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.

Concerns over Scotton Weir removal

Over the last few years, ecologists and others have been busy building dams and weirs in streams throughout the UK in order to slow the flow of water into river catchments thereby reducing the impact of flooding. It’s been pretty successful, dams and weirs are well known to help in lessening the impact of flooding. Indeed, in some areas we now employ beavers to do it for us.

Why then has Scotton Weir on the River Nidd been removed?

Scotton Weir has, for over 200 years, held back thousands of cubic metres of flood water that will now race down the catchment increasing flooding and the risk of flooding in Knaresborough and downstream communities.

The work, as I understand it, is to help fish migrate upstream towards Harrogate North sewage treatment works outfalls and west which is great news for the fish but not so for those at risk of flooding.

I did ask the scheme promoter for comment, he didn’t have the courtesy to respond. I spoke to North Yorkshire County Council’s flood and water management team who describe themselves as “the lead local flood authority” — they batted it on to the Environment Agency quicksticks and I finally got a lengthy and rather tedious phone call from a chap at the EA who assured me I was wrong and that there would be no impact on downstream flooding.

I hope he’s right but I fear he isn’t.

David Howarth, Bilton

Call for Knaresborough cemetery group to be formed

Responding to Jayne Jackson’s letter regarding the cemetery in Knaresborough, I think it would be really helpful if a ‘Friends of the Cemetery’ group was formed.   

It could then formulate policy and practice about how the cemetery is managed.  Personally, I’m always aiming to maximise biodiversity and wildlife havens, since humans destroy so much nature all the time, so we need to find places where we can give nature a home.  

It seems to me that cemeteries are an ideal place to have wild areas, as long as there are pathways so that it’s still possible to get close to the graves.

Many cemeteries have this policy, such as the wonderful York Cemetery,  Sharow Church, and now also St John’s Church in Knaresborough.

Shan Oakes, Knaresborough

Read more:

• Stray Views: Noisy cars in Harrogate should be monitored at weekends
• Stray Views: Station Gateway ‘will degrade things’

Queen’s great-grandchildren were well behaved

The most important part of a funeral if you have to take your children, for them to pay their, respects to their great grandma the Queen is that they know how to behave in the service and try to follow and understand what is going on.

I congratulate William and Kate on their upbringing of their children. It was a very long day for two young people. Their behaviour was impeccable when required.

If the children outside of the service behaved as children do, it doesn’t matter. They are human children

Any grown up does not have the right to criticise any parents about the behaviour outside the services their children have had to go through.

Margaret Beckingham, Harrogate

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 County Council is set to review leisure services in the county as part of a drive to promote health and wellbeing

Cllr Simon Myers, planning for growth executive member, said the in-depth study would feature an examination of what the authority’s role should be in promoting public health as it faces financial pressures over spiralling social care costs.

A meeting of the authority focused on the transition to a new unitary council in April heard while existing leisure centres and charges would be looked, a study of the county’s community and grassroots facilities was also underway, to examine alternative ways of enabling rural residents to be physically active.

The meeting was told after the closure of the seven district and borough councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, the unitary authority would take on responsibility for 28 leisure centre premises across North Yorkshire, including 16 swimming pools.

Leisure services in the Harrogate district recently underwent a major overhaul led by Harrogate Borough Council. It saw the creation of a new council-owned company, Brimhams Active, to oversee facilities across the district.

The meeting heard there are glaring differences in access to leisure facilities across the county, with just one council-backed swimming pool in Richmondshire, which is in Richmond, so there was very little way people living in Hawes could use it, given that it would be a 54-mile round trip.

Councillors heard while leisure services in each of the districts were in “very different states”, Cllr Myers said some councils, such as Hambleton, had “state of the art” leisure centres.

Read more:

• Harrogate Hydro renovations a long-term gain, says diving club
• Hot Seat: Leading the Harrogate district’s leisure revolution

He added he did not believe it was right for councils to compete with private leisure facilities, saying it was not the best use of public money.

However, the unitary authority would be unable to harmonise leisure services across the county until 2027 due to continuing contracts.

Cllt Myers said he wanted to harness the county’s leisure services to tackle issues such as childhood obesity and mental health.

He said: 

“I think it’s very important when we consider that as a council we spend 53 per cent of our budget on social care one way or another, to look at investing in our residents, customers, so they don’t require social care so soon, they are kept fit and healthy, independent for longer.”

The committee’s chairman, Cllr Malcom Taylor, added:

“Prevention is better cure and if we can reduce our expenditure in adult social care I think that would be a massive benefit.”

