Council approves additional £1m to set up North Yorkshire combined authority

A committee that focuses on North Yorkshire’s devolution deal has approved an additional £1 million to implement a new authority.

The North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which will elect a mayor in May 2024, will oversee £13 million worth of new homes, green economic growth to achieve a carbon-negative region, and further investment in digital broadband, if its setup is successful.

The combined authority is scheduled to be launched in November this year.

It will include councillors from North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council and make decisions on matters such as economic development and transport.

North Yorkshire has already spent £582,000 on the implementation of the authority, but a further £1 million was granted by the committee on July 24.

Nick Edwards from North Yorkshire Council, speaking on behalf of the chief finance officer for the devolution deal, said: 

“With regards to the request for an additional £1 million, the principles remain to the initial cash flow and that is on the basis that when the combined authority is established and it receives its grant funding that the implementation costs are repaid immediately to the council.

“If for any reason the combined authority does not proceed, the financial risks of the implementation costs rest equally with North Yorkshire and York councils.”

However, Mr Edwards asked the committee to consider the significant returns this investment would take from securing the implementation of the deal.

Mr Edwards said: 

“The combined authority will receive significant funding when it is established – funding which is on top of any specific project funding – from November 1, if that is the setup date, will include funding of around £10 million, and £19.5 million in 2024/25.

“So in a matter of months of the authority going live, there will be funds of circa £30m available to it.”

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These funds are expected to go towards the mayoral capacity fund, the transport capacity fund and the investment fund.

A request to approve an adult education budget request of almost £500,000 was also approved at the meeting.

The estimated cost of delivering the implementation stage of the adult education budget over two years is £975,748.

The bid to the Department of Education is £480,932 (49.29%), requiring a local contribution of £494,816 (50.71%).

Harrogate district sees rise in demand for solar panels

Demand for solar panels in the Harrogate area has almost doubled in the last year as homeowners look to reduce their energy bills while helping to tackle climate change.

Rooftop solar panels that harness the power of the sun to generate renewable energy have been around for decades but with record-high energy bills they are becoming an increasingly common sight in our towns and villages.

Before installing solar panels, a developer or homeowner must first get permission from North Yorkshire Council.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service compared the number of solar-related planning applications in the first half of 2022 with 2023, in the former Harrogate district area, and found it had jumped from 27 to 57.

Experts have put the rise in popularity for solar panels down to high energy costs brought on by the war in Ukraine, which has pushed up wholesale prices.

According to the Office for National Statistics, gas and electricity prices rose by 36.2% and 17.3% in the year to June 2023. It said energy prices have been one of the largest contributors to high inflation since April 2022.

As well as reducing bills, solar panels are one way individual households can reduce carbon emissions. The Committee for Climate Change says the technology will be crucial if the UK is to meet its 2050 net zero target.

The UK experienced a heatwave in June which saw 9.3% of the country’s energy generated by solar, but the figure is likely to be lower for July due to the largely wet and overcast conditions.

Tim Larner, vice chair policy advocacy at Zero Carbon Harrogate, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“Zero Carbon Harrogate is delighted to note the increase in the number of planning applications with solar panels included and we congratulate those developers who are taking a sustainable and long-term approach.

“Not only does it make financial sense to include roof-mounted solar panels in all new developments, it’s also a practical response to the climate emergency.”

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It is not only homeowners who have been installing solar panels, schools including Oatlands Junior School, Harrogate Grammar School, Coppice Valley Primary School and Rossett Acre Primary School will install hundreds on their rooftops.

There has also been small-scale solar applications from farmers, with plans approved to add solar panels on top of agricultural barns in Burnt Yates, Beckwithshaw and Felliscliffe.

Mr Larner added:

“We need to be taking every opportunity to make our homes, schools, hospitals and offices more sustainable in all aspects of their construction.”

Kirby Hill to commemorate 150th anniversary of church organ

Residents in Kirby Hill are set to celebrate the 150th anniversary of a church organ at All Saints’ Church.

The organ was first installed in 1873 following the restoration of the church by architect George Gilbert Scott.

