A controversial plan to build 35 homes in Harrogate’s Crimple Valley has been refused.
The application by Square Feet Ltd and Antela Developments Ltd would have seen homes built at Almsford Bank Stables on Leeds Road.
It included plans for 14 affordable homes, seven first homes and 14 self or custom build plots.
The proposal was objected to by residents, who described it as “ludicrous” and unsafe.
A total of 247 letters of objection were submitted to Harrogate Borough Council against the scheme.
The council rejected the development on the grounds that the site was not allocated for housing under the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, and “would result in harm to the character and appearance of its surroundings”.
It said in its reasons for refusal:
“The proposed development would result in harm to the character and appearance of its surroundings, including the Crimple Valley Special Landscape Area, through the loss of open fields and woodland and the introduction of unacceptable and incongruous (sub)urban development into an area of high landscape value, important to the setting of Harrogate and the grade II* listed Crimple Valley viaduct.”
Read more:
- New plans submitted for 35 homes in Harrogate’s Crimple Valley
- Dozens of objections to ‘ludicrous’ Crimple Valley housing plan
The application was the third for the site since 2018, when plans for 65 homes were put forward but withdrawn.
The following year, a reduced proposal of 35 homes was submitted, but again withdrawn in the face of extensive objections.
Campaign group Save Crimple Valley urged the public to submit objections to the new proposal.
Among them was Judith Hooper, who told the council that the site was unsafe for such a housing scheme.
She said:
Business rates to reduce for majority of Harrogate firms, says BID“In the time we have been resident in Harrogate there have been numerous car accidents on Almsford bank, the most recent very serious one being only a few weeks ago.
“Cars accelerate down the bank on reaching the 50mph sign and already have to contend with traffic coming out of Crimple Hall.
“Putting access at the bottom of such a busy section of road, on a bend, seems to invite accidents. At night there are many cars clearly speeding on this stretch. At busy periods traffic is queuing both up and down the hill.”
A Harrogate business organisation has said a new business rates valuation will see the majority of local firms pay less.
Following a government review, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt decided to progress with new valuations of properties as part of his autumn statement.
An online service is available to show firms whether their rates will increase from April 1, 2023.
Sara Ferguson, chair of the Harrogate Business Improvement District, said she welcomed the review by government.
She added that while some businesses will see their rateable value rise, they will still receive support from government.
Ms Ferguson said:
“For a number of years, Harrogate BID has been asking the government to review business rates, and I’m really pleased this has now happened.
“Looking at the website, it appears that the majority of the business have seen their business rates reduced, which will be a relief to many, particularly with the rise in fuel, raw materials and energy costs.
“And for those that have seen their rate rise, those at the lower end of the scale will still benefit from rate relief, with plenty of small business not paying anything at all.”
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Last week, Mr Hunt announced £13.6 billion worth of business rates relief targeted at businesses that may see their rates increase.
Mr Hunt said the move would help to “soften the blow” for businesses with new valuations.
Business owners can check their valuations on the government website here.
Criminals in North Yorkshire could make written apologies to victimsCriminals could be asked to make written apologies to victims under new plans for policing in North Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is consulting on a community remedy document.
Each local policing body must have a community remedy document for its area that is informed by consultation.
The document includes options for dealing with less serious crime and anti-social behaviour.
The options being considered in North Yorkshire include asking criminals to make verbal or written apologies or to sign acceptable behaviour contracts in which they pledge to change their behaviour.
Victims of crime, such as street drinking, littering, noise, animal problems, vehicle nuisance or trespass, will be able to discuss the finalised community remedy options with a police officer and provide their preferred course of action for the officer to consider.
Ms Metcalfe today opened a consultation on plans jointly drawn up with North Yorkshire Police.
The options people are asked to comment on are:
- Restorative Justice: bringing together criminals and victims in a safe and supported way.
- Verbal or written apology to victims.
- Signing acceptable behaviour contracts in which offenders pledge to change their behaviour by agreeing to particular conditions or actions e.g. participating in an educational programme or agreeing not to go to a particular area.
