Local Harrogate News & Views around the district - Page 729 of 1077

New bar and nightclub to open on Harrogate’s Parliament Street

A new bar and nightclub is set to become the latest addition to the nightlife scene on Harrogate’s Parliament Street.

Best Bar will open as a bar and cafe during the day and then a wine, gin and cocktail bar in the evenings. On Fridays and Saturdays it is will also open as a nightclub.

Best Bar is currently advertising for bar staff, with banners in the shop window advertising it will be “opening soon”.

The bar, next to Santorini Express, isn’t the only new bar due to open on Parliament Street. Leeds-based cocktail bar Roland’s is opening a new venue in the former Moss Bros clothes shop.

Best Bar has been approved for an alcohol licence to sell until 2am Sunday to Wednesday and 4am Thursday to Saturday.

Parliament Street already hosts numerous bars including Revolución de Cuba, Mojo, Wetherspoons and the Viper Rooms.

The Ginnel also hosts several bars, including Montey’s and Major Tom’s Social.

Harrogate guest house owner was ‘facilitator’ in £500k cannabis racket

A Harrogate woman who played the role of “facilitator” in a half-a-million-pound cannabis racket will have her accounts scrutinised before a financial-confiscation hearing to determine how much she pays back.

Yoko Banks, 73, a former guest-house owner, rented out her properties to an Albanian drug gang for “industrial” cannabis production “in the expectation of significant profit”, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The disgraced pensioner was jailed for three-and-a-half years in August last year after she admitted three counts of being concerned in the production of cannabis.

Her six co-conspirators, Visar Sellaj, 33, Kujtim Brahaj, 50, Indrit Brahaj, 27, Bledar Elezaj, 36, Andi Kokaj, 23, and 31-year-old Erblin Elezaj, an illegal immigrant, were jailed for a combined 22 years for various offences including drug supply and production of the highly potent skunk cannabis.

‘Complicated property empire’

Banks, who owns a string of “highly marketable” properties in some of Harrogate’s most desirable areas, now faces financial punishment under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), which will determine how much she has to pay back for her part in the drug plot worth at least half a million.

She was back in court today via video link from New Hall women’s prison in Wakefield.

Prosecutor Michael Bosomworth said the Crown was not yet in a position to make a financial confiscation ruling because Banks’ defence team needed more time to delve into her “complicated” accounts and extensive “property empire”.

He added:

“It’s a somewhat complicated property empire and there’s going to be some time (needed) to prepare it.”

He said that Banks’ solicitors were hiring a forensic accountant to pore over her properties and assets.

Yoko Banks was jailed at Leeds Crown Court last year. Picture: the Stray Ferret.

Banks’ defence counsel confirmed that a forensic accountant had been instructed to scrutinise her accounts and the “considerable amount” of properties and other assets” she owned.

Judge Neil Clark granted the defence an extra eight weeks to carry out an intensive audit of Banks’ assets.

She and her co-defendants will be back in court on Monday via video link when new dates will be set for the POCA hearings.

London gang invested in Banks’ properties

At the sentence hearing in August, the court heard that the “professional”, London-based gang had invested tens of thousands of pounds into three cannabis factories at Banks’s properties on Alexandra Road, Woodlands Road and Somerset Road near Harrogate town centre.

The criminals had even dug a trench outside the three-storey Edwardian villa on Alexandra Road through which they fed electricity cables to the house to power the “highly sophisticated” cultivation system and bypass the electricity grid.

Their plot finally unravelled when police were called to the five-bedroom villa on September 26 last year after reports of a “disturbance” in the street involving what appeared to be two rival gangs vying for the lucrative cannabis farm.

Officers found 283 plants in four growing rooms inside the mock-Tudor house, which was fitted with CCTV cameras. Chillingly, they also found a “large” crossbow and arrows next to the front door. The plants had a potential yield of up to 21 kilos.

Mr Bosomworth said the “organised” gang had operated the lighting, electrical and “security” systems remotely through broadband technology and were even able to watch a “live feed” of the drugs bust over the internet.

There were other large grows at two of Banks’s other properties, which had the “capability of producing industrial amounts” of skunk.

She had rented the properties to the Albanians through an “unidentified individual who goes by the name of Francesco”, who sub-let the houses to the gang’s ringleader Sellaj.

Before the drug raid, the gang had fled in a Transit van and an Audi which were “trapped” on the M1 by police in Hertfordshire and finally stopped on the M25 just after midnight.

