Local Harrogate News & Views around the district - Page 507 of 1145

MPs Watch: Strikes and free FIFA World Cup tickets

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”.

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.

‘Significant’ fall in Harrogate district planning applications leads to £320,000 shortfall

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.

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 council allocates £55,000 for advice on horticultural nursery relocation

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.

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.”

Rudding Park 10k race to return in spring

Rudding Park‘s 10k multi-terrain trail race is to return in May after a successful inaugural event last year.

Olympic triathlon gold medallist Jonny Brownlee started last year’s Rudding ParkRace, in which more than 300 runners navigated their way through 18th century parkland at the privately-owned Harrogate resort.

This year’s event, which will be held on May 9, will raise money in support of former Leeds Rhinos player Rob Burrow’s Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Appeal.

There are 450 places available and the entry fee is £25 for affiliated runners and £27 for non-affiliated runner.

Nicola Richmond and SuperFan of Jonny Brownlee! Rudding Park Race 10k

Jonny Brownlee at last year’s event.

Nuno César de Sá, Rudding Park hotel manager, said the 2022 race had a “great vibe”, adding:

“Rudding House made the perfect backdrop for the finish line where the prize giving took place as guests enjoyed music, hog roast and refreshments as the sun set.

“We were thrilled to raise over £4,000 for the Queen’s Green Canopy and this year we are super excited to be supporting Rob Burrow and his family whose tireless campaign to raise awareness and funds to support families living with MND is inspiring.”

The start of last year’s race.

Last year’s winner was Nathan Edmonson from Ilkley Harriers, who recorded a time of 34 mins 25 secs. The fastest female was Charlotte Mason from City of York AC in a time of 41 mins 29 secs.

More information is available here.

Harrogate man wins landmark disabled settlement against major gym chain

A disabled Harrogate man has won a settlement against Nuffield Health after the gym allegedly discriminated against him when trying to renew his membership.

Andrew Gray, a lawyer and founder of Truth Legal, was a member of his local Nuffield health and fitness centre until his health deteriorated.

Mr Gray was a keen marathon runner and played football until April 2021.

Side effects attributed to treatment following a prescribed course of the antibiotic fluoroquinolone led to him developing chronic fatigue, fainting episodes and numerous other symptoms due to heart, blood pressure and prostate problems.

Now disabled, he enquired with his local gym in Harrogate in February last year about reduced rates due to being physically unable to use the equipment and attend the facilities.

He was a keen user of the swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi which helped relieve muscle and joint pain resulting from his condition.

However, Mr Gray was told that no adjustments in the membership pricing structure for disabled people were available.

Mr Gray argued that as his health condition varies unpredictably, sometimes he would not be well enough to use the pool and jacuzzi despite his desire to do so for the benefits it would afford him, further justifying his request for a reasonably lowered membership fee.

He said:

“All I wanted to do was to enhance my chance to get well again. Many disabled people would benefit from fairer access to such facilities.

“People with chronic conditions are put off joining such places because of the unfair pricing.”

Acting on behalf of Mr Gray, Katherine Swinn, a senior associate solicitor at Truth Legal also based in Harrogate, issued a disability discrimination claim for breach of the 2010 Equality Act.

The outcome saw Nuffield agreeing to settle the claim, establishing an independent committee, comprising a team of medical experts to look at all future memberships for disabled members.

Moving forward, people with disabilities will be able to apply for reduced membership rates after submitting medical evidence of their disability. The committee will consider applications on a case by case basis.

‘Positive outcome for disabled people’

Ms Swinn said:

“This is a very positive outcome for Mr Gray and for disabled people in general, who have been unfairly discriminated against purely for wanting to go to the gym and only pay for the equipment and facilities that they are physically capable of using.

“As this was already in place for pensioners using this particular gym, there was no fair or reasonable explanation why a similar reduced fee membership policy didn’t exist for people with disabilities who also wanted to attend.

“It is completely pointless to have legislation in place such as the Equality Act 2010 if nobody really uses it outside of the workplace. It is applicable to services, as well as employment.

“We are fully supportive of Nuffield’s decision to provide people with disabilities with an opportunity to apply for a reduced fee and hopefully this will establish a fair precedent for other similar leisure facilities to introduce policies that will include rather than exclude disabled members.”

Mr Gray welcomed the settlement and said he hoped other gym chains would follow suit and implement similar membership policies.

