Harrogate Spring Water is preparing to submit a new planning application to expand its bottling plant in the Pinewoods.

The company issued a statement today saying it will not appeal Harrogate Borough Council’s decision in January to refuse its expansion — but instead it will publish details of a new expansion plan “in the coming weeks”.

Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by the French multi-national Danone, had applied to expand its bottling plant from 0.77 hectares to 0.94 hectares, which would have meant destroying public woodland planted by local families in the area of Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.

To compensate, it offered to replant trees, create scrubland and build a pond on private land behind Harlow Carr Gardens.

The loss of trees at Rotary Wood provoked a major backlash and councillors on the planning committee voted overwhelmingly to reject it — against the wishes of council officers who had recommended approval.

Harrogate Spring Water was granted outline planning permission to expand to the west of its existing site in 2016, which meant the principle of development had been established but the details had not been agreed.

However, the company said today it was working on a completely new application and the 2016 application would be disregarded.

It has pledged to consult with the community before pursuing a formal planning application to the council.

James Cain, managing director of Harrogate Spring Water, said:

“We care passionately about acting in the best interests of Harrogate, its people and its natural environment. And that’s why we listen to the community.

“Our vision is to create a sustainable future for our business as one that supports high quality jobs, drives prosperity in the town and looks after nature.

“We’ve taken on board the feedback on our original expansion plans. Now we’ll continue to engage with the community – actively seeking views on a revised plan that responds to people’s concerns and ambitions.

“We’ll also be clear in explaining our rationale, and why we believe this move is important from an environmental and economic perspective.

“We’ll provide a further update in the coming weeks.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Spring Water’s Pinewoods expansion refused

• How Harrogate Borough Council benefits from Harrogate Spring Water plant

Rotary Wood fears remain

A spokesperson for the Pinewoods Conservation Group, a charity that aims to protect the Pinewoods, said it would review any new plans “carefully and continue to engage” with Danone.

They added:

“We are also pleased to see that the feedback provided by ourselves and other groups will be taken onboard.

“However, any plans that result in the loss of any part of Rotary Wood that is part of a designated asset of community value under the Localism Act will continue to be difficult for our members to support.

“A key challenging factor that is likely to remain will be the offer of suitable publicly accessible land as mitigation for any loss of public green space that was much lacking in previous proposals.”

Writing on Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones’ website Community News, Sam Gibbs, the Conservative councillor for Harrogate Valley Gardens, said:

“I am pleased that Harrogate Spring Water will not be appealing the decision to refuse a further extension. I hope that provides some reassurance to residents who were concerned about the loss of public access to the Rotary Woods.”

Harrogate’s Royal Hall is set to host its first major event since its closure last year — but some covid restrictions will remain in place.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, which takes place from August 8, will be limited to 55% of the venue’s 950 seat capacity.

A one-way system will also remain in place and those attending will be asked to wear a face mask.

Usually the festival attracts audiences from around the world as well as groups from universities across the UK but neither will be in attendance this year.

Nevertheless, the 11-day event will provide a major boost to the district’s economy, with thousands of people attending the comic operas, including The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and HMS Pinafore.

The festival began in Buxton, Derbyshire but moved to Harrogate in 2014. The 2020 festival was set to be the biggest ever before covid hit.

Read more:

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Festival organiser Janet Smith said:

“The Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is what everyone needs at the moment. It is uplifting entertainment that takes people’s minds off the last couple of years.

“It’s just pure enjoyment and ensures audiences have a jolly good laugh. Our loyal audiences have been so supportive, we couldn’t let them down.

“This is also important for our fantastic opera singers and musicians, who have been unable to perform and delivering Amazon boxes through lockdowns.”

Ms Smith added she was determined to continue the legacy of her late husband Ian Smith, who died in 2019 after re-establishing the Gilbert and Sullivan genre in 1994.

Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre, which manages the Royal Hall, said:

“It’s the first major entertainment event at our conference centre since we re-opened, so it’s a huge joy to see them return.

