Asylum seekers begin volunteering projects in Harrogate district

Asylum seekers from countries including Iran and Syria have been taking part in a conservation project in the Harrogate district.

The participants have no right to work in the UK while their asylum claims are assessed so they undertook volunteering at Nether Timble Farm, Swinsty to get exercise and regain a sense of purpose.

Those taking part are skilled workers, such as software programmers, digger drivers, electricians and farmers, in their own countries.

Abdul Aziz, Hysni Latif, Ali Reza, Imran and Salih from Syria, Iran, Turkey and Sudan took part in coppicing work at the farm with Josh and Rowan from Leeds Coppice Workers.

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland rejuvenation that is both productive and good for nature. The group worked hard creating a number of coppice products, including stakes and weaving rods for hedge-laying and bean poles for the garden.

The scheme is part of Nidderdale AONB’s farming in protected landscapes funded project. It is the first of six outings planned to take place throughout the next year. Future visits will offer opportunities to take part in hedge-laying, dry-stone walling, as well as visits to working farms.

Matt Trevelyan, farming in protected landscapes officer at Nidderdale AONB, said:

“Being outdoors is proven to boost mental and physical well-being, and the group really appreciated the day out in the AONB, which despite being a rather grey day in November saw the sun peek out from behind the clouds — the landscape looked its moody best!”

Plan to create six flats above former Harrogate Orvis store

Plans have been lodged to create six new flats above the former Orvis store in Harrogate.

The proposal lodged by York-based Balance Planning Solution Ltd on behalf of Andrew Farrar would see the upper floors of the unit on West Park converted for housing.

Orvis closed its doors back in April after 25 years of trading in the town.

The plan would see part of the ground floor unit converted for access to the apartments, along with an entrance to the back of the building next to the Coach House flats on Robert Street.

It would see a mixture of one bedroom and two bedroom apartments created.

The developer said in documents submitted to Harrogate Borough Council that the plan would not include any extension of the building.

It said:

“It is considered that the proposed scheme responds to the constraints of the site, planning policy constraints and its heritage context and should fall within the parameters of acceptable development.”

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

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Business Breakfast: Harrogate marketing agency get sore feet for mental health charity

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal

A team from Harrogate marketing agency, Big Bamboo, has raised more than £2,500 for the mental health charity, Mind.

Staff completed the 23-mile-long Harrogate Ringway trek and also walked barefoot across red-hot embers on the Leeds Mind firewalk.

Some of the bolder members of the group spent a hour training and then walked across the red-hot embers.  The company said the challenge was more mental than a physical, and  felt it was an appropriate way to raise money for a mental health charity.

Jen Winterschladen, Operations Director at The Big Bamboo Agency, said:

“We are thrilled to have exceeded our fundraising target for this year, raising £2,572 for Mind…

“..The fundraising challenges we undertook emphasised the importance of mental health: walking in the countryside around Harrogate took us away from our screens and gave us a chance to have a proper talk, while the firewalk was a lesson in the power of the mind and believing you can do anything you put your mind to.

“We felt Mind was a truly fitting charity to support, and we look forward to supporting another amazing charity in 2023.”

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ASE Computer Services Ltd is to sponsor the Digital Innovation category at the Stray Ferret Awards 2023.

The award ceremony on March 9 at the Pavilions of Harrogate will recognise excellence in a wide range of business practices with 10 coveted awards.  The judging panel comprises some of the most influential business leaders in the district.

Chris Dickinson Managing District ASE said:

“As an IT consultancy with support services, ASE works in a wholly the digital space. We’re delighted to sponsor the Digital Innovation category in the Stray Ferret Business Awards 2023.

“Technology moves so fast that keeping up and making it bring benefits to a business can seem daunting.  We’re here to help with that.

“So celebrating and sharing digital best practice, new ideas and creativity is something we are very interested in promoting, both for our clients and the wider Harrogate business community “

Entries are open now until mid January. Put your business or team forward for an award that recognises their achievements.

Stray Views: Valley Gardens boating pool should remain for boats

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 Gardens boating pool is for boats

May I quote from my book Souvenir Guide to the Valley Gardens in relation to Fountain v Model Yachts.

The Valley Gardens grew from an ancient footpath that linked the Old Sulphur Well beneath the Royal Pump Room with the mineral wells on Bogs Field. During the nineteenth century, the walk was embellished with planting. At this time, there were paths either side of the stream which incorporated ponds, fountains and a rock garden.

