Roadworks on the A658 Harrogate Road have diverted a large volume of traffic through two Harrogate district villages.

Five days of roadworks began today between Gravelly Hill Lane and Hall Green Lane on the busy Harrogate Road.

It is causing delays for vehicles travelling in both directions. But it has also brought problems to locals because traffic is being diverted along Crag Lane, The Sleights and Gravelly Hill Lane through North Rigton and Huby while work takes place.

Villagers have expressed concerns about the speed and volume of traffic passing through the villages as well as the effectiveness of the diversion signs.

One makeshift cardboard sign (see below) appeared in Huby this morning to help drivers navigate the diversion.

Work is being carried out to resurface the Harrogate Road.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire County Council said it wasn’t aware of any issues. She said:

“Works on the A658 are taking place from October 31 to November 4. The closure runs from 9.30am to 3.30pm daily. A signed diversion is in place.”

Fell rescuers were called to Thruscross reservoir in the Harrogate district yesterday to help a man who had fallen.

Volunteers from Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association were summoned at 1.30pm by Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

They were asked to assist a 35-year-old male who had ruptured the patellar tendon in his knee.

The man is helped into the ambulance.

It is believed the unnamed man, who was walking his dog at the time, slipped going down some steps at the far end of the reservoir.

The association said in a statement:

“After treatment by the ambulance crew the casualty was stretchered a kilometre back to the road ambulance at Whitmoor farm.”

Fifteen volunteers attended, because of the need to lift the man on a stretcher over stiles and gates.

This article is sponsored by Wizu Workspace.

Wizu Workspace, the North’s most exciting flexible workspace provider, has opened its doors at the iconic Royal House, one of Harrogate’s most prestigious addresses.

The spacious period building is the ideal place for any local business looking to grow. The stunning workspace offers private offices, co-working membership, meeting rooms and event space – all available on a flexible basis.

Wizu have created a comfortable, friendly environment that combines modern and traditional elements – perfect for growing small and large businesses alike.

Meet the Wizu team

When you walk through the doors at Royal House, the first people you’ll meet are Kitty Lewis and Grace Franklin, full-time hosts at the Harrogate site.

A beautiful communal space.

They’ll make you feel instantly at home: Kitty’s approach is to focus on customer service and creating a warm welcome. She said:

“I’ve always worked in hospitality, and that’s how I see Wizu. We look after our members and give them the best workday we can – every day.

“Most of our staff come from a hospitality background, which shows in our customer loyalty and retention.”

Among those is Jamie Lea, who brings ten years’ experience in five-star hotels (including The Dorchester in London) to his role as community manager. He said:

“I wanted something where I could use my hospitality experience. So I’ve swapped bedroom guests for office members! I’m still running events and the reception desk, but we deliver service differently to a hotel – it’s much more informal and relaxed.”

A culture of service 

Tom Almas, managing director and co-founder, believes that workspace – when done well – can inspire people to enhance their productivity and creativity:

“Many business owners are stuck in soul-destroying, uninspiring workspace, which leads to dull, repetitive workdays for them and their teams.

“At Wizu, we do things differently. We don’t tie people into long leases. We create bright, beautifully-designed workspaces, so our members can stay productive, creative and energised – and go further as individuals and businesses as a result.”

A relaxed and friendly atmosphere

The team work hard to make their members feel at home.

One of the meeting rooms you could take advantage of.

Music quietly plays in the kitchen and co-working space, which Kitty says has “a relaxed coffee shop vibe.” For those who want a quiet space to concentrate, there are private working pods to escape to and get work done.

This approach – to give its members more than an office – is core to Wizu’s design philosophy.

They’ve also created a community where members collaborate and often work together. Kitty said:

“What’s interesting is that our members have set the tone themselves. It’s great to see them chatting and helping each other out.”

Demand for space has been huge

Wizu offer several membership packages, such as ’50 hours for £60′ in the co-working space. Private offices are priced at £300 + VAT per desk/month.  Virtual office packages start from £40 plus VAT/month.

Part of the co-working space.

The fees are all-inclusive: there is no need to arrange broadband or cover heating bills. Even the furniture is included.

This flexible, inclusive package is clearly needed in Harrogate: since it opened its doors in the spring, demand has exceeded all expectations.

Over 65% of all offices have been sold, with interest in the co-working space and meeting rooms far higher than anyone predicted.

