Work on Harrogate Hydro and Knaresborough leisure centre to start next month

Two major projects to renovate Harrogate Hydro and build a new leisure centre in Knaresborough will get underway next month.

Harrogate Borough Council is behind the plans which will cost around £28 million and see the construction works carried out by Bristol-based firm Alliance Leisure.

The Hydro will get an £11.8 million investment, including a two-storey extension of the building, as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area.

There will also be a new diving board structure, fitness suite and refurbished changing areas.

The venue will close on April 8 and the project will be phased to allow for the pool hall area to be brought back into use “as soon as possible in early 2023,” the council said.

It also said it anticipated all of the works will be completed by April 2023.

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Meanwhile, some grounds works are already underway at Fysche Field in Knaresborough where a new £17 million leisure centre complete with a six-lane pool, health spa and fitness studios will be built as a replacement for the existing Knaresborough Pool.

It will be built behind the existing pool which will remain open during the works before being demolished.

The council said the new leisure centre will take 65 weeks to build with completion in July 2023.

After this, the demolition works will take a further 15 weeks with completion in October 2023.

Knaresborough leisure centre

Proposals for the Knaresborough Leisure Centre.

These proposals were approved last month despite concerns over the environmental impact of demolishing a large building to replace it with another.

However, Jonathan Dunk, chief development officer at the council, described the 30-year-old Knaresborough Pool as “at the end of its working life” and said more swimming space was needed for the town’s growing population.

He previously said: 

“We need to renew rather than refurbish the existing facility because it is old and there is inadequate water space.

“We also want to upgrade to make the most of the energy performance of the new building.”

In Ripon, the opening of the city’s new multi-million pound swimming pool was finally celebrated on 2 March after months of costly delays.

The project was nine months overdue and £4 million over budget, and refurbishment works on the adjoining Ripon Leisure Centre are still underway after the discovery of an underground void prompted the need for an investigation.

The investigation by engineering firm Stantec was due to finish earlier this month and a report setting out what reinforcement works will be required will now follow.

Stantec previously suggested there had been a “significant deterioration” of the ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre and that strengthening works could include steelworks, thickened floors and grouting – the same method “successfully” used to stabilise the new pool.

Bilton playgroup rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted

Ofsted has rated Acorns Playgroup in Bilton ‘outstanding’ following a recent inspection.

The education inspectors visited the setting, which operates at Bilton Grange Community Primary School on Bilton Lane, in February.

It has 30 children registered between the ages of 2 and 4.

Ofsted found that children “excitedly enter the safe and vibrant pre-school” and are “deeply engrossed in a limitless range of first-class activities and experiences”.

The report said:

“Children’s interests and ideas are at the heart of staff’s thinking when they implement the curriculum.”

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The inspector praised the playgroup for its safeguarding procedures and said staff give the “utmost priority” to keeping children safe.

It said staff have “very high aspirations” for all children and swiftly identify any possible developmental delays to help any child catch up. It said staff at Acorns have an “admiral passion and dedication” to their jobs.

The report added:

“Children demonstrate exemplary behaviour and play extremely well together. They solve problems while building impressive constructions, excitedly dig for ‘treasure’ in the large sand pit and make ‘Chinese noodles’ in the exploratory kitchen. Older children play a mathematical card game skilfully and ensure everyone plays fairly and follows the rules.”

Catherine Kaiser, director of Acorns, thanked staff following the report

She said:

“The staff here are fantastic, we’ve all worked really hard and the report reflects that. It’s our fourth ‘outstanding’ rating in a row. It really has been a team effort.”

Woodlands Kids Club

Earlier this month Woodlands Kids Club, at Willow Tree Primary School on Wetherby Road, received a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted.

Inspectors visited the setting on February 1 and praised staff for offering a welcoming and encouraging environment for young learners.

The report said:

“Staff know the children well and respond to their interests. They extend their learning as they play together. Children greet staff with huge smiles as they arrive at the end of the school day. They show a good sense of belonging as they excitedly talk about their day.

“They form meaningful relationships with the staff and follow instructions well. Staff use their knowledge and experience effectively to support those children who need additional help and encouragement. The strategies they use are highly effective.”

Bid to save ‘at risk’ Harrogate district bowls clubs

Bowls clubs in the Harrogate district have joined forces in an attempt to recover from the covid pandemic.

All 16 clubs that play in the Harrogate league have come together after it became clear that some were at risk of folding.

Dave Rowson, secretary of Harrogate Amateur Bowling Association, which governs the game in the district and coordinates its development, said the organisation had launched a drive to increase participation and retain players.

Mr Rowson said membership in local crown green bowls was declining and some clubs were at risk of going under.