The boating pool was built as a children’s paddling pool in 1925. Over time its use changed from a children’s paddling pool to the Boating Pool.

The boating pool should be left for boats and the Fountain should be where it used to be in the stream not far from the Magnesia Well where it was much admired.

Anne Smith, Harrogate

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Government should take climate crisis seriously with flexible planning laws

I confess to being disappointed with the performance of the government of late – a fiasco on many levels, I’d say. I would not have been able to continue to keep my reputation and run a business for the twenty years I did had I acted in the manner of our representatives.

However, putting that aside, I want to do something – for myself – to mitigate the risks associated with the current crises of climate change, energy pricing and the cost of living but seem to be being blocked at every turn.

You see, I’m lucky enough to live in a conservation area – not that it had that designation when I bought the property over thirty years ago. In addition, in the late 1990’s, I bought a derelict barn at the bottom of my garden that was originally part of a farm. The developer building houses on the site of the farm was intending to demolish the barn (which is over 100 years old) and build a garage for the new builds, three expensive new properties. 

To cut a long story short, we purchased the barn, repaired the walls and roof, then made it into habitable accommodation and connected it to our bungalow for my mother-in-law to move into as she had some health issues, made worse by the loss of her husband. This work was completed in 2000.

For energy efficiency reasons, I’d like to fit good quality uPVC doors & windows (which are almost indistinguishable from wood) in the barn and have applied twice to change the original planning permission which stipulated wood was to be used – the last time going to appeal. Permission was refused. The bungalow attached to the barn already has uPVC windows, as do many other properties in the conservation area, and the barn windows are not visible from the road.

What I am asking is that our governments decides what they want to do. We can live in a pretty country with quaint houses we can’t afford to heat – generating higher levels of CO2 – and be unable to do anything about it or we can take the crises we face seriously and allow some flexibility in the planning process – face the problems head-on.

The front of my house faces south and I’d be willing to install, at my cost, solar panels and an energy storage system but, this requires planning permission with the associated cost and hassle; some applications have been refused because it spoils the look of the village – which has to be nonsense in light of the current crises.

I’d like our governments to decide what they want. The energy crisis is fundamentally of our own making –  don’t tell me it is a world problem, out of our hands; nonsense – it isn’t. We should never have done the dash-for-gas – generating electricity from gas; had we refrained, we’d still be self-sufficient in natural gas. This isn’t hindsight; as a Fellow of the IET, I have given numerous talks on climate change – warning of the dangers for decades – and I am on record as saying that we should not be generating electricity with gas. The reasoning, gas can be delivered to the home for burning at 90% efficiency. This drops to 30 or 40% (at best) if it is delivered as electricity. If I’m generous I’d say we have wasted 60% of the gas we used in electricity generation.

We’ve screwed up, and the current Conservatives must take some of the blame – they’ve been in power for long enough. What we need is vision; the government isn’t leading but has been forced to act by the (inevitable) rise of the evil empire and its invasion of Ukraine. What it has done is too little and too late. We all need to rise to the challenge. We can achieve more but what is currently being done is green-washing and simply not enough. Governments local and national must remove the roadblocks and let us be accountable for solving the problem ourselves. Give me the chance.

Paul Smith, Staveley

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.

North Yorkshire leaders set up devolution decision making body

An ambition to create a devolved mayoral combined authority for North Yorkshire and York has reached a milestone as the local authorities pursuing it launched their first joint decision-making body.

In a turn of events that highlighted geographic and transport issues a combined authority for the vast area will face, the inaugural meeting of North Yorkshire and City of York Council’s joint devolution committee started more than half an hour late due to committee members travelling to central York being delayed on public transport.

With two of the leading executive members from each councils and being co-chaired by the councils’ leaders, the committee bears a close resemblance to the proposed mayoral combined authority executive.

However, it also includes non-voting members, such as the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and the chair of the local enterprise partnership.

The meeting heard the committee was being launched despite the public having yet to decide having a mayoral combined authority as part of the proposed devolution deal is acceptable, with a consultation under way.

North Yorkshire’s monitoring officer Barry Khan told members: 

“This is in no way trying to pre-determine or pre-judge that process.

“If the councils agree to submit a proposal for a mayoral combined authority then this committee can transform into a shadow combined authority to set up that arrangement.”

Nevertheless, James Farrar, the enterprise partnership’s chief officer, told he meeting the councils needed to start taking joint decisions or face losing nearly £20 million of funding the government had agreed to give under the proposed devolution deal.

