LibDems, Labour and Greens in Harrogate district consider collaboration

Informal discussions could take place between the local Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green parties about working together.

The move follows Conservative Matt Scott’s victory in last week’s Bilton and Nidd Gorge by-election.

Arnold Warneken, who represented Harrogate and District Green Party, told the Stray Ferret he had approached the Liberal Democrats and Labour about setting up a meeting.

Mr Warneken said co-operation “made sense” and he hoped some form of progressive alliance would emerge.

Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council, said collaboration with other parties was “a discussion that needs to be had” and she was open-minded on the subject.

Cllr Marsh described the loss of the seat on North Yorkshire County Council formally held by the Liberal Democrat Geoff Webber as “a huge shock and disappointment”.

Asked why she felt voters had turned against the Liberal Democrats, she said:

“I have no idea. With all the sleaze and cronyism taking place and I am at a total loss to understand why anyone still votes for the Conservatives.”

Asked if she would consider her position as leader following the by-election defeat, she said she had been re-elected two weeks ago and intended to carry on.

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Margaret Smith, chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour Party, said it was not averse to discussions but its ability to enter into any formal arrangement with other parties would be determined by the national Labour Party. She said:

“It’s about building a progressive alternative and when we agree on issues we would like to work with anyone, irrespective of party membership or support.

“It is a matter of building coalitions, issue by issue, where we agree.”

The Stray Ferret asked Cllr Scott, who won 43 per cent of the vote in Bilton and Nidd Gorge, why he felt voters had switched to the Conservatives and what was top of his agenda but he declined to answer.

 

 

Harrogate Christmas Market organisers ‘confident’ of November date

Organisers of the Harrogate Christmas Market have said they are confident this year’s event in November will go ahead.

They have confirmed their plans to hold the market on the Montpellier Hill area from Thursday, November 18 to Sunday, November 21.

Many large public events this year have been cancelled due to ongoing covid uncertainty, especially over insurance but the Christmas market organisers said they expected to have adequate cover.

A one-way system to control the flow of people will be put in place.

However, the organisers said it wasn’t possible to control the number of visitors in an area as big as the Stray but this should not be a barrier with all social distancing rules set to go on June 21.

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Officials pulled the plug in August on last year’s Christmas market amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus.

It was the first time that the four-day event, which has been running annually since 2012, did not go ahead.

Brian Dunsby, who runs the Christmas market, told the Stray Ferret:

“We feel quite confident. We do not know what the government requirements will be but we will observe them.

“There’s already big demand. We have 140 traders booked in and 15 coach loads already.”

New chief executive for Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce

A Harrogate PR director has been named as the new chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce.

David Simister, who founded Different PR in 2006, will take over the role from outgoing chief executive Sandra Doherty.

Ms Doherty, who took on the role in May 2016, is set to move to Northumberland and retire after selling her Alexa guest house on Ripon Road.

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Mr Simister, who is a former journalist and Harrogate borough councillor, said he was honoured to be taking on the role, adding:

“This organisation is one that represents not only the businesses of Harrogate, but those of the wider district. Its job is to give them a strong voice and one that will be heard, loudly and clearly, where it matters.

“Harrogate is home to a thriving and diverse business community, and I’m proud to say it’s where my business has been located for the last 15 years.

“My initial task is to plan the next 12 months, securing keynote speakers for our meetings who will share their experiences, on a wide range of issues, that will be of interest, and benefit, to members.

“I won’t deny that covid has not had an impact on the chamber, and another crucial task is to grow our membership. With the lifting of restrictions next month, we can once again meet in person, and it is the networking opportunities we offer that appeal to so many businesses.”

Martin Gerrard, president of the chamber of commerce, said:

“For the last 12 months, David has been our PR coordinator, and in that time he has grasped a thorough understanding of the chamber.

“When Sandra announced her imminent retirement, I asked David if he would consider taking on the role. He is incredibly passionate about Harrogate, his business is based here, he’s very well connected and knows the political landscape well.

“I’m delighted he agreed, and look forward to working with him as Harrogate district chamber begins another chapter in its long history.”