- A referral to a local rehabilitative, educational or diversionary activity, to support an improvement in behaviour: via a community-based support scheme.
- Personal/community reparation: e.g. repairing or paying for the damage caused.
- Mediation to support the resolution of disputes.
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The community remedy process aims to support victims by giving them reassurance that their offender is remorseful. The aim is to promote public confidence in the out-of-court disposal process.
This is a method for avoiding court proceedings and criminal charges when an offender is known and admits the offence.
Causes ‘misery’
Ms Metcalfe said:
“Anti-social behavioural problems can cause misery in communities, and I want members of the public to feel empowered by the community remedy, in that they have a say in the best way to prevent re-offending and feel reassured by the actions taken by the police.
“Please complete the short survey to inform my decision on the final options.”
Lisa Winward, Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, said:
“The community remedy will provide victims of low level crime and anti-social behaviour with a greater say in how an offender is held to account for their actions.
“We know that crimes and behaviour of this kind can take their toll on individuals and communities and I welcome the commissioner’s survey to better understand the menu of remedial options that communities feel best fit the crime.”
To take part in the seven-week survey, which closes on January 10, click here.
Council awarded £2m to tackle bed blocking in North YorkshireNorth Yorkshire County Council has been awarded £2 million to tackle bed blocking in hospitals.
The Department of Health and Social Care announced a £500 million fund to help speed up the discharge of patients across the country.
The county council, which is responsible for adult care, has been granted a total of £2,019,667 of this to increase its social care workforce and increase capacity to take on more patients from hospital.
Two months ago Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said the problem of patients staying in hospital longer than they should because of a lack of private care services was the “biggest issue” the trust faced.
The government said local authorities and health trusts will be free to spend the money on initiatives which have the “greatest impact in their area on reducing discharges into social care”.
Helen Whately, Minister of State for Care, said:
“People should be cared for in the best place for them, but discharge delays mean patients are spending too long in hospital.
“Our discharge fund will get more people cared for in the right place at the right time. We’re asking hospitals and the social care system to work together to help patients and carers too, who often take on a lot of the burden of caring when someone leaves hospital.
“The discharge fund will boost the social care workforce and in turn reduce pressures on the NHS and hospital staff, as it frees up beds and helps improve ambulance handover delays.”
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- Harrogate hospital trust plans home care service to tackle bed blocking
- Hospital ‘not anticipating’ service cuts due to energy price surge
- Harrogate hospital staff selling days off to cope with cost of living crisis
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has already sought to introduce a home care service to free up beds.
A spokesperson for the trust said previously:
Business Breakfast: Future of farming in spotlight at Harrogate event“Currently, bed occupancy at our hospitals is around 90%. Due to the increased number of planned operations that are being performed we have more patients occupying beds following their surgery.
“However, bed occupancy is also impacted by patients who no longer require hospital care, but are unable to be discharged as they do not have a suitable location where they can continue their recovery, such as a residential care home, or appropriate home care to support them in their own homes.”
Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.
The future of the farming sector will be under the spotlight at a meeting in Harrogate next week.
Held at the Pavilions of Harrogate, the Future Farmers of Yorkshire’s autumn debate will see industry leaders discuss how the sector can cope with current levels of inflation.
Among the speakers will be Mark Berrisford-Smith, head of economics at HSBC UK’s commercial banking business.
Mr Berrisford-Smith said current inflation levels were having an impact on the agricultural sector.
He said:
“The war in Ukraine has unleashed twin inflationary shocks in the form of higher food and energy prices. For farmers in the UK, annual input price inflation is now running at 30%, while output price inflation stands at 21%.
“Although many businesses have been able to absorb higher costs thanks to better prices, this is not universally the case. Prices for some cereal products are up by more than 50% compared with a year earlier, while poultry and lamb prices have hardly increased at all.”
The meeting will also hear from Great Yorkshire Show director Charles Mills, Farmers Weekly young farmer of the year Matthew Nichols and Andrew Hardcastle, director of Hardcastle Rural Surveyors.
Future Farmers of Yorkshire management board member Isobel Eames will chair the panel.