Police found 30kg of “saleable”, harvested cannabis plants inside the van worth about £300,000.

Inside the £26,000 Audi SQ5, which belonged to Sellaj, police found £3,675 in cash and an 18-carat-gold Rolex watch worth £28,000.

As well as the 283 plants at the Alexandra Road factory, there were also 143 “root balls” from previous harvests and 6kg of cannabis flower buds. The “industrial” operation would have yielded between 11kg and 33 kilos worth up to £330,000.

Fifty-nine cannabis plants, worth up to £83,000, were found at Banks’s Somerset Road property and 86 plants, with a “bulk value” of up to £62,000, were discovered at the house on Woodlands Road.

The total potential yield of the 395 plants was 45 kilos, with a combined value of up to £456,000. This was in addition to the 30 kilos found in the van and did not include previous harvests.

Banks played ‘facilitating role’

Although Banks was not involved in the cultivation, she had played a “facilitating” or advisory role in the plot. She was in “regular communication” with ‘Francesco’ and Sellaj through Whatsapp messages and was constantly “pressing to be paid by them”.

Banks -—who had previous convictions for health-and-safety offences through her work — was due to be paid at least £12,000 a month in rent for the three properties and was also receiving “high” deposits.

Her defence team claimed she had let out the properties to “supplement” her weekly pension due to financial pressures.

It’s understood that Banks had been planning to appeal her conviction but had since abandoned the idea.

Confirmed: £11m Station Gateway to get green light next week

North Yorkshire County Council has confirmed that the £10.9m Harrogate Station Gateway will be recommended for approval next week.

The Stray Ferret revealed last week that the county council’s executive was expected to give the green light on January 25.

Now the county council, which is the lead partner for the scheme, has confirmed the executive is recommended to take the proposals forward to detailed design stage so work can start in spring or summer.

It says the move will save shops from decline, make the town centre more attractive and improve the town centre for cyclists and pedestrians.

James Street will be partly pedestrianised and traffic on some of Station Parade reduced to single lane.

The decision comes despite widespread opposition to the scheme from businesses and residents.

The results of the second phase of consultation, published last month, revealed that of 1,320 people who replied to an online survey, 55% feel negatively, 39% positively and five per cent neutral towards the scheme. One per cent said they didn’t know.

Nevertheless the scheme is expected to proceed with only minor amendments.

A report to councillors acknowledges there has been “a general reduction in the level of support for the changes”. It says the main concerns are the negative impacts on businesses, congestion, air quality and the attractiveness, accessibility and safety of the town centre.

It adds that officers believe:

“The proposals will have an overall positive impact on the local economy, air quality and the attractiveness, accessibility and safety of the town centre with a minimal increase in journey times and flows in the worst case traffic modelling.

“It is therefore considered appropriate that the proposals be taken forward through detailed design and implementation.”

The report adds the “overall impact on retail footfall is expected to be positive”, adding.

“Evidence suggests that the town centre retail sector is at risk of decline in the medium term. There is also a growing body of case study evidence which indicates that the scheme will increase footfall and economic value.”

Residents living near the town centre fear their streets will get more traffic.

Extra traffic in residential areas

Regarding concerns that the changes will displace traffic along the A61 Cheltenham Crescent into nearby residential streets, the report says traffic modelling looked at “significant changes (an average change of 3 vehicles per minute or more)”, adding:

“At the worst time of day (the afternoon peak hour) only East Parade experiences a significant increase in flow (5 vehicles per minute).”

The Harrogate scheme is one of three in Yorkshire being paid for with £42m from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

These proposals represent the biggest investment in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton town centres in decades and aim to increase productivity by making it quicker, easier and safer for people to travel around and connect with economic opportunities.

“We want to encourage more people to travel by foot, bike and public transport because it is good for health and the environment by promoting fitness and reducing congestion. The spending will also provide a welcome boost for our town centres after two difficult years of trading during the pandemic.

“The entire project is a great example of partnership working between Craven District Council, Harrogate Borough Council, Selby District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and is set to deliver real benefits to residents and businesses across our county.

“We have listened to feedback from the public consultations and are confident people will be pleased with the results.”

Bettys marks highest ever Christmas sales

Bettys has reported its highest ever sales figures for a Christmas period with 2021 seeing a 37% year-on-year increase.

