Health officials warn of 12-hour waits at Harrogate hospital A&E

Health managers are warning of waiting times of up to 12 hours at Harrogate District Hospital’s emergency department.

West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts, which is a partnership of six hospital trusts including Harrogate, has urged patients to only attend the department for life-threatening injury or illness.

Hospital officials have warned that some patients are waiting as long as 12 hours for treatment.

Latest figures show that Harrogate District Hospital had 4,595 attendances to its emergency department in February 2022.

The national standard for emergency department waiting times is to admit, transfer or discharge 95% of patients within four hours.

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According to NHS England figures, 65% of patients were seen within that time at Harrogate hospital.

Dr Andrew Lockey, consultant physician in emergency medicine with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, which is one of the six trusts that belong to West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts, said: 

“It’s really important that people only come to an accident and emergency department if they really need to. Our hospitals are extremely busy, and people are having to wait a long time to be seen.

“Over the past two weeks we’ve faced huge challenges with the sharp uplift in the number of people attending accident and emergency. This places additional pressure on our teams who are responsible for treating patients with serious and life-threatening conditions.

“If you are unwell and are unsure which healthcare service you need, call NHS 111. A highly-trained clinical advisor will direct you to the most appropriate service.”

Full list of election candidates in Harrogate district revealed

The list of candidates standing for election to the new North Yorkshire Council in the Harrogate district has been revealed.

Voters will head to the polls on May 5 to elect councillors to the authority, which will replace both North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council.

The Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Green Party and independents have all fielded candidates ahead of polling day.

Harrogate Borough Council has published a list of election agents and names of candidates. A full list of party candidates will be published today (April 6).

A total of 21 councillors will be elected from the Harrogate district as the council is made up of new divisions.

The deadline to register to vote is Thursday, April 14. You can register here.

List of Harrogate district election candidates

Coppice Valley and Duchy

Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate

Bilton Grange and New Park

Harlow and St Georges

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Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone

Fairfax and Starbeck

Bilton and Nidd Gorge

High Harrogate and Kingsley

Knaresborough West

Knaresborough East

Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate

Oatlands and Pannal

Boroughbridge and Claro

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Spofforth with Lower Wharfedale and Tockwith

Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale

Ripon Minster and Moorside

Ripon Ure Bank and Spa

Washburn and Birstwith

Wathvale and Bishop Monkton

Ouseburn

Masham and Fountains

Harrogate council to pay Leon developer £25,000 in appeal costs

Harrogate Borough Council has agreed to pay developers behind a planned Leon drive-thru on Wetherby Road £25,000 for appeal costs.

The authority had been in discussions with Blackburn-based Euro Garages after it took the council to appeal over its decision to refuse the proposal.

In July 2021, a government planning inspector granted permission for the new drive-thru, which was initially proposed to be a Starbucks.

Helen Hockenhull, the inspector who approved the plan, awarded costs against the council after it “demonstrated unreasonable behaviour”.

A spokesperson for the council confirmed that it had agreed to pay Euro Garages £25,000 as part of the appeal cost.

The spokesman said:

“Officer recommendations are always taken with a balanced approach and are based on careful consideration of a wide range of issues, including local and national planning policy, case law, consultation responses and anything else considered to be ‘material’ to the decision, including the comments of local residents.

“In this case, the officer recommendation of approval was overturned by the planning committee and permission was refused, which has led to an appeal by the applicant.

“The council lost at appeal as it was unable to substantiate the committee’s grounds for refusal. The planning committee was therefore found to have acted unreasonably in taking this decision and the council is required to pay costs to the sum of £25,000.”

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The council turned down the development back in 2019 on air quality and highways grounds, but later withdrew its objection and did not defend itself at the appeal hearing.

Speaking in May 2021, John Worthington, the council’s executive officer for development management, said officers could not stand successfully at appeal because their previous recommendation would “undermine” their case and that losing also risked legal costs of over £50,000.

The move forced residents fighting the proposal to defend the authority’s reasons for refusal themselves at the hearing.

Ms Hockenhull said she understood concerns from residents, but added that she was not convinced that the development would cause “significant harm”.

In a decision notice last year, she said:

“I recognise that my findings will be disappointing to the local residents and ward councillor who gave evidence at the hearing.

“However, based on the technical evidence before me and all that I have seen and heard, with the proposed mitigation measures secured by planning conditions, I am not persuaded that the development would cause significant harm.”

Harrogate BID cleans gum and grime ‘hot spots’

Harrogate BID (Business Improvement District) has sent a crew to steam clean and jet wash ‘hot spots’ across the town centre.