John Guggenheim, co-founder, said:

“The rising trend of businesses looking to work flexibly, coupled with our knowledge of the North, made Harrogate a perfect fit for us.

“We’re delighted with how we’ve been welcomed, and we look forward to playing our part in growing Harrogate’s dynamic economy.”

This beautiful building, with its quality interiors, professional team and flexible terms, is a fantastic addition to the Harrogate business scene.

To find out more about Wizu Workspace or to book a free two-day trial in the co-working space, call Royal House on 01423 574110.

Taxi drivers in the Harrogate district could be able to operate in other areas of North Yorkshire, under plans being considered by county council officials.

A consultation is being held into vehicle licensing for the entire of the county ahead of North Yorkshire Council being set up.

As of April 1 next year, the new authority will be responsible for licensing vehicles in the Harrogate district. Harrogate Borough Council, which currently fulfils the role locally, will no longer exist.

County council officials have proposed North Yorkshire operates as one hackney carriage zone in order to offer drivers “flexibility to operate across the county”.

A review of fare rates across the county will be carried out at a later date.

The council said in a statement:

“In accordance with the Department for Transport’s best practice guidance, it is proposed that the new council will operate one hackney carriage ‘zone’ for North Yorkshire.

“Thereby providing drivers with the flexibility to operate across the county, encouraging environmental efficiencies and creating a wider distribution of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

“There are no plans to impose hackney carriage quantity restrictions on the creation of a new single zone. Hackney carriage fares and fees will also be reviewed at a later date.”

Read more:

• No increase in wheelchair accessible taxis in Harrogate district
• Harrogate and Knaresborough trains to Leeds to be reinstated in December

The consultation will run for 12 weeks and end on January 19, 2023.

You can take part in the survey here.

A gastro pub near Ripon has been granted an extension to its licensing hours until midnight.

The Sawley Arms, which has eight bedrooms and is popular with diners, applied for an extension until 1am, seven days a week.

But Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing committee decided on Friday that alcohol could only be served until midnight.

Steve Manton, owner of the Sawley Arms, told the committee he had spent more than £1 million refurbishing the pub since he bought it 11 years ago as a retirement project.

Mr Manton, who previously ran several businesses in the Harrogate area, said the pub’s main activity was food.

“It’s a destination pub. The traditional boozer has disappeared.”

Customers, he said, “like to linger and that’s why we have put in the extension until 1am”.

Mr Manton addresses the meeting.

He added:

“That doesn’t mean we will stay open until 1am every night. Last night we closed at 9.30pm.”

Mr Manton, who lives on the Isle of Man, described the venue as “a summer pub”, adding there was “very, very little activity in winter and we close our gardens”.

He said besides diners, the pub attracted weekend walkers, visitors to Fountains Abbey and guests from nearby Grantley Hall, the opening of which he described as “a lifeline”.

Before the meeting, David Taylor, clerk to Grantley and Sawley Parish Council, had submitted an objection to the proposal raising “grave concerns”.  He said:

“The residents of the village are very likely to be disturbed by vehicles leaving the site at times that would extend beyond 1am.

“Although 1am is the requested extended time, there would be ‘drinking up time’ and staff leaving the premises, therefore it would be nearer to 2am when the last cars leave the site.”

Wan Malachi, a licensing enforcement officer at the council told the committee it had received no complaints about the venue.

Ed Darling, the Conservative councillor who chairs the licensing committee, told Mr Manton it had granted the extension on condition that it applied until midnight, seven days a week, rather than the 1am requested. Cllr Darling added:

“There is a right of appeal against this decision to Harrogate Magistrates Court within 21 days of receipt of the decision notice.”

A consultation is being launched today on what the new North Yorkshire Council’s funding priorities should be, amid stark warnings about its economic situation.

North Yorkshire Council will come into existence on April 1 when the seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, and North Yorkshire County Council, are abolished.

The postponement of the Chancellor’s autumn statement means the new local authority still doesn’t know how much funding it will be allocated by national government.

In addition, the new authority is expected to start life by inheriting a £27 million deficit from the eight councils it is replacing. Rising inflation is also believed to have added an additional £70 million in costs.

Against this backdrop, county council leader Carl Les said the budget for the new authority will be the most challenging he has witnessed.