The authority’s scrutiny of health committee chairman, Cllr Andrew Lee,  said it was clear providing access to leisure facilities across the whole county was going to be very difficult.

He said: 

“I support the delivery and provision of leisure but these facilities have got to, in my opinion, pay for themselves. I don’t want to see public money chucked at them if they’re not being used by a reasonable amount of the population.

“At the end of the day I always believe we have a responsibility to the taxpayers, value for money. Let’s look at things in a business-like way and not just say we must have these facilities, Harrogate’s got x so somewhere else must have the equivalent.”

Cllr Myers replied: 

“One man’s subsidy is another man’s investment. I think investing in the health of our residents is a really important thing to do. You either pick up the tab in social care and NHS spending or you invest it to keep people fitter and I think we have a role in that. I’m not in favour of simply chucking money at things.”

“It’s 175 years since the first public health board was set up. One of the very beginnings of local government, people’s involvement in public health. I think we should celebrate that and have a role to promote that, we owe that to our residents.”

Who and what are Quakers?

There are about 210,000 Quakers across the world including a small community who practice the religion, formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, in Harrogate.

Gilly Charters has been one for 35 years after being brought up by atheist parents.

She and around 40 others worship once a week at the Friends Meeting House on Queen Parade.

Ms Charters explains what drew her to the Christian denomination:

“I came to the Quakers because I needed a place to explore my spiritual life where I wasn’t told how to think or made to sign up to rules or regulations. It provided a place for quiet discernment.

“The whole of life is sacred and we as human beings are sacred. I feel very strongly that true religion leads to respect for the earth and all life on it. These are the really important things for Quakers.”

Quakerism dates back centuries and has its origins in 17th century England. Many Quakers migrated to the USA and the religion is also practiced there.

But its sometimes old-fashioned image has been difficult to shake off.

Some people will have an image of the Quaker Porridge Oats man, with long hair, traditional clothing and hat. Ms Charters said that view of the religion belongs to the past.

“That image tends to mean Quakers are dead and gone or are a very old fashioned people, that we can’t exist anymore.

“But we do exist, there are not huge numbers of Quakers, but we are still active”.

The Friends Meeting House in Harrogate

At a Quaker meeting in Harrogate, Ms Charters says people worship together in silence before speaking messages to each other.

She explained:

“It can be about almost anything. Sometimes people will talk about what things are upsetting to them, for example, people who have experienced bereavement might talk about what that person meant to them in their life.

“Someone might talk about how important the environment is to them, or about what that person is doing to work for a better world. It’s all sort of things.”

Read more:

• Searching for inner peace with Harrogate’s Buddhists
• Christian prayers at Harrogate council ‘exclusionary’

Quakers are not necessarily Christians and they don’t all worship the Bible.

Ms Charters added:

“A lot of Quakers would say they are Christians, it’s about having a sense of God’s presence. What people mean by God can be different. It’s a source of a lot of conservation between people. It’s finding a sense of what’s bigger than us. 

“A lot of Quakers believe in Jesus as a historical figure, but their route to this deeper sense of being is not through the life of Jesus, it’s not through death and resurrection. There’s a big variety.”

This weekend the Quakers along with HUFUD (Humanity United for Universal Demilitarisation) are organising a peace conference at the Friends Meeting House.

Many wars have been fought in the name of religion but the peace movement is something that the Quakers strongly identify with.

“I can’t believe in the death penalty because if everyone is unique and precious then how can I be part of a state that sanctions that? The same with war, how can I go and fight against a presence of equal being? 

“When people ask me, Why are you a Quaker, I say living on this is earth is hard work so when you’re working you need to be alongside a group of people who work in the same way. It helps keep me grounded.”

To find out more about the Harrogate Quakers, visit their website.

North Yorkshire’s transport chief said the next six months will be “sink or swim” for some bus routes amid a lack of funding from central government.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for transport at North Yorkshire County Council, said while £336,000 from government for bus services was “better than nothing”, it was a fraction of the £116 million previously asked for by the county council.

The Department for Transport awarded the council the funding to help with staff capacity in its enhanced partnerships team, which helps to draw up funding bids and works with operators.

The figure is significantly less than the £116 million bid made under the council’s Bus Services Improvement Plan earlier this year, which ministers turned down.

Cllr Duncan said the authority would continue to “face up to immense challenges” of maintaining bus services. He added that for some routes, it will prove to be “sink or swim”.

Cllr Duncan said:

“£336,000 is obviously better than nothing. But putting this into perspective, this is equivalent to less than 0.3% of our original £116 million Bus Services Improvement Plan bid.