Mr Farrar said: 

“The rules are very stringent and inflexible.”

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He said the government had set a deadline of March 2025 to complete two major projects it was funding.

The schemes include £7 million to enable the area to drive green economic growth, creating the country’s first carbon negative region, and £12.7 million to support the building of new homes on brownfield land.

He said with a potential date of creating the combined authority in December next year it left a very tight timescale to complete the projects, leading councillors to approve a move to invite firms to submit interest in potential schemes this month.

Mr Farrar said even if devolution was not progressed the authorities would have created a pipeline to challenge for “increasingly competitive” funding from government.

City of York Council leader Cllr Keith Aspden issued an appeal for as many residents and businesses as possible to respond to the consultation ahead of its December 16 deadline.

The meeting was told the committee would “exercise executive functions”, but its remit could be widened to “a joint committee that exercises both council and executive functions”.

The county council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said he was hopeful the consultation would come back in favour of creating a mayoral combined authority.

He added: 

“It’s a first step and of course we have been very keen to say to people that devolution is an iterative process.

“I really welcome the fact that the brownfield fund also covers the rural areas, not just urban areas, and also that we are getting some help with net zero activities because that is highly topical at the moment.”

Free Christmas trail to raise funds for Oatlands community

Windows around the Oatlands area of Harrogate will be lit up to tell a festive tale a week before Christmas.

Families are being invited to tour the streets and follow the story of Robin Red Breast on his mission from Santa, to gather his friends together and cook a Christmas meal to feed the community.

It is being organised by Oatlands Community Group and will, fittingly, raise funds for A Seat At My Table, a series of community meals it serves each year to 40 local people who would otherwise eat alone.

The Christmas meal will be held at Oatlands Community Centre on Sunday, December 18, and the Christmas trail takes place that afternoon from 4pm to 6pm.

Organiser Vic Smith-Dunn said:

“While the trail is completely free, we are hopeful that if people enjoy the trail they will consider making a donation to our fundraising efforts to keep Oatlands Community Centre running.

“The community centre depends heavily on fundraising to generate an income to ensure that it can remain open and an asset to our community.”

The Christmas window trail has been held every year since 2016 when Oatlands Community Group was established. There are nine windows decorated on a route that takes in Mount Street, Cromwell Road, Hookstone Avenue, Beech Road and Leeds Road.

One of the Oatlands window displays and some of the knitted robins to be given to childrenOne of the Oatlands window displays and some of the knitted robins to be given to children.

On returning to the community centre, participants can enjoy hotdogs, popcorn, cakes, mulled wine and hot chocolate served by volunteers.

There will also be an opportunity to meet Father Christmas and each child will be given a robin knitted by a member of the Oatlands community.

Anyone who would like to take part is asked to register on the event’s website to ensure there are enough knitted robins to go around.

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Mrs Smith-Dunn said any donations received would go back into running the community centre and putting on events to support people in the area.

She also appealed for volunteers to help organise the events, including the four community meals which range from afternoon teas in the summer to a Christmas meal with a quiz and other entertainment.

She added:

“There is no charge for residents to attend these events which makes it accessible to everyone who attends. We’re able to do this with the support of local independence like KD fruiterers and Verity Frearsons who generously donate.

“The community centre is the home of Oatlands Community Group and the myLifePool social enterprise, without access to this valuable community space, community initiatives like A Seat At My Table would not be able to deliver community out reach.

“It would be fantastic if this Christmas, Harrogate people would come along and enjoy this community event and in turn support the sustainability of Oatlands Community Centre.”

While this year’s Christmas meal is fully booked, anyone interested in future community meals can call Oatlands Community Group on 07596 838508. To make a donation to the group, visit its website.

Photo of the Week: Captain’s walk in the mist
This week’s photograph was taken by John Chadwick, featuring his wife Julie walking Captain the Lakeland Terrier across the Stray in this week’s mist.

John Chadwick

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

Free Christmas holiday clubs for low income families in Harrogate district

Eight holiday clubs, which are free for those receiving benefits-related free school meals during term-time, will operate in the Harrogate district over Christmas.

The clubs provide food and activities for pupils during the holidays and are available to all children but free for families whose children receive free school meals.

North Yorkshire County Council invests more than £135,000 in its holiday club programme, known as FEAST. During the summer holidays, 12,000 children in the county took part in the initiative, which included activities ranging from sports and forest camps to dance and drama workshops.