He said:

“My hope is that other gym chains follow suit. If they did, they would be opening themselves up to many with disabilities who are put off by the unfair pricing policies. And use of gym facilities could help hundreds of thousands of people to improve their health.”

A spokesperson for Nuffield Health said:

“We are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of the nation and are always looking at ways to widen access to our services.

“As part of this we continually consider new ways to support people with different needs.”

Details, including a timeframe, for the introduction of the policy has yet to be confirmed.

Man jailed for 12 months after theft from Harrogate shop

A man has been jailed for a year after being found guilty of theft from a shop in Harrogate town centre.

Jason Mark Johnson, 24, of no fixed address, was charged with trespassing at VPZ vape shop on Beulah Street and stealing property worth £685 on November 11 last year.

He denied the charge but was found guilty at Harrogate Magistrates Court last week and sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Court documents said Johnson was given a custodial sentence because of the seriousness of the crime and also because the offence was aggravated by his previous record of offending.

He was also ordered to pay £685 compensation.

Harrogate district teachers go on strike — and firefighters could be next

Teachers in the Harrogate district will go on strike today — and firefighters could be next.

The district has seen a wave of industrial action in recent weeks involving rail, postal, nursing and ambulance workers.

Members of the National Education Union, Britain’s largest teaching union, are on strike today in a move that will affect many local schools. Today will also see no Northern train services operate on the Harrogate and Knaresborough line.

Gary McVeigh-Kaye, branch secretary of the NEU North Yorkshire, said picket lines were being organised at Grove Road Community Primary School in Harrogate and King James’s School in Knaresborough.

There is also the prospect of Harrogate district firefighters walking out after the results of a strike ballot this week revealed 88% of Fire Brigades Union members voted yes on a 73% turnout.

The FBU has given the government and employers until February 9 to come forward with an improved pay offer to avert what would be the first nationwide fire strike since 2003.

Harrogate is the only fire station crewed 24 hours in the Harrogate district and is likely to be affected by any action.

Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road

It is not known to what extent other local fire stations would be involved. Ripon is crewed from 8am to 6pm each day and on call outside these hours. There are 24-hour on call stations at Boroughbridge, Knaresborough, Masham and Summerbridge plus a volunteer station at Lofthouse.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said:

“This is an absolute last resort for our members. The responsibility for any disruption to services lies squarely with fire service employers and government ministers.

The government has urged the FBU to “reconsider and keep negotiating” and said it is working to mitigate any risks posed by a strike.

Business Breakfast: road train on Knaresborough Chamber meeting agenda

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.

Members of Knaresborough’s Chamber of Commerce will discuss plans for a road train in the town at tonight’s monthly meeting.

On the agenda this evening is a discussion about vacant shops in the town, the changes to local government with the incoming unitary authority and the land train.

The train is likely to run from Conyngham Hall car park to York Place car park, which would also ease pressure on town centre parking.

In recent weeks the Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce and Knaresborough Town Council have agreed to work together to build a business case for a road train.

The meeting at the Mitre starts at 7pm.

Review website award

Dacre, Son & Hartley estate agent has won Feefo’s prestigious Platinum Trusted Service Award for the second year running.

The award recognises exceptional customer service ratings and reviews posted on the Feefo review website. Feefo is the world’s largest provider of verified reviews.

Dacres, which has 20 offices across West and North Yorkshire including Harrogate, Wetherby, Knaresborough, and Pateley Bridge, secured Feefo’s highest platinum award for the first time last year, which followed the company winning gold awards for the three previous consecutive years.

Last year clients reviewed Dacres more than 250 times on Feefo, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5, which was up from 4.8 in 2021.

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacres said:

“Receiving this award, which crucially is based on genuine client reviews, and pushing our average rating up to 4.9 is a major achievement and speaks volumes about our exceptional standards of customer service and care.

“It also demonstrates the ability of our whole team to always respond to current market conditions and combine unrivalled marketing advice with a completely personal service, in order to deliver the best possible results for buyers and sellers alike.

his is one of the key reasons why we’ve been so successful in Yorkshire’s property market for more than 200 years and continually work with generations of the same families time and time again.”

High speeds and alcohol contributed to young Harrogate man’s fatal crash, inquest hears

A young Harrogate man died when his car left the A59 as he drove home after drinking heavily, an inquest has heard.