“This is a pretty gutting state of affairs for the team who worked on our bid. I can’t hide that. Sadly, the fund was significantly oversubscribed and we were one of several authorities to miss out.

“The task now is to make the most of where we’re at. The enhanced partnership met earlier this month for the first time. This was a very positive meeting, with representatives of all of the county’s operators in attendance.

“We are facing up to immense challenges over the next six months, which will prove to be a sink or swim period for many routes.”

Read more:

• Harrogate park and ride ‘still possible’ despite £116m funding failure
• Harrogate park and ride plans could finally be revealed next year
• Government awards North Yorkshire £336,000 bus grant

Cllr Duncan added that the council would continue to look at improving bus services, despite having its multi-million pound funding bid rejected.

He said:

“It is only by the council and operators working closely together and sharing intelligence that we will be able to face up to these immediate challenges facing our network, protecting existing services as far as possible while making steps forward to improve the service provided to the public.”

Ahead of awarding the council staff capacity funding, the government said the grant would help it continue to work with bus companies.

In a letter to council officials, it said:

“We understand that this funding does not replace Bus Services Improvement Plan funding to spend on transforming your bus services.

“But we do hope it will help to support your ongoing work with operator partners, especially working through an enhance partnership or franchising arrangement, to deliver better bus services (whether they are commercial or tendered) and enable you to use local bus funding to best effect and attract future bus funding as it becomes available.”

There are yet more delays for Harrogate’s active travel schemes, which have yet to produce final designs despite being awarded government cash almost two years ago.

North Yorkshire County Council won £1 million for cycling and walking improvements on Oatlands Drive, Victoria Avenue and the A59 near Knaresborough in November 2020, but final designs have yet to be revealed as part of more consultations.

The council previously said designs for the Victoria Avenue and A59 schemes – which include cycle lanes, improved crossings and reduced speed limits – were “likely” to be revealed this summer.

However, this has now been pushed back until at least the New Year.

Victoria Avenue is one of the routes earmarked for better cycling.

And for the Oatlands Drive plans, the council previously said a consultation was “likely to start soon after” Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee bank holiday weekend in June.

Three months on, the council says it now hopes to ask the public for their views from the start of October.

This comes after original plans for a one-way traffic system on Oatlands Drive were scrapped after a backlash from residents who warned the changes would be “disastrous”.

Read more:

• Transport chief denies inflation will lead to ‘cheap’ Harrogate Station Gateway 
• Beech Grove decision leaves Harrogate in slow lane for cycling

It was later agreed that the funding would instead be used for a feasibility study looking into improvements for the wider area.

Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at the council, said in a statement this week:

“We are still in the detailed design stage for active travel schemes on Victoria Avenue and the A59 near Knaresborough.

“Following discussions and guidance from Active Travel England we would like to amend the designs further for improved pedestrian and cycling use.

“A public consultation with final designs is likely to take place in the New Year.

“The study of Oatlands Drive will review the existing designs and prepare new ones, based on the data we collect, to give us some options for active travel and traffic calming improvements in the Oatlands area that could be trialled.

“We hope to launch the public consultation at the start of October.”

The latest delays come on top of several setbacks for Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle path project which was first awarded funding in 2017. A first phase of the project was completed earlier this year, but a start date for phase two remains unclear.

Otley Road cycle path

There have also been setbacks for the town’s £11.2 million Gateway project which has been hit by a legal threat from a leading property company.

Hornbeam Park Developments made a proposed claim for a judicial review against the council this year over claims that it “failed conscientiously” to take into account the feedback of a previous survey.

This sparked the launch of yet another consultation, which was held in summer and gathered over 2,000 responses ahead of a council decision over whether to submit a final business case for funding.

Elsewhere, plans for a 7km cycleway in Knaresborough and other active travel improvements in Ripon were shelved altogether in summer when a council bid for £1.5 million was rejected by government.

Liz Truss may have only just entered Downing Street but opposition parties in Harrogate and Knaresborough have begun manoeuvrings for the next general election.

This week the Green Party became the first to name its prospective parliamentary candidate. The Liberal Democrats are expected to follow suit by the end of the year.

Conservative Andrew Jones has won four successive elections in Harrogate and Knaresborough since 2010, securing 53% of the vote at the last campaign in 2019.

The next election is widely expected to take place in 2024 — and some think his biggest threat comes from opposition parties working together rather than splitting the vote. But the early signs are this is unlikely to happen.

There was little appetite for a pact at a Green Party hustings event this week. Paul Ko Ferrigno, the only candidate standing for leadership, insisted he was fighting to win, and even if he didn’t he was more interested in shaping the debate than doing deals.

