Harlow Hill, says councillor
• 62 homes set to be built at council’s Harlow Nursery

The land is accessed off either Otley Road or Harlow Moor Road. The council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which sets out where development can take place, says 40 homes can be built there.

A council report published last year recommended 62 “high-quality, carbon efficient” homes are built.

The authority is currently inviting expressions of interest in the land prior to a sale.

An emotional move for residents

Liberal Democrat member for Harlow & St Georges Division on North Yorkshire County Council, Michael Schofield, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the move away from Harlow Hill will be keenly felt by residents as many have walked there to buy plants for decades.

He said people enjoyed visiting and walking through the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens afterwards.

He added the nursery also served as part of a horticultural trail as it connects with RHS Garden Harlow Carr and the charity nursery Horticap.

Cllr Schofield said:

“I understand what people may call progress but we have three fantastic horticultural sites all within walking distance of each other. That inspires people. Residents living here will be very sad to see it go.”