Mr Gerrard paid tribute to Ms Doherty, describing her as “a fantastic ambassador for the organisation”. He added:

“We wish her well in her retirement as she makes a new life for herself in Northumberland.”

Harrogate dad shares last messages with son who killed himself

A Harrogate dad has shared the last messages he exchanged with his son shortly before he took his life to mark the start of Mental Health Awareness Week.

Steve Phillip founded The Jordan Legacy in his son’s name to improve people’s wellbeing and support available to them.

Jordan was 34 when he took his life on December 4 2019. The day before, Steve and Jordan had been texting each other and talking about meeting up.

But the meeting never happened. Mr Phillip has spoken previously to the Stray Ferret of his anguish.

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Now transcripts of his final message has been made available to encourage others to come forward.

Mr Phillip has also revealed details of the call he received from his son’s girlfriend Charlotte revealing the news.

She broke into the house with the help of a neighbour and found Jordan:

Jordan Phillip

Jordan Phillip.

The call lasted two minutes but Steve does not know what he or Charlotte said for the remaining one minute and 45 seconds. He said:

“Jordan was the kind of person who would stop and chat to homeless people and to local strangers.

“He loved his family and his friends so much that he would often protect them from the ultimate depths of his despair.

“But he was always there for them, no matter how difficult his day was. There was nothing selfish about Jordan, not even at the moment he chose to end his pain.

“He took the time to write notes to his girlfriend Charlotte and his family to let us know that he loved us.

“If I could give any advice to anyone it would be look after those around you, listen to them more, be there, don’t be scared to question the signs you see and ask the difficult questions.”

Mental Health Awareness Week starts today and finishes on Sunday.

The Mental Health Foundation started the event 21 years ago and the annual event has grown to become one of the biggest awareness raising weeks in the UK and globally.

To mark the start of the week, North Yorkshire Police has also revealed how the number of mental health calls it has taken over the last year has grown to 32,117.

That is an increase of 6,512 calls compared to the previous April to March period.

Do you need help or know someone who does? Get help from a mental health charity helpline by tapping here.

No open top bus celebration for Harrogate’s Wembley heroes

Harrogate Town have decided not to hold an open top bus parade to celebrate the club’s FA Trophy success.

Discussions had been taking place about a parade after Town beat Concord Rangers 1-0 last week to take home the silverware at Wembley.

Despite support from the bus company Transdev, the club said today released a statement saying it would not happen. It said:

“Due to lockdowns in 2020 the players only had a two week break before embarking on pre-season training in preparation for our first English Football League campaign.

“In effect they have played back-to-back seasons. After the match against Cheltenham they will be going their various ways for well-earned planned family breaks.

“Despite our socially distanced and covid-compliant parade after the promotion final last August, the club came under unwarranted criticism from some elements of the media.

“We are guarded against similar criticism as we all emerge from the latest lockdown.”

The club added “we sincerely hope our loyal supporters understand and appreciate our decision not to hold a parade”.

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Body found in search for ex-Harrogate Town player

A body has been found in the search for former Harrogate Town player James Dean, 35.

Mr Dean, who was with the club in 2008-09, was last seen in Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire at about midnight on Wednesday.

Lancashire Police issued a statement last night saying a body was found in the Moscow Mill Street area of Oswaldtwistle at about 2.25pm yesterday. It added:

“While the body has yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be Mr Dean. His family have been informed and our thoughts are with them at this time.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a post-mortem examination will take place in due course.”

Centre forward Mr Dean, who was born in Blackburn, signed for almost 20 clubs, including Bury and FC Halifax Town, as well as Harrogate, in a career lasting more than 15 years.

Harrogate Town said in a statement:

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of former Town player James Dean at this incredibly sad time.”

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Harrogate companies face recruitment ‘nightmare’

A Harrogate recruitment agency has said it is struggling to fill positions with new workers following the recent ease in covid restrictions.

Travail Employment Group in Harrogate said it has plenty of jobs available but is unable to find the people to fill them.

It has seen a change in employment trends post-pandemic, going from some of the busiest months ever for recruitment to having more vacancies than they can fill.

Lisa Headford, branch manager at Harrogate Travail Employment Group, said:

“We’ve found that now we could grow further if we had more candidates. We have a lot of vacancies we are struggling to fill.