“We normally welcome aficionados and fans from around the world, alas this won’t be the case this year, but the show will go on! We look forward to giving visitors a warm welcome.”

Harrogate Conference Centre and The Royal Hall now has a packed programme of upcoming entertainment. Highlights include Billy Ocean, Jools Holland, and Jimmy Carr.

The Royal Hall reopened to the public for the first time since coronavirus on July 7 for an open day.

Interested in local events? Check out our new ‘What’s On’ page for all of the latest events in the Harrogate district.

The number of coronavirus patients at Harrogate District Hospital has tripled in the last week, a media briefing heard this morning.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum the hospital was treating nine patients compared with three seven days ago.

However, the number remains well below the 67 patients the hospital was treating at the height of the second wave in February.

Ms Bloor added the increase has been mirrored across the county:

“Unfortunately the number of patients does continue to rise. As of yesterday, there were 136 patients across our hospitals in North Yorkshire and York.

“This is up from a figure of 112 this time last week – and 16 of those 136 patients are in intensive care.

“If the number of patients with covid does continue to rise, it could have an impact on our hospitals’ ability to carry out planned procedures.

“We are not seeing that significantly at the moment but we do just need to keep an eye on those numbers.”

A breakdown of the figures shows there are nine patients in both Harrogate and Scarborough hospitals, 26 in York and 92 in South Tees.

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There has not been a covid-related death at the Harrogate hospital in more than three months.

This is due to high levels of vaccine uptake but Ms Bloor said there was still work to do to ensure more people are protected, particularly the younger population.

She said: “The vaccination programme is now open to all age cohorts and is particularly focusing on the younger cohorts.

“With the easing of restrictions from July 19, it is potentially understandable that younger people may feel there is now no advantage of getting vaccinated but we are seeing some younger people in hospital with covid who are actually quite poorly.

“I would continue to urge everyone to come forward for their vaccination – it is the best method of protection.”

Infection rates falling

It comes as Harrogate’s weekly infection rate continues to fall. The rate reached a record high of 534 cases per 100,000 people on July 18 and now stands at 348.

Health officials believe the drop in cases across the country could be down to schools closing for the summer holidays and people meeting up outdoors due to the recent sunny weather.

What they have said for certain though is that the number of people being admitted to hospital with covid needs to start falling as well to show that the virus is really in decline.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“The number of people in local hospitals with Covid over the last week has continued to increase, however, we do know that hospitalisation data does tend to lag a bit.

“If that starts to go down too, then we can start to be a bit happier that the decline in cases we are seeing at the moment is a real one.”

There was Olympic disappointment for Jack Laugher and his diving partner Daniel Goodfellow in Tokyo this morning as they finished out of the medals in seventh place.

Laugher, who was born and bred in the Ripon area, still has the opportunity of adding to the gold and silver medals he won in Rio when he competes in next week’s individual three-metre springboard event.

His mother Jackie, who watched with her husband, David, at their Littlethorpe home, told the Stray Ferret:

“From the start it didn’t look like it was going to be their day, but they are a relatively new team.

“I’m immensely proud of Jack, he’s a wonderful son, great sportsman and role model, but above all he’s a lovely person who will always call Littlethorpe his home.”

Jack Laugher (left) and Daniel Goodfellow making their opening dive

Family friend Helen Mackenzie, who was in Rio with Jackie to see Jack’s gold and silver medal performances in 2016, said:

“It is testimony to their determination and mental toughness that, following five below par dives, he and Daniel achieved their best score in the final one which, with a tariff of 3.9, is  the world’s most difficult dive.

“This bodes well for next week, when Jack takes part in the individual event.”

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Gemma Williams, who like Jackie and Helen is a member of Ripon City Netball Club, said:

“I love and feel pride by proxy, seeing Jack and Dan compete – not the result they would want, but still an amazing achievement.”

