St Peter’s Church of England Primary School in the centre of Harrogate has completed one of the most substantial refurbishments in its history.

The school, which has 267 pupils, has spent £280,000 removing external fire escapes, creating additional classrooms and a new outside play area which includes parkour equipment.

Built in 1883, St Peter’s was Harrogate’s first purpose-built hospital. The hospital was closed in 1932 and then bought a few years later and turned into a school.

Today it is part of the multi-academy Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust which includes St Aidan’s Church of England High School and a number of other Church of England and community schools in the district.

The refurbishment work meant multiple projects at the same time — all crammed into the summer holidays to avoid disrupting the children’s education during term time.

Headteacher Mr Paul Griffiths said:

“We are delighted to have completed this ambitious schedule over the summer holiday to enhance our facilities for the benefit of children, families and our dedicated and talented staff team.

“With fantastic support from Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust we been able to achieve such a huge amount in a short space of time.

“We love the deep history and period features of our Victorian building with its lovely high ceilings and great picture windows and are delighted to be modernising this historic building for the benefit of children and families.”

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The school’s business manager Amanda Foster told the Stray Ferret that there was still more to be done at St Peter’s but for this round of work they’d thought hard about their priorities:

“We had to balance what needed to be done in terms of structural work versus what would directly benefit the children – such as the improved play area.

“With a building this old there are still major restoration needs so we are applying for more grants to get that work done.

“The work we’ve achieved this summer will make a massive difference to our pupils”

Part of the new playground area at St Peter’s

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Harrogate-based dementia care provider Vida Healthcare has launched a leadership programme to help advance the careers of its staff.

Vida has a team of 470 employees across three care homes. The new aspiring leaders course is designed for staff who are looking to advance their careers in the company and move into leadership or management roles, or those in management who wish to refresh their skills and knowledge.

Programme leader Helen Daly, Vida’s learning development manager, said:

 “My aim as the coordinator of our education initiatives and programmes at Vida Healthcare is to ensure a clear focus on clinical leadership and a robust evidence base to deliver positive outcomes.

“We launched the ALP to give every voice at Vida the chance to be heard, and to invest in our colleagues with crucial career development opportunities at a time when many sectors are struggling to support their people.”

A total of 24 members of staff have already completed the programme.

Ms Daly added:

“Becoming a manager has always been considered the natural next step for any individual who is progressing in their career. However not all managers are born with the ability to be great leaders. Some of the best only excel once they’re taught the skills they need to oversee a complex and dynamic workforce.

“We provide opportunities to learn new management skills and learn how to support other team members in their own career development.

“We launched the ALP programme to support our employees in management roles and hone their skills, particularly those who are new to a more senior role and may feel the pressure to perform well but lack the training they need.”

Read More: 

• Figures reveal exactly how much money council has received from Harrogate Spring Water
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Verity Frearson wins double gold

Matthew Stamford and James Verity who collected the awards in London.

Harrogate estate agent, Verity Frearson, has won double gold at this year’s Best Estate Agents Guide Awards, which recognises achievements in the UK estate agency sector.

Verity Frearson, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, was one of only 2% of agents in the UK to be recognised.

The gold awards were given for the company’s success in both sales and lettings.

Director Matthew Stamford said:

“We are delighted to have been recognised as one of the top 2% of agents in the country, for our work on both sales and lettings of properties in and around the Harrogate district.

“Our company’s link to Harrogate stretches back 100 years – we have always had a solid market position, and it’s awards like this that remind us, what amazing work our team does.”

Photographers Stacey Evans and Sarah Warne, who raised £7,500 taking portraits of people on their doorsteps during covid, are to set up a studio in the centre of Harrogate.

The pair, who raised the money for Harrogate District Hospital, became firm friends in the process.  Both have three young children — Stacey has three girls, Sarah has three boys.

Their new company is called The Studio with Stacey and Sarah and will be based on Station Parade:

Stacey told the Stray Ferret:

“We saw a property become available on Station Parade, the one that had the fire opposite the bus station.

We went to see it and it is perfect. It is very accessible and a great space. It’s been refurbished and feels like new so it’s great. We are getting ready for launch in the next three weeks.”

Stacey has been working out of a studio in the garage at her home and said demand has been so high for her photography she had been turning down work.

She told the Stray Ferret that they had thought hard about whether this was the right time to start a business with the economic climate looking bleak and because they are young mums, but the landlord made it possible.

“The offer from the landlord was fantastic.  He completely understood where we were coming from and we got a great agreement from him.

“The fact is I’ve been turning away so much work. It feels like people are cherishing the moment now more than ever after covid.

“We want to focus on mums — so often it is the mums who are left out of the photos as they’re taking them.. We try to keep it so that mums feel comfortable and encourage them to have photos with their children. I would have loved to have more photos of my mum. I think giving mums the opportunity to have a lovely photo and talk to us as mums is important.

“We want to give bonding moments and special memories.”