The event will be held on Thursday, December 1. Those interested in attending can register at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society website here.
Yorkshire business urged to sign climate pledge
Business across Yorkshire are being urged to sign a pledge to tackle climate change.
Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, an independent body set up to support and guide the region’s organisations, launched its Climate Action Pledge this past week.
It is the first regional pledge of its kind in the UK to require businesses and organisations to make a commitment across four areas of action: becoming climate resilient; reducing carbon emissions; enhancing nature and biodiversity; and promoting a just transition.
Liz Barber, chair of Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, said:
“With COP27 in Egypt putting a global focus on climate action, it’s the perfect time for us to seize the initiative as a region and show how businesses and organisations can demonstrate strong leadership at all levels here in Yorkshire and Humber.
“We are launching a ‘sprint’ of climate action today, and we want to see a year of progress that puts us on the road to net zero, improves our fantastic natural assets, helps us build our resilience to climate impacts, and does this in a way that leaves no-one or nowhere behind.”
Businesses and organisations of all kinds in Yorkshire and Humber are encouraged to sign the pledge here.
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Oliver Bonas set to open in Harrogate this week
Harrogate’s upmarket James Street is set to get a new addition this week with the opening of an Oliver Bonas shop.
The fashion and lifestyle brand has been refurbishing the spacious 3,700-square foot unit formerly used as a discount store.
Next also previously rented the site.
The doors were previously expected to open in September but renovations have been ongoing.
However, sources have indicated Oliver Bonas is finally due to open on Thursday.
The company, which has 85 stores in the UK, is advertising for team members at £9.75 an hour on its website.
The opening will strengthen James Street’s claim to be Harrogate’s premier destination for luxury goods.
Pret A Manger, Ebru Evrim and Carl Scarpa have all joined the street recently and Hotel Chocolat has upsized to larger premises.
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Tom Limbert, director of property consultants, Central Retail, which acted for property owners Countrylarge, previously said James Street had been “reinvigorated”, adding:
North Yorkshire transport boss warns bus network faces ‘really grave situation’“Oliver Bonas will be a great addition to the existing tenant line up on James Street which truly is one of the best high streets in the north of England.”
North Yorkshire County Council’s transport boss has issued the stark warning that the county’s bus network is “facing a really grave situation”.
Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation, made his remarks after a meeting where members representing communities across North Yorkshire heard many commerically-run services were in peril or being downgraded.
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.
The council has been trialling Yorbus, a demand-responsive transport scheme around Ripon and Masham in the hope of finding a sustainable public transport solution for rural areas. It is yet to announce any alternative public transport proposals to its rejected plans.
A meeting of the authority heard opposition members highlight the importance of public transport as a means of cutting carbon emissions and question the authority’s intentions over investing in the area.
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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.”
The meeting heard a call from Scarborough Labour councillor Tony Randerson for a “nationalised bus service”.
Cllr Duncan responded saying bus services in the county were facing unprecedented pressure due to higher costs and passenger numbers had fallen to just 80 per cent of pre-covid levels.
He said:
“For many of the routes that represents the difference between profitability and not profitable services.
“It is important to point out that the bus network is North Yorkshire is facing a really grave situation. I think unprecedented pressure as a result of reduced passenger numbers, as a result of higher costs.”
He added: “The message across the county is use it or lose it. We need people to support these services.”
He said the authority subsidised routes to the tune of £1.6m annually, but the situation in the county would “outstrip that many times over”, adding:
“That subsidy is not at a level that which we would be able to support those 79 routes, so it is a very grave situation.”
He added:
Burglary at Harrogate hairdressers this morning“Creating a nationalised service would not solve those fundamental issues if those operators are not there to deliver those services.”
“There may be is more that we could do to become more interventionist in terms of the bus network, but at the moment the backbone of the county’s bus service is the commercial operators.”
A man and woman have been arrested on suspicion of burgling a Harrogate hairdressers in the early hours of this morning.
The suspects, both in their 30s and from Harrogate, remain in police custody.
According to North Yorkshire Police, a man and woman were seen to break a window at Contemporary Salons’ studio on Station Parade at 3.56am. It added:
“The two people then entered the property and filled two bags with items before leaving the area in a taxi.”