Leanne Jalland, chair of Harrogate District Diving Club, where Jack used to train, also spoke of its pride in the pair despite today’s outcome.

“It was a high standard competition but unfortunately it was not their day today. That’s diving as a sport for you, anything can happen and it all comes down to the dives on the day.

“That last dive showed a glimpse of what they are capable of and we are confident that both Jack and Dan have got the strength of character to come back stronger from this.”

The Harrogate district’s historical buildings, churches and graveyards will open to the public for free again in September as part of a national scheme to encourage people to explore history on their doorstep.

Heritage Open Days, which is billed as England’s largest festival of history and culture, will run from September 10 to 19.

Harrogate Civic Society and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which maintains Stonefall cemetery, are among those leading the initiative locally.

The civic society has arranged for numerous churches and other landmarks to open for free guided tours. The Gothic revival chapel at Rudding Park, built in 1874, will be included for the first time.

Another new feature this year will be walking tours around places such as Valley Drive and the civic centre. The civic society has organised these in case covid restrictions are in place.

Free guided tours of the Commonwealth War Graves at Stonefall cemetery will also be available.

The civic society will release the full Heritage Open Days programme in the weeks ahead.

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A controversial plan to build 217 homes on Kingsley Drive in Harrogate has been recommended for refusal.

Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee will make a decision on Tuesday next week. But council officers have recommended the scheme be rejected.

The council received 388 objections to the scheme and no responses in favour.

The current application, submitted by Persimmon Homes, has seen the number of properties planned on the site reduced from 244 to 217.

The Kingsley ward area will eventually see more than 600 homes built, including developments at Granby Farm and 149 homes on Kingsley Road.

However, residents have raised a number of concerns over Persimmon’s plan, including overdevelopment and traffic congestion.

Officer concerns

Council officers have recommended that councillors on the committee reject the application next week.

Although the site is allocated for housing under the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines development in the district until 2035, officers have concerns about overdevelopment and inadequate information on surface water drainage and noise.

Read more:

• New housing contributing to ‘nightmare’ traffic on Knaresborough Road
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Under the plans, a total of 86 homes would be allocated as affordable housing with the rest being market value homes.

It would see a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes built.

But an officer report due before councillors says:

“Although overall [the plan] would contribute towards maintaining housing supply within the district, the density of the development and its scale and layout would result in overdevelopment of the site.

“The quantum of dwellings, their resultant layout, extent of frontage parking, private drives and lack of adequate cycle parking along with inappropriate drainage arrangements, inadequate air quality and noise assessments and lack of a number of documents are such that the proposal is clearly contrary to the terms of the development plan.”

The council added that the planned number of homes for the site was 173. The current application, when combined with the nearby Stonebridge Homes development, would see a total of 313 houses built if it was approved.

In a planning statement submitted to the council last month, Persimmon Homes said it had sought to address the authority’s concerns and had completed a “comprehensive re-assessment of the scheme”.

It said of the reduction to 217 homes:

“These changes were necessary to accommodate the level of open space, landscaping and space between dwellings so as to create an effective and coherent urban realm.”

“Nightmare” development

One of the residents who objected to the development was John Hansard, of the Kingsley Ward Action Group.

In a letter to the borough council, Mr Hansard said the area would not be able to cope with another development.

He said:

“We now find ourselves faced with the nightmare of a possible fifth development of another 217 houses from Persimmon. 

“This, in an area which simply does not have the infrastructure, road network, amenities, schools to cope with at least another possible 1,000 extra residents and another possible 500 cars. We have had enough and wish this urban sprawl to stop.”

Another resident, Anthony Buck, told the council that the development would “take away our last remaining open space”.

Sarah Knapper, a resident of Kingsley Park, said:

“This area of Harrogate has already been grossly overdeveloped. 

“This has led to a huge increase traffic and pollution. It has led to a loss of habitat for wildlife and reduction in the quality of life for local residents. The local road infrastructure is already overwhelmed.”