Cllr Les, who will become the leader of the new North Yorkshire Council, said:

“These challenges for the forthcoming financial year are the greatest I have ever known, caused by a succession of issues that, taken in isolation, would present significant problems to overcome in themselves.

“We have launched the consultation to give the public the chance to highlight what they believe are the financial priorities which the new North Yorkshire Council should be focused on, and it is so important that we hear those views to help us form the budget for the authority.”

Read more:

• Consultation launched over £540m North Yorkshire devolution deal
• Less than a month to get jabbed at Harrogate’s showground

Cllr Les added that the restructuring of local government in North Yorkshire “could not have come at a more prescient time amid all the challenges we are facing” because merging eight councils and streamlining services “will be invaluable in ensuring that budgets can be balanced”.

He believes the restructure could lead to savings of up to £70 million a year.

North Yorkshire County Council alone has had to make savings of £200 million since 2010 from an original net budget of £520 million, excluding funding for schools – equating to a 40 per cent reduction in spending.

North Yorkshire Council will serve the greatest geographical area of any local authority in the country, and it will have an overall spend of about £1.4 billion, including £343 million on schools.

The Let’s Talk Money conversation begins today and runs until December 23. Details are available here.

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Yorkshire-based non-profit, Better Connect hosted an event in Harrogate to celebrate the success of its Action Towards Inclusion project.

ATI is an employability programme aimed at supporting those who are furthest from the labour market.

It has provided specialist support to help individuals across Yorkshire to overcome significant barriers, begin training, start the job search and secure employment. The project has helped over 3,000 people transform their lives, and secure training and employment.

A total of 180 people from across the Yorkshire region gathered at the Majestic Hotel  to honour the contributions of participants and the programme’s leaders, and celebrate the significant impact ATI has made.

Natasha Babar-Evans, chief executive at Better Connect said:

“This programme has made such a huge impact, and it was both emotional and encouraging to hear some of the incredible stories, the amazing journeys that people have made, the progress they’ve made, what they’ve achieved, and how important this programme has been to them.”

Read More:

• Business Breakfast: Woodland grants for Nidderdale farmers
• Rail strikes to cause six days of Harrogate district disruption

Care award for Vida employee

A specialist care worker at Harrogate based Vida Healthcare, has won the Dementia Care Leader award at the Social Care Leadership Awards 2022. 

Bernadette Mossman, Vida’s healthcare director, won for her outstanding contribution to health and social care, particularly in relation to the care of people living with dementia.

The Social Care Leadership Awards provide an opportunity to showcase excellence in senior leadership in the sector.

Vida operates three care homes which provide care for over 210 people living with dementia, with over 450 staff currently employed across a number of roles.

Commenting on her win, Ms Mossman said:

“Since starting my career in health and social care, I’ve met so many amazing people and have achieved things that I’m extremely proud of. This award win is one such achievement.

“Being recognised by my peers and receiving this award means a lot to me, and I’m touched that my passion and dedication to supporting people living with dementia and our colleagues has been recognised.”

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.

My dog was banned from church – this is wrong

My gorgeous bit of fur, a well behaved six-year-old French bulldog, was asked to leave a well known church in Harrogate this afternoon. She could have stayed if she was an assistance/ guide dog on a lead and wearing a jacket. ‘Ordinary’ dogs are not allowed as their allergens may cause suffering to churchgoers. Do the leads and jackets stop allergens… no!

Belle has been visiting the sessions most weeks this year, to no known detriment to the church community. Has there been an anaphylactic reaction to a person during or after our sessions? Probably not.

Belle is adored by the churchgoers. They love giving her treats, petting and interacting with her. Pat-a-dog activities are a welcome therapy with the elderly and dementia sufferers. As a nurse for over 30 years, and having been a matron/ manager of care homes, I have seen the happiness this interaction brings.

Are dogs not God’s creation like us? Is a house of God not a sanctuary and place of peace? Are all of God’s creatures not welcome?

Although Belle is not officially a therapy dog, she helps me overcome anxiety/panic attacks and kept my mental health and wellbeing from spiralling into a black hole during the covid crisis. She continues to support me and bring joy.

Chrissy Richardson, Scotton

Read more:

• ‘Badly let down’ Woodfield school closure confirmed
• Diners to eat blindfolded to raise funds for Harrogate guide dogs

Politics of Woodfield school closure should not be forgotten

As branch secretary of the National Education Union, it is with great sadness that I have watched Woodfield Community Primary School, in the Bilton area of Harrogate, move towards closure.