An example of Sarah and Stacey’s work. 

A three-year project to create a planetarium in the Harrogate district could come to fruition next month.

The planetarium is based at the Lime Tree Observatory at Grewelthorpe, near Ripon.

The observatory, which opened to the public in 2016, has a 24-inch telescope, screen and sound system and hosts presentations for up to 25 people

Self-confessed planetarium geek Martin Whipp and several other enthusiasts are now close to finalising their latest ambitious venture. It will be one of only about 20 fixed planetariums in the country, and the closest for miles around.

A barn has been converted but the electricity supply needs upgrading before the project can start, and Mr Whipp said he hoped this might happen by mid-November.

Mr Whipp has been to about 100 planetariums around the world and even booked a cruise on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 because it has a planetarium.

Martin Whipp

He said the one at Grewelthorpe would be an interactive facility rather than “one where someone just presses play and you watch”.

But because all those involved are volunteers, it will be open mostly for private bookings at set times.

The observatory is holding three Halloween-themed events during half-term at the end of the month as part of the Dark Skies Festival.

All three have sold out, but the observatory plans to stage three more Christmas-themed events on December 19, 20 and 21.

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Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee has deferred a decision on whether to allow 53 houses to be built on Knox Lane in Bilton.

At an unusually busy and noisy meeting this afternoon, attended by some residents, Cllr Rebecca Burnett, who chairs the committee, had to appeal for members of the public not to applaud or heckle.

A 30-page report to councillors by case officer Andy Hough recommended they approve the application by developer Jomast,

But councillors were cheered when they raised concerns about issues such as flooding, contamination and housing sizes.

They voted to ask Joomast to come back with more detailed information — and warned if it wasn’t forthcoming they would be minded to reject the scheme.

Cllr Nigel Simms, a Conservative representing Masham and Kirkby Malzeard, told the meeting:

“I haven’t heard anything that will convince me that the landscape is not worth protecting from the builder’s cement mixer.”

Councillor Sue Lumby, a Conservative who represents Harrogate Coppice Valley, said the fact the application had received 320 objections highlighted the high level of concern. She said:

“Clearly local residents are very concerned about this on many levels.”

A full report on today’s meeting will be published on the Stray Ferret soon.

Read more:

• 53 homes on Bilton’s Knox Lane recommended for approval tomorrow
• GPs ‘extremely concerned’ Knox Lane housing will put pressure on health services

This story is sponsored by Truth Legal.

A Harrogate law firm is celebrating supporting those most in need of legal advice for 10 years.

Truth Legal, which is based on Victoria Avenue, was founded by Andrew Gray back in 2012.

It was set up to help provide access to justice for those who may find the law difficult to navigate and has prided itself on having a “honest and ethical” ethos.

Since then, Truth Legal has gone onto support people for personal injury, clinical negligence, employment, small businesses and immigration cases and even expanded its client base into Leeds with a new office.

Georgina Parkin, the Managing Director at the firm, said the purpose of the company continues to be helping those people who find the law hard to access. She said:

She said:

“Truth Legal was set up in 2012 with the ethos of providing ethical and affordable access to justice. Access to justice has been reduced over the last 12 years with reductions in legal aid and increased court fees.”

“There has been a lot of changes to various areas of the law over the years, such as legal aid and employment tribunals.”

Georgina, who started out as a trainee back in 2013 before rapidly rising to director, is set to oversee the next milestone in the company’s history.

Truth Legal at their 10 year anniversary celebration.

Along with Louis MacWilliam and Navya Shekhar, Georgina will take on majority control of the firm. Catherine Reynolds will continue in her role as a Director of the firm. Andrew will continue to provide support as a consultant.

Going forward, Truth Legal wants to undertake another ambitious recruitment drive and look at setting up another office.

It also intends to take on more social justice cases and expanding its immigration, employment and clinical negligence teams.

For Georgina, the mission of the firm will remain the same – providing access to justice for those who need it most.

For more information on Truth Legal and how to get in touch for legal advice, visit their website here or call 01423 788358.

Harrogate pantomime star Tim Stedman will be returning for a 22nd season this festive season, it was announced today.

Mr Stedman has become as much a part of Christmas in Harrogate as the Bettys hamper and lights on the Stray.

He will return to play Wishee Washee in Aladdin, which runs from November 23 to January 15 at Harrogate Theatre.

This year’s performances include a socially distanced show on November 27 and a signed show on December 10.

https://twitter.com/HGtheatre/status/1577249795801894914

Panto regular Howard Chadwick will also be back, playing Widow Twankey, Ebony Feare will be the genie and Colin Kiyani takes the title role of Aladdin. Marcus Romer will direct the production at the town’s Victorian theatre.

It will be the first pantomime since 2019 not affected by covid.

David Bown, chief executive of the theatre, said:

“We are going back to the cast levels and production levels of 2019 and everything is going very well.

“Tim loves Harrogate as much as we live him. I’m excited to see the rest of the cast as well.”

