The main routes into Harrogate, such as Wetherby Road, Knaresborough Road and Skipton Road, appear to be flowing normally in the approach to rush hour.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

Drivers heading towards Wetherby should be aware of temporary traffic lights still in place on the A661 Harrogate Road near Spofforth.

The lights are in place while Northern Gas Networks carries out maintenance work and are now due to last until October 18.

Elsewhere in Harrogate, long-term work on Crescent Road means motorists are unable to turn left at the Parliament Street junction. Traffic coming the opposite way on Ripon Road is unable to turn right.

Montpellier Road remains closed until tomorrow as Northern Gas Networks carries out maintenance work.

Stop go boards are due to be in place on John Street today and tomorrow.

Roadworks on the Boroughbridge Road at Scriven are likely to cause delays for motorists travelling between Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.

Looking ahead, work is scheduled to begin on Monday to reconstruct the B6265 at Red Brae Bank, Bewerley, near Pateley Bridge, which suffered a landslip during storms in  February 2020.

The scheme requires the road to be closed from October 17 to December 9. A diversion will be in place via Pateley Bridge; the B6451 Dacre; Menwith Hill Road; Duck Street and Greenhow Hill village. Temporary traffic lights will be in place during the remainder of the work.

Trains and buses

Northern services between Harrogate and Knaresborough going to York and Leeds are scheduled to run as normal this morning.

The Harrogate Bus Company is not currently reporting any cancellations but you can get updates here.

Read more:

• Gasworks on Cold Bath Road rescheduled until Monday
• Harrogate district businesses ask police for help tackling anti-social behaviour

Council bosses in North Yorkshire are facing calls to explain why a new council tax system will cost taxpayers millions of pounds a year more to run than the current system.

North Yorkshire County Council has revealed the cost of administering the unitary authority’s council tax scheme is expected to be £37m, £2.4m more than the current structure run by North Yorkshire’s district and borough councils.

A cross-party group of councillors has proposed unifying council tax bills across the seven districts over the next two financial years as some areas are paying higher rates than others.

Yesterday the Stray Ferret reported on how the Harrogate has the highest council tax in North Yorkshire.

The move would mean Harrogate’s average bills for a band D property would fall by £23.47 during each of the two years on a current bill of £1,723.27 whilst other areas might see a rise.

The proposed increases and cuts in council tax charges do not include what increases the new unitary authority, police and fire services and parish councils may levy from April 1.

Read More:

• North Yorkshire’s devolution deal: What’s in it and how will it work?
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The county council’s executive member for finance, Councillor Gareth Dadd said the authority was acutely aware of the financial pressures which everyone is under with rising inflation and the cost of energy and food soaring.

He said:

“A great deal of work has gone into the proposed scheme to harmonise council tax bills across all seven districts, and we believe that the plan that has been drawn up to introduce the changes over the two years represents the fairest way forward for everyone involved.”

As part of the proposals, the executive committee will consider providing up to 100 per cent reductions on council tax bills for households on the lowest incomes.

However, opposition politicians said the rising cost of administering the new council tax system raised a red flag, particularly after as the county council had estimated savings brought about by creating abolishing the district and county councils and establishing a unitary authority should reach £252m over its first five years.

Councillor Andy Brown, the authority’s Green Party group coordinator said:

“We were assured that combining into one council would be simple and would reduce costs. We are already seeing how complicated it is and how hard it is to achieve the cost savings.”

Leader of the council’s Independent group, Councillor Stuart Parsons added:

“Big is supposed to be better. One is supposed to be cheaper than eight and this is an area where one is certainly not cheaper. How many other areas will there be.

“This is against all the logic of the massive savings that they claim would result from unification. What other extra costs are envisaged as a result of local government reorganisation and what savings are envisaged to come up with the magnificent £50m a year they have claimed would be found.”

Cllr Parsons said it would take many years for the new authority to iron out inequalities between services in the seven boroughs.

He added:

“I would like a full explanation of how the council has come to this £2.4m figure and how they are going to make it cost neutral. Eventually they should be able to make savings on staff as they establish a single team, but it’s going to take a long, long time.”

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Ripon BID, in partnership with Harrogate Borough Council, is to fund free car parking on selected dates in the run up to Christmas.

The aim is to encourage shoppers from further afield to visit Ripon for all their Christmas shopping needs.

Free parking will be available from 3pm-6pm on the following Fridays November 25 and December 2 , 9 and 16  in the Cathedral, St Marygate & Marshall Way car parks.

The BID is also sponsoring live seasonal music in the Market Square on the above dates between 3- 6pm to add to the festive spirit.

Councillor Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, said:

“I am delighted that Harrogate Borough Council can support Ripon BID to offer free parking in Cathedral, St Marygate and Marshall Way car parks between 3pm and 6pm on the four Friday’s running up to Christmas.