Peter Crawford, organist at All Saints’ Church, said the instrument has only had one addition to it since its installation 150 years ago.

He said:

“Except for the addition of an electric blower in 1949, the organ is exactly as it was when first installed. It is a rare example of a late Victorian instrument, virtually unchanged since it was built and still in good working order.

“As such, it is of great historical importance. It is a privilege to play it every week.”

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As part of the anniversary, the village will hold a “tunes and blooms” celebration from July 28 until July 30.

The church will be decorated in floral displays and drinks and nibbles will be held on Friday evening from 7pm.

Meanwhile, the church will be open between 10am and 4pm on Saturday and Sunday and there will be short organ recitals throughout each day. 

On Saturday evening at 7:30pm there is a concert featuring the organ and choir. On Sunday at 6:30pm the weekend will conclude with a special Songs of Praise service. 

For more information on the events, visit the All Saints’ Church website here.

Stray Views: Role of Mayor is bureaucracy “gone mad”

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. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Can anyone tell me how any individual whatever political persuasion elected to this office can manage, in their day to day work, all the duties it entails? Highways, Education, Housing, and Police Fire and Crime Commissioner!

The announcement is that the Conservative candidate is also Executive Councillor for Highways, representative for Norton, and Deputy Editor for the Daily Star! All presumably at some fantastic rate of pay. It is bureaucracy gone mad.

Will he resign his position as Norton representative or does that exclude him from becoming Mayoral candidate? It is a complete mystery to me as how local government has gone to such a multi layered institution costing us all much more money and not really seeing results.

We need transparency of what they propose and what they actually achieve, not just a bunch of statistics which, let’s face it, anyone can manipulate.

Best of luck to whoever is finally elected, they will need it.

Sandra Theoblad, Ripon

Unimpressed with Yorkshire Agricultural Society

I would like to echo the comments of other local dog owners concerning the current fencing off of land by the YAS next to the showground. Having walked our dog twice daily through the fields, this is a huge disappointment and loss.

The YAS chairman talks of providing “kilometres of permissive paths” when the reality is a very short section from Hookstone Wood to the car park by the top showground gate.

There was no consultation or advance notification at all and it is a great shame to see the approach taken by YAS, which is particularly inconsiderate to local residents who put up with traffic chaos when big events are held.

Thoroughly unimpressed.

Catriona Cooke, Harrogate 

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Thank you for the music

What a feast of music we were treated to last Friday night.

Harrogate Theatre hosted the premiere performance by Mike Lovatt’s Brass Pack and a host of pieces made famous by Frank Sinatra.

Many of the charts had been given a new, scintillating arrangement by Colin Skinner, with instrumentals from an outstanding group of musicians, plus vocals from the peerless Matt Forde.

Thank you, Harrogate International Festival, for another world class event.

Barbara & Martin Coultas, and Pat Kerr, Harrogate
Rural homes in North Yorkshire could face years of poor broadband

Some rural homes in North Yorkshire could face years of poor broadband, a public meeting in Masham heard this week.

Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, who cited rural connectivity as a key issue during her successful campaign this year to represent Masham and Fountains as a Liberal Democrat on North Yorkshire Council, organised the meeting.

Representatives of NYnet, the North Yorkshire Council-owned company set up to increase digital connectivity in the county, said 895 premises in Masham and Fountains currently didn’t have access to super-fast broadband.

They said the third phase of Nynet’s Superfast North Yorkshire project, which is due to end in March next year, should reduce this number by 594, leaving 301 homes unable to get 30 Mbps — the speed required to be classed ‘superfast’.

Robert Ling, speaking at the meeting.

Robert Ling, director of transformation at the council, said superfast coverage across North Yorkshire was expected to be 97% by March.

Mr Ling said this represented significant progress “but this is cold comfort to people here who don’t have it”.

Project Gigabit, the £5 billion government programme to enable hard-to-reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit-capable broadband, would reach more homes but Mr Ling admitted there was no timeframe on when all premises would be reached.

Many of the 40 people who attended the meeting at Masham Town Hall expressed frustration at the WiFi they received.

