Harrogate councillor encourages people to have their say on mosque

A Harrogate borough councillor has been encouraging residents to submit their views on a proposed mosque.

Conservative Cllr Sam Gibbs circulated a leaflet, which doesn’t contain any personal views, to people living close to the mosque’s proposed location.

Harrogate Islamic Association has submitted plans to build what would be the district’s first mosque on the corner of Tower Street and Belford Road.

The location falls within the Harrogate Central ward rather than the Harrogate Valley Gardens ward Cllr Gibbs represents.

However, the two wards will join after May’s local government elections.

Cllr Gibbs, who is also the constituency agent for Chancellor and Richmond MP Rishi Sunak, asks in the leaflet whether people support the application and for additional comments.

Some people have raised concerns on social media about a councillor canvassing views on the subject.

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However, Cllr Gibbs told the Stray Ferret he had only “circulated a leaflet – a neutral information piece that reported the details of the development factually”.

He added:

“As a local councillor I am aware that residents do not always realise when a development is submitted in their area.

“I also believe a good councillor does what they can to raise awareness of things that will affect residents.

“I do this regularly for planning applications. It is what good councillors do and it is certainly not unusual for me to do localised surveys on a wide variety of issues.

“This is about making it easier for residents to have their say and ensuring no one is disenfranchised.”

Cllr Gibbs has forwarded copies of replies sent to the local Conservative Party office on East Parade, Harrogate to the case officer dealing with the planning application at Harrogate Borough Council.

Sunday deadline for comments

Residents have until this Sunday to have their say on the mosque. So far 80 people have written in support while 60 people have objected.

Households across Harrogate reported receiving anonymous leaflets encouraging them to oppose the plans with a guide on how to word the objection. Those leaflets had nothing to do with Cllr Gibbs.

Zahed Amanullah, from the Harrogate Islamic Association, told the Stray Ferret:

“We appreciate that our application has drawn significant attention and have pledged to respond to any concerns.

“But we’ve also had people misrepresent us before through leaflets to residents and we’d ask anyone concerned to speak with us directly. We have nothing to hide.”

The HIA was established in 2011 and has been looking for a permanent place to convert into a mosque for years. Other attempts to find a home have fallen through.

Around 100 worshippers currently meet in the Quakers’ Friends Meeting House on Queen Parade.

A council spokesperson said:

“The council has a Planning Code of Good Practice for members and officers. Elected members are entitled to take an interest in planning applications outside of their ward.”

Harrogate’s Pots2Go to re-open in new town centre shop tomorrow

Ceramic cafe Pots2Go will reopen in a new, larger shop on Harrogate’s Beulah Street tomorrow.

The shop, previously located on Montpellier Parade, closed on Christmas Eve to prepare for the move into new premises.

Owner Zoë Hill said they had outgrown the old shop and now had 13 tables instead of just five.

Customers can now enjoy pottery painting, children’s parties and coffee and cake in more spacious surroundings.

It also means customers can just walk-in whereas limited space in the old shop meant booking was essential.

The upstairs area includes two benches for people to paint alone or in small groups.

The shop still offers a range of children’s activities, including make-a-bear sessions, slime and foam clay parties.

Ms Hill said:

“We’re really excited, obviously it’s a massive risk but we had to just go for it. We’ve got lots of bookings so it hasn’t put anyone off.”

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Ms Hill and her husband, Dave took over the business four years ago and coronavirus forced them to find new business avenues, such as at-home kits and holding parties at outside venues.

Ms Hill will have seven members of staff working alongside her and hopes to keep collection time to five-to-seven days.

“There’s so much more we could do with the business, especially now we have more staff. I’m hoping it will allow me to take a step back and look at other avenues.

“The last two years have been a nightmare, open and shut, open and shut it wasn’t easy. This is a fresh start.”

The shop reopens tomorrow at 10am.

The upstairs area alone is bigger than the previous shop.

Council refuses to say if jobs at risk at Harrogate Convention Centre

Harrogate Borough Council has refused to say whether any jobs are at risk of redundancy as part of an ongoing staffing review at Harrogate Convention Centre.

The review began last year and is expected to conclude in April.

It is being headed by centre director Paula Lorimer who has a core team of 21 staff including managers, accounts and admin staff and events planners.

The council, which owns the venue, said in a statement that changes to the staffing structure are being considered because the reopening of the centre after covid restrictions had “highlighted a need” to review how events are delivered.

However, the council refused to say if any jobs were at risk of redundancy.

A council spokesperson said: 

“Following on from successfully redeploying two-thirds of the convention centre’s employees to assist in delivering our critical frontline services, the return to providing event operations in a post-pandemic industry has highlighted a need to review how these are delivered.

“This review is ongoing and is anticipated to be concluded in the spring.

“At this stage, there is nothing further to add.”

The staffing review is due to be discussed at a meeting of the council’s human resources committee on February 10.

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The committee previously discussed the changes behind closed doors in December, and it is likely this will happen again at next week’s meeting.