The FEAST programme aims to tackle the financial strain school holidays have on family finances amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Activities in the Harrogate district run from December 19 to January 2.

King James School in Knaresborough is among those taking part. Its ‘Dopeamin programme’ helps young people take care of their wellbeing and develop a positive mind-set through fitness, nutrition and other techniques.

Here is the calendar for the upcoming clubs across Harrogate district:

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The FEAST programme is run by North Yorkshire Together, a partnership between North Yorkshire Youth, North Yorkshire Sport and Rural Arts.

The programme is also funded by the Department for Education’s Holiday Activities and Food programme.

North Yorkshire County Council leader, Cllr Carl Les said:

“We are delighted at the number of organisations who have come forward to provide a varied programme of holiday clubs and activities. The funding ensures children on free school meals receive at least one nutritious meal while they attend the activities.

“The holiday club programme has been running for just over two years in North Yorkshire and has quickly expanded to include a very varied selection of activities focusing on sports, arts and wellbeing right across the county.”

More information regarding the holiday clubs can be found on the FEAST programme website.

Public control of North Yorkshire bus network ‘not realistic’, says transport chief

Public control of North Yorkshire’s bus network is not a “realistic answer” to the system’s current woes, says the county’s transport chief.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at North Yorkshire County Council, said such a move would be too expensive for the authority to take on.

It comes as officials at the county council have warned passengers that some services may be scrapped if not enough people use them.

Cllr Duncan told an executive meeting that bringing the network under public authority ownership – often referred to as franchising –  would lead to “20 to 30 thousands pounds of subsidy” per passenger every year.

He said:

“I think that no matter what political party you may come from in North Yorkshire County Council and beyond, or whatever political persuasion you might be, you’re looking at those figures at potentially subsiding per passenger per year at ten, twenty, thirty thousand pounds and it just doesn’t stack up.

“The case is not there. We know we have got some unique times in North Yorkshire and we have got to work through those. It is potentially more difficult than just ‘lets have public authority control’, that is not going to be a realistic answer to the problems we face.”

Local control is ‘better value’

Matthew Topham, of the Better Buses for North Yorkshire campaign group, said that bringing the county’s network under local control was “common sense”.

Mr Topham said a franchising model – which Transport for London and Greater Manchester operate under – would be better value for passengers.

He said:

“Far from being “unrealistic,” taking buses into local control is the only common sense answer. It’s better value. It’s popular. It unlocks unique powers to improve services.

“Findings from London show franchising is a more efficient use of public money. In Jersey, it helped the council add routes while cutting costs by £800,000 a year. Imagine if we had it here!

“Polls show over two-thirds of the public back local control. Experts from the Countryside Charity CPRE, levelling up think tank IPPR North, and even the UN agree: local control is the way forward.

“If the mountainous areas of France or Switzerland all find it cheaper to coordinate services through local control, we can trust that North Yorkshire will too.”

The network’s woes come as seven months ago the government rejected North Yorkshire County Council’s bid for a £116m share of Boris Johnson’s high-profile Bus Back Better initiative, saying the local authority’s plans lacked ambition.

Since then, local politicians have raised concern over the future of services in their area.

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Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate, said he feared up to 80 services could be under threat across the county.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat councillor for Pateley Bridge, Andrew Murday, said residents of his division faced having just two services a day to Harrogate.

He said:

“We just have to do something about bus services, and encourage more people onto buses. We need to know how we are going to go about discouraging people from driving and encouraging people on to buses, so bus services can thrive.”

Firefighters called to Pannal business

A faulty storage heater caused a fire at a business in Pannal today.

A member of staff dialled 999 when they noticed smoke at the commercial premises on Station Road.

Firefighters from Harrogate and Knaresborough were summoned to the scene at 8.43am and entered the building wearing breathing apparatus.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log says they discovered a “small fire to a storage heater”, adding:

“Firecrews extinguished the heater, which had developed an electrical fault, and cleared the premises of smoke with a positive pressure ventilation fan.”

The fire, at the unnamed business, was the first of two incidents in the Harrogate district today.

At two minutes past midday, fire crews from Boroughbridge and Knaresborough were called to the A1 southbound near Boroughbridge to deal with a car fire.

A Vauxhall Zafira had caught fire following an engine fault. Firefighters using breathing apparatus dealt with the incident.

The incident log adds:

“Occupants had left scene, believed to have been picked up by another vehicle prior to arrival of emergency services.”

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