It is the latest criminal attack this month on a Harrogate shop, with previous incidents reported at salon Dangerfield & Keane and James Barber Tobacconists on Cold Bath Road.
Police said in a statement:
“If you witnessed this incident or have any further information which could help the investigation, please email: pamela.luettke@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101 quoting reference 12220206294
“If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
According to its website, Contemporary Salons is a group of nine hair salons across north Yorkshire and Teesside
Read more:
Harrogate man jailed for spitting on pensioner at train station
A Harrogate man has been jailed after spitting on a pensioner’s head at Leeds train station.
Aaron Peter Wilson, 43, of Hookstone Road, was found guilty of assault and jailed for four weeks.
York Magistrates Court heard how, on Sunday, September 25, Wilson started shouting aggressively at the 66-year-old victim and his wife as they walked past him.
Wilson continued to shout at the couple after they ignored him.
The victim turned around and told Wilson to go away. After this then spat at the victim’s head.
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A security guard at the station contacted British Transport Police. When they attended Wilson became increasingly aggressive towards them and was arrested.
Investigating officer PC Anthony Sutcliffe said:
“This was a disgusting and unprovoked attack on a gentleman and his wife who were just minding their own business making their way across the station.
“We will never tolerate behaviour like this and Wilson must now realise the implications of his outburst.
“If you witness or are victim of abuse or assault on the railway you can text us discreetly on 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40.
“In an emergency always call 999.”
Wilson was also ordered to pay £75 compensation.
Harrogate Christmas Fair: The perfect place to find unique festive gifts
This story is sponsored by the Country Living Harrogate Christmas Fair.
Many of us are already in full swing with our Christmas shopping and the challenge is well and truly on to find those extra special gifts.
The Country Living Harrogate Christmas Fair, which returns for its tenth year next week, is the perfect place to find that special something.
The four-day event, on December 1-4, will feature more than 200 small UK independent producers, crafters, and artisan retailers under one roof at the Convention Centre.
There will be a host of unique gifts that can’t be found on the high street.
From handcrafted products, stylish decors, soft furnishings to gourmet cheese, Christmas puddings, sweet and savoury treats, tasty tipples and fine wines, visitors can shop to their hearts’ content while soaking in the festive vibes with live music throughout the day from the Fair’s brass band and choirs.
Fiona Fawcett, from Yorkshire brand Plewsy.
Shoppers can opt for a special VIP experience, including bottomless prosecco and gift bags worth more than £100.
Over the four-days, around 15,000 people are expected to attend the Harrogate Convention Centre.
Dan Sewell, the event director for Country Living’s Christmas Fair, said:
“It shows there’s a really strong appetite for this special tenth anniversary year, with so many new exhibitors bringing fresh, exciting ideas alongside the traditional, festive favourites who return year-on-year.”
The Christmas Fair will be a foodie’s delight
The Country Living Kitchen Theatre will see some of the country’s finest food and drink producers and culinary experts whip up their ultimate festive recipes and seasonal showstoppers.
Demonstrations offer the chance to ask for tips, interact with the experts, and even try a taster or two.
Stephanie Moon will deliver a workshop on ‘Christmas Canapes to Impress with Rudding Park’. Harrogate’s Three’s A Crowd will also be on hand with ‘A Christmas Tipple’, with some unique festive cocktails.
The artisan foodie brand Charlie & Ivy’s will also be on hand to demonstrate how to create simple party food for the festive season.
Visitors can expect tailored chocolate tasting sessions, as well as hands-on workshops from crafting experts where they can create needle felted baubles to unique Christmas table decorations to take home.
Christmas canapes by Charlie and Ivy’s.
Country Living’s Harrogate Christmas Fair promises gifts you can’t find on the high street, while supporting and championing the country’s independent businesses.
Shoppers can also enjoy a Champagne Bar, cocktails or an Afternoon Tea dining experience.
The Stray Ferret is working with Country Living to giveaway two VIP tickets worth £150 and to offer our readers a special two for one ticket offer.