Ms Lorimer – who is one of the council’s top earners with a £104,502 salary – said in a report that the convention centre did not earn any income from events in 2021/22.

She said this was because of covid cancellations and the venue’s use as an NHS Nightingale hospital, although she added events have since made a positive return.

Ms Lorimer said: 

“Following venue reinstatement and the reopening of the events industry we have welcomed back a significant number of existing and new clients, contributing to the prosperity of the district.

“Our sales strategy continues to focus on attracting larger association conferences.

“There have been a number of events attracted to the convention centre as a result of both the sales strategy and the national publicity regarding the use of the venue as a NHS Nightingale.”

£47m refurbishment in pipeline

The staffing review comes after the council created a new destination management organisation in 2020 when Gemma Rio was appointed as its head to promote the Harrogate district as “exceptional place to visit, meet and invest”.

It also comes as the council is pushing ahead with plans for a major redevelopment of the convention centre.

This week the council’s cabinet backed the spending of £2.8 million in cash reserves to speed up the first phase of the works at the venue’s studio two.

Overall, the whole project could cost up to £47 million over three phases if approved and involve three exhibition halls being demolished to make way for a new 5,000 sq m hall and a refurbished auditorium.

A decision on the plans is expected from councillors in summer.

Harrogate and Knaresborough artisan markets cancelled this weekend

Forecasted strong winds and rain have prompted the organisers of artisan markets in Harrogate and Knaresborough to cancel this weekend’s events.

Little Bird Artisan Markets was due to stage its monthly Knaresborough market on Saturday.

The organisers were also planning to hold their first regular monthly market in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens on Sunday after a successful Christmas market trial at the same location in December.

Both markets were fully booked by stallholders.

Winds are predicted to reach up to 44mph in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday. Storm Malik brought similarly strong winds seven days ago.

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Organisers say they had little choice but to cancel due to concerns over the safety of stallholders and visitors.

Jackie Crozier, managing director of Little Bird Markets, said:

“We are sad about cancelling. The decision was not made lightly but we really do have to put health and safety first.

“We were expecting a busy weekend, our marketing has been strong and the online buzz about the events has been amazing.

“We hoped the weather was going to improve, but we have just had to cancel, and we are devastated.”

Little Bird Markets will be back in Knaresborough on March 5 and Harrogate Valley Gardens on March 6.

Wanted: entertainment with ‘wow factor’ for Harrogate town centre

Harrogate Business Improvement District is offering grants to entertainers that can liven up Harrogate town centre’s streets.

The BID issued a plea today for events and installations that will drive footfall into the town centre.

It is offering the grants in order to cover any costs incurred as long as the idea satisfies funding criteria.

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, said:

“We are really keen to bring something new and exciting to Harrogate town centre each weekend, and we are calling on individuals and groups to help us achieve this.

“We are particularly looking for something that is unique, exciting and has the wow factor. Harrogate is a standout town, and we want anything that we help deliver to also stand out.”

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Mr Chapman added that grants weren’t just available for performers, but for individuals, groups and organisations who want to play a part in benefitting the BID levy area.

art on the Stray

Last year’s art on the Stray.

He said:

“Last year, we commissioned the incredible mural that adorns the side of Monsoon, on Cross James Street. We also commissioned Artizan UK to create nine mosaic letters spelling Harrogate to cover the bricked up windows on the side of Boots building, along Cambridge Place.

“I’m really pleased to say these will be in situ next month, adding a much-needed splash of colour to this drab street linking Oxford Street and Cambridge Street. We also provided a colourful banner for Commercial Street to help promote the independent businesses it’s home to.

“We have five key project areas; marketing, promotions and events, access and car parking, safe, clean and welcoming, business plus, and evening and night time economy, and if an idea fits in with one of these, then we are interested and a grant may well be available.”

More information on the grant can be found on the Harrogate BID website.

Harrogate man to compete at Winter Olympics for Trinidad & Tobago bobsleigh team

Harrogate man Axel Brown will compete for the Trinidad & Tobago bobsleigh team in the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kicks off today.

If you ask someone about bobsleigh, most people will recall the 1993 smash hit film Cool Runnings. It featured the trials and tribulations of the Jamaica team as it battled to compete in the Winter Olympics.

Brown was born and raised in Harrogate. He attended Harrogate Grammar School from 2003 to 2011 and excelled at American football and taekwondo before discovering bobsleigh in 2014.

He previously competed for Great Britain but qualified to switch to Trinidad & Tobago because his mum is from Pointe-a-Pierre in the country.

For the uninitiated, bobsleigh is a winter sport where teams barrel down an iced track in an aerodynamic sleigh while racing against the clock.

Brown has a crucial role as the pilot of the team, and sits in the sleigh to steer it along so it can produce the greatest speed.

The Caribbean country hasn’t competed in the games for 20 years, and Brown is hoping their efforts can inspire a new generation.

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Speaking to Trinidad & Tobago Newsday in December, Brown said:

“It is exciting that now all of a sudden the Trinidad & Tobago population is kind of embracing us and what we are able to do.