He said:

“Membership of many clubs is declining and of the 16 clubs in the district there are a number forecasting that without an increase in participation they could be at risk of being unable to remain in existence.”

Mr Rowson, who is also secretary of Black Swan Bowling Club on Devonshire Place in Harrogate, pointed to Bilton Working Men’s Club as an example of a club which needed support.

The club currently has 26 bowlers and needs more players to remain viable.

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Paul Gill, who is a member of Bilton Working Men’s Club, said part of the problem was that the sport was regarded as an “old man’s game”.

He added that people also did not know where the bowling greens are situated because they are often behind buildings or hidden.

Mr Gill said:

“They do not know they are there.

“There are a lot of locations and a lot of clubs.”

Grants and strategy

After two years of the covid pandemic, the 16 clubs decided to come up with a strategy to ensure their survival.

As part of that, Mr Rowson secured a £1,500 grant to set up a website for Harrogate Amateur Bowling Association.

The site will enable each club to advertise open days for potential new members. The season runs from April to October so the number of open days is expected to ramp up shortly.

Mr Rowson added:

“The programme will be open to all. Bowls is a sport for everyone irrespective of age or gender. Everyone can compete equally.”

Younger players, parents and people retiring from other sports such as cricket and football will be encouraged to come along.

The association aims to get 600 new participants trying bowls. Mr Rowson added that there was capacity for 13 more eight-person teams in the Harrogate league.

He estimates that the league would need 80 new bowlers for those teams and to cover any player holiday or illness.

The association has also bid to North Yorkshire Sport for up to £5,000 in funding for equipment costs and coaches to help new players.

For more information on how to get involved with your local bowls club, visit the Harrogate Amateur Bowling Association website.

TikTok video on mental health in Harrogate goes viral

A TikTok video of a man raising awareness of mental health in Harrogate town centre has gone viral.

The clip, by Ben Ogden on Cambridge Street, shows him standing with a sign saying: “If you’ve struggled with mental health, let’s talk”.

Mr Ogden is well known on TikTok for his videos talking to people on the street about mental health and has posted clips in Leeds and Skipton.

In Harrogate, he speaks with a woman, who is off camera, about her struggles with mental health.

Mr Ogden says in the video:

“We’re just trying to raise awareness for mental health and to let people know it’s alright to talk about it and it should be a normal conversation.”

@itsbenogden

It’s okay to talk 💬 #mentalhealthmatters #friends

♬ last chance – 🤍

The video has racked up 429,000 views on TikTok and has more than 21,000 likes and 200 comments.

Mr Ogden, who has nearly 50,000 followers on the social media platform, also published a video outside Sainsbury’s on Cambridge Street with a sign that reads: “If you’re missing your mum this Mother’s Day, let’s talk”.

The clip clocked up 465,000 views.

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The video becomes the latest TikTok in the Harrogate district to go viral this year.

In January, a Russian TikToker racked up a million views with a video of Knaresborough that she described as “a place in England so beautiful I can’t believe it’s real”.

In the same month, a bizarre video by DJ Zach Sabri, better known online as SUAT, showed the TikToker being told by National Trust staff that he cannot film at Brimham Rocks.

Plan to convert former Harrogate district school into house approved

Plans to convert a former Harrogate district primary school into a house have been approved.

Leeds Diocesan Board of Finance applied to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the former Bishop Thornton Church of England Primary School site off Colber Lane.

The school closed in 2019 after it outgrew the site and moved to the former Burnt Yates Church of England Primary School building. The school has since been renamed as Admiral Long CE Primary School.

The council has now given the go-ahead to the proposal.

According to plans submitted to the council, the Bishop Thornton building will be converted into a three-bedroom house with two parking spaces.

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The developer said in documents that the proposal will represent a “satisfactory replacement” for the former school building.

It said:

“Making use of empty buildings and placing great weight on using suitable sites within existing settlements is supported by national planning policy.”

Labour announce Harrogate and Knaresborough election candidates

The Labour Party has announced its candidates in Harrogate and Knaresborough for the upcoming local elections.

Voters will head to the polls on May 5 to elect councillors to the new North Yorkshire Council.

A full list of candidates for each ward including Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and independent candidates is expected to be published on April 6.

The Labour Party has announced a candidate for every ward in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

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Among them include acting constituency party chair Chris Watt, retired teachers and a mental health nurse in the NHS.

The full list of candidates are:

The move comes after opposition parties indicated they are not expected to agree to a pact ahead of polling day.

Harrogate and Knaresborough Green Party said it had reached out to both the Lib Dems and Labour, however the Stray Ferret understands no agreement has been made.Labour’s list of candidates indicates it intends to fight every ward.