Samuel Ronald Gibson, known as Sam, was 24 when the fatal collision occurred in the early hours of March 13 last year.

His Peugeot 208 spun off the road, collided with a tree, lifted up and landed in a ditch close near Poppleton at around 3.30am, today’s inquest was told by a police investigator.

A toxicology report after his death found he had 201mg of alcohol in his blood, against the legal limit of 80mg.

A statement from his colleague and friend Sophie Rothwell was read at the inquest held at the Coroner’s Court in Northallerton this afternoon. She said:

“When Sam was sober, he knew drink driving was wrong. However, when he went out it was like there was no controlling or stopping him and it wasn’t possible to reason with him…

“I would describe [Sam] as an unsafe driver [even when sober]. He drove very fast, exceeding the speed limit and I didn’t feel safe as a passenger.”

The court heard a statement from Sam’s mother, Jennifer Perkins, who said he had “always had a strong work ethic”, beginning with a paper round in his teens. He later moved into hospitality, working at Revolucion de Cuba and then Sainsbury’s in Harrogate.

The former Rossett School student had been manager at the Cosy Club bar in York for three-and-a-half years before moving to the Ivy in early 2022.

After passing his driving test at 18, Sam lost his licence aged 20 when he was convicted of drink-driving. When he had his licence back, Ms Perkins said he was “always very careful and cautious about not driving when he knew he would be drinking”.

However, in the few months prior to his death, she said there had been a couple of occasions when he had driven home after drinking.

Friends also said Sam was known to drive after drinking. Some had tried to hide his car keys to prevent him doing so, and others had stopped socialising with him.

In statements, colleague Sophie Rothwell and her boyfriend Max Bradford said they had been out with Sam in York on the night he died.

They said he had drunk lager, prosecco, wine, beer and spirits between around 8pm on Saturday, March 12 and 1.30am the following day.

Ms Rothwell said:

“He was so drunk that, at one bar, he couldn’t stand up properly and kept falling down.”

Sam stayed out after his friends went home, and he went to a nearby food van for something to eat.

Sam’s car was discovered in a ditch by the A59 around 7am the next morning.

The inquest heard he had suffered a “catastrophic” brain and spinal cord injury, described by the doctor performing the post-mortem as “an entirely unsurvivable event” which would have killed him almost instantly.

Forensic collision investigator PC Richard Barker said Sam had been wearing a seatbelt but the airbags in the car had not deployed, showing signs that they had previously activated and not been properly repaired.

Although he could not say for certain how fast the car was travelling, PC Barker believed it was in excess of the maximum speed at which the car could navigate the bends of the road.

North Yorkshire coroner Jonathan Leach concluded Sam had died as a result of the collision, saying:

“It would appear that Sam was driving along the A59 at speed and, I suspect as a result of the alcohol he had drunk, his concentration and his ability to drive properly was impaired.

“I suspect he over-reacted, left the road and struck a tree, and died at the scene.”

‘Devastation’

In their statements, both Ms Rothwell and Mr Bradford described Sam as a reliable friend and a good colleague who was the “life and soul” of both his workplace and any party.

Ms Rothwell added:

“Sam was the most reliable friend you could have asked for. He was the person you could call at any time and losing him has left a massive hole in my heart.”

Ms Perkins’ statement said Sam was a “nice young man” who had looked after her when she lost her sight and had taken gifts to an elderly neighbour who had moved into a care home. She added:

“While Sam made bad judgements and mistakes in relation to driving, this is the kind of loving, caring person Sam was and how I wish for him to be remembered.”

She added:

“I can’t express in words just how much devastation losing Sam has left behind. The whole family are suffering as a result. I can’t believe he has gone.”

Person suffers head injuries after crash at Blubberhouses

A person was taken to hospital today after a two-vehicle collision on the A59 at Blubberhouses.

Harrogate firefighters responded to the incident at 3.13pm this afternoon.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log said one person was trapped in their vehicle.

It added:

“Crews made both vehicles safe and removed the door of one vehicle to allow paramedics access to the trapped casualty.

“Crews assisted in extricating the casualty, who was suffering head injuries, before handing them into the care of ambulance crews to be transported to hospital.”

The incident led to delays on the main route between Harrogate and Skipton.

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Why does the council want to move from Harlow Hill?

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An emotional move for residents

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‘Positive outcome for disabled people’

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Review website award

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‘Devastation’

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