Asked if he was willing to risk letting the Tories in with this approach, Mr Ko Ferrigno said:

“Yes — but if what I’ve done is shift the conversation so the next time round the Tories are being more green in their approach, more forward in their approach, because of the way we have been campaigning, then that’s OK.”

The Greens still harbour ill feeling from the last election, when their candidate, Shan Oakes, stood down.

Green Party members at this week’s hustings.

Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn for the Greens on North Yorkshire County Council, told this week’s meeting:

“We had a national agreement with Lib Dems. Shan agreed to stand aside. The problem with that is you have to trust the people you deal with.

“The trust for us has disappeared. That’s not good for a future progressive alliance.”

Cllr Warneken added, however, that a final decision on pacts would be taken locally.

Labour and Lib Dems

The Stray Ferret asked Chris Watt, vice-chair, Harrogate & Knaresborough Labour Party, which took 11% of the vote in 2019, if it would consider an opposition pact. He replied:

“Being a much larger party, Labour operates a national system with local parties making the final decision on their candidate.”

Mr Watt added Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour “have asked to move forward with selecting a candidate as soon as possible”.

Read more:

• Green Party chooses man to fight Andrew Jones in Harrogate and Knaresborough
• Andrew Jones MP hits back over sewage vote

The process to select a Liberal Democrat candidate is being re-run after the national Lib Dems upgraded Harrogate and Knaresborough to a target seat.

“I’m hoping to have the procedures completed Christmas time.”

A missing cat has been reunited with its owner after somehow making its way all the way to Harrogate from Lancashire.

The mog, called Bea, was found frightened by the side of a busy road in the town centre.

A couple took her to Harrogate New Park Vets4Pets to check if she was microchipped.

Vet Fernando Smit Cordeiro was locking up the practice and rushing to go to a fitness class when Bea arrived.

Her scanned her and was relieved to find the crucial microchip, so he was able to track down the pet’s owner.

He said:

“I picked up the phone and called. After the courtesy greetings I asked, ‘is Bea missing?’ And the gentleman replied, ‘yes’!

“Bea’s dad was relieved and surprised that she was found almost two hours drive away from home”.

Read more:

• Harrogate family reunited with missing cat after five years
• Harrogate Cat Rescue’s urgent appeal to save Pedro the kitten

The owners drove over from Lancashire later that evening to collect their pet. They suspected Bea snuck into a delivery van and hitchhiked her way to Harrogate.

Mr Cordeiro added:

“It’s always wonderful to reunite stray or lost pets with their worried parents.”

The vet urged cat owners to get their cat microchipped if they haven’t already. It’s currently not compulsory but the law is set to change soon.

Under the new plans, all cat owners must ensure their pet is microchipped before they reach 20 weeks. Owners found not to have microchipped their cat will have 21 days to have one implanted or may face a fine of up to £500.

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith has described his own government’s decision to make swingeing tax cuts as “wrong”.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years in his mini-budget yesterday.

He said the UK economy was entering a “new era” and the measures would stimulate growth.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said those with incomes in excess of £1 million will gain more than £40,000 a year each and that the overall measures didn’t include “even a semblance of an effort to make the public finance numbers add up”.

Mr Smith, who supported Rishi Sunak’s failed Conservative leadership bid, also expressed concerns on Twitter:

“In a statement with many positive enterprise measures this huge tax cut for the very rich at a time of national crisis and real fear and anxiety amongst low income workers and citizens is wrong.”

In a statement with many positive enterprise measures this huge tax cut for the very rich at a time of national crisis & real fear & anxiety amongst low income workers & citizens is wrong. https://t.co/EeRfAcNGzf

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) September 23, 2022

However, Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough who also supported Mr Sunak, welcomed this week’s government measures.

Writing on his Community News website yesterday, Mr Jones said:

“I am pleased with the extra support for households and businesses with fuel bills through the energy price guarantee and also today’s surprise announcement of the reduction in the basic rate of income tax down to 19 per cent.

“There are a huge number of measures, many focused on our productivity and investment which are the platforms for future growth. So, plenty to be positive about here in Harrogate and Knaresborough.”

Read more:

• Harrogate district planning rules could be ‘radically streamlined’
• Harrogate district business groups cautiously welcome mini-budget

A Harrogate primary school has been rated ‘good’ with some ‘outstanding’ features in its latest Ofsted inspection.

Rossett Acre Primary School was praised for its “strong sense of community” and for the “impeccable manners” shown by its children.

Inspectors found it was ‘good’ in the quality of its education and early years provision, as well as its leadership. They rated its behaviour and attitudes, and its personal development, as ‘outstanding’.