The family-owned company, with two cafes in Harrogate, described it as a “huge achievement” after facing financial and recruitment challenges during the covid pandemic.

Its five cafe tea rooms report a £1.6 million increase on previous years with similarly high numbers in its retail sales. All shops also exceeded retail targets.

The 102-year-old company received a 4.2% increase in online orders, with 40% of those from new customers.

In response managing director, Simon Eyles, said:

“The Bettys business has had to weather a few storms in its 102-year history.

“This year all the teams across the Bettys business have done a truly exceptional job in the face of the worst recruitment challenges we’ve known, and the continuing worries and concerns of the global covid-19 pandemic. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved and cannot thank them enough.”

The business is still facing a recruitment a crisis and has been forced to continue with the shorter opening hours, which were brought in last August.

In Harrogate, the current opening hours are Monday to Friday 9.30-4pm, Saturday 9-5pm and Sunday 9-4pm.

It also made the decision to close one of its York stores this year. The 50-year-old store on Stonegate, known as Little Bettys, was closed as it was no longer “commercially viable”.

Harrogate district unemployment falls again

The number of people receiving out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district has continued to fall.

Latest monthly figures by the Office for National Statistics show 2,145 people were claiming the benefits on December 9, falling by 80 from November’s figure of 2,225.

The figure, however, remains considerably above pre-pandemic levels. In January 2020, 1,410 people claimed the benefits, which includes Universal Credit.

Universal Credit can also be claimed by people who are in work but on low incomes.

The furlough scheme ended on September 30 and supported around 28,600 jobs in the Harrogate district for 18 months.

Meanwhile, this month Harrogate College announced it will be offering free haircuts and manicures to jobseekers.

The college, at Hornbeam Park, is providing the treatments to anyone who has secured a job interview.

Haircuts can be booked now between 3pm and 7pm on Wednesdays. Manicures will be available on Thursdays, starting on January 27, from 10am.

Students will provide the services at the college’s professional standard training salons.

Danny Wild, principal of Harrogate College, said he hoped the initiative would boost the participants’ job prospects.

Staffing fears as Harrogate council enters final months

The staffing of council services in Harrogate has been raised as a key concern as budget proposals including a 1.99% tax increase move a step forward.

Members of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny commission yesterday quizzed senior officials over their spending plans for 2022/23, which will be the council’s final full year before it is replaced with a new unitary authority covering the whole of North Yorkshire.

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred, chair of the overview and scrutiny commission, said staffing would be a “big challenge” during the year as some workers worried about job security look to leave local government.

“It is really important that we hang onto the good staff we have.

“As we move closer to 1 April 2023 when our beloved Harrogate Borough Council will cease to exist, staff are going to be looking elsewhere for a guaranteed job.

“I know the new North Yorkshire Council isn’t going to get rid of people just like that, but everybody is looking for job security.”

Yesterday’s meeting heard complaints over areas including street cleaning and planning as committee members questioned how staff would keep services running until the council is abolished.

This follows the end of a recruitment freeze last August when the council restarted hiring after more than a year of trying to keep costs down during the pandemic.

Covid has been named as a reason for the proposed 1.99% tax rise, as well as years of government cuts which have seen the council’s grant allocations reduced by £8.2m since 2010.

If approved next month, the tax rise will equate to an extra £5 for the average Band D property which will pay £255.92 a year to the council.

Harrogate Borough Council makes up just under 13% of council tax bills, while North Yorkshire County Council makes up 70% and police and fire services the remainder.

Parish councils also make up a small proportion of bills.

The county council has yet to reveal its budget proposals, while the new North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe has outlined a budget based on a £10 increase for average households.

After rises were agreed last year, average bills in the Harrogate district rose above £2,000 for the first time.

Frontline services remain ‘a priority’

Despite the funding challenges and covid impacts, Conservative councillor Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said major projects and frontline services would remain a priority ahead of the authority being abolished. He said:

“This budget is not part of a lull, hiatus or winding down.

“The strategy is to ‘bake in’ projects and initiatives that we want to see carried forward for the good of residents.”

Councillor Cooper, who will stand down after 24 years of service in 2023, added:

“We have young and senior talent all around this council and we will want to see those people represented at a very high level on the new authority.

“The proposal for a 1.99% council tax increase is way below the rate of inflation and is possible because of work over many years to reduce our cost base and make the best use of our assets.

“This is a budget that is a record of success that we are able to take forward into what is the final full year of Harrogate Borough Council.”

