Ferris wheel goes up as Harrogate Christmas countdown begins

A Ferris wheel has started to be installed in Harrogate as the countdown to the town’s Christmas activities begins.

The 32-metre wheel, which is being assembled alongside the war memorial, will be one of the highlights of Harrogate’s Christmas offering.

Other highlights include an ice rink in Crescent Gardens, a Christmas market featuring about 50 stalls, the Candy Cane Express road train and a carousel.

The wheel, also known as an observation wheel, previously stood in York.

Harrogate’s seasonal festivities are due to get underway on Friday. The market will operate until December 11 but the other activities will continue into the New Year.

Harrogate Borough Council is organising the festivities with a range of partners.

John McGivern, destination events manager at the council’s tourism body Destination Harrogate, told Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce this month the ambition was to “position Harrogate district as a first choice Christmas destination” and to attract high spending visitors on day trips and overnight breaks.

Ferris / observation wheel going up

The view from Bettys this morning.

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Flaxby Park withdraws appeal over 350 eco lodges refusal

The owners of Flaxby Park Golf Club have withdrawn an appeal over a decision to refuse plans for 350 eco lodges and a hotel on the site.

In March, Harrogate Borough Council rejected the proposal on the grounds that it would cause an “unacceptable” impact on the environment. The site is close to junction 47 on the A1(M).

Last month, Flaxby Park Ltd took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate – which deals with planning disputes.

In documents submitted to the inspectorate, planning consultants Lichfields, which lodged the appeal on behalf of the developer, said the reasons for refusal were “unfounded”.

It said:

“The appellant will show that the council’s reasons for refusal are unfounded and that there are no technical issues arising from the proposed development, which cannot be addressed by appropriately worded conditions or Section 106 planning obligations.

“The appellant will therefore submit that planning permission should be granted for the development proposed by the appeal without delay.”

However, Flaxby Park Ltd has now withdrawn the appeal. A public inquiry into the case scheduled for January 31, 2023, has been cancelled.

An aerial computer generated image of the proposal. The A1 (M) is to the east and the A59 is to the south.

An aerial computer generated image of the proposal. The A1(M) is to the east and the A59 is to the south.

The Stray Ferret approached both Flaxby Park Ltd and its agent Lichfields to ask why the company made the decision and if it still intends to propose a new scheme for the site.

But we did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The move raises questions over the future of the former Flaxby Golf Course site, which has been closed since 2014.

History of the site

In 2008 The Skelwith Group bought the site from farming family the Armstrongs for £7m. It published plans for a 300-bedroom five-star hotel on the site that it touted as the future “jewel in Yorkshire’s tourism crown”.

But the plans never materialised and in 2016 the company went out of business.

Flaxby Park Ltd, a company made up of businesswoman Ann Gloag and regeneration specialists Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner, bought the 260-acre golf course site from administrators in 2016.

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Its original proposal for the site was to build 2,750 homes and a rail link at Goldsborough. But these plans ended after the council chose the Cattal and Green Hammerton area as the site for a new settlement in the district instead.

In October 2020, the developer challenged the council’s decision in the High Court but was unable to overturn it.

Risk that Harrogate hospital home care service could ‘distort the market’

A plan by Harrogate hospital to introduce a home care service in a bid to free up bed space could “distort the market”, says a councillor.

Cllr Michael Harrison, who is cabinet member for adult care at North Yorkshire County Council, said the authority had already had to prevent one social care provider from folding this week.

It comes as officials at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust revealed in September that they want to trial the service as the hospital was unable to discharge medically fit patients because of a lack of private care services.

However, Cllr Harrison told the county council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee last week that there was a risk the move could cause problems because the health service would be competing for staff with other providers.

Cllr Harrison said:

“I do think there is a real risk of distorting the market.

“Already this week, the county council have stepped in to prevent one domiciliary care provider from folding and I know that we are working on over 30 packages of care that have been handed back this week.

“The pressures out there are very tangible.”

Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, speaking at Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee.

Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, speaking at Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee.

Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of the hospital trust, said it was not the intention for the hospital to take work away from private care providers.

He added that he was aware the move could look critical of the care sector, particularly because the health service has been “well funded for some years”.

He said:

“We are absolutely not trying to be critical or trying to take any work away.

“We are just trying to find a solution. We are working well with the team at the county council to work this through rather than doing anything that would upset that.

“We are really aware of the issues, but we are just trying to collectively make it better.”

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Mr Coulter added the hospital was already carrying out interviews for the service, but stressed that it would still be a pilot at this stage.

He said:

“I know there is some concern that we could distort the market because the NHS pays a bit more than other areas, that is an issue.

“But, at the moment, we have said this is a six-month pilot and we will see how it goes.”

The trust’s home care service will initially run as a six-month trial and cost around £146,000 to provide care for 36 patients.

If the trial is a success, it is estimated around 15 patients who otherwise would be stuck in hospital could be moved back into their own homes each day.