Ahead of the Easter holidays, the BID has paid a team from UK Nationwide Cleaning to spend ten nights removing grime and chewing gum.

Harrogate BID manager Matthew Chapman said:

“Walking around the town centre, it is clear to see where our cleaning team have been, giving pavements a much needed deep clean.

“Our cleaning crew is working across numerous areas, making sure the town centre looks in pristine condition for the traditional start of the 2022 tourism season.

“In the first ever survey asking Levy Payers what they wanted us to do, cleaning was the priority, and with our cleaning contractors, together with our Street Ranger, this is what we are delivering.

“This is the first of a number of visits this year for our cleaning crew, and they will be back on at least two more occasions cleaning different parts of the BID area.”

Harrogate was the first town in the district to form a BID in 2019. Almost 500 businesses pay 1.5% of their rateable value each year.

It’s estimated that the Harrogate BID brings in around £500,000 from levy payers annually.

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Report says former Harrogate Debenhams buildings should be saved

A report from the national charity SAVE Britain’s Heritage has named the former Debenhams buildings in Harrogate as one of 18 former ‘cathedrals of commerce’ that should be spared from demolition and repurposed.

Wetherby-based property company Stirling Prescient is behind a proposal to demolish the three buildings on Parliament Street and replace them with 50 flats and two commercial units.

The site on Parliament Street has been home to different retailers for over a century. Before Debenhams, it housed the Buckley’s and Busby’s stores.

But the developer has said there is no market for the building to be reoccupied as a department store, and the 1902 and 1920-era buildings should be torn down.

Departing stores

The report, called ‘Departing Stores’, sounds the warning klaxon for a group of former department stores across the UK that are at serious risk of being permanently lost.

As well as Harrogate’s Debenhams, it includes large empty buildings in Liverpool, Bristol and London.

The report says:

“In a new era when large-scale retail is no longer sustainable, these fine structures are at risk of dilapidation or even demolition. And as these hubs of daily life are erased from the map, local communities feel increasingly disenfranchised.

“Protecting and reviving these buildings is not only a matter of preserving precious and distinctive architecture; it is an opportunity to restore a sense of place.”

The report says the demise of Debenhams alone left a hole of 1.3 million square metres of space across the country, with 90% of stores still empty a year later.

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A new fate

The developer Stirling Prescient said in planning documents that there was no scope to convert the Harrogate Debenhams into smaller units “due to its internal layout and the age of the building”.

It said its new plan will “strengthen the town’s vitality and viability, increasing footfall and contributing to the local economy.”

However, the report includes 14 case studies of former department stores that have been successfully regenerated.

These include Bournemouth’s former Debenhams building that closed as a department store in May 2021 and is now home to a wide range of community activities:

“Developers Verve Properties have been imaginative in their ideas for keeping the building in active use. Besides retail, the store now houses an art gallery, beauty parlour and Bobby’s, Bournemouth local makers’ market.

“Later this year a food hall and rooftop terrace bar will open. Several spaces have a social function, hosting knitting meet-ups and children’s entertainers. The varied mix of community-focussed uses seems most faithful to the original department store – a place where people from all walks of life can gather and enjoy themselves.”

Read the full report here.

Harrogate mum ‘excited’ to appear on Masterchef tonight

A Harrogate mum has spoken of her excitement at being chosen to appear as a contestant on MasterChef.

HR Project Manager Olayemi ‘Yemi’ Adelekan, 51, will show off her culinary skills on the popular BBC cooking show tonight at 8pm.

The married mum who has two children says she “loves cooking”. She grew up in Nigeria and has lived in Harrogate for the past nine years.

She told her Facebook followers:

“This is such an incredible and amazing opportunity for me and I’m so excited to go on this journey.

“Let’s just have some fun with food.”

Yemi, who is also a blogger, motivational speaker and author, will champion traditional Nigerian cuisine in the competition. However, her journey from Nigeria to the West Indies in 1995, then to the UK in 1997, has also had a major influence on her cooking style.

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Speaking about why she applied to go on MasterChef, she said:

“My boys are now grown up and moved out, so it’s time for new challenges in my life. MasterChef is one of them.”

Tonight’s episode on BBC One kicks off the third week of MasterChef and it is coming up to the halfway point of the heats.

This year the judges are mixing it up. They are introducing a whole new set of challenges that the passionate amateurs must complete to progress in the competition.

Harrogate independents on why it’s ‘time for a change’

A politician promising change is often an alluring prospect for voters, and five fresh faces are hoping to steer Harrogate in a new direction on the new North Yorkshire Council.