We want to encourage people to shop locally and I hope that scheme gives them a good incentive to do so.”

Read More:

• Loss of 15-day festival will have ‘limited’ economic impact on Harrogate
• Business Breakfast: Aon renews Harrogate Town sponsorship

Harrogate estate agent, Verity Frearson, have sponsored of one of the town’s junior football teams.

The company is sponsoring Pannal Ash’s U11s Jaguars and Leopards teams.

Thanks to the deal, the young players, who play in the Harrogate and District Junior Football League, are now sporting new kits for the 2022/23 season bearing the company’s name.

Verity Frearson Director, Matthew Stamford, said:

“We are delighted to sponsor the U11s teams.

“Our company’s link to Harrogate stretches back 100 years, and whilst our association to the football club is more recent, it is nevertheless a strong one.

“We were asked if we would consider sponsoring the teams, which we jumped at the chance to do. It is so important that companies support local grassroots clubs, as often they are the ones that train the talent of the future.”

Pannal Ash’s U11 team, Jaguars, sport the new Verity Frearson kit

A Harrogate police officer has gone on trial accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a property in North Yorkshire.

Joseph McCabe, 27, “stroked” the woman on her arm then badgered her for sex, prosecutor Richard Blackburn told York Magistrates’ Court.

When the alleged victim rejected his advances, Mr McCabe, who had been drinking, grabbed her hair and pulled her off a bed, before demanding she had sex with him, added Mr Blackburn.

He said that Mr McCabe, a devout Roman Catholic, placed his hand on the woman’s inner thigh and on her back and then lifted her onto a bed, before lying next to her.

“He took hold of her arm and began to stroke it,” said Mr Blackburn.

When the woman – who was not in a relationship with Mr McCabe – asked him what he was doing, he made no reply, it was alleged.

Mr McCabe, a police constable who had recently got married, apologised to the woman but about half an hour later he grabbed her by the hair and tried to pull her off a bed.

Mr Blackburn said the woman was scared and again asked Mr McCabe what he was doing, and made it clear she didn’t want to have sex.

About 30 minutes later, Mr McCabe started shouting, “Get into…bed now”, added Mr Blackburn.

She again spurned his advances, said the prosecutor.

Mr McCabe later apologised for his behaviour, telling the woman he had “reverted back to being my teenage self” and had made an “ill-judged, romantic” advance. However, he denies his actions were sexual in nature.

The woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, later reported the incident to police.

Read More:

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• Former solicitor breached restraining order in Harrogate

Mr McCabe, of Kingsley Park Road, Harrogate, was brought in for questioning and gave police a prepared statement claiming he was drunk at the time. He admitted lifting the woman and putting her down on a bed but denied that his behaviour was sexual.

He said it appeared that “matters were developing” between them during the incident in the early hours of the morning, and that he had “stupidly” tried to kiss the woman.

“He said she made it clear that was not what she wanted and he then apologised,” added Mr Blackburn.

He denied pulling the woman’s hair and demanding that she get into bed with him, and said he fell asleep after she made it clear she didn’t want sex.

The alleged victim gave evidence via video link on the first day of the trial today.

She said she only had a little to drink and was sober on the night in question and claimed that Mr McCabe “didn’t seem overly drunk”.

She said Mr McCabe picked her up and placed her on a bed and that “nothing was said, which I found quite creepy”.

“He laid on the bed next to me and then he took hold of my hand and (his hand) went up my arm in a stroking motion,” she added.

She claimed that Mr McCabe was moving his hand towards an intimate part of her body, but no contact was made.

“At first I was a bit shocked and couldn’t work out what he was doing,” she said.

“I said, ‘What do you think are you doing?’ I perceived that he was trying to have sex with me.”

She said she pointed to the Crucifix that Mr McCabe was wearing and said: “Aren’t you meant to be religious? What are you doing?”

“I turned away from him at that point because I didn’t want him to think I was interested in him,” she added.

However, she then “felt my (hair) bun get pulled and I was ragged to the floor”.

She said she was “shouting and swearing” and telling him: “Don’t touch me.”

“I remember shaking a lot and I didn’t know what to do,” she added.

“I just froze in fear.”

She said that during the “horrible” incident, Mr McCabe had “terrified” her and at one stage she feared she might be raped.

Mr McCabe’s barrister Kevin Baumber questioned the veracity of the woman’s claims that she’d only had a small amount to drink and suggested she had drunk more than she had claimed on the night in question.

Mr Baumber claimed there were no sexual motives in Mr McCabe picking her up and placing her on the bed.

Mr McCabe, who was suspended by North Yorkshire Police pending the outcome of the trial, denies one count of sexual assault. The incident occurred last year.