Free business workshops for Harrogate’s budding entrepreneurs

Budding entrepreneurs in the Harrogate district can take part in a free seven-week project to help them hone their business skills and win a £2,500 prize.

The Strive project is being run by social enterprise Enterprise Cube, which will have a team of experienced business people on hand to guide 30 local people through a series of workshops, individual advice sessions and start-up challenges.

It is being part-funded by Harrogate Borough Council and is free to anyone in the Harrogate district who has a business idea or a fledgling business.

During the seven weeks, the group will learn about creating a brand, taking payments, building an online presence, and tackling all the legal and tax issues involved in starting a business. £2,500 will be handed out in prizes at the end of the seven weeks.

Strive was first run in 2012 and has supported over 5,000 people in the UK.

Laura Mumford, director of Strive, said:

“We’re really excited to be bringing Strive to Harrogate. My roots are here, and I love that we’ve got such a strong independent business scene in the area – so it’s great to be able to support it.”

You can find out more and apply at: www.homeofstrive.com/harrogate.

Private Harrogate hospital drafts in robot with £250,000 investment

A private hospital in Harrogate has drafted in a robotic surgical assistant and made improvements at the building with a £250,000 investment.

BMI The Duchy Hospital, based on Queen’s Road, is now the only hospital in the Harrogate district with the ROSA Knee System.

The robot is designed to help surgeons carry out more personalised procedures with a greater degree of accuracy.

It has a robotic arm that is guided by the surgeon. The robot also analyses data to help surgeons plan, carry out and assess the knee replacement.

This investment comes as the private hospital, which is part of the Circle Health Group, continues its work with Harrogate and District Foundation Trust to help ease NHS waiting lists.

Orthopaedic surgery among the most in-demand services in the NHS.

Professor Nick London, Mr David Duffy, Mr Jon Conroy and Mr Mark Farndon have used the new system.

Professor Nick London said:

“So far we’ve had excellent outcomes for patients. As we continually strive towards getting 100 per cent of patients the best outcome from their surgery, there is a significant group who may benefit from the advantages the ROSA robot brings.”

Rick Sanders, executive director at BMI The Duchy Hospital, said:

“We are delighted that robotic-assisted knee surgery is now available here in Harrogate. It gives our highly experienced consultant surgeons the option of using this state-of-the-art equipment.”

The investment also means new camera system for surgery, new LED lighting and redecorated interior.

Mr Sanders added:

“As patient activity at our hospital increases and we continue to work closely with the Harrogate District Foundation Trust to ease their waiting lists. The improvements will help us offer the best experience possible for our patients.”

Gino D’Acampo restaurant in Harrogate set to close

An Italian restaurant owned by Gino D’Acampo will close this month after more than four years in Harrogate.

Gino D’Acampo My Restaurant on Parliament Street is one of five of the celebrity chef’s restaurants to close.

After opening the business in 2017 Mr D’Acampo claimed it was the only “proper Italian” in Harrogate.

His comments sparked a furious backlash at the time from a number of Harrogate’s Italian restaurant owners.

The closures follow the news from the start of the year that his My Pasta Bar chain entered liquidation amid problems with coronavirus.

Piccolino will take on the former Gino D’Acampo My Restaurant in Harrogate, which will reopen after a rebrand on Monday, January 24.

A spokesperson for Piccolino, which is part of the Individual Restaurants group along with Gino D’Acampo My Restaurant, said:

“This former Gino D’Acampo My Restaurant will become part of the Piccolino family of restaurants on January 24.

“We are thrilled to announce that we will soon be opening a brand new Piccolino restaurant in Harrogate.

“We can’t wait to welcome you through our doors of Harrogate’s brand new Piccolino.”

Pet crematorium planned for Stonefall Cemetery

Harrogate Borough Council has this week submitted a plan to build a pet crematorium at Stonefall Cemetery.

It follows the lead of councils in North East Lincolnshire and Barnsley, which have already opened or started work on pet crematoriums.

Harrogate council currently charges £36 to collect dead pets from people’s homes.

Currently, the closest pet crematoriums are in either Thirsk or Skipton.

The crematorium at Harrogate would be built inside a converted shipping container.

The plans also include converting a storage building at Stonefall into a “goodbye room”, where owners can say their final farewells to their pets before they are cremated.

A decision on the proposal will be made at a later date.

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‘Complicated property empire’

London gang invested in Banks’ properties

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