Harrogate Spring Water is to hold a public consultation event next week for its plans to expand in the Pinewoods.

The company announced today it would stage the event at Harrogate’s Crown Hotel from 4pm to 7pm on July 13.

Local residents are invited to attend and find out more about the proposals and to share their views.

The event takes place in the Byron suite of the hotel on Crown Place in Harrogate town centre.

Since 2017, Harrogate Spring Water has had outline planning permission to expand its production facilities on its site on Harlow Moor Road.

The company is now putting together a ‘reserved matters’ application which will detail how the new building will look and how the surrounding area will be landscaped.

The controversial plan would involve felling trees in a section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.

Next week’s is part of a series of consultation meetings with the local community and stakeholder groups allowing people to have their say on the design and landscaping of the proposed extension and surrounding land.

Read more:

• Pinewoods charity to meet Harrogate Spring Water to discuss expansion
• Rotary Wood campaigners stage demo in Valley Gardens

A final application will then go on public display before being submitted to the council.

Richard Hall, managing director of Harrogate Spring Water, said:

“As we look to grow, create further job opportunities and continue to support the local and regional economy, it is important that we listen to the local community.

“That’s why we would encourage people to engage with us on this process by coming along to the meeting on July 13, to give us the benefit of their views and to help shape the future of the company.”

Anyone who cannot come along on the day can have their say via a dedicated webpage here.

The proposed £47 million redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre will seek cash from the government’s Levelling Up fund.

Harrogate Borough Council is behind the major project and has today confirmed it will bid to the second round of the fund which has a limit of £20m per project and a submission deadline of July 6.

The redevelopment plans were first revealed in 2020, but questions over how the project would be funded have remained ahead of the council being abolished next April.

The council issued a statement today, but did not say how much it would bid for.

It said:

“We can confirm we will be submitting a formal bid through the government’s Levelling Up Fund to help support the redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre.

“If successful, a version without commercially sensitive information will be available on our website after the announcement.”

The Levelling Up Fund was set up to help areas in need of economic recovery and growth, and each project must have the support of an area’s local MP.

Cash for the 40-year-old convention centre has also been included in a proposed devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York, which is currently being negotiated with government.

It is expected that a deal will be reached this summer, although there are questions over what funding could be agreed for the convention centre.

The venue has been described as in “critical need” of an upgrade by the council which previously said that without investment its maintenance costs could reach £19 million over the next two decades.

The proposed redevelopment could involve three exhibition halls being demolished to make way for a new 5,000 sq m hall and a refurbished auditorium.

Read more:

• Harrogate Convention Centre investment could require county council consent
• Harrogate Convention Centre: What happens now?

Plans to refurbish the venue’s studio two with a flexible events space for up to 1,200 delegates are also included in the proposals.

A start date for these works was earmarked for October, although the wider project has yet to be given approval.

Figures revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service last year showed the council has already spent £1.5 million on planning the redevelopment ahead of a final decision from councillors.

Contracts have been awarded to several companies to produce design and feasibility works, an economic impact assessment and a business case.

These works will be presented to the council’s cabinet in “the coming months,” a spokesperson said.

In the first round of the Levelling Up Fund, Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council submitted a joint bid for £6 million for regeneration projects in Ripon, Skipton and Masham.

The projects would have included “high-quality place-making, improved cultural and community assets, and improved sustainable connectivity” in the three areas.

However, the bid was not successful and no funding was awarded.

Environmental campaigners held a demonstration in Valley Gardens at the weekend to raise awareness of the threat to Harrogate’s Rotary Wood.

Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by French firm Danone, has revived 2017 plans to fell trees in Rotary Woods so it can expand its bottling plant.

The company’s plans would involve removing a smaller area of woodland than it proposed in a failed planning application last year.

But campaigners are still concerned about the loss of trees in part of the Pinewoods that was planted by children in 2005 to help tackle climate change.

Harrogate forest school teacher Sarah Gibbs donned her tree costume to join fellow activists during Saturday’s four-hour gathering, which aimed to tell people about Rotary Wood and the company’s expansion plans. She said:

“This issue has really touched my heart. I’m a born and bred Harrogate girl as well as a teacher and knowing children planted this wood to tackle climate change, to say it’s OK to destroy it would send out a terrible message.

“Surely after lockdown we are more aware of the value of green space to the environment and to mental health.”

Rebecca Maunder, who also took part in the protest, said:

“The aim today is to raise awareness that this is on the agenda again. A lot of people still don’t realise it is.