Register to vote

A total of 13 councillors will be elected in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge to the new authority, with an average of 6,194 people to each representative. A further eight will be elected across Ripon, Pateley Bridge and Masham.

Those wishing to vote in the upcoming election have until April 14 to register to vote. You can register here.

Meanwhile, events will be held online for residents across Harrogate and Knaresborough to learn more about the upcoming unitary council.

People will be given the opportunity to ask a panel of senior council officials about the changes and what it means for them.

Wallace Sampson, chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council, and Neil Irving, from North Yorkshire County Council, will appear on the panel at the event on April 12. You can find more information on how to attend here.

Harrogate district among worst prepared areas for electric cars, says study

The Harrogate district has been revealed as one of the worst prepared areas in the UK for the electric car revolution.

New research shows the district places fourth among the least ready regions, with just one charging point for every 134 electric or hybrid cars.

This comes as more and more motorists across the nation are making the switch to electric as the government’s ban on sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 is now less than a decade away.

Harrogate has seen rapid growth in the number of electric vehicles on its roads, with more than York or any other district in North Yorkshire.

However, the district’s charging infrastructure is lagging behind and there is now pressure on local authorities to speed up their offering in order to support efforts to tackle climate change.

Harrogate Borough Council – which has admitted the district’s charging point numbers are “some way behind” neighbouring areas such as York and Leeds – has set an aim to get 10,000 electric vehicles on the roads by 2023.

It said in a statement that it has installed charging points at several council-owned locations and that it plans to roll out 60 more within the next five years.

The borough council said: 

“It is encouraging to see that the Harrogate district has seen an increase in electric vehicle ownership.

“Our Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle strategy aims to respond to this local need and fulfil our vision to have the most ambitious and forward-thinking programme for electric vehicles of any borough council.

“Charging points have been installed at council sites across the district, including Phoenix Business Park in Ripon and Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough.

“Charging points will also be installed at Hornbeam Park train station car park in Harrogate, Victoria multi-storey car park in Harrogate, Chapel Street car park in Knaresborough, Southlands car park in Pateley Bridge and cathedral car park in Ripon in the coming months.”

Harrogate Borough Council is responsible for areas including off-street parking and planning, and said all new housing developments are equipped with charging points along with a dedicated electric circuit.

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On-street parking is the responsibility of North Yorkshire County Council which said it recognised the urgency of improving electric car infrastructure, but added it wanted “take the time needed to ensure we find the correct solutions to ensure everyone has convenient access”.

It said a charging point study is currently underway and will involve a public consultation to ask residents for their views.

Karl Battersby, corporate director for business and environmental services at the county council, said: 

“North Yorkshire is currently exploring many options and engaging with specialist companies to seek solutions to the challenges surrounding electric vehicle charging.

“Options being considered include rapid charging hubs and innovative measures to provide on-street charging.”

Mr Battersby added: 

“Harrogate has more registered electric vehicles than any other district in the county and also the most publicly available charge points, though some of those have restricted availability.

“Department for Transport data shows Harrogate and Ryedale are in the top 40% of UK council areas for total numbers of charging points.”

The research which shows Harrogate places fourth among the least ready regions is from insurance group esure. It found the district comes behind only Slough, Swindon and Stockport which is the worst prepared place with 448 electric and hybrid vehicles having to share each charger.

The figures also show it’s 3.5 times harder to find a charger in Harrogate than in York which has made better progress with one charging point for every 38 vehicles.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, London comes out on top as the best prepared area with only four cars per each charger.

New co-working space opens in Harrogate

Harrogate Borough Council‘s co-working space, Co-Lab, has opened.

Co-Lab consists of new offices, a meeting room and communal space. It’s based on level 3 of Harrogate Convention Centre on King’s Road.

The authority secured £540,000 of funding from the Leeds City Business Rates Pool to fund the project.

It aims to connect digital, tech and creative businesses in the Harrogate district.

Alistair Forbes, Harrogate Borough Council’s in-house growth manager who will support businesses at Co-Lab said:

“Co-Lab will be focussed on digital and tech businesses, but we are inviting anyone interested in collaborating with the business community to talk to us.

“From designers to hardware specialists, technologists, marketers and developers, our aim is that everyone works together to help our community become more successful.”

Ripon butcher wins contract with Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason

Ripon-based online butcher, Farmison & Co has won a contract to supply London stores Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.

Farmison’s new Saucepan Ready range was curated by the company’s Michelin-starred executive chef, Jeff Baker, who has cooked for the Queen and Barack Obama.

The deal comes after Inverleith LLP, an Edinburgh-based specialist consumer brand investor, acquired a majority stake in the business, so it could press ahead with expansion plans.