Anna McIntee (Stray, Woodlands, Hookstone), Lucy Gardiner (Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate), Sarah Hart (Harlow Hill and St Georges) Daniel Thompson (Coppice Valley and Duchy) and Jon Starkey (Boroughbridge & Claro) have all put their names forward for the election on May 5.

The independents have aligned together and last week launched a website called ‘Time for a Change’ that is critical of decisions such as housing developments in the Kingsley area and the ongoing Harrogate Station Gateway project.

The Stray Ferret interviewed Ms McIntee, Ms Hart, and Mr Thompson yesterday to find out what they stand for and what they think needs to change.

Why are they standing? 

Ms McIntee is a mum-of-three and said she is normally a Tory voter. However, she believes the local party has ignored businesses and residents to the detriment of the town.

She said:

“It all started when North Yorkshire County Council tried to make Oatland’s Drive one way, it was ludicrous. I made a petition that got 2,000 signatures. Then I got more and more involved. It was like Pandora’s Box.

“With the election coming up, it’s the perfect time to make a difference. Our background isn’t in politics but we are just residents who are really really passionate and feel we can make a difference.”

Ms Hart has lived in Harrogate on and off since she was born and would normally vote Liberal Democrat. She said:

“I went to HBC cabinet meetings and scrutiny meetings and thought – hang on a minute – some of the things they are doing are not right. I was involved in the Local Plan and spoke at the public enquiry.

“I’m a resident at Harlow Hill and the West Harrogate Parameters Plan and Rotary Wood are huge issues, I heard about these secret meetings behind closed doors and thought, I have nothing to lose. I’m going to go for it”.

Mr Thompson was born in the town, owns a shop on Cold Bath Road and went to Ashville College. He said:

“I joined the Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce and attended a Zoom meeting where Harrogate Borough Council council leader Richard Cooper was a guest speaker. He ruffled my feathers and got my back up with the way he presented himself and the way he is tackling the issues of the town.

“I went to another meeting about the Station Gateway that was a sham. I was embarrassed for the council. It was a shocking display to be honest. That meeting really riled me. They have lost touch with reality.”

‘Had enough’

Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, which sets out where new homes can be built until 2034, was signed off two years ago following a tortuous process that lasted over a decade.

You can see its impact when you travel around the periphery of Harrogate with swathes of green fields lost to housing. Ms McIntee said residents have now “had enough”.

More than 13,000 new homes could eventually be built when the plan is concluded. The Stray Ferret has calculated that at least 700 football pitches of green field land across the district will be lost.

A snapshot of development. Credit – HAPARA

The group of independents, who are self-funded, said with the new North Yorkshire Council there could be an opportunity to revisit the Local Plan much sooner than in 2025, which is the current proposal.

Ms Hart called the Local Plan “a car crash”.

“We need the right homes in the right places. We don’t need them in green fields miles away from sustainable transport.”

Mr Thompson pointed the finger at conservative council leader Richard Cooper and chief executive Wallace Sampson for their track record on housing.

“The one job they had to do was create a Local Plan that was fit for purpose and they failed. For Richard Cooper and Wallace Sampson to still be where they are when they failed miserably is truly astonishing.”

Richard Cooper (left) and Wallace Sampson

The independents won’t be the only party campaigning on housing. It will also be a focus for the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens.

But Mr Thompson said the Lib Dems have little credibility on housing as its councillors signed off on the Local Plan too.

“The Conservatives have lost their way but the Lib Dems were sat in meetings and also signed off on Local Plan. Both parties are complicit.”

‘Cars = sales’

Ms McIntee works part-time in a town centre shop and Mr Thompson owns an interior design shop on Cold Bath Road with his sister, Lucy Gardiner, who is standing as an independent in the Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate ward.

The Station Gateway scheme has pitted many town centre businesses against those who support the scheme and want fewer cars in the town and more walking and cycling.

Ms McIntee said the proposal has been pushed through without listening to retailers who live and work in the town.

Latest Station Gateway visuals which show Harrogate's James Street pedestrianised.

Station Gateway visuals that show Harrogate’s James Street pedestrianised.

Mr Thompson said the town centre is looking “tired and vulnerable” and Harrogate should forsake the car at its peril.

The group would like to see free Sunday parking as well as the first hour of parking free throughout the week to encourage more motorists to shop in the town centre.

He said:

“Cars equals sales. Everybody in retail knows that. You cannot ignore the power of the motor car. The car is not the enemy.”

An alternative vision?

Almost half of CO2 emissions in the Harrogate District are from transport.