“Harrogate Spring Water wants to have a consultation with local people so they need to be informed about what’s going on.”

Graham Dixon, who was also present, said:

“The best way to get people to care about what’s happening is to come out and tell them.”

‘Net biodiversity gain’

Harrogate Spring Water has said it wants to achieve “net biodiversity gain” for the site, carry out a compensatory tree planting scheme and will make the remaining part of Rotary Wood more accessible to the public.

It is currently consulting on its plans before submitting a formal reserved matters planning application to Harrogate Borough Council. It says the expansion would create 30 jobs.

Richard Hall, managing director at Harrogate Spring Water, said previously:

“We have a shared interest in driving prosperity for the town and creating a sustainable future for a key business that takes the Harrogate name around the UK and the world, and we hope that this process will allow us to come to a resolution which addresses people’s concerns and the town’s aspirations.”

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Carter Jonas has made a new senior appointment to its team who will be based in Harrogate.

Nicky Partridge is set to become the new Head of Yorkshire New Homes at the estate agents and property consultants.

She will help the northern sales team, aiding the consultancy to further extend its presence in the new homes sector, as well as reflecting the national levelling-up initiative.

Ms Partridge said:

“There has never been a greater need for new homes in the UK, with Michael Gove having recently announced the potential shortage year on year, so the time is now to answer the call for more stock.

“The new homes market is extremely buoyant. Enticements are rife, with green mortgages available for buyers who are drawn in by newer more energy efficient homes from quality developments. Through my 17 years’ experience of pricing, marketing and selling homes, I’ve found proven strategies for both consumers and developers, ensuring best prices are found for all home units.”

New Florist in Knaresborough

A new florist has opened up in Knaresborough this past week.

River & Rose is located on Market Place and specialises in bespoke designs for weddings, funerals and events.

The new florist opened on Friday and celebrated by hiding five bunches of flowers around the town.

Read more:

• Business Breakfast: Knaresborough barbers celebrates 20 years in business
• Business breakfast: Experienced lawyer joins Harrogate firm’s life team

Police have said that a missing Harrogate man has been found safe.

North Yorkshire Police issued a statement and picture of the missing man last night.

It said:

“We’re extremely concerned for his welfare, and asking anyone who sees him or knows where he is to get in touch straight away.

“Extensive searches are underway to locate him, including with the NPAS police helicopter.”

Police said later last night that the man had been found safe.

We have subsequently amended our article by removing his personal details.

Read more:

• Harrogate girl, 13, admits drunken attack on police officers
• Records broken at today’s Harrogate 10k

The men’s and women’s course records were both broken at today’s Run Harrogate 10k.

A total of 486 adults took part in the event, which was organised by Harrogate Harriers. Another 70 children participated in an inaugural kids’ fun run.

Winner Cal Mills, representing Leeds City AC, set a new men’s record of 33 minutes and 13 seconds to finish 32 seconds ahead of Harrogate Harriers’ Jack Kelly.

Emily Gibbins, of Ilkley Harriers, obliterated the female record by more than four minutes in winning in a time of 38 minutes and 15 seconds.

Harrogate Harriers won both the men’s and women’s team events.

Struggling up the ‘Crimple killer’ in the final kilometre of the race.

The race, which was sponsored by Knaresborough renewable energy firm Harmony Energy, started and finished at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre.and took runners around Crimple Valley.

Entrants enjoyed mercifully cool conditions over the multi-terrain course, which finished with the notorious uphill Crimple killer last kilometre.

In line with many running events this year, entries were down on last year. full results are available here.

Read more:

• Running wild in Nidderdale
• Hundreds attend Harrogate fire station open day

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.

Plant nursery consultants ‘offensive waste of money’

What on earth do we have planning departments and development experts employed for if our local authority is still prepared to waste £50,000 on external consultants to help us find somewhere to build a large greenhouse?

At a time when the cost of living is tight to say the least, this is the most offensive waste of taxpayers money. Have we not better things to do? How much tatty street furniture could be replaced? How many care workers would it employ? How many potholes would it fill? The list goes on.

It just pains me to see that something like this is deemed to be a priority. I despair.

Mark Fuller, Harrogate

Read more:

• Stray Views: How did Woodfield school end up in this mess?
• Stray Views: Dogs without leads ruining Valley Gardens

Ripon Spa Baths refurbishment welcomed

Brilliant news that Spa Baths will be refurbished and protected in future. 