“I think the pandemic has definitely shaken things up for recruitment. We have plenty of jobs available so no one should be out of work.

“There are lots of reasons why, but everyone is struggling to recruit.”

Two Harrogate companies have also said they have experienced similar difficulties in finding new staff.

The companies have both advertised for a number of jobs but only received a small number of applicants.

Cleaning company It’s Clean received a huge increase in applicants during lockdown, with many people on furlough eager to pick up hours elsewhere.

Recruitment manager Louise Brear said now she was struggling to fill positions:

“Over the last couple of weeks I’ve advertised lots of jobs and had nothing. I’m not sure if it’s because people came to us from hospitality over lockdown and are now heading back.

“We had so many applicants during furlough and now it’s completely stopped. We have more customers now too so we need more cleaners.”

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It was a similar story for The Wild Plum in Harrogate, which has been looking for a new supervisor and chef for around a month.

The chef role has now been filled and interviews organised for the supervisor position, but the cafe’s general manager Rachel Atkinson said it had been a “struggle”.

She said:

“We did struggle, it was a bit of a nightmare actually. I know of other people who also struggled to fill jobs. We have someone coming in to be interviewed so hopefully it is successful.”

Ms Atkinson thought the reason for their difficulties may have been due to people changing careers during lockdown.

Both businesses were hopeful they would find recruits, but said they had not experienced issues like this before.

Live: Harrogate traffic and travel

Good morning and happy Monday! I am back this morning with updates every 15 minutes and a list of all the temporary traffic lights that could delay you today.

It’s Leah here today. If you see anything, and it is safe to do so, please give me a call on 01423 276197 or get in touch on social media.

These blogs, brought to you by The HACS Group, are keeping you updated as the district’s roads get busier.

9am – Full Update 

That’s it from me today! Connor will be back with you tomorrow from 6:30am with updates every 15 minutes.

Roads

The roads are starting to get busier this morning.

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8.45am – Full Update 

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The roads are starting to get busier this morning.

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8.30am – Full Update 

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The roads are starting to get busier this morning.

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8.15am – Full Update 

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The roads are starting to get busier this morning.

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8am – Full Update 

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The roads are starting to get busier this morning, no traffic hotspots to report.

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7.45am – Full Update 

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The roads are starting to get busier this morning, no traffic hotspots to report.

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7.30am – Full Update 

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The roads are starting to get busier this morning, no traffic hotspots to report.

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7.15am – Full Update 

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The roads are looking ok so far this morning, no traffic hotspots to report.

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7am – Full Update 

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The roads are looking ok so far this morning, no traffic hotspots to report.

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6.45am – Full Update 

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The roads are looking ok so far this morning, no traffic hotspots to report.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

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6.30am – Full Update 

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The roads are looking ok so far this morning, no traffic hotspots to report.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

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Stray Views: recycling rules make recycling difficult

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.

Malcolm’s history walks are a real treat

How fortunate we are to have local historian, Malcolm Neesam, who is so interested in the history of Harrogate that we can all enjoy two virtual walks with his knowledge of the town.

The walks are beautifully set up on the best website I have seen with maps, photos and information clearly displayed. A real treat!

Thank you, Malcolm!

Audrey Culling, Nidderdale 

Recycling rules don’t make recycling easy

I queued to get into a recycling depot with a fridge in a trailer. No trailers were allowed but I managed to get rid of it anyway.
Maybe I just fell foul of a rule that has been in place for a while, but I wonder how North Yorkshire County Council expects people to get rid of bulky items, which either won’t fit n a small car or are too dirty. Garden clippings, for example, which are too numerous for the fortnightly garden waste collection or too wet and leafy to decently burn yet will go into the large recycling skips.
Trivial but infuriating.
Pete Dennis, Harrogate

We are lucky to have birdsong – do your bit to keep it going

Many of us living in or around towns such as Harrogate and Wetherby and surrounding villages may not realise just how lucky we are to still have nesting and breeding swallows, house martins and swifts.
Unfortunately, they are all suffering declining numbers. These birds are nest site faithful, returning year after year. Swifts actually live in colonies that will have taken years to build.
This all means that if their nests or nest holes and crevices are knocked down or blocked up, it can be the end for them as there is often nowhere else to go.
So this is a plea to everyone to help look after these birds: keep the sounds of summer going by helping to keep Yorkshire skies full of the happy chittering and screams of these birds: help by keeping their old nests and put up more swallow/house martin nest cups and swift boxes if you possibly can.
Friedy Luther, Spofforth

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Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Green Shoots: Harrogate’s most environmentally-friendly house?

