Harrogate and Knaresborough to get community grocery shops

Resurrected Bites is set to reopen its cafes for the first time in more than a year and launch what it calls community grocery shops.

The volunteer group, which specialises in turning food destined for the bin into nutritious meals, has delivered food to more than 15,000 people during coronavirus.

Michelle Hayes, the founder of Resurrected Bites, is proud of what her team has achieved but she feels that now is the right time to re-open its cafes.

While the group is well-known for turning food into meals, it is now preparing to launch its own shops at Harrogate’s New Park Primary Academy and at a yet-to-be-finalised location in central Knaresborough.

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The shops are intended to help anyone struggling to buy food. For between £3 and £5, people who sign up as members of the shop will be able to pick up a large amount of fresh and frozen food.

If the shops, which will be opening around September to October, go well then Ms Hayes has plans to open a third in the Fairfax area of Harrogate. She told the Stray Ferret:

“Community groceries are different from food banks because people pay a small amount rather than relying on vouchers.

“Anyone who needs it can pay a small amount for quite a lot of food. That small costs also gives people dignity.”

To get the projects off the ground, the group has started a fundraising campaign with a target of £2,000. Click or tap here to donate.

Resurrected Bites’ cafes are expected to return in the second week of September.

The cafe at Gracious Street in Knaresborough will be open on Tuesday and Friday from 10am to 2pm. The group has also moved the Wednesday cafe in Harrogate from St Mark’s Church to West Park United Reformed Church.

Boris Johnson welcomes first event back at Harrogate Convention Centre

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has welcomed news that the Harrogate Convention Centre has held its first events after being used as a Nightingale Hospital.

The Home and Gift Buyers’ Festival and the Manchester Furniture Show finished yesterday. Organisers said the four-day events attracted more than 10,000 visitors and had a projected economic impact of £750,000.

They were part of a government pilot scheme to gather evidence on the covid risks of holding large scale events safely.

All of those who attended had to provide proof of either having had two vaccinations at least a fortnight prior to the event or a negative lateral flow test within 48 hours.

They did not need to wear masks or observe social distancing rules, which were still in place across the UK for the first day of the event.

In a letter of support to Harrogate Convention Centre, Mr Johnson, said:

“The Harrogate Convention Centre is a great asset to the local economy, and I am so glad to hear that it is now back and ready to take part in the Events Research Programme pilot.

“The past year has been an immense challenge for the whole country and now, with the aid of events like this, we will all be one step closer to normality.”

Paula Lorimer, director at Harrogate Convention Centre, said:

“We’ve been waiting a long time to open venue doors and give people the opportunity to meet, network and do business.

“We were particularly delighted that it was the Home and Gift Show as our first major event, as it celebrates 60 years in Harrogate — it’s a real Harrogate success story.”

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Ms Lorimer added the convention centre has more than £15m of economic impact on its books between now and March.

Gemma Rio, head of destination management at Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“It was fantastic to see the buzz at Harrogate Convention Centre and across the town over the past few days.

“These two events, along with other recent events such as the Great Yorkshire Show are significant first steps in the event industries recovery.”

Combine harvester catches fire in Harrogate

A build up of dust is believed to have been responsible for a combine harvester fire in Harrogate last night.

Firefighters from Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge were summoned to Kingsley Road to deal with the blaze at 7.30pm last night.

Wearing breathing apparatus and using thermal imaging cameras, they used doused the flames using mechanical foam.

Fortunately, the combine was slightly away from the standing crop.

In a separate incident at 2.20am this morning, firefighters from Ripon responded to reports of wheelie bins on fire outside a house on Priest Lane.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident summary said:

“The crews found the bins had been extinguished by a resident prior to their arrival and used the residents garden hose to dampen to the area.

“The cause is believed to have been accidental.”

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Harrogate channel swimmers reach the finish line

A group of intrepid swimmers have just returned home after completing the channel swim in heatwave temperatures on Tuesday.

The team of four, three from the Harrogate district, swam 30 miles in their relay swim yesterday completing it in just over 14 hours.