Cars also contribute to poor air quality in our town centres, which studies have found contributes to a myriad of health impacts including lung and heart disease.

Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council as well as green groups such as Zero Carbon Harrogate believe it is critical that Harrogate residents reduce their car use to help tackle climate change.

But Ms McIntee has been opposed to the Otley Road cycle path, Station Gateway, Oatlands Drive changes and Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood and her critics say she offers no solutions to the net-zero question.

She said this is unfair as the independents will campaign to introduce a park and ride scheme, subsidise school buses, introduce more electric vehicle charging points and plant more trees to absorb CO2.

The group would also like to see pavements improved to encourage walking in the town.

Mr Thompson said:

“There’s always an alternative vision, we’re just saying we don’t like the current vision, I don’t think that’s negative.”

Election Day

The group has a loyal group of supporters on social media but how successful the five would-be councillors will be on May 5 be is hard to predict.

They could split the Tory vote and help the Liberal Democrats or the opposite could happen.

But if they do manage to tap into the genuine anger felt around housing and transport they could cause a major upset.

Ms McIntee said:

“People need to vote for change, never before has that need been greater. There are independent councillors all over the UK that are doing a good job. It’s not a wasted vote. If all five of us get in we’ll have huge impact.”

Mr Thompson said

“Residents have been blatantly ignored and silenced. It’s offensive. We have a wealth of talents in the town and that’s the saddest part. The councils’ divide to conquer, that’s not how it should be. They have set groups against each other to railroad through their schemes.

“The council should be fighting for existing people of town, it’s not about NIMBYism, it’s about common sense.”

The full list of candidates standing on May 5 will be announced tomorrow. The Stray Ferret will be profiling the other political parties and candidates in the coming weeks.

Harrogate park and ride ‘still possible’ despite £116m funding failure

The councillor in charge of highways for North Yorkshire has said a park and ride pilot scheme for Harrogate remains possible despite a £116million funding bid rejection.

The Department for Transport yesterday awarded North Yorkshire County Council none of the £116million it bid for from the government’s Bus Back Better scheme. Much of the funding was earmarked to reduce congestion in Harrogate.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said he was “very disappointed” with the rejection but parts of the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan could still go ahead without government support.

Cllr Mackenzie said this included the park and ride, which is likely to operate from Pannal, although questions remained about how a permanent service would be funded.

“The park and ride trial was not part of this funding, and the pilot itself will use the 36 service so it won’t be particularly expensive to find out whether it works or not.

“I’m very anxious that this trial scheme still goes ahead irrespective of today’s result.”

Cllr Mackenzie also said the on-demand bus service, YorBus, which is being trialled in Ripon, Bedale and Masham could be expanded.

He added:

“One of the things in our Bus Service Improvement Plan was to expand the on-demand response service, YorBus, and of course that pilot continues.

“If it continues to be successful, we will roll it out in other areas.

“We will also continue to work in close partnership with bus operators.”

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The Bus Service Improvement Plan included £23 million for new bus lanes, £74 million for other infrastructure changes and £14 million for support for bus services.

‘Plans didn’t lack ambition’

The government claimed areas that failed to get the cash had not shown “sufficient ambition”. In total, just 34 of 79 areas which applied were successful.

In Yorkshire, this included the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which submitted a bid for £168 million, but was given £70 million, while City of York Council wanted £48 million and got £17.4 million.

Cllr Mackenzie said he believed the plans for North Yorkshire were ambitious enough to win funding and that he was now keen to speak to government officials to understand their decision. He said:

“I don’t think our plans lacked ambition. They were worth £116 million over eight years – that doesn’t lack ambition or aspiration.

“Until such time we have spoken to ministers or senior civil servants, I can’t say exactly what was lacking from our submission.

“We knew the Bus Back Better budget had been severely curtailed… but I expected to get some money, not nothing at all, so I’m very disappointed.”

The county council and Harrogate Bus Company have been successful in a separate bid for £7.8 million to make the firm’s fleet all-electric with the delivery of 39 zero-emission buses.

The project will cost almost £20 million in total, with more than £12 million being invested by Transdev – the parent firm of Harrogate Bus Company.

It will see 20 single-decker and 19 double-decker buses bought over the next three years, as well as the supporting charging infrastructure.

 

Five Harrogate independents to stand for new council

Five independent candidates are to stand for the new North Yorkshire Council in Harrogate and Boroughbridge.