The trial resumes on December 5 at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court when the defence will set out its case.

Investigations into a collision between a car and a bicycle on Cold Bath Road are continuing, two months after the incident happened.

North Yorkshire Police said a woman in her 50s was arrested and released under investigation while officers continue to make inquiries.

It follows the collision at the junction of West Cliffe Grove on Friday, August 12, between a white Vauxhall Viva travelling up Cold Bath Road from the Crown roundabout and a pedal cyclist coming down the road in the opposite direction.

The cyclist – a man in his 50s from the Richmond area – was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

An air ambulance landed on the Stray and most of Cold Bath Road was closed for several hours while police dealt with the scene.

At the time, officers appealed for the driver of a dark-coloured hatchback who stopped at the scene to come forward. They have now said they have traced the driver.

However, they are continuing to appeal for information from anyone who saw either the car or the bicycle.

Witnesses to the collision or anyone with CCTV or dash cam footage is asked to call North Yorkshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 122201422867. Alternatively, email 001282@northyorkshire.police.uk quoting the same reference number.

Read more:

• Cyclist remains in hospital after crash on Harrogate’s Cold Bath Road
• Witness appeal after collision on Harrogate’s Cold Bath Road

Residents of the Harlow Hill and Pannal Ash areas of Harrogate will gather tomorrow night to discuss the issues they face as a community.

From housing developments and cycle lanes to the upcoming reorganisation of local government in North Yorkshire, Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association (HAPARA) has a busy agenda for its AGM.

Chairman Rene Dziabas said the long-delayed West Harrogate Parameters Plan – setting out a plan for infrastructure to support thousands of new homes in the area – was likely to be among the topics generating the most interest.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“We still have over-riding concerns about the infrastructure for these successive developments – public transport, paths, cycle paths, hospitals, schools.

“We work with a number of parish councils and they hold similar views to us.”

This will be the first time HAPARA has held an in-person AGM since 2019, thanks to the covid pandemic. In the intervening three years, many new households have arrived in the area, and the group is keen to welcome them alongside long-standing residents.

Though it encourages people to sign up as members, anyone can go along to the AGM and, unlike a parish council, it has no defined geographical boundary, so is open to anyone who wants to join.

Read more:

• Contractor for Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle route to be appointed in autumn
• Council approves long-awaited West Harrogate Parameters Plan

As well as the changes that have taken place in the area in recent years, the group will look at what is ahead for local residents.

While phase one of the Otley Road cycle path has been largely completed, and phase two is scheduled to begin “shortly”, according to North Yorkshire County Council, phase three – from Harlow Moor Road to Cardale Park – remains contentious among residents, according to a survey of residents by HAPARA this year.

Mr Dziabas said he hoped the new North Yorkshire Council would keep to its word of engaging added:

“We are also trying to introduce some local issues. A couple of residents are doing a presentation on low traffic neighbourhoods.

“If we can get something like that, an idea from grass roots, and if we can make the beginnings of something, that would be nice.

“Money is going to be tight and there is going to be less money around over the next few years than there is now.

“If you engage with local organisations, the people you are engaging with are doing it for free and there’s a lot of knowledge and a lot of professional people in those organisations. If you keep an open mind, you can tap into it.’

The HAPARA AGM takes place at Harlow Community Centre (The Green Hut) on Harlow Avenue on Wednesday, October 12 from 7pm. The full agenda is available here.

There is set to be some glitz and glamour injected into Sunday evening as Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK sashays into Harrogate.

The tour of the popular BBC Three show is hitting the convention centre at 8pm, with all 12 queens from series three appearing live on stage.

Acclaimed for its impressive production values, the audience can “expect the unexpected in this glittering tour”, which will include series three finalists Kitty Scott-Claus, Krystal Versace, Vanity Milan and Ella Vaday.

Ben Hatton, director of theatre touring for event promoter Cuffe and Taylor, said:

“RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is an exciting show and it will undoubtedly be an incredible and outrageous night of live entertainment.”

Tickets are available here.

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Food waste organisation Resurrected Bites has issued a plea for help to businesses after warning it might not survive another year.

The community organisation, which saves food from landfill, has helped thousands of people struggling to get by since it started in January 2018. It operates Give As You Can cafes and shops in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Founder Michelle Hayes appealed for support at last night’s Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting. She said Resurrected Bites had generated £87,000 and spent £91,000 this year, adding:

“A huge number of people rely on us so we need to look at ways we can still be around in 12 months’ time.

“Since the jubilee, our food supplies have dropped off. We are going to have to start paying for it.”

Michelle Hayes speaking at last night’s chamber meeting.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret afterwards, Ms Hayes said Resurrected Bites currently had sufficient income to survive another six months.