The community of Bilton deserves a thriving primary school and over the course of the past decade the school has undergone several traumatic events that led to a lack of parental confidence. Rather than working with the community to help the school re-establish its reputation, it seems that far too many agencies involved have sought to sweep things under the carpet and not give the school staff and the local community the support they deserved to keep the school functioning.

I read with interest Cllr Paul Haslam’s comments in which he argues that the school should not be closing, due to the growth in population in Harrogate. I agree with Cllr Haslam about the need to keep Woodfield school open, but I do take issue with the fact that it is the Tory party, a party he represents, whose policy of forcing schools to become academies that has been the final death knell for the school.

The behaviour of the Department for Education is akin to the school bully who get their own way by any means necessary. Every member of the Tory party, from the Prime Minister to the Andrew Jones MP, to ward councillors are culpable in the decimation of our education system and schools such as Woodfield pay the heavy price for their neo-liberal ideology.

Over the past months the NEU has run a campaign to save Woodfield School. A campaign to which Tory councillors were happy to say they supported in words but then failed to back it up in gestures. When children are having to travel increased distances and crossing over catchment area borders to get the education they deserve I hope those local councillors, and the local MP, hang their heads in shame.

Mostly, I feel for the future generations of children in Bilton who will not be able to attend what was, not so long ago, a thriving, caring and wonderful educational setting.

Gary McVeigh-Kaye

The Stray Ferret has launched our new Photo of the Week feature to highlight the beauty of the Harrogate district captured by talented local photographers.

Send your photos to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to feature here. We are interested in amateur and professional pictures.

This week we feature an eerie image taken by David Burns who has perfectly captured Crown Place in Harrogate at its spookiest ahead of Halloween.

A vital community service in Harrogate could be under threat this winter if more volunteers are not recruited.

Starbeck Library is run by more than 30 volunteers, but their numbers have fallen by around 25% compared to before the pandemic.

While they are still able to cover the 17 hours it is open each week, the reduced pool of people is putting extra pressure on them all and opening hours could be reduced if more help is not found.

Volunteer coordinator Ann Lewsley told the Stray Ferret:

“We’ve got 18 shifts a week to fill with 30-something people. We’re putting increasing begging emails out and people are ending up having to do more than they want to do, and then we’re in danger of scaring them off.

“Volunteering really doesn’t have to be a big commitment. If people can give us three hours once or twice a month, that would be great.

“Lots of people do every other week and some are just once a month. We don’t normally put any pressure on people to do more than they want to do, and the more volunteers we have, the easier it is for everyone.”

The community library is supported by North Yorkshire County Council, with access to its books, computer software and a shared professional librarian.

Each shift is staffed by at least two volunteers, and ideally three, and Ann described it as a small but friendly team in a welcoming environment. Most of the team members come from Starbeck, but many travel from further afield around Harrogate and even beyond.

The volunteers have recently been given a 10-year lease by the council to offer long-term security for the community library.

As well as book lending, it offers audio and ebooks, access to computers, and regular events for people of all ages including children’s story time.

Volunteers are supported by equipment and systems from NYCC

Earlier this year, the library was used by NYCC as an access point for people applying for help from the household support fund who did not have the internet at home.

Ann said one of the challenges of the volunteer rota was ensuring there was the right combination of people with complementary skills to meet visitors’ needs.

This winter, the library could also become a lifeline to people struggling to heat their homes, or looking for some company during the day.

Its team is happy to welcome people who want somewhere to read a book or newspaper, to knit, or to meet friends.

Ann added:

“With the winter coming, we’re saying, like lots of public spaces, come and use our electricity, come and be warm, read a book in the library for a couple of hours.

“We have a cafe on a Saturday where we sell drinks, but during the week, the volunteers will quite happily make a coffee or tea for someone.

“That’s all part of what we want to be able to offer to our community.”

A volunteers’ coffee morning for people interested in finding out more about volunteering is being held next Saturday, November 5, from 11am until noon. Anyone interested who can’t visit at that time can email volunteers.starbeckcl@gmail.com or call in to the library any day during opening hours.

Read more:

• Building society opens new branch in Knaresborough Library
• Starbeck and Bilton community libraries set for 10-year council deal