The report said:

“There is a firm focus on pupils’ academic success alongside their mental health and well-being.

“Staff encourage pupils to benefit fully from the rich curriculum experiences and opportunities on offer. Pupils enjoy their lessons and clubs, such as dodgeball, singing squad, multi-sports and orchestra.

“Pupils respond positively to the education they receive. They show high levels of motivation and a thirst for learning. Pupils feel valued by staff and are proud of the contribution they make to the school.”

Inspectors highlighted the school’s emphasis on diversity and culture of tolerance and respect for others as areas of strength.

Read more:

• Richard Taylor school in Bilton receives ‘good’ Ofsted rating
• New headteacher for Harrogate primary school

Addressing ways in which the school could further improve, they said the new phonics curriculum needed to be implemented in a way that ensured all pupils could make progress and those who were further behind could catch up.

They also said not all subjects were taught consistently from reception onwards, such as poor handwriting formation not being addressed early enough so bad habits could become established.

The report added:

“The broad offer and focus on developing staff expertise mean that pupils achieve very well in the range of subjects over time.

“The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with SEND have the support they need so they can achieve well and be fully involved in school life.

“Teachers deliver the curriculum with enthusiasm. This rubs off on the pupils and they respond with curiosity and a desire to learn.”

The inspection took place in June, before the summer holiday, and the report has been published this week.

The school has maintained its rating from its last full inspection in 2011, before it became an academy in 2016. It had a short inspection in 2019.

Rossett Acre is part of the Red Kite Learning Trust, a group of 13 schools including Harrogate Grammar School, Oatlands Junior School, and Western and Coppice Valley primaries.

Inspectors praised the support of the trust for the school, providing training to teachers and ensuring pupils had access to the best learning opportunities.

Responding to the report, headteacher Corinne Penhale said:

“We are thrilled with our Ofsted report, particularly our two areas of ‘outstanding’ for personal development and behaviour and attitudes.

“At Rossett Acre, children are at the heart of everything we do, and the Ofsted outcomes are testament to this.

“I am so incredibly proud of everyone in our school and our community who work so hard to ensure we provide a relevant, rich and fabulous education for our children. What a team!”

It feels like it creeps up on us earlier every year. Yes folks, it’s the most wonderful time of the year: it’s time to book your Santa visit.

Attractions across the Harrogate district have already started to release tickets.

And while Christmas might still be three months away, it’s advisable to act fast if you want to secure an audience with Mr Claus.

I’ve had the pleasure of taking my boys to meet him a few times over the years at various locations in the area.

Each experience has been excellent and we are definitely spoilt for choice. Santa is clearly a big fan of the Harrogate district.

To help you get organised, here are seven places to see Santa this year:

The Harrogate Father Christmas Experience – Cedar Court Hotel

It’s back and it has been hailed as “bigger and better than ever”.

Last year Father Christmas’s Chief Elf Tinsel, from Enchantica’s, delighted children and grown-ups alongside the big man himself at The Crown Hotel.

This Christmas you can join Santa, Tinsel and all of the Elves at a very magical Elf Village at the Cedar Court Hotel.

And those who are on the good elf list can book places to enjoy two shows this year:

• Elf Training Show – an immersive sing-along elf training experience for the whole family to enjoy.
  Or
• New for 2022 – Code Breakers Christmas show – for ages seven plus to adult – an escape room style family show wrapped up with magic, illusion and festive code breaking challenges to help save Christmas.

Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, September 27 and you can be among the first to get them by signing up to the mailing list here.

November 26 – December 24. Check here for show dates, times and availability.

Christmas at Mother Shipton’s, Knaresborough

Wander through the winter woodland to see the enchanted Christmas Village, festooned with festive delights and merry displays.

Chief Elf Chestnut will meet little visitors and lead them to see Santa Claus in his cosy Christmas grotto.

Children will be presented with a pack of festive activities and will also be able to listen to tales from Holly Berry, make reindeer food and post a letter to Santa at the North Pole Post Office.

November 26 – December 24. Click here to buy tickets. 

The Magical Christmas Experience – Birchfield Farm, Summerbridge

This hugely popular experience is making a welcome return following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Meet Mother Christmas in her sitting room to check in and collect your sleigh ride tickets.

Then head to the sleigh pick up point to be greeted by Buddy the Elf, who will help you board Santa’s sleigh for your magical sleigh ride .

You will arrive at father’s Christmas woodland grotto where you can sit by the fire and tell him your Christmas wishes.

November 26 – December 23. Click here to buy tickets.