Masham Town Hall. Pic: David Dixon

One said it was a “dreadful service that’s not fit for purpose” and another commented that their WiFi frequently went down whenever it rained hard, making it difficult to run a business.

Mr Ling said because Project Gigabit was a government scheme, and this dependence on central government along with other factors such as cost made it difficult for NYnet to accurately predict what will happen after March next year,

NYnet chair Peter Scrope said the organisation would probably have to run its own project to help the hardest to reach homes.

NYnet chair Peter Scrope

Cllr Cunliffe-Lister said she hoped to arrange a follow-up meeting in March to discuss progress.

Afterwards, she told the Stray Ferret she would like to see the re-introduction of a government voucher scheme that enabled people to install their own gigabit-capable connections at reduced cost. She added:

“This is a matter of concern to many people and there is a great deal of doubt about what is being delivered and what the solutions are.”

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Yemi’s Food Stories: My slow love for avocado

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food  and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.  

 

My mum introduced me to avocado over four decades ago and I wondered what she loved about a tasteless, mushy mess that discoloured quickly, or so I thought.

She loved telling us the story of how she introduced avocado to her village. As a young woman, she lived with a family in Lagos which was then Nigeria’s capital city, and they had access to imported fruits.

She discovered avocado and decided she wanted to grow them, so she took some seeds back to her parents who planted them. Other farmers took advantage of the seeds with many deciding to grow them.

Avocado is also known as butter or alligator pear and they grow well in warm climates; they are packed full of monounsaturated fatty acids and rich in many vitamins, minerals and fibre. It’s a food to add to your arsenal for weight loss.

My mum simple ate the avocado with a sprinkle of salt; it was so uninspiring that I never bothered with it after the first time I tried it.

Fast forward a few decades; the humble Avocado had become the new kid on the ‘superfood’ block. Avocado toast, the toast of all sandwiches, was pricey and the environmentalists were calculating the distance an avocado travelled and the impact on global warming.

It became the bourgeois thing to eat with Oprah famously having her own avocado farm. Every diet needs to include avocado a few times a week; I had to get on board somehow and give avocado another try so I began to look for ways to enjoy them.

It took a few attempts of guacamole until I got to like it and now, I am at a stage where I can say I enjoy it especially for brunch where I pair it with toasted sourdough, poached eggs and smoked salmon, grilled kippers, pan-fried salmon or prawns.

Avocado, flat mushrooms, sautéed kale and eggs 

I enjoy avocado paired with a simple but well flavoured dressing of ratio 1:1 of lemon juice to olive oil, a pinch of gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes) for aesthetics and flavour, freshly cracked black pepper and smoked sea salt. Mix well and drizzle over sliced avocado.

I also pair my avocado with rib eye steak, flatbread, and salads. I use crushed and seasoned avocado as a topping for sweetcorn fritters finished with sweetcorn and smoky bacon-grilled pepper salsa.

Avocado, poached eggs, smoked salmon and samphire 

Avocado mousse is perfect as a light and aerated toping for more elegant dinner. It can provide an air of mystery as diners wonder what is under the light and delicate green cloud. Anything from scallops, prawns and grilled fish to crispy pancetta and chorizo crumps would be perfect underneath the cloud.

It is also great for making vegan or vegetarian desserts.

I am not a huge fan of bananas as I find the flavour too overpowering especially when it is very ripe so banana cakes or breads are a no-no for me. I eat the odd banana when it still has a little bite to it. This also means that banana based smoothies are off the menu so I replace the banana with avocado to get a rich and thick smoothie.

The avocado is undetectable in the smoothie and this was my starting point of introducing them to my diet.

Here’s my recipe for Pineapple Smoothie:

Add 500g of pineapples to a blender

Add 1 medium avocado to the blender

Add a whole lemon (washed) and half the juice of a lime

Add a few fresh mint leaves and a thumb size of fresh ginger

Top with some water (for a less sweet version), or apple or pineapple juice

Blend together until smooth; taste and adjust the sweetness and texture; you can also add some cucumber slices

Serve poured over some ice for a refreshing smoothie.