Business Breakfast: Christmas Harrogate networking event this Sunday

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.

A free Harrogate business networking event is to be held at Cold Bath Brewery this Sunday, December 4.

Normally the Harrogate Social meets on the first friday of every month. It’s a space where around 50 local business owners get together  for a drink at a local independent bar and share news.

The Christmas event though is on a Sunday afternoon and this year the venue is Cold Bath Brewing on Kings Road.

The organisers, Liz Wild or Wild and Co Chartered Accountants and Martin Mann of Martin Mann- I.T. are asking participants to support the Harrogate Homeless Project.

For more information click here.

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Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors in Harrogate are to sponsor the Inclusivity Award at the Stray Ferret Business Awards 2023.

The Inclusivity Award recognises a company that has demonstrated working practices with a proactive approach to inclusivity.

In total there are 10 Award categories for the Stray Ferret Business Awards 2023 which will be held on March 9 at the Pavilions of Harrogate.  The main event sponsor is Knaresborough based financial advisers and consultants, Prosperis. 

Andrew from Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors said:

“Harrogate has many legends…..  Betty’s, Valley Gardens, The Blue’s Bar…. But, there is a new kid on the block, The Stray Ferret and we are proud to be working as a partner with them.

“The Stray Ferret has quickly become known as the place to find impartial, honest, local news, at Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors we are pleased to be partnering with the Stray Ferret, after all our clients want impartial honest advice on their property purchase”

The event promises to be great occasion which recognises best practice and business excellence.

If your business has a good story to tell enter now . Entries close on January 13.

 

Police find missing man with Harrogate links

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed that a missing man has been found following an appeal.

Officers said they were “extremely concerned” for the welfare of the 36-year-old.

A police statement said the man was found safe and well.

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Stray Views: Dangerous takeaway drivers and exclusion zones for pro-lifers outside abortion clinics

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.

I was in town this afternoon and witnessed 3 different takeaway drivers, easily identified by the large insulated food bags they carry, completely disregarding all traffic signs.

They regularly drive down pedestrian areas, park in disabled spaces and in double yellow lines.

I heard another couple remark about it. Where are the police or traffic wardens? The town was very busy this afternoon and these drivers are a danger waiting to happen.

John Franklin, Harrogate

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Ferreters may be interested to know that local Tory  MPs Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) and Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) voted recently in the Commons to jail for up to two years volunteers offering alternative help to women approaching abortion clinics. It is believed the pro-lifers have saved  hundreds of unborn children’s lives at the very doors of the clinics.

The MPs’ vote was widely criticised across the House of Lords.

Lib Dem peer Lord Beith said: “[I]  cannot support a clause which criminalises a person who ‘seeks to influence, provides information or expresses opinion’m.”

He added: “This is the most profound restriction on free speech I have ever seen in any UK legislation.”

Similar sentiments came from Lord Frost (Con), a former government minister and Brexit negotiator.

The peers were debating  the Second Reading of the Public Order Act, controversially amended by a Labour MP to impose throughout England exclusion zones banning  pro-life actions of any kind  within 150 yards of an abortion clinic.

Lord McAvoy (Lab), quoting the grateful personal testimony of a woman helped by volunteers outside a clinic, said: “If we make it illegal to hand out a leaflet with offers of housing or support, we embark on a slippery slope to bans on other leaflets with which we disagree.”

Baroness O’Loan (crossbencher), a former Police Ombudsman, warned the proposed blanket ban was unnecessary and could even be harmful.

Home Office Minister Lord Sharpe, closing the debate, described the clause as a disproportionate response to pro-life vigils outside abortion clinics and not human rights compliant.

Jones and Smith were supporters earlier this year of making pills by post abortions permanent. This was despite repeated assurances to constituents that the practice was a temporary expedient because of the Covid pandemic–and despite many doctors’ fears of the dangers of coercion of girls and women by boyfriends, partners and relatives.

Both also voted in the past against an explicit ban on sex-selective abortion and against independent abortion counselling. In their 12 years in Parliament, abortions have soared in England and Wales  from 196,109 in 2010  to last year’s record of 214,256.

Tony Flanagan, Kirkby Malzeard

 

 

Ukrainian soloist to join Knaresborough choir to sing of peace at Christmas

A Ukrainian soloist will sing of peace on earth in a special Christmas concert set to take place in a village church near Harrogate.

Soprano Natalka Pasicznyk is one of three soloists to join Knaresborough Choral Society for Carols by Candlelight at All Saints’ Church in Kirkby Overblow.

She will sing Peace on Earth by modern British composer Errollyn Wallen, made particularly poignant by the war in Ukraine which continues to affect members of Natalka’s family.

The choir’s musical director, William Bruce, said:

“Errollyn Warren’s new composition, Peace on Earth, is just so appropriate and Natalka is going to sing that as a solo.

