Travellers set up camp at Harrogate’s Ashville College – and demand £5,000 to leave

Travellers have set up an illegal camp on the sports field at Harrogate’s Ashville College — and demanded £5,000 to leave immediately.

The school has said their presence raises safeguarding concerns that could delay the return to school on September 8.

Cars and caravans drove onto the rugby pitches behind the fee-paying school’s Mallinson boarding house on Yew Tree Lane last night.

According to a college spokesman, they told school staff they were on their way to a wedding in Ireland after attending the annual Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria.

However, the travellers said if the school paid them £5,000 they were prepared to leave immediately without causing any damage.

But if no money was forthcoming, they said they would increase the length of their stay and implied they would invite other members of the travelling community to join them, the spokesman added.

This week, the college is staging a series of summer sports activities for boys and girls. These have now had to be brought indoors as the college is concerned about the safety of the children.

Despite the camp’s presence being a safeguarding issue, the college is worried that the only route it can now take to remove the travellers is to apply for a court order, which could take up to 10 days, and interrupt the start of term.

The spokesman said:

“Despite the travellers illegally camping on our grounds, which is private property, and their presence being a child safeguarding issue, the police state they are powerless to take action.

“This has already impacted on our summer sports camps and there’s a possibility the start of the new term may have to be delayed.

“We are now having to engage the services of a solicitor to help us apply for a court order, and in the meantime we are powerless to do anything, which is incredibly frustrating and worrying.”

Harrogate hospital reports second coronavirus death in a week

Harrogate District Hospital has reported a second coronavirus death in a week — after going more than four months without any covid fatalities.

One patient died on Wednesday last week and the hospital reported today that another person had succumbed to the virus.

It takes the total number of coronavirus deaths at the hospital to 181.

Since lockdown restrictions were fully lifted in July, daily coronavirus cases have remained at about the 70 mark. Today’s figure is 82 and brings the total number of cases to 12,908.

The seven-day infection rate for the Harrogate district has increased to 315 people per 100,000. That is just above the North Yorkshire average of 311 and just below the England average of 330.

It was reported today that the number of patients at Harrogate District Hospital being treated for covid had risen to 10.

Elsewhere, 123,979 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 111,861 have had a second dose.

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‘Moving breakdown truck drops car into fence’ in Harrogate

An eyewitness has described the moment a moving breakdown truck dropped a car, which then rolled into a fence in Harrogate near where children play.

The incident happened at about 9.20pm last night on Roberts Crescent.

A police cordon remains in place today on the street, which is just off Skipton Road, and there is also a broken fence.

The eyewitness, who asked not to be named, told the Stray Ferret:

“I walked past the field last night when a white tow truck was offloading a car as it was still driving off.

“As a result the car smashed through the fence of the field, causing a really loud noise. It’s a blessing it wasn’t an hour before because I saw kids playing there.

“The police soon turned up and taped off the smashed fence. I’m not sure of the outcome but there were lots of people out when officers investigated with torches.”

We approached North Yorkshire Police to confirm the account but received no reply by the time of publication.

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The police cordon on Roberts Crescent.

Bid to bring Harrogate district empty homes back into use

A senior Harrogate councillor has agreed to offer taxpayers’ cash to buy three empty homes and bring them back into use.

Councillor Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at Harrogate Borough Council, signed off a decision at a meeting yesterday to make offers for the homes on Greenfields Drive and Electric Avenue in Harrogate, and Beech Lane in Spofforth.

If agreed by the owners, the council will appoint an independent valuer to provide a market valuation of the properties before selling them on the open market.

But if the offers are ignored or refused, enforcement action will be taken through compulsory purchase orders.

Councillor Chambers said:

“Empty properties are a blight for communities and the council will use all available power to bring them back into use, including assistance and enforcement action when necessary.

“Enforcement is the last choice and we have a range of options available to homeowners to assist them in returning their property to use.

“This includes the Empty Homes Loan made available last month. Owners with a property that has been empty for six months or longer can apply for a loan to undertake essential works on a property to return it to use.”

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811 empty properties in Harrogate district

There are currently 811 properties across the district that have been empty for more than six months – a figure which has risen from 774 in May.

Of the latest figure, 215 have been empty and unfurnished for over two years, while 31 have been empty for over ten years.

The council has previously admitted there is a “desperate” lack of affordable homes in the district and said it was working hard to bring empty properties back into use.

It has also set aside around £2.5m to purchase these properties from their owners.

There are numerous reasons properties can lie empty. In some instances, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent out.

Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them, while others can also fall below safety standards which means they sit vacant until the problems are fixed.

As well as carrying out compulsory purchase orders, councils also have powers to charge an additional 100% council tax on properties that have been empty for two years.