Traffic congestion

Hundreds of residents raised concerns that traffic caused by the development would lead to problems.

They said that the Kingsley area does not have the infrastructure to cope with more cars and that another development would cause congestion issues on nearby Knaresborough Road.

A lorry collided with a car in the Kingsley area this year. There are also concerns about the volume of traffic.

In May, residents called for urgent road safety action after a lorry hit a car in the area.

In an email to the county council, residents said they had “repeatedly” said Kingsley Road was not suitable for construction traffic.

They also objected to a one-way system proposed by developers Persimmon, which would stop traffic entering Kingsley Drive or Wreaks Road from Kingsley Road.

Mr Hansard added in his letter of objection:

“The road network is not capable of supporting the extra number of vehicles likely to impinge on our daily life.”

Puss the cat, who escaped from the Great Yorkshire Show after sneaking into a Scottish farmer’s sheep trailer, was reunited with her tearful and relieved owners this morning.

Farmer David Mitchell and his wife Annette drove 200 miles from East Ayrshire to collect the intrepid moggy who they feared was lost forever.

Mr Mitchell arrived at the showground on Wednesday last week to show sheep. When he opened the trailer, Puss bolted and disappeared. He then had to return to Scotland to tend to his farm.

When news broke that the cat was missing, The Stray Ferret appealed for information to find Puss.

David’s wife Annette even came back to Harrogate last week to look for her but had no success.

Read more:

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• Cat from Scotland hitches a ride to Great Yorkshire Show and goes missing

Puss found refuge, and food, at a house in the Crimple Valley a few days ago. The cuddly and friendly feline was well looked after during her Harrogate sojourn,

The Mitchells drove south this morning to collect Puss, who was purring on the lap of Helen McCallum, a volunteer at Harrogate Cat Rescue.

When the couple arrived, there were tears and thanks to the people of Harrogate for looking after their treasured family pet.

Ms Mitchell said:

“It’s just amazing, so it is. It’s a great team of folk down here looking out for other people’s animals.”

A vegan restaurant chain with three sites in Manchester is set to open a fourth site in Harrogate.

Vertigo, which describes itself as a plant-based eatery, has started to fit out the former Stevie’s Bar unit under the Everyman Cinema on Station Parade.

It is unclear exactly when the restaurant will open but the company has said it will be “very soon”.

Although many restaurants have vegan options in Harrogate, it is believed this will be the only dedicated vegan restaurant in town.

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The new venue will have 55 seats and be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Other Vertigo restaurants serve burgers, bao buns, jackfruit and blackbeen chilli, sweet potato dhal, falafel bowls and more.

The Harrogate menu will also include coffee, cakes and natural wines.

A Harrogate children’s clothing shop may be forced to remove its iconic bears after they became the target of vandals.

Milk and Honey of Harrogate, on Cheltenham Parade, has displayed the bears outside for five years but in the last couple of months they have suffered a lot of damage.

Sarah Elizabeth Wood, the shop manager, takes in the smaller bears overnight and locks the largest bear with a chain locked but even this is not enough to deter troublemakers.

Following the latest attack, which happened just after 3am on Sunday morning, Mrs Wood is considering whether the bears should remain.

CCTV footage from the night showed three people, believed to be teenage boys, attack the bear with a stick before pulling it to the floor and jumping on it.

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Mrs Wood told the Stray Ferret:

“I do think the red carpet and the bears help us get customers because it makes us stand out.

“Everyone who walks past at least comments on the bears or takes a photo with them. So it would just be really sad if we have to take them away.

“I don’t think the bears can take anymore. One more weekend of them being ravaged like that and they will have to go.”

Mrs Wood has tried to repair the broken feet and ears of the bears but she fears that if they are damaged again they may become unstable and fall on people.

She put out a post on Facebook yesterday evening warning that the bears days may be numbered.

The post has had hundreds of reactions, with many people sharing stories of their time with the bears.