Green Shoots is a new monthly feature that explores the people and places that are doing their bit to improve the environment in the Harrogate district. Would you like to be involved? Get in touch: thomas@thestrayferret.co.uk

Tucked away on Bogs Lane in Harrogate is a home so good for the environment that it’s not just fit for the 21st century, but for the next one too.

Tim and Marilyn Larner bought a drafty 250-year old farmhouse on the site in 2016. After demolishing some barns that stood behind it, they built two homes in 2017 and moved into one of them at the end of the following year.

The couple proudly displays a Passivhaus plaque by their front door, which is a hallmark of its environmental credentials. The five-bedroom property is one of only two houses in Harrogate built to the strict standards.

Developed in Germany in the 1990s, Passivhaus is seen as a game-changer for low-carbon housing. It’s an innovative design code that prioritises insulation so that a home doesn’t need any heating or cooling at all, resulting in minimal energy bills. 

The Larners’ home has other eco benefits including solar panels on the roof to generate electricity and air source heat pump that brings in heat from outside and pumps it indoors.

Mr Larner said:

“It’s a delight and a great joy to live here.”

Subtle benefits

The front of the house has smaller windows as it is north facing.

Mr Larner estimates the house cost around 10% more to build than traditional methods — but the upside is electricity and heating bills are just £20 a year due to super air-tight insulation and renewable energy.

The whole house is wrapped in 300mm of rock wool all as well as air-tight membrane and there is 200mm of solid insulation on the roof.

Walking around the home, which is largely open-plan, the environmental benefits are subtle. Ventilation comes in through ducts in the ceiling and the large south-facing windows greedily maximise the amount of warmth offered by the sun.

The timber frame of the building was assembled like flat-pack furniture in just three days, bypassing the polluting and carbon-intensive building process entirely. Mr Larner said this ensures the quality and precision needed to make their home super air-tight.

The open-plan living space.

He added:

“We wanted to do the right thing environmentally. That was our main motivation for doing it.”

“It’s incredibly comfortable, really quiet and probably a lot healthier place to live. It’s a very controlled environment. You are never sitting in a draft. It’s lovely.”

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Housing targets

The upper level of the home lets lots of light in.

The property contrasts sharply with the glut of new build developments that surround it on the Kingsley Road and Bogs Lane area of Harrogate.

Mrs Larner said the building industry “has a massive vested interest” in building homes quickly and they don’t always consider the impact of housing on the environment.

She added:

“The government says they need more houses but they often choose volume over quality. They are throwing up houses around here.”

Mr Larner said the government needs to bring in legislation to ensure that more homes are built with the environment in mind:

“Builders should be out there doing this, but I fear regulation needs to make that happen. You can’t leave it to the market to deliver a house like this.”

“But It can be done. If you’re saving £1000 a year in energy costs and you hgave a better quality of life, what’s not to like about that? It’s a pity we have the financial availabilty to do this whereas others do not”.

Lifelong ambition

Mr Larner said rather than worrying about climate change, he and Marilyn wanted to take action. They see building their home as doing their bit.

“I don’t worry about climate change, it’s more important to act and be positive and hopeful. I don’t take any pleasure in what I’ve handed onto my grandchildren. They will hopefully be alive in 2100, what’s the world going to be like when they’re at that age?”

Building a home has been a lifelong ambition too. Many years ago, Mrs Larner had an uncle who built his own property. It left a lasting impression on the couple.

She said:

“It was amazing. 40 years ago I took Tim as my brand new husband, and he was just like — wow!”.

Mr Larner said they could never go back to how they used to live.

“We designed this house with the rest of our lives in mind.

“It’s fit for the future. I’m hoping someone will be happy to live in it in 100 years time.”