After swimming together for eight years, friends Andrea Stark and Jacqui Hargrave decided to do the relay for charity. They then convinced Jonty Warneken and Richard Powell to join.

This was the team’s fourth attempt to complete the challenge after cancelling previously due to covid and bad weather.

Jacqui Hargrave said the feeling was “incredible” when her feet finally touched the pebbly beach off the French coast. Due to the pandemic, the final swimmer, Ms Hargrave, could only stand on the beach for 10 minutes before returning to the boat.

Along the way the group would write inspirational messages or warnings on a whiteboard so the one swimming their hour-long lap was kept in the loop.

Channel swimmers

Jacqui keeping Andrea motivated through the swim, even after a jellyfish encounter!

They encountered jellyfish, large cargo ships and clogs of seaweed but kept spirits high by singing their way through.

Ms Hargrave said:

“It was amazing, the water was just incredible, We never thought we’d do it during a heatwave so the waters were over 30 degrees. We’re all a little sun burnt.

“It’s very different to any of the practice we’ve done, there’s so much you just can’t prepare for. But still it was magical.”

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Setting off at 6.20am from Dover yesterday. Changing tides and avoiding shipping lanes meant their swim was an additional 9 miles. They swam 30.5 miles in 14 hours and 58 seconds.

Each swimmer has chosen a different charity to fundraise for; Jacqui Hargrave is donating to Saint Michael’s Hospice, Andrea Stark is donating to the Samaritans, Richard Powell has chosen Combat Stress as his charity and Jonty Warneken is donating to Open Country.

The foursome have managed to raise £5,469.15 together so far. To donate, click the links above.

Harrogate council asking residents to donate saplings to plant around district

Harrogate Borough Council is asking residents to donate oak or sycamore saplings that might be in their gardens.

Once the trees are big enough, the council will plant them across the Harrogate district to enhance woodland areas.

It has asked residents to bring the saplings to the council’s nursery on Harlow Hill between 10am and 3pm from Monday to Friday.

The council tweeted:

“We need your help! If you have any oak or sycamore trees in your garden, we’d love it if you could dig up any saplings you might have, making sure they have a good root system and are placed in in a plant pot or wet newspaper.”

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HBC is involved in the White Rose Forest, which is one of 10 community forests being created in England. It will span North and West Yorkshire.

The forest will consist of pockets of woodland rather than huge expanses and is part of the government’s commitment to increase UK tree planting to 30,000 hectares a year by 2025.

An HBC report in September 2020 identified 17.2 acres of council-owned land that could potentially be used to plant trees for the White Rose Forest.

What will happen to the James Street planters?

The James Street planters were both loved and loathed and came to symbolise the debate that surrounded not just covid but the high street economy, parking and pedestrianisation.

But now that they’ve gone, what will happen to them?

The planters were installed by North Yorkshire County Council to encourage social distancing at the start of the pandemic and were loaned by Harrogate Borough Council which owns them.

It seems there would be no shortage of takers for the newsworthy wooden boxes. Similar models sell online for between £50 and £100 and don’t even include colourful flora from the council’s award-winning parks team.

Cold Bath Road restaurant William and Victoria sent a tweet to HBC yesterday saying they would “love some for our outside area if going spare.”

Andrew Hart, who owns the post offices in Starbeck and Bilton, told the Stray Ferret he wants some too to “boost morale and community respect”. He’d like to put one outside the burnt-out McColl’s supermarket on Starbeck High Street.

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HBC bought the planters after receiving £144,411 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to boost high streets during the covid pandemic. It was was one of the final benefits of the UK’s membership of the European Union.

But EU bureaucracy could scupper a happy ending for the planters, which are currently withering in the heat at the council’s nursery on Harlow Hill.

The council sent an email to Harrogate BID members saying that due to “limited space and resources” they are having difficulties watering them.

They’ve now asked businesses interested in putting the planters outside their property if they are interested in taking them. The council warned that time is of the essence to “protect the longevity” of the plants.

However, as a condition of using the EU money, the planters cannot be placed on privately-owned land and must be branded with the ERDF and HMG logos before being returned to HBC by March 2022.