I hope you give avocado a go and find ways to include them in your diet.

This weekend, I am doing three chef demos at Yorkshire Dales Food Festival and I am at Yolk Farm and Minskip Farm shop on Saturday, July 29. Drop by and come say hi if you’re in the area.

 

Free Digital Marketing Conference to drive up sales and visibility online

Decision-makers from across the district’s business community will be given the key to boosting their online impact this autumn, at the Stray Ferret’s first ever Digital Marketing Conference. 

The free, day-long event will include expert speakers from across the industry, addressing topics including paying to boost social media posts, increasing sales and measuring return on investment. 

The day will be compered by the Stray Ferret’s founder, Tamsin O’Brien. She said: 

“If you’re in business, you cannot afford to ignore the power of digital marketing – because you can be sure your competitors won’t. But many of us weren’t born to it, and for some, it’s completely unknown territory – and that’s where the experts come in. 

“Fortunately, we have a lot of them right here in our district – there’s a lot of know-how in Yorkshire – so we’re bringing together some of the best for the very first time.  

“The Stray Ferret Digital Marketing Conference is a must for anyone in business who’s serious about raising their profile, developing their reputation, engaging customers, or increasing sales.” 

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Tamsin, who was formerly head of BBC Yorkshire, will also be hosting a Q&A session with media-savvy local businesses including: The Glam Hut and Best Kept Secret 

The speakers are scheduled for half-hour sessions and visitors can see as many as they like throughout the day.  

The Stray Ferret’s first ever Digital Marketing Conference is sponsored by the York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub and Yorkshire law firm Ison Harrison. It will take place on Thursday, September 28 at Pavilions of Harrogate, from 9.30am. 

For a full schedule of speakers and sessions, and to register for a place, go to our dedicated Digital Marketing Conference page. 

 

Grade II listed 17th century home for sale in Boroughbridge

An historic grade II listed mansion house in Boroughbridge has gone on the market with an asking price of £3 million.

Boroughbridge Hall is in the centre of the town and is believed to date back to the time of James II.

Its royal links do not end there, however, as its marketing documents explain:

“The house itself dates back to the late 17th century, during the short reign of King James II, and is grade II listed.

“The current owner recently granted the grounds of Boroughbridge Hall use by the reigning British monarch for ceremonial purposes, evidence of the property’s regional status.”

Boroughbridge Hall's sitting room

It has been brought to the market by estate agency Croft, based near York.

Sales negotiator Sarah Weston said:

“When you go through the gates, you are right on the market square – it’s very handy but very, very private.

“The current owners have been there for 20 years. It has been a wonderful family home and now it’s open for a new family to take control and use it like they have.”

The house has has five bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as a separate studio and en suite shower room attached to the large garage.

It has planning permission for the studio to be extended into an open barn which lies behind the garage.

Outside, the grounds extend to more than three acres and include fishing rights, as well as woodland, three paddocks and a tennis court.

Boroughbridge Hall's kitchen

Though the house is historic, the agent said it has been remodelled and maintained with many of its historic features still in place. The particulars say:

“Boroughbridge Hall dates from the 1680s with the front porch added in 1830. It was remodelled in 1947 to reduce its height from three storeys to two.

“Many fine architectural features remain including tall sash windows and bays, wall panelling, architraves, cornicing, fireplaces, panelled doors, cast iron column radiators and a superb rebuilt oak staircase faithfully following a seventeenth century design.”

Ms Weston said while Boroughbridge Hall is an unusual property to come to the market, Croft is often asked to take on the marketing of large and historic houses.

It is also advertising Littlethorpe Hall near Ripon for sale at offers over £2.25 million. The Victorian building sits in more than 13 acres of grounds, with a separate lodge house and its own chapel.

She added:

“With houses like these, you never know who’s going to buy it.

“It could be a tech genius who’s earned millions and wants a quiet life somewhere, or a family sizing up gradually, moving bigger and bigger.

“There was a massive splurge of people moving up to Yorkshire after covid. Some have decided there’s not enough up here for them, but some are still doing it.