A large part of my childhood too, as with the developer and his family. I’d love to see it when it’s back to its former glory.

Trish Baker, Ripon

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.

The death of Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam this week prompted a German friend of his, Benedict Hess, to contact us about their 50-year friendship. Here are his words.

With great sadness, I learned this week about Malcolm’s death. It’s exactly 50 years this summer since he paid his first visit to Munich.

His and my parents became friends some years earlier when they met by chance on holiday in Italy and my dad came up with the idea of Malcolm coming to Munich to stay with us for a couple if weeks.

Although my brother and I were considerably younger than Malcolm — he was 26, my brother was 10 and I was only eight — we were fascinated by this young man who spoke good German, and we became lifelong friends.

Over the next decades, we saw each other on several occasions, either in Harrogate or Munich.

Benedict (left) and Malcolm (third left) with friends in Munich in 1983: Pic by Benedict Hess

My grandparents owned a little holiday home on the Côte d’Azur, where my family spent many happy summers in the seventies and eighties, and Malcolm joined us there.

In retrospect, I always thought that Malcolm was a little suspicious of all those French people there, although he really admired the beautiful landscape. He was a Yorkshireman through and through, as he also was a true Englishman, both of which I truly admired.

I remember one day marvelling over a wooden model of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the V&A Museum, I believe. When I said that much of its architecture reminded me of classic Italian buildings, his response was rather indignant, he said: “We’re in the north. Who needs Italy?” It was then and there that I realised how proud Malcolm was of Great Britain’s rich history.

1972 Olympics in Munich

When he first came to Munich in the summer of 1972, the city was right in the middle of the Olympic Games. I remember us three, Malcolm, Daniel and myself, strolling through the city and the Olympic Park for hours and days on end. The sun shone every day and though I was only eight at the time, I clearly saw and felt that those days were very, very special.

But I also remember clearly those fateful hours when terrorists assaulted Israel’s Olympic team. My parents, Malcolm, Daniel and I were glued to the TV until late on September 5. And then two helicopters, flying very low, passed over our house on the way to Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, where, as the world was about to learn, everything ended in total disaster. Terrible memories and I know that Malcom also never forgot.

In 1988, as a young adult, I decided to go to England alone, after we went there as a family in the jubilee spring of 1977 (I have many happy memories from our stays in London and Harrogate from that). Malcolm and I agreed to meet in London for a few days before traveling to Harrogate.

Malcolm in London in 1988. Pic by Benedict Hess

He asked me if there was anything in particular I would like to do and I said that I really would like to see a musical. And we went to a musical, 42nd Street, starring a barely 19-year-old Catherine Zeta Jones in the lead. But that was not all, because Malcolm also purchased tickets for the Proms, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park and for a comedy at The Swan Theatre in Stratford- upon-Avon. Malcolm was a generous man, a thoughtful and kind man who did everything to make you feel welcome and comfortable.

The year before last, we resumed the habit of telephoning and emailing regularly again and that was how I learned about his illness. And, although I knew, I am in a state of shock right now. My thoughts are with Malcolm and also with Tom and Jamie, his nephews.

I didn’t mean to write so much but I simply got carried away by so many fond memories of a man I knew for 50 years and who is now gone forever. But not in the minds of so many people who will always remember him.

It is very consoling to know that Malcolm Neesam was widely loved and regarded and that he will never be forgotten in Harrogate. Never ever. Neither will he be here in Munich. He will be sorely missed. And always be remembered with the deepest affection.

Read more:

• Tributes paid to ‘Mr Harrogate’ Malcolm Neesam
• Malcolm Neesam History: Harrogate’s thriving working men’s clubs

A man from Bilton who battled undiagnosed Post-traumatic stress disorder for six years says the government is failing young people with mental health issues due to a lack of funding.

Ben Rothery, 22, said his mental health first began to suffer as a teenager when he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality and was bullied by other children.

He also developed a problematic relationship with food and his weight increased to 18 stone.

The bullying led to a suicide attempt aged 16 and further traumatic events at university increased his suffering. Despite seeking help through the NHS several times, they were unable to diagnose what was wrong with him.

He said in one year, he told at least 10 people within the NHS about the same traumatic experiences.

He said:

“I shut everything positive out of my life. I didn’t know what was going on.”

Huge waiting lists

After his suicide attempt six years ago, he was first referred by his GP to CAMHS, an NHS service for young people with mental health problems.