She said it was becoming harder to find supplies because more people were buying reduced price items from supermarkets that might otherwise go to Resurrected Bites.

Ms Hayes also said some supermarkets’ decisions to scrap best before dates was a good move overall but it contributed to there being less food waste in the system for organisations such as Resurrected Bites. She said:

“Fundraising is more challenging because of the economic challenges people are facing.

“We’ve got six months’ income left. I don’t wan’t to go much below that.”

Read more:

• Knaresborough concert raises £800 for Resurrected Bites
• Loss of 15-day festival will have ‘limited’ economic impact on Harrogate

This story is sponsored by The Hearing Suite.

The Hearing Suite’s new clinic in Ilkley is proving to be a major success following its launch last month.

Located at No 6 The Grove, the state-of-the-art practice has a dedicated wax removal room on the ground floor, along with a full testing suite on the first floor.

Founder Emily Woodmansey set up the Ilkley site following rapid growth at the Harrogate branch on East Parade.

The business has continued to expand and now offers a team of three audiologists and an ENT consultant.

Emily Woodmansey, managing director of The Hearing Suite.

Having grown up in Ilkley, Ms Woodmansey recognised that many of the town’s residents were making the journey to Harrogate and a closer practice would be more convenient.

She said:

“Our Harrogate practice is thriving. Our ethos is firmly grounded in having a small group of very happy people, and I thought it was about time Ilkley had its own full-time, dedicated audiology practice.

“The pandemic has reminded people how precious communication is and it has been exciting to share our brand of audiology with the people of my home town.

“Since opening a few weeks ago, we have been quite overwhelmed with the number of people wanting help with their hearing. The local business community has been really welcoming too. We are just so grateful for everyone’s support.”

The Hearing Suite’s employee Olivia, a former NHS senior audiologist, has been appointed as the practice’s head of audiology.

The new branch offers the same services as Harrogate, including wax removal, hearing consultations, tinnitus management and hearing aids.

A solicitor from Harrogate has been remanded in custody after breaching a restraining order preventing him from contacting his ex-wife.

Richard Wade-Smith, 66, appeared at York Crown Court this morning via video link from HMP Hull to be sentenced after pleading guilty to the breach at York Magistrates Court last month.

The court heard he had previously been sentenced to a community order and restraining order on September 15, after ramming his car into his ex-wife’s house at Slingsby Walk, near the Stray in Harrogate. He had admitted harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property, and drink driving.

Just four days after being sentenced, he breached the order, turning up at his ex-wife’s house as well as visiting her neighbour.

Prosecuting, Kelly Sherif said:

“[His former wife] said that ‘I knew that when Richard was released, that he would not abide by any orders and here we are, four days later…

“I sit in my house with the curtains closed, too scared to venture outside in case I see him’.”

The prosecution said Wade-Smith had knocked on his ex-wife’s door at 8.15am, but left when she failed to answer. He then returned at 10.30am and knocked, as well as calling to his wife and saying it was “Susie” at the door.

When she recognised his voice and again did not open the door, he went to the neighbouring house. The neighbour answered the door but told him he should not be there because of the restraining order.

Wade-Smith said he had nowhere to go, but the neighbour repeated that he was not allowed to be near his ex-wife’s home.

Read more:

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• Harrogate woman gets suspended prison sentence for ‘appalling assault’

In mitigation, Alasdair Campbell told the court Wade-Smith had been unable to access temporary accommodation following the sentencing on September 15.

It had taken a long time for arrangements to be made for him to leave HMP Hull, by which time Harrogate Borough Council’s offices had closed and he was unable to get a place at a homeless hostel.

He slept rough that night and the next night, then paid “a lot of money” for a hotel the third night. He slept rough again the following night, but woke up in hospital, having been drinking and apparently been robbed, with his bank card and cash taken.

Recovering alcoholic

Wade-Smith, a recovering alcoholic, admitted breaching the restraining order, though he argued he had only visited his former wife’s home once.

Mr Campbell said:

“When I asked him why he did that on that particular occasion, my instructions are that, faced with what he was going through, [he chose] the option of breaching the restraining order to get himself locked up so he had somewhere to stay that night…

“In hindsight, it may have been a foolish option.

“If someone is prepared to breach a serious court order, it does give one some idea of the desperate position he perceived himself to be in.”

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York — who heard Wade-Smith’s original case in September — adjourned sentencing until November to allow a full victim impact statement to be taken from Wade-Smith’s former wife.

He told Mr Campbell that Wade-Smith should have gone back to the council the day after his release to access the hostel place that had been arranged for him by the court.

He added:

“He isn’t stupid, this man. He should have gone the next day.”

Wade-Smith is due to be sentenced on Friday, November 18.