Editor’s Pick of the Week: Postal woe, eyebrow-raising salaries and Harrogate park and ride gets wheeled out again

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According to the Royal Mail, today (December 20) is the last day to post first class deliveries if you want them to arrive in time for Christmas. Local people must be wondering if that means Christmas 2026, given the amount of readers that got in touch this week asking us to investigate why they hadn’t received any mail for weeks.

We did, and one of those who got in touch emailed the following day to say they’d received 23 cards and seven other items that morning. They added: “The last time you featured one of my problems I had my bins emptied the next day after a six-week gap. Your power knows no bounds!" 

We don’t have the hotline to the head honcho at the Royal Mail but media scrutiny can definitely help get things done.

There appears to be no reprieve for patients in Pannal, who learned this week that their village surgery will cease to exist in 2026. Last year Killinghall’s surgery closed — which one will be next?

Better news in Ripon, where the South Lodge re-opened under new landlords — a line that has been written several times in recent years. The South Lodge, surrounded by homes on the edge of Ripon, looks like the kind of place that could thrive with some continuity, even in these difficult times for pubs. The owner of District Bar in Harrogate outlined how tough things are this week.

For families feeling the pinch, cheap festive fun is on offer at Ripon’s Winter Wonderland this weekend. The organisers have arranged for everything, besides food and drink, to be free. Spa Gardens feels like an under-used resource in Ripon, but with the nearby Market Place often hosting events, the city is not short of options.

Eyebrows were raised at some advertised salaries this week. Brierley Homes, the loss-making council housebuilder, is recruiting a managing director on a six-figure salary. Ripon City Council published job ads for a chief officer on £57,867 – £60,208 and a deputy town clerk on £42,839 – £46,142. Look for an article on Sunday revealing North Yorkshire Council’s biggest earners.

Finally, that old chestnut a Harrogate park and ride is back on the agenda — just months after North Yorkshire Council’s new highways chief insisted it wasn’t. This idea seems to get parked every few years and then wheeled out for another ride. With over 100 sites considered, it is certainly proving a fruitful exercise for council officers. But will it ever happen? I suspect it will still be being debated in another decade.