Empty dwelling management orders can also be issued for long term empty properties that are attracting vandalism and causing a nuisance to the community.

Weeds blitz in Harrogate town centre

A cleaning crew has been tacking weeds on some of Harrogate busiest shopping streets to improve the town’s appearance.

Contractors have been pulling up weeds and using herbicides for three consecutive nights on streets including Victoria Avenue, Cambridge Street, Albert Street, Crescent Road and Oxford Street.

They are acting on behalf of Harrogate Business Improvement District, which has a remit to enhance the town centre appearance.

Over the last 18 months it has also power washed pavements and street furniture, increased floral displays and brightened empty shop windows.

Matthew Chapman, manager of Harrogate BID, said town centre weeds had been a “major talking point”, adding:

“The team worked for a number of nights pulling weeds by hand, using garden tools as well as spraying them with an environmentally-safe herbicide.

“With autumn and winter just around the corner, we hope this work will mean they are kept at bay until the spring.

“For our levy payers, it’s imperative that Harrogate looks at its best at all times, and that’s what we are working hard to achieve.”

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Lib Dems ‘angry about loss of Harrogate funfair and Christmas market’

The leader of the Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council has expressed anger at the loss of the Harrogate Christmas Market and the annual funfair on the Stray.

In a statement sent to the Stray Ferret, Cllr Pat Marsh asked why the council couldn’t have been more supportive of the events and pro-active in making them happen.

She also said there was a danger of the Harrogate district acquiring a “reputation of not welcoming and not being supportive of special events”.

She said:

“The Lib Dems on Harrogate Borough Council are very angry at the way that annual events are being cancelled.

“First it was the local Christmas market. That meant local artisans won’t be able to sell their products to residents.

“Now we have the annual funfair being cancelled. That is something thousands of young people have enjoyed over many, many years.

“Why has this been allowed to happen? Why couldn’t the council be more supportive?”

Cllr Marsh also said the decision to prevent the events from going ahead was not one made by all councillors. She was not allowed to attend talks between council officers and the former Christmas market organisers. She said:

“We need to ensure that all councillors are kept informed and have a chance to have an input, we are all elected by the residents to act on their behalf.”

We sent Cllr Marsh’s statement to Harrogate Borough Council for a response but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

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What happened to the annual Harrogate funfair?

The family that stages the funfair told the Stray Ferret the event would not go ahead because Harrogate Borough Council hiked the charge for using Stray land.

Ruby Wilson, who has taken over organising the fair on behalf of her dad John Jameson, said the council had doubled the price from £5,000 to £10,000.

With additional costs on top, including VAT and a £2,000 deposit in case the Stray is damaged, Ms Wilson said the event was no longer viable. The council disputes the claims.

What happened to Harrogate Christmas Market?

Harrogate Borough Council refused a licence for the Harrogate Christmas Market due to concerns about coronavirus, overcrowding and terrorism.

After three weeks of wrangling with the council, co-organiser Brian Dunsby admitted defeat in his battle to hold the event on Montpellier Hill.

It later emerged the council had been engaged in talks with Manchester-based organisers Market Place Europe in March and has now ramped up those discussions about staging an alternative Christmas market in December.

Is Brexit to blame for Harrogate’s hospitality jobs crisis?

Some people believe the equation is simple – the 2016 referendum led to Polish bartenders or Spanish housekeepers deciding to leave Harrogate and return to their home countries. But is it that simple?

The statistics appear to back up the theory.

According to latest ONS figures, the number of non-British residents living in the Harrogate district has halved from its peak of 14,000 in December 2014 to 7,000 in December 2019 — and the covid pandemic has undoubtedly hastened a further exodus since then.

Dan Siddle is the general manager of the Crown Hotel in Harrogate which has been employing chefs, housekeepers and waiters since the 19th century.

The hotel has a workforce of 50 and Mr Siddle said recruiting currently is “the hardest I’ve ever known it” due to a perfect storm of factors, including Brexit and covid.

He told the Stray Ferret the hotel lost several members of staff from the EU that have been difficult to replace.

“Those eastern Europeans had been here a long while. They were my supervisors but they chose not to come back to the UK. That’s three or four important roles. “

However, he thinks “we don’t have to rely on people from Europe” and can employ people locally if they offer an attractive package.

The hotel has raised the hourly wage for housekeeping staff to £10 an hour, has begun to offer roles that come with accommodation and is paying transport costs from Leeds.

He says hospitality is “a fantastic, great industry to work in” but the perception of tough working conditions needs to improve to attract UK workers.

“[The jobs crisis] has given the industry a kick up the behind. We need to change the way we work. The perception didn’t come out of nothing.”

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Lisa Headford is the branch manager of Travail Employment Group, an employment agency based on Princes Street that recruits front-of-house and catering positions across the district.

She told the Stray Ferret that the office is busier than ever and they are having to turn hospitality businesses away because they simply don’t have enough employees on their books to fill roles.

“Everyone is looking for staff. We get calls every day. We have learned to say, ‘we cant help you, we’ve exhausted our resources’.”

However, Ms Headford believes it’s overly simplistic to blame Brexit on the recruitment crisis in hospitality.

She said:

“It’s not definitive. We’ve had a number of people come back to Harrogate from Poland as during the lockdown they didn’t have a permanent job, and they wouldn’t have got furlough. They are now gravitating back.

She said the lockdowns have forced many people who worked in hospitality into jobs with more sociable hours — and they’ve liked the change.

“We had a lot of casual chefs but they’ve become a delivery driver and they haven’t gravitated back.”

Ms Headford said that despite Brexit, Harrogate is still a “very multicultural town” with working families from across the EU.

“These people have been established for a very a long time and are part of our town.”

Are you looking for a job or have a job vacancy you need to promote to as many people as possible? Take a look at the Stray Ferret jobs page to see the latest jobs or to submit a new one.  Every job is placed on our homepage and posted on our social media channels. 

Tomorrow we’ll be reporting on the views of hoteliers and bars owners in Harrogate on what they think should change to attract local talent. 

Historic Harrogate funfair cancelled after ‘council price hike’

The annual August Bank Holiday funfair on the Stray in Harrogate, which dates back to 1953, will not take place this weekend following a row over fees.

The family that stages the event told the Stray Ferret the event would not go ahead because Harrogate Borough Council had hiked the charge for using Stray land.

Ruby Wilson, who has taken over organising the fair on behalf of her dad John Jameson, said the council had doubled the price from £5,000 to £10,000.

With additional costs on top, including VAT and a £2,000 deposit in case the Stray is damaged, Ms Wilson said the event was no longer viable.

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Mr Jameson was at the first fair when the Corrigan family ran it. The Shaw family later took it on before the Jameson family stepped up. He told the Stray Ferret:

“The council did not provide any reason for such a big price hike. We just cannot afford to pay that, the fair does not make that much money.

“Our family has strong connections with Harrogate so it is sad for us to not be able to put the fun fair on. We will try again next year.

“Over the years we have been forced to give up the number of days we use the Stray and now we are facing a big price hike. It just does not feel fair.”

But the council disputed the claims. A spokesman said:

“The council have not had any contact from the organisers concerning the funfair since April this year, meaning it is now too late for them to submit an event plan for the coming weekend.

“If they contact us directly we are more than happy to discuss arrangements for future years”.

Fallen tree blocks busy Harrogate road

A large tree has fallen in Harrogate and partly blocked a busy road, causing problems for traffic this afternoon.

The tree fell at around 2pm on Forest Lane near Hookstone Chase Primary School.

Nobody is believed to have been hurt even though the road attracts heavy traffic.

Our traffic system is showing congestion on nearby Wetherby Road and Hookstone Chase as a result.

It is unclear at this time how long it will take to clear the blockage or whether anybody was injured in the incident.

The Stray Ferret has asked North Yorkshire Police for further details but has yet to receive a reply.

Lesley Thompson told the Stray Ferret:

“I was just travelling down the road when I saw the road was blocked. It looks like a massive bough has fallen off of the tree.

“When I saw it I went to make sure that nobody was hurt and I could not see anyone or any cars in there.”

 

Dalesman triathlon in Ripon attracts 600 hardy souls

More than 600 people entered the inaugural Dalesman Triathlon on Sunday, which started and finished at Ripon racecourse.

Triathlons consist of a swim, followed by a cycle ride and run.

There were three different distances, the main one being the full Dalesman, which consisted of a 2.4 mile swim in the lake at Ripon racecourse followed by a 112-mile cycle route in Masham, Dallow Moor and Brimham Rocks and a 26-mile marathon run that returned to Ripon.

The full Dalesman started at 6am and final competitor finished in darkness at 10.30pm. Henry Sleight won in a time of nine hours and 53 minutes.

Event organiser Rob Wilkins, who lives near Ripon, said it was a successful but exhausting day and he hoped it would return next year.

Keen runner, the Rt. Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Ripon, was among those who answered a call for volunteer marshals put out by Ripon Runners club, of which she is a member.

Dr Hartley said:

“It was a terrific event, and great for the region to attract nationwide competitors.

“In addition, it highlighted the sporting attractiveness of Ripon and its surrounding communities.  It was great fun to be a marshal and I am full of admiration for all those taking part.”

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