“Hopefully there are other Trinidad & Tobago teams that are inspired by what we are doing. I think we certainly have the athletic pool from which to choose great athletes from but also the four that we’ve got at the moment are doing incredibly well and I am really excited to see what they can do.”

The Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 opening ceremony takes place today, where Brown will be cheered on from back home.

Brown is a supporter of Harrogate horticulture charity Horticap, which showed its support for him when some of its students held the Trinidad & Tobago flag.

Harrogate council responds to calls for recycling wheelie bins

Harrogate Borough Council has responded to calls to introduce recycling wheelie bins, which were backed by 200 residents.

The Stray Ferret asked readers whether they would welcome the change after last weekend’s storms blew recycling left out for collection across streets throughout the district.

We received an overwhelming response to the question on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Of 200 comments, the vast majority were supportive of the proposal.

Currently residents in the Harrogate district use blue bags to recycle paper and card and a black box for tins, plastic and glass.

In some other areas of the country run, people use large wheelie bins for recycling.

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Given the level of support for the change, we asked Harrogate Borough Council if it would be possible to roll out recycling wheelie bins. A spokesperson for the council said:

“Using wheelie bins for recycling can in some instances lead to higher contamination rates (items presented that can’t be recycled). So any changes would need to be carefully considered.

“Another challenge we would need to overcome is the wagons used for collection. At the moment they cater for black boxes so any change would require adaptation of the fleet.”

“Recycling rates have increased significantly across the Harrogate district year-on-year and the current contamination rates are less than one per cent. This community effort ensures our recycling is high-quality and easily accepted at the processing sites so we’d like to say a massive thank you to the residents for always going above and beyond to help us and our crews.”

Scandinavian-inspired coffee shop opens on Harlow Hill

A Scandinavian-inspired coffee shop opened today on Harlow Hill.

Nord Coffee House has moved to a unit at 135 Otley Road that was previously home to cafe, The Kitchen, for five years before it closed last year.

Nord sells artisan coffee, sandwiches, pastries and donuts. A pop-up Nord opened in Knaresborough in December.

Craig Buchan, who is involved with Nord, also co-founded FI:k, which is a Swedish-style cafe in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

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Nord manager Iain Walker said:
“We’re really proud of what we have created at our new coffee house on Otley Road. Everything starts with the quality of the coffee for us and our whole menu in turn reflects that. We have chosen Dark Woods Coffee from Huddersfield as our coffee provider not only because of the quality of their product, but because of the sustainability story that they have.”
“We have taken as our inspiration the beautiful area that we are situated in and we’ve tried to bring the Pine Woods into the interior.”
In another boost for the area, Wharfedale Fruiterers, which is next door to Nord on Otley Road, will reopen with a new name and new owners this month.
Harrogate district church leaders back mosque

Church leaders in the Harrogate district have shown their support for a planned mosque in the town.

Twenty-two leaders have signed a joint statement backing the plans, saying the “time is right” for a place of worship for Muslims.

Signatories include the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley.

Harrogate Islamic Association has lodged plans to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the former Home Guard Club into a place of worship.

The joint statement from church leaders says:

“As church leaders in Harrogate, we the undersigned wish to express our support for our Muslim friends and neighbours as they seek a suitable site for a dedicated place of worship.

“We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to worship and, without wishing to prejudge the specific suitability of the site currently under consideration, we believe that the time is right for the creation of a permanent mosque to serve the needs of Muslims who live and work in our community.”

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So far, the application has received 135 public comments – 72 in support and 59 objecting.

Traffic and parking concerns

The objections highlight concerns about traffic, parking and the fact that the building is a non-designated heritage asset.

Households across Harrogate have reported receiving anonymous leaflets through their doors encouraging them to oppose the plans with a guide on how to word the objection.

Supporters dispute the concerns. They say there is enough parking nearby, particularly as there is a multi-storey car park on Tower Street, and that it would be good to see the building brought back into use.

HIA was established in 2011 and has been looking for a permanent place to convert into a mosque for years. Other attempts to find a home have fallen through.

Around 100 worshippers currently meet in the Quakers’ Friends Meeting House on Queen Parade.

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Church leaders who have signed the statement are:

Harrogate firm Yorkshire Resin Coatings goes into liquidation

Harrogate firm Yorkshire Resin Coatings Ltd has ceased trading and gone into liquidation.

A resolution for winding-up the company was posted on the public record website The Gazette today.

The company specialised in resin-bound driveways and patios. Its trading address was Hartwill House, Hookstone Avenue.

Founded in 2005, its customers included Grantley Hall, a luxury hotel near Ripon. Former Harrogate Grammar School student Mark Kennedy was its managing director.

The company’s last accounts posted on Companies House, for the financial year ending July 27, 2020, said it had 12 employees.

The Gazette listing says Manchester insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor has been appointed liquidator.

The Stray Ferret contacted YRC’s public email address for a statement but we did not receive one at the time of publication.

Enquiries about the liquidation can be made to Jo Hudson at jo.hudson@btguk.com

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