Anna McIntee (Stray, Woodlands, Hookstone), Lucy Gardiner (Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate), Sarah Hart (Harlow Hill and St Georges) Daniel Thompson (Coppice Valley and Duchy) and Jon Starkey (Boroughbridge & Claro) have all put their names forward for the election on May 5.

They say they are hoping to capitalise on anger felt towards new housing and cycling schemes in Harrogate.

The independents are aligned together and last week launched a website called ‘Time for a Change’ that is critical of contentious decisions, such as housing developments in the Kingsley area and the ongoing Harrogate Station Gateway project.

Ms McIntee and Ms Gardiner set up Harrogate Residents Association website and Facebook group last year.

The five independents believe there is an appetite in the district for an alternative to Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors, who they believe have let the town down.

Ms McIntee said:

“I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m really passionate about Harrogate. I’m really concerned about what’s happening to the town. If we don’t get in, where’s it going to end?”

Full interview to follow tomorrow.

Harrogate council housing officer stole from elderly residents

A Harrogate council officer has been found guilty of stealing from two elderly residents at sheltered accommodation in Ripon.

Yvonne Jones, 60, who at the time was a housing and estate officer for Harrogate Borough Council, asked the victims to pay a week in advance for rent at council-run sheltered accommodation – but kept some of the cash for herself, York Crown Court heard.

One of the named victims, a woman “of some years”, was conned out of £405 after moving into a new council-owned flat.

Prosecutor Philip Standfast said the victim, from Ripon, signed for the new flat in January 2018, when Jones visited her and completed the paperwork.

About two weeks later, Jones, from Harrogate, visited her again and asked her for a payment of £405. Mr Standfast said:

“(The victim) asked her if she wanted cash or a cheque and Jones said she would take cash.”

The victim paid cash and Jones gave her a receipt on a business card, but it showed two figures of £180 and £225 rather than the whole £405. Mr Standfast said:

“(The victim) didn’t question why that receipt was written in that particular way.

“Later, her account was checked by a neighbourhood team leader with the council and there was no record of that cash being paid into that lady’s account.”

Mr Standfast said there were three payments of £85.67 into the council’s account in January and February 2018, but that still left a deficit of £147.72 which had not been credited to the victim’s account.

Fleeced second victim out of £449

The second victim, a man who took up a tenancy at Blossomgate Court in Ripon, was fleeced out of £449 by Jones, whom he first met in February 2018.

She asked him for £200 for rent which he didn’t have on him, but he withdrew it from his bank the following day. Mr Standfast said:

“Despite having asked for £200, (Jones) gave him £20 back, saying he had given her too much.

“It’s not clear why she did that.”

On February 8, Jones met the named victim again and asked for another £200 rent. Mr Standfast said:

“He offered her a cheque, but the defendant said she needed cash and he withdrew it and paid it to her.”

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In early March 2018, there was a direct debit from the victim’s account to the council for £600, but Jones told him he owed £669. Mr Standfast said:

“She claimed the council could only take an amount of £600 from his account, so he withdrew (the extra) £69 from his bank and paid that to her.”

The victim’s rental account was checked and the £469 he had given her, minus the £20 she gave him back, had not been credited to his account. He notified the council of this.

Acquitted of three other charges

Jones, of High Street, Starbeck, was found guilty of these two thefts following her trial which ended on Friday, April 1. She was acquitted of three other counts in relation to three other tenants.

Mr Standfast said that Jones, who denied all allegations, had been employed as a housing and estate officer at the council from 2014 to 2018, when she was finally caught and ultimately resigned from her post.

‘Her role included dealing with tenants (at Blossomgate and Bondgate Court in Ripon) and “where necessary” taking payments from them for rent and other services.

Mr Standfast said it was “only in exceptional circumstances” that cash should have been taken from a tenant for rent. He added:

“If cash were taken, an official Harrogate Borough Council receipt should have been issued and cash paid in by in by the (housing) officer to a cash-deposit facility.

“That machine would issue a receipt and the cash would be credited to the tenants’ accounts on the following day.”

Mr Standfast alleged that Jones had also taken cash from three other “vulnerable” tenants and either didn’t issue receipts for these payments or did hand them receipts but didn’t forward some of that cash into the council’s account.

These alleged victims included a named man with learning difficulties who needed care and a 77-year-old pensioner with terminal cancer who was receiving housing benefit. However, Jones was acquitted of these three allegations.

Mr Standfast alleged that all the complainants’ accounts were checked by a team leader at the council, who “found discrepancies between what had been paid by the tenants and what was found in their accounts”.

Enquiries were carried out and Jones was suspended in March 2018. She resigned four days later.

Jones will be sentenced for the two convicted offences on April 29.