“We always strive to make our programme as diverse and inclusive as possible. Most of the audience won’t have heard some of the pieces we’re performing so although there will be some familiar carols in there, there will be something new too.”

As well as Natalka, the concert will feature tenor Alexander Kyle and bass Isaac Cooper, accompanied David Grealy.

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William joined the 50-strong Knaresborough Choral Society around a year ago and this will be the first time he has put together the programme for one of its concerts.

His full-time job is working with choristers at Leeds Cathedral, so he said the role with Knaresborough Choral Society appealed because it allowed him to select different pieces and explore some of the great composers, including Mozart and Bach.

He added:

“The choir members are very ambitious which is a real virtue because they are dedicated and work so hard through the week.

“My job is to put it all together which is wonderful, because some choirs only turn up for the social side. We do have that, but they also put the time in and we see the results.

“They deserve the best soloists in the country to come and sing with them so I’m really delighted with the line-up and I know we’re going to put on a great night of music.”

The concert takes place on Saturday, December 10 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the Shoulder of Mutton in Kirkby Overblow, Art in the Mill in Knaresborough, or by emailing Knaresborough Choral Society.

Spooky Christmas tradition set to be revived in Harrogate

The popular Victorian tradition of telling spooky tales at Christmas is set to be revived in Harrogate next week.

An evening of ghost stories will be held at Harrogate Library on Thursday, December 1.

It is being organised by Paul Forster, best known as the man behind the Harrogate Ghost Walk which takes place twice a month around the town.

He said:

“It’s bringing back that tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas, which was big in the Victorian era.

“Charles Dickens was at the forefront of it all with A Christmas Carol and that paved the way for others.

“It was all about penance and seeing the best in people. It has got strong Christian messages, but with a spooky twist to make you think about lost loved ones.”

Paul has researched traditional ghost stories for the event, adapting them for a modern audience.

Tickets for the event are £15 each, including a mince pie and glass of mulled wine. There will be two sessions, at 6.15pm and 8.15pm.

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Meanwhile, Paul said his first year of running the ghost walk has proved hugely successful, with more than 1,500 people taking part. An increasing number of visitors to the town are attending each month, and Paul said some paranormal enthusiasts have travelled from across the country to try out a new walk in Harrogate.

A series of events around Halloween recreating a seance held by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini in Harrogate also proved hugely popular – but Paul said there were a number of strange happenings during the performances at the Crown Hotel.

“Some of it was in my control, but stuff happened that wasn’t in my control.

“The temperature in the room just dropped noticeably – you could see your breath.

“Then a woman in the front row jumped and screamed and said something had grabbed her leg. Her son, who is a complete sceptic, then said something had brushed past him. It was really odd.”

On the back of the events’ success, Paul is teaming up with close-up magician Neil Bradley Smith to run a residency at the Crown Hotel from December 16.

Under the title Forster and Smith, the pair will deliver their Impossibilities night of magic and mind-reading once a month.

Nearly half of Harrogate council meetings cancelled in November

A lack of Harrogate Borough Council business has led to nearly half of meetings being cancelled this past month.

The authority will be abolished in four months time and replaced by North Yorkshire Council.

The cancellation of so many meetings raises questions over how effective the council will be in its final days.

It had been due to hold 13 meetings in November — not including informal meetings — which included senior cabinet member meetings and a planning committee.

However, five of those meetings were cancelled. Last week the council did not hold a single meeting.

Just three public meetings were streamed live onto the council’s YouTube in November.

This included a cabinet meeting, where senior councillors made a key decision over the progress of three strategic housing sites.

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The Stray Ferret asked the borough council why so many meetings had been cancelled and why so few meetings had been streamed for the public to watch.

A council spokesperson said:

“Provisional dates for meetings are added to the calendar at the start of the municipal year. 

“Should these not be required, as there are no items to bring to said meeting, then they are cancelled.”

The authority is due to hold 12 meetings in December—- one of which has already been cancelled.

 

 

Harrogate girls to cut hair to raise funds for friend with luekaemia

Two girls from Harrogate will cut and donate their hair to charity to raise funds for The Candlelighters Trust charity.

Holly, 7, and Heidi, 5, will have their locks removed next month and donate their hair to the Little Princess Trust, which will turn it into real hair wigs.

The two girls have been growing their hair since last November in support of their friend Sophia Felgate, 7, who has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Sophia was first diagnosed in 2018, just a week after her third birthday. She finished treatment in August 2020, however the cancer returned last November.

The idea came from Holly wanting to give Sophia her own hair to “make her feel better”, after Sophia lost her hair due to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

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The Candlelighters Trust provides practical, emotional and financial support to families of children with cancer.

They have been helping the Felgate family since Sophia’s diagnosis in 2018. They have provided the Felgates with counselling, family fun days, massages/haircuts/manicures for Sophia and pizza nights.

The fundraiser has already raised almost £1,000. If you would like to donate to the cause you can do so on the JustGiving page.