Tickets are currently available for every day, but availability on some dates close to Christmas is extremely limited. Prices start at £18 on most days.

Harrogate Borough Council has received almost £500,000 from Harrogate Spring Water since 2017 as a share of the company’s annual turnover, new figures reveal.

The council owns the land where the company is based on Harlow Moor Road and receives £13,000 a year in ground rent.

Harrogate Spring Water also has to pay a percentage of annual turnover to the council. This is known as turnover rent.

The turnover rent agreement was drawn up in the early 2000s when the council granted planning permission to build a bottling plant on land leased to the company.

However, the figure has never been made public.

Two-year battle

For almost two years, the Stray Ferret has tried to find out exactly how much the council benefits from the success of the Danone-owned company.

We first asked the question to HBC in a freedom of information request in January 2021, almost two years ago.

But the council refused to tell us. It said:

“This information is deemed to be of commercial value and, if disclosed, may impact on the council’s ability to negotiate and harm its legitimate interests, putting it in a commercially disadvantageous situation.”

We then requested that HBC undertake an internal review of this decision.

However, Joanne Barclay, acting chief solicitor at HBC, came to the same conclusion, adding “confidence may be eroded if commercial rents were to be disclosed”.

In summer 2021, we submitted a complaint about the council’s decision not to disclose the sum to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

ICO is an independent government body that promotes openness within public bodies.

After a long delay due to a backlog, it investigated HBC’s refusal and asked the council to look again at the Stray Ferret’s question. It has now decided to publish the figures for the last five years.

Read more:

• Harrogate Spring Water reports £23m turnover but still makes a loss

• Campaigner accuses Harrogate Spring Water of ‘greenwashing’ over expansion plans

Finally publishing the figures

Earlier this year, the BBC’s Local Democracy Service revealed that HBC receives 0.5% of the company’s annual turnover.

It estimated the council received £853,033 over an 18-year period, however, new information suggests that is likely to be a higher figure.

Since 2017, HBC has received £495,000.

Company accounts published on Friday revealed turnover has returned to pre-covid levels after dipping significantly due to the pandemic.

Each year, the council has received the following sum from Harrogate Spring Water in turnover rent:

2017  – £92,811.87

2018  – £138,026.18

2019  – £91,153.15

2020  – £152,332.02

2021  – £21,995.79

Global brand

Harrogate Borough Council and Harrogate Spring Water’s histories are intertwined.

Water has been bottled in Harrogate for centuries but in the early 1990s Harrogate Spa Water, as the company was previously known, was selling just 1,000 bottles of water a year.

The company’s fortunes changed in the late 1990s when HBC, run then by the Liberal Democrats, identified an opportunity to explore water resources at the current site on Harlow Moor Road.

Harrogate Spring Water has since gone from strength to strength to become a global brand.

The relationship between the two organisations has come into focus due to Harrogate Spring Water’s attempts to expand its bottling plant into Rotary Wood.

The council has always maintained that its status as planning authority and Harrogate Spring Water’s landlord are separate.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said:

“We have had a base rent and turnover rent agreement in place with Harrogate Spring Water Ltd since 2002.

“As with all of our rental agreements, the money generated is used to help deliver valuable front-line services across the Harrogate district.”

Spofforth Church of England Primary School has been rated ‘good’ in its first full Ofsted inspection for a decade.

Inspectors visited the school on July 20, at the end of the summer term, and said pupils were “confident and articulate” and “proud to attend this happy and welcoming school”. They said:

“Pupils are proud to attend this happy and welcoming school, where everyone knows each other by name. Christian values are at the heart of school life and reflected in the stated ambition to ‘love, learn, thrive’.

“Pupils are confident and articulate. They enjoy leading collective worship and performing in school productions.”

Senior leaders, they added, had “high expectations of what pupils can achieve”.

Children flourish in early years and have strong personal development, read a range of interesting books and follow a clear mathematics curriculum.

But the inspectors said “the curriculum is not as well developed” in some subject areas other than reading and mathematics and also noted:

“Some pupils behave inappropriately and are sometimes disrespectful to other pupils and members of staff. However, pupils have a good understanding of what bullying is and are adamant this does not happen.”

The 101-pupil school, which is part of the Follifoot and Spofforth Church of England Federation of Primary Schools, received a ‘good’ rating at its last full inspection in 2012. A short inspection in 2017 came to the same conclusion.

Read more:

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David Harrington, chair of governors, said:

“Everyone at Spofforth CE Primary and across our federation is very pleased with the outcome of our most recent inspection.

“We are delighted that the inspector recognised the strong sense of community where everyone knows each other by name.

“We are particularly proud of the strength in our federation EYFS class where children from both schools access such high quality education.

“I would like to thank the children, parents, governors and staff for their hard work and support which is reflected in this report.

“As a school and federation we are ready to focus on the agreed areas for development in the report in order to ensure that all our children have the best possible education and love, learn and thrive across the federation.”