“People can afford more here, but still be in London in a couple of hours. We’ve got the best of every world.”

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Former deputy head of boarding at Harrogate district private school guilty of 43 sex offences against pupils

WARNING: This story contains details of sexual offences that some people may find upsetting.

A former deputy head of boarding and charity boss at a private school in the Harrogate district has been found guilty of more than 40 sexual offences against female pupils.

Alexander Charles Ralls, 47, was also a deputy child protection officer at Queen Ethelburga’s School at the time of the offences.

He was accused of sexually abusing 20 girls over a three-year period and charged with 48 separate offences including 37 sexual assaults and 10 counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He denied all the allegations. 

Yesterday, a jury found him guilty of all but four of the offences following a four-week trial at Bradford Crown Court. 

Mr Hampton said:

“The defendant had a sexual interest in pre-pubescent and adolescent children and teenagers.

“He had the opportunity to pursue that interest and commit the offences because of who he was and the job he held.

“Alexander Charles Ralls was a fraud. He would deceive the girls into believing that his touching of them, or other activity, was a necessary and legitimate medical procedure. In fact, it was not. 

“His actions were driven… by his own sexual motivation and interest. He is a fraud not only in the manner in which he committed the offences; he is a fraud in the way in which he presented himself to the outside world.”

Mr Hampton said that before the offences came to light, Ralls, who ran his own charity, was regarded as a “man of unquestionable good, if not impeccable, character”.

He was deputy head of boarding for four years and, up until his dismissal in December 2015, was the school’s deputy designated safeguarding officer. 

Ralls, who lived in a flat in a female boarding house on the school premises, was also a qualified first aider at Queen Ethelburga’s, known colloquially as ‘QE’. 

He ran his own charity called Affecting Real Change (ARC) which “advanced the education and training of children, young people and adults”. 

Complaints over Ralls’s behaviour

In November 2015, one of the victims made a complaint to the school about Ralls’s behaviour.

Ralls was suspended pending an investigation which found he had allowed pupils into his private quarters at Ethelburga’s which was against school policy. He was ultimately dismissed for “gross misconduct and inappropriate behaviour”.

The girl’s mother was told by the school that the matter would be passed on to the “relevant authorities”, but “nothing more seemed to come of matters” until a separate complaint was made to police by another child.

Police launched an investigation when more girls, now adults, spoke to officers about Ralls’s predatory and “weird” behaviour.

One of the abused girls said that “everyone loved Mr Ralls at that time” and that was the reason they didn’t initially make a complaint.

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The jury found Ralls guilty of 43 of the 47 charges involving almost all the 20 girls who made complaints. He will be sentenced on July 28. 

The conviction comes after the school’s former owner and ex-chairman of governors Brian Martin was jailed for more than three years in 2021 for sexually abusing two pupils. 

The “predatory paedophile”, who was 71 years old at the time of his trial at Leeds Crown Court, was convicted of indecently assaulting one pupil and sexually assaulting another.

Martin, of Ferrensby, Knaresborough, who had bought Queen Ethelburga’s and moved it from Harrogate to Thorpe Underwood, was cleared of six other child-sexual-abuse allegations at a previous trial in 2018.

Labour overturns huge Tory majority to win Selby and Ainsty by-election

Labour has overturned the largest ever Conservative majority to win the Selby and Ainsty by-election.

In a historic night, Keir Mather defeated Conservative Claire Holmes to become the youngest MP in parliament.

Mr Mather also becomes the first ever Labour MP to be elected in a constituency that includes part of the Harrogate district.

The result was announced shortly after 4am this morning. The turnout was 45%.

Mr Mather received 16,456 votes while Ms Holmes polled 12,295 votes. Green Party candidate Arnold Warneken was third, ahead of Liberal Democrat Matt Walker.

Mr Mather said:

“I want to begin my time as your MP by being very clear: I understand the enormity of what has just happened, I know what an honour this is, and I am humbled by this opportunity to serve.

“We have re-written the rules on where Labour can win.”

The by-election was caused by the resignation of Nigel Adams.

The full results are:

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