Business founder and chief executive, John Pallagi, said:

“It’s a real feather in our cap to get Saucepan Ready listed with these two such iconic British retailers – it’s also recognition of the superb quality of the heritage breed meat our farmers supply.”

As well as the Saucepan Ready dishes, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason are stocking Farmison & Co’s beef dripping and chicken schmaltz.

Battery storage facility planned for Burton Leonard

Plans have been submitted to build a battery energy storage system near Burton Leonard.

The application has been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council by Harmony Energy Limited. The company also hopes to build a solar farm nearby.

The battery energy facility will store electricity so it can support the National Grid and provide electricity during high demand.

It would be built next to the Wormald Green Northern PowerGrid substation, off Station Lane, Wormald Green.

The storage facility would be built in the field marked in red.

‘Cold and insincere’ letter from Harrogate hospital led to suicide, inquest hears

A Harrogate man has told an inquest a “cold and insincere” letter from Harrogate District Hospital led to his wife to take her own life days later.

Sarah Jane Louise Tatlow, 57, died on March 26 last year at the home she shared with her husband and two sons in Harrogate.

She had been undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of cervical cancer.

Julian Tatlow told today’s opening day of the inquest in Northallerton that his wife was not fully aware of her “poor prognosis” until she received a letter from one of her doctors at Harrogate District Hospital days before her death.

The letter was sent following an in-person consultation with Ms Tatlow and her husband on March 17.

Ms Tatlow, who was a director of management training and development consultancy Kronos Learning, did not share the letter with her husband, who found it in the days after her death.

He described the letter as “cold and insincere” and said it contained details not made clear to them during the consultation.

He said the use of words such as “slurry” to describe the kind of faecal matter that would have ended up in his wife’s stoma bag, and the shock of her “poor prognosis” would have made his wife question “what is the point?”.

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Mr Tatlow told the inquest in Northallerton:

“I believe if she didn’t receive a copy of this letter, I may still have a wife and my sons a mother.”

The consultant who sent it responded to say:

“The extent of her cancer was confirmed on 10th March after numerous scans. I believe Sarah had come to the conclusion [of the severity of her cancer] following numerous consultations with myself and colleagues.”

Cancer diagnosis

The inquest heard that Ms Tatlow suffered frequent urinary tract infections in late 2020. A routine cervical screening in January 2021 then diagnosed cancer.

Dr Allison Amin, a consultant gynaecologist at Harrogate District Hospital, said she knew instantly it was an aggressive form of cancer that had spread to her pelvic area.

But Mr Tatlow said in an opening statement, which was read out at the inquest, that neither he nor his wife was aware of her “poor prognosis”. He said all the consultations had suggested that operations could “give her a better quality of life”.

Mr Tatlow asked each doctor if they had made it clear to his wife how aggressive her cancer was. Each doctor said they were unable to confirm their exact words but were sure Ms Tatlow knew her cancer was aggressive.

Mr Tatlow said to one of the doctors “my recollection is entirely different”.

He also asked why none had referred his wife to her GP for depression during a time in which, he said, she was clearly struggling.

At the time of her death, Mrs Tatlow was waiting for two surgeries that were due to take place early in April.

The inquest, led by coroner Oliver Longstaff, is due to conclude tomorrow.

Northern to continue with Harrogate train cuts despite pressure from MP

Northern will press ahead with plans to cancel the 6.07am train service from Harrogate to Leeds, as well as some other services, despite lobbying from Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Conservative MP Andrew Jones.

The Stray Ferret reported this month that the 6.07am service — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.

The early service was popular with business travellers as a way to get to London King’s Cross before 9am.

The decision to cut the service was branded as “disgraceful” by Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group.

Urging a rethink

Last week, Andrew Jones MP wrote to the chairman of Northern, Robin Gisby, urging him to “rethink” reductions to the service between Harrogate and Leeds.

Mr Jones wrote that train services in Harrogate had got better over the past decade but cuts could risk losing these “hard-won improvements”.

However, a Northern spokesperson said today that the operator, which is now owned by the UK government, confirmed the cuts will still take place from May 15.

They said the cuts were primarily due to driver shortages and not a reduction in passengers since the pandemic.

However, the spokesperson added Northern will look to reinstate some services during the rest of 2022.

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The spokesperson said:

“We recognise that some of our customers are disappointed with the upcoming changes to their service. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

“Along with the rest of the industry, some amendments to the timetable will be made from 15 May 2022.

“For the remainder of the year, services will be reinstated where possible with the intention of a larger uplift in December 22.

“These reinstatements will take us more in line with December 2021 service levels although any changes are dependent on several factors. We will share the final plans when we can.”

Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group said news that the 6.07am cut would remain was “not good enough”.

He added:

“I was expecting them to keep that one. I’m very disappointed.”