Harrogate town centre mural starts to take shape

Work has begun on a new mural in the centre of Harrogate. The huge artwork on the alley between James Street and Market Place has been funded by Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID).

The length of the alley will replicate the gateway to the Dales. In preparation for being painted, the wall has been completely repointed. It’s expected the mural will be completed by early August. So far it’s still in the early stages, with just the base coat on the wall – but soon lots more will be added to it.

The painting is the work of Harrogate artist Sam Porter from Mural Minded. Last month, Sam created a ‘joyous’ wall mural on the side of a house in Cheapside, Knaresborough – featuring swallows and butterflies.

BID Manager Matthew Chapman said:

“The artwork is going to improve an area of Harrogate that’s been needing a bit of attention. We’ve been working with a local artist to improve the area through a vision of the gateway to the Dales.”

It’s not the only giant artwork set to give a Harrogate street a makeover. Last month Harrogate residents and businesses were asked to submit ideas to help give Cambridge Place a colourful makeover. 

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Plans to convert former Harrogate post office into apartments withdrawn

Ambitious plans to transform Harrogate’s former post office into 25 apartments plus offices have been withdrawn.

The proposal, which was submitted by property developer One Acre Group, would have seen the disused post office on Cambridge Road converted and extended.

The post office controversially relocated to WH Smith in 2019 amid claims by Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones the service was being “downgraded”.

In October, developers lodged plans that would have seen the building, which was still owned by Post Office Ltd, converted to include one-bedroom and studio apartments as well as commercial space.

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However, the application has now been withdrawn.

The Stray Ferret approached ELG Planning, the agent working on behalf of One Acre Group, to ask why the plans were withdrawn but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Harrogate Civic Society said in October it welcomed the principle of redeveloping the site.

However, it added:

“We are, however, concerned about the impact of an additional floor to this building in the conservation area, as the proposal does not address the whole of the building as originally designed.

“The appearance of the new floor results in a design solution which is not fully considered or refined and therefore does not enhance the existing roofscape in its present form.”

Harrogate woman appeals ‘unfair’ disc zone parking fine

A Harrogate woman has sent an appeal to Harrogate Borough Council after a parking warden fined her for parking in a disc zone area.

Laura Vance took her son to King James’s School in Knaresborough for an induction session yesterday morning.

She had left her disc, which entitled her to park for free for two hours, in another car so wrote a note.

The note, which she left on her dashboard, stated that Laura had parked at 9am.

She headed to a shop to pick up another disc after dropping off her son but when she returned to her vehicle 40 minutes later she found she had received a penalty notice, which gave her 14 days to pay a reduced fine of £25 or £50 if she leaves it for up to 28 days.

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Ms Vance, who is waiting for a reply from the council, told the Stray Ferret:

“I thought that because I left a note that would be enough for the parking warden. I do think it is quite unfair.

“What is the difference between my note and the disc? Both just say what time it was when you parked up.

“It is just a bit rubbish. It’s not going to put me off going to Knaresborough because I love it there but I can see how it might put some people off.”

Disc parking is common in the Harrogate district. The discs are free and entitle users to park for free for a period of time stated on the street.

The Stray Ferret contacted Harrogate Borough Council for a response. A council spokeswoman said:

“If a customer believes that have received a penalty charge notice in error then they should follow the appeal process provided.”

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning it’s Connor with you this morning giving you updates every 15 minutes on the road and rail links near you.

The blog, brought to you by the HACS group, will show you where the traffic hotspots and temporary traffic lights are and tell you of any train and bus delays.

9am – Full Update

That is all from me this morning. I will be back with your traffic and travel updates from 6.30am tomorrow.

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon centres this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building here:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.45am – Full Update

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon centres this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building here:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon centres this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building here:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.15am – Full Update

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon centres this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building here:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8am – Full Update

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon centres this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building here:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.45am – Full Update

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon centres this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building here:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

7.30am – Full Update

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon centres this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building here:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.15am – Full Update

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7am – Full Update

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning but make sure to keep checking in for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses