Harrogate district worst in county for drink driving

The Harrogate district has had more drink and drug driving arrests in the last week than anywhere else in North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire Police said today 32 people had been arrested in the last seven days of the campaign — a big increase on 18 in the first week.

Of the 32, 10 were from the Harrogate district. The next highest is York with seven, followed by Scarborough with six, Hambleton with four, Ryedale with three and Craven and Richmondshire with one each.

The campaign started on December 1 and has now seen 50 arrests in total at the halfway stage. Of the 50 arrests, 38 were men and 12 were women.

The highest reading was from a 46-year-old woman in Northallerton who was four time over the legal limit.

Superintendent Emma Aldred, head of specialist operations at North Yorkshire Police, said:

“It’s alarming to see that we have arrested 50 people in just over two weeks for drink or drug driving in North Yorkshire.

“The message is clear; we will not tolerate drink and drug drivers on North Yorkshire’s roads”.

Emmerdale actor Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle, launched this year’s campaign when he participated in a mock road traffic collision.

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Environment Agency calls for Allerton Park asphalt plant to be rejected

The Environment Agency has called for the creation of an asphalt plant near Knaresborough to be rejected.

The government department has raised concerns over potential pollution to controlled waters in response to Tynedale Roadstone’s planned plant at Allerton Waste Recovery Park, just yards from the A1(M).

The firm, which produces bituminous macadam and asphalt products for roads, already has plants in Newcastle and County Durham and says it needs a third facility to serve contracts for customers in the Yorkshire area.

The plant would include facilities for recycling plastics and other waste products, which could be supplied from operations within the recovery park, into asphalt materials.

Tynedale says the plant would also have the capability to recycle old road material into new asphalt products.

In planning documents submitted to North Yorkshire County Council, agents for the firm said the plant would create about 10 jobs. They said:

“The very nature of the proposed scheme means that it will be crucial to facilitating and servicing highways works and projects in the area.

“The plant would be suitably located in terms of surrounding land uses and would complement the wider Allerton Waste Recovery Park, particularly due to its ability to utilise plastic waste from the waste recovery plant in the production of final asphalt products.”

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The wider site includes Allerton Waste Recovery Plant, which process 320,000 tonnes of waste a year from York and North Yorkshire councils, a partially completed landfill in a former quarry, a concrete batching plant and a methane gas plant.

Planning documents reveal pre-application talks with the council’s planning officers concluded the principle of locating an asphalt plant at the site was considered a compatible use with the other operations on the site.

However, lodging an objection to the development. the Environment Agency said the firm needed to demonstrate the risk of pollution to controlled waters could be appropriately managed.

The agency stated: 

“The previous use of the proposed development site as a landfill presents a high risk of contamination that could be mobilised during construction to pollute controlled waters.

“Controlled waters are particularly sensitive in this location because the development site is located upon a principal aquifer.”

Principal aquifers provide significant quantities of drinking water.

The agency said the applicants had identified the pollution risks without providing adequate mitigation and the plans for piling on the site could result in risks to aquifers.

North Yorkshire devolution consultation ends today

A consultation over a planned £540 million devolution deal for North Yorkshire is set to end today.

In August, county council leaders agreed a proposed deal with ministers to devolve more powers, including an elected mayor, to North Yorkshire and York.

The deal would see £18 million-worth of funding each year devolved to the county over 30 years and pave the way for a mayor and combined authority in 2024.

A consultation was launched in October to seek views from the public, businesses and charity organisations.

The survey will close today.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said: 

“We really need the public to come forward and give us their views on what is important to them and how devolution can benefit communities and businesses across York and North Yorkshire.

“The chance to secure these decision-making powers and millions of pounds in funding from the government is set to prove a life-changing opportunity for more than 800,000 people who live and work in York and North Yorkshire.

“Devolution will give local leaders the chance to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing people in York and North Yorkshire – whether that be providing more affordable housing, improving skills and education for better job opportunities, boosting transport infrastructure or tackling the climate crisis.”

You can have your say on the deal here.

What is in the deal?

As part of the devolution deal, a mayoral combined authority would be formed with a directly-elected mayor by May 2024.

It would mirror similar arrangements in the Tees Valley, where Conservative mayor Ben Houchen oversees the combined authority.

While the planned North Yorkshire deal brings £540 million worth of investment funding, it is lower than the original £750 million requested by local leaders.

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However, more power over skills and transport will be devolved.

It will see whoever is elected mayor and the new combined authority have control over the adult education budget and the ability to draw up its own transport strategy.

Control over bus franchising has also been granted to the county and the power to set up Mayoral Development Corporations, which have the power to buy land for housing or employment to regenerate a defined area.

North Yorkshire Police braced for 30% increase in 999 calls on Mad Friday

North Yorkshire Police has urged Christmas revellers to “know your limits” as they prepare for one of their busiest nights of the year.

Today is known as Mad Friday because it is the last working Friday before Christmas and many people go out.

It is also one of the busiest nights for the emergency services as a result of alcohol-fuelled disruption.

The county’s police force said in a statement it will be deploying extra officers in towns and city centres. The statement added more staff will be working to handle 999 and 101 calls:

“It’s expected that our force control room will receive a 30% increase in 999 and 101 calls compared with demand on an average Friday night.

Superintendent Fiona Willey, the silver commander for Friday’s policing operation, said:

“We understand that people want to let their hair down and we’re not here to spoil anyone’s fun. However, we have a job to do and that’s to keep people safe as well as maintain law and order.

“We’re well-rehearsed at dealing with what’s known as Mad Friday and have additional officers and staff in place to provide resilience.

“My plea to people who are heading out on Friday is to plan your night, think about your own safety and know your limits.”

 

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: How high standards help to feed hungry families

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky meets the food scientist ensuring everything is of the best quality when it reaches those in need.

Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help. 

 

In a quiet corner of a warehouse in Harrogate, Catherine Crompton is sorting through sachets of baby food.

Around us, shelves are packed with cat food (“let’s not get those two mixed up!”), lentils, toiletries, tinned vegetables and much more.

As I talk to warehouse manager Catherine, more produce is coming in: tins and packets and toiletries, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. She says:

“We don’t need soup and beans at the moment. People went crackers at harvest festivals!”

What’s in short supply, she tells me, is baking ingredients. They have plenty of tea bags, but not a lot of instant coffee comes in. Apple juice, orange juice, bottles of squash and packets of everyday biscuits are also hard to come by.

The food coming through the door is mostly from supermarkets: excess produce reaching its best before date, collected by Resurrected Bites volunteers and delivered here, to the warehouse on Hornbeam Park.

Catherine says:

“Because I’ve got a PhD in food science, I actually know the shelf life. Tins last a lot longer than the dates suggest.

“Some things you have to have the ‘use by’ date because you can’t see those micro-organisms. ‘Best before’ is a standard of quality, while ‘use by’ is a food safety thing.”

Her scientific background is in evidence in the warehouse. Everything is logged as it arrives and as it leaves for Resurrected Bites’ community groceries and pay-as-you-feel cafes.

The shelves are carefully laid out and all the contents organised. Every product is checked for allergen information.

There’s an area for toiletries – which also doubles up as Catherine’s office – and one for catering packs that can be used in the cafes.

There is also a huge, industrial-type fridge and freezer, containing anything that needs to be kept chilled or frozen on arrival. Volunteers are busy loading new stock and rearranging existing contents to keep everything moving.

Resurrected Bites' fridge and freezer in the warehouse

Much of this organisation is down to Catherine’s professional experience, with support from volunteers. She tells me:

“Because I was a consultant in the food industry, in March 2020 my job stopped. I organised food from the food industry and took it to the food bank and they put me in touch with Michelle [Hayes, founder of Resurrected Bites].”

Catherine began by helping the community interest company as it delivered food parcels to people who found themselves struggling in the early days of the pandemic. The whole operation was run from plastic trays and tables at St Mark’s Church in Harrogate.

In the two years since, things have changed significantly. Catherine says:

“We moved to Hornbeam in July 2021. It has taken a good year but we’ve got the warehouse running efficiently and a fantastic bunch of volunteers and the cafes and groceries.

“We’ve got about 150 volunteers. A lot of people going out and collecting from the supermarkets.

“We collect from virtually all the supermarkets at various times. You need that, because you don’t know what you’re going to get. Sometimes we’ve had a volunteer turn up and it’s just one loaf of bread.”

As well as taking food that supermarkets no longer need, Catherine uses her contacts in the food industry to access more supplies.

Many companies send through samples and end-of-line products that will never even make it to supermarket shelves. They are perfectly safe to eat, but would otherwise be thrown away.

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Waste in the food industry is one of the reasons Catherine is so passionate about her role at Resurrected Bites. She says:

“One of our volunteers used to work in the cheese industry. Last Christmas, he got us a pallet of cheese.

“When they went through the label machine, it wasn’t put on straight – they had half of one label and half of another, instead of one complete one. They were keeping to all the regulations, they just didn’t look fancy, but who cares? It’s cheese.”

Those contacts have led to supplies of high quality sample products from companies across the Harrogate district and beyond: Bettys & Taylors, Heck, and Dales Dairies, to name just a few. Catherine says:

“A sweet company gave us some quality control samples. You go and take a shelf-ready pack and you might use one packed and leave 11 behind. We will have those 11 please!”

With demand for Resurrected Bites’ support growing all the time, Catherine is keen to keep building contacts with food producers in the region who might otherwise throw produce away, encouraging them to “wake up” and think about where the food could go instead.

Even if it can’t be used in the community groceries or cafes, Catherine and the team of volunteers will redirect it to a food bank or to FareShare, which distributes to other organisations around the country.

She adds:

“Resurrected Bites doesn’t just do ambient food like a food bank. It’s more like a supermarket shop.

“We work closely with the Trussell Trust and other organisations. We all work together. If we’ve got an excess, we share it with them, and they do the same.

“None of us want to see food wasted and because of that cooperation, very little goes to landfill.”

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas. 

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it. 

Click here to contribute now. 

Ripon teacher died after accidental fall in Italian Dolomites, coroner rules

A Ripon teacher died after an accidental fall in the Italian Dolomites, a coroner has ruled.

Louise Atkinson, 55, of North Stainley, was trekking with her partner in the Tires Valley, Bolzano, in northern Italy, when she fell to her death on July 24 this year.

An inquest today heard that Ms Atkinson and John Dickinson, who had both been to the area four years prior, were heading on a more difficult route after their original path had changed due to a new restaurant development.

In a statement given to the court, which was read by coroner Catherine Cundy, Mr Dickinson said the pair took a different path “hoping to find a route we were familiar with”.

He said:

“It became difficult and we stopped and decided to return to the cafe.”

The inquest heard Ms Atkinson was about 20 feet behind Mr Dickinson.

After deciding to turn back, Mr Dickinson then heard her lose her step and slip off the cliff.

He said:

“I turned around and called her name. I could not reach her and she slipped off the cliff edge.”

The inquest heard Ms Atkinson rolled about 35 metres down the mountain. 

Two young walkers alerted the Italian emergency services and a mountain rescue helicopter was called out to the scene.

The commander of the mountain service said in a statement to the coroner that “serious injuries to her body” led to Ms Atkinson’s death.

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He added Mr Dickinson had “tried in vain” to save her following the fall.

A post-mortem carried out by Elzer Tjio, of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, concluded the cause of death was a traumatic brain injury.

Ms Cundy concluded that Ms Atkinson’s death was an accident likely to have been caused by her losing her footing on the route.

She said:

“I am satisfied that on balance it is more likely than not that she fell in the circumstances that I have described.”

‘An amazing teacher’

Following her death, tributes were paid to Ms Atkinson, who was a teacher at Roecliffe Church of England School near Boroughbridge and St Wilfrid’s Catholic School in Ripon.

One person posted:

“Heartbreaking news. This is so sad. She taught both our sons at Roecliffe. She was an amazing teacher and a lovely kind lady. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and pupils.”

Another said:

“Such sad news. My son loved her as a teacher and came home every Friday full of stories of what she taught him that day. Condolences to all her family and friends. RIP.”

Harrogate council company to run leisure centres in Selby

An arm’s-length company set up by Harrogate Borough Council will run Selby’s leisure services from September 2024.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive met yesterday to approve a report recommending Brimhams Active takes over Selby’s services, which include Selby Leisure Centre, Tadcaster Leisure Centre and Summit Indoor Activity.

The arrangement will be on an interim basis whilst the new North Yorkshire Council, which comes into existence in April, undertakes a £120,000 review of leisure services with the aim of creating a countywide model for delivering leisure and sport by 2027.

Selby District Council will not renew its contract with Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles, a charity that manages its leisure services.

Brimhams Active was launched by Harrogate Borough Council in August 2021 when it took over control of leisure centres and swimming pools in Harrogate, Starbeck, Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge.

Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre

Ripon’s new leisure centre is among the facilities already run by Brimhams Active.

Harrogate Borough Council hailed the move as a “new vision for the future” of services and said it would save around £400,000 a year through business rates relief and VAT benefits.

Ownership of the company and the contracts of staff will transfer to the new North Yorkshire Council on April 1.

Cllr Michael Harrison, the Conservative councillor for Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate as well as executive member for health and adult social care, told the meeting yesterday:

“The fact we can move management into Brimhams so seamlessly is an indication of the wider strength of all the counties coming together.

“We know we’ll do a review and due to the fact that Brimhams Active is relatively new but performing well, we can use strength of the joint councils to move things forward”.

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The Brimhams Active board includes managing director Mark Tweedie, Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson, director of economy and culture Trevor Watson and councillors Sam Gibbs, Stan Lumley and Pat Marsh.

Of the seven soon-to-be abolished district and borough councils, Harrogate Borough Council is the only authority that uses an arm’s-length company to run services. Scarborough, Ryedale, Selby and Richmond outsource their services whereas Hambleton and Craven provide theirs in-house.

Police stinger stops stolen Land Rover after high speed chase from Boroughbridge

Police arrested three men after a high speed chase from Boroughbridge to York in the early hours of this morning.

North Yorkshire Police was contacted at just after 2am this morning with concerns about a quad bike travelling on the A168 near Boroughbridge.

Officers investigated and said they noticed a Land Rover being driven suspiciously. The vehicle speeded off when police asked the driver to stop.

Police pursued the Land Rover on the A59 towards York while another police unit set up a stinger site on the A1237 at York. A police statement today said:

“All four tyres of the Land Rover were stung but it continued for a short time. It eventually lost control and crashed.

“Police also sighted an Audi in the same area that was acting suspiciously. Officers stopped the Audi and then established that it had been seen with the Land Rover earlier that night.

“The Land Rover was confirmed as stolen from an address along with two quad bikes.”

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A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, failing to stop for the police, dangerous driving, driving without a license or insurance and aggravated vehicle taking.

A 26-year-old man and a 28-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal a motor vehicle.

The 24-year-old man was charged with failing to stop for the police, dangerous driving, driving without a license or insurance and aggravated vehicle taking. He has been remanded in custody and recalled to prison.

The 26-year-old man and 28-year-old man currently remain in police custody and enquiries are continuing.

 

Is Harrogate ice cream van the best in the country?

Harrogate ice cream seller John Taylor is in line for another industry award.

Mr Taylor, whose van is parked outside Victoria Shopping Centre most days from March to September, is one of the most familiar faces in Harrogate.

Besides selling in Harrogate town centre, he takes his van to events across the district and to the streets of Harrogate, Ripon and Boroughbridge during summer.

He has now been named in the final three in the mobiler of the year category at the  Ice Cream Alliance‘s Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show, which will be held at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate in February.

The mobiler category recognises all aspects of running an ice cream van. Last year Mr Taylor scooped the gold award at the same event for the taste of his Mr Whippy ice cream but he thinks winning the mobiler category would top that.

Although the number of vans has decreased significantly in recent decades, Mr Taylor, who runs C and M Ices, said there were still about 3,000 to 4,000 operating and he was thrilled to be recognised in the top three by his trade association:

“This is our equivalent of the Oscars or the Premier League. It is the highest accolade you can win.”

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The three finalists will go in front of a five-person judging panel.

Harrogate born and bred Mr Taylor, whose family has been selling ice cream since 1889, said 2022 had been a better year due to the warm summer and he hoped to be back outside the Victoria Shopping Centre in spring. He added:

“The weather is our kingmaker. Whatever happens to the economy, and things like covid, if the weather is not good you can’t make a living.”

Stray Ferret Business Awards: Stellar judging panel of local leaders unveiled

When you are looking to get recognition for your business, it is key that those on the judging panel are the best of the best.

That’s why we have enlisted the help of leaders from the top business and organisations for the inaugural Stray Ferret Business Awards sponsored by Prosperis, culminating with an awards dinner on March 9, 2023.

There is representation from across the Harrogate district and beyond with Black Sheep Brewery from Masham, Reed Boardall from Boroughbridge, Cloud Nine from Harrogate and the York and North Yorkshire LEP from Northallerton.

We have chosen these judges for their expertise, experience and positions in a wide variety of sectors.

Each judge kindly gives their free time to participate in the process. Any judge with a conflict of interest in a particular category will step away for the duration of those discussions.

We really do have representation from top businesses on board. So it’s time to meet the judges:

Charlene Lyons, CEO of Black Sheep Brewery

Charlene Lyons, an experienced management consultant, became CEO of Black Sheep Brewery in early 2020 after a period as a consultant, helping the business evolve and grow its position as a famous Yorkshire brand.

Marcus Boardall, CEO of Reed Boardall

Marcus Boardall, a qualified Chartered Accountant, joined the family business, Reed Boardall in 2003 where he continues his father’s legacy of supporting and encouraging his colleagues in the pursuit of excellence.

Martin Rae, CEO of Cloud Nine

Martin Rae is the CEO and Founder of Cloud Nine – a Harrogate-based international haircare brand founded by Martin, his brother and stepdad. Cloud Nine was founded in 2008 with a small team but it is now a global brand.

James Farrar, COO of York and North Yorkshire LEP

James works with the York and North Yorksire Local Enterprise Partnership partners and Board to mobilise the team into action. His experience includes leading responses to recession, grown his own professional services business allowing him to have an understanding of business needs and how to encourage economic growth.

Once the deadline for entries has passed, the judges will assess each entry in the same format and without any material that goes against the terms and conditions.

The judges score the entry according to the criteria of each category. The judges will then meet to discuss their scores and make a final decision during a single day of judging. The judging process is final and all decisions are final.

It’s free and easy to enter. We will profile the great work of all the finalists, so we would encourage you to put forward your business today.

You can see a full list of award categories on our Awards page. Entries close January 16.