Mr Rothery said the waiting list was “huge” but he was offered regular sessions for a year.

He was one of the lucky ones, with reports of some young people waiting up to two years for sessions.

Whilst helpful, he said CAMHS was unable to diagnose him with any mental health condition, which left him confused.

Things began to improve at school, and after coming out as gay during his school’s 6th form prom, his confidence improved. He went to university in York to train to be a teacher and his future looked bright.

He said:

“It was the happiest I’d ever been. I finally looked in mirror and that was who I wanted to be.”

But whilst at university, his mental health began to suffer again. He starved himself and lost six stone in just two months.

He then suffered a painful fallout with people he thought were friends and faced more bullying.

He bought a pride flag that he hoped to take to his first Harrogate Pride event. However, somebody went into his bedroom, urinated on it and posted a video all over social media. He said he then “isolated himself completely”.

Retreating into own world

When the first covid lockdown happened in March 2020, Mr Rothery said “the world stopped when I needed it to stop”.

He dropped out of university with thousands of pounds worth of debt, moved back home to Harrogate with his family, and retreated into his own world.

He said the experience at university was traumatic and he didn’t feel like he could talk about it.

“People said, ‘it’s just drama’ but it really affected me. It was like being so high up, feeling like you made it in life, then plummeting straight back down. I was lower than when I tried to commit suicide at 16″.

Read more:

• Calls for action over ‘overwhelmed’ North Yorkshire children’s mental health services
• Majority of young people in North Yorkshire have suffered from poor mental health

Seeking help

In early 2021, Mr Rothery decided to seek help again. His GP referred him to IAPT, an NHS talking therapy service.

But he was offered just three hours of CBT treatment and it didn’t address his problems. He was still desperately seeking a diagnosis and an answer to why he was feeling so bad.

He said:

“I thought I had anxiety that had spiralled out of control. I had looked into PTSD, but I thought only people who had suffered really extreme things, like soldiers or victims of sexual assault had that.

“I felt like I hadn’t been listened to. Everybody I spoke to didn’t understand my problems.”

He said he carried on struggling until late last year when he had a “complete meltdown” and contemplated suicide again.

“I sat sobbing in my bedroom. I thought, I don’t want to leave my mum and dad. I saw how my previous suicide attempt made them feel. But I just thought, I don’t want to wake up.”

Next therapist

With his mental health problems now at an all-time low, he visited his GP again.

The doctor presented him with two options: go back to IAPT again or take medication. But he didn’t want to rely on chemicals to feel better.

Fortunately, his dad, who is a painter and decorator, had a customer in Harrogate who is a trained therapist. A deal was agreed where he would do work for her in return for offering sessions for Ben.

Private therapy sessions usually start at least £50 an hour, out of reach for most young people in Harrogate on lower salaries, so the offer changed his life.

He said it was the first time somebody had listened and told him what was wrong with him: PTSD brought on by the traumatic events of his teenage years and at university.

“That was the first time somebody told me what was wrong with me.

“It’s like a filing cabinet that has been thrown over and reorganising. It was the first time I’d felt listened to. I felt like I’d achieved something. For six years since 16 I’d been trying to get support but nobody seemed to know what to do.”

Doing better now

Mr Rothery says since the private therapy sessions finished he is doing much better. He has a fulfilling job and a good support network including his mum and dad.

But he fears that there are countless other people in Harrogate who are suffering with poor mental health in silence⁠ —and they are unable to afford expensive private therapy sessions that could make all the difference.

A report published in May by Harrogate-based Healthwatch North Yorkshire found that 72% of young people said they had experienced mental health or well-being issues in the past year.

Mr Rothery said:

“The biggest frustration for me is that anybody who didn’t have a support system at home like me would not have survived as long as I did. It crossed my mind that i could stop it all with one solution, but I’d be giving up. If i was to commit suicide, I’d give up all this fight.”

He added:

“If everybody tried to get help and came forward to their GPs, maybe more would be done.”

Hundreds of people visited Harrogate fire station today for an open day.

Children got the chance to sit in the fire engines and watch demonstrations while parents were able to receive advice on fire prevention.

There was also the chance to sit in police vehicles.

The station, on Skipton Road, has 40 firefighters operating on four watches.

Read more:

• Harrogate firefighters issue smoke alarm warning after house fire
• Up to 1,000 runners set for Sunday’s Harrogate 10k