Readers’ Letters: Ripon City Council saga is a ‘sad state of affairs’

Readers’ Letters is a free 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.

This week, we have collated some readers’ comments left on recent stories.

The Stray Ferret this week reported Councillor Sid Hawke, the former mayor of Ripon, has reported Ripon’s current mayor, Cllr Barbara Brodigan, to the police.

Cllr Hawke alleged Cllr Brodigan supplied a fraudulent letter of resignation to newly appointed locum town clerk, Adam Chugg, in the latest twist in the fractious Ripon City Council saga.

Below are two comments on the story.

What a shameful going on, those poor souls in Ukraine suffering under Putin’s war and our councillors seem to be having a petty squabble. What a sad state of affairs - Ripon deserves better leadership.

Geoff Fletcher

If Cllr Hawke thinks this is a good use of police time then he should stand down. This is an internal political spat, not a case of serious fraud. Petty politics that could/should be sorted out with the town clerk.

John Wann

Elsewhere in the Harrogate district, Autumn Lights announced it had cancelled a major fireworks display in Harrogate after only selling 7% of tickets.

John Lowery, the company’s director, said the local event had been scrapped due to “rising costs and lower-than-expected ticket sales”.

Two readers had this to say:

Such a shame for someone who grew up with November 5 as the fun autumn festival to see it diminished by the cheap commercialisation of Halloween. About as far removed as it gets.

Paul Reynolds

What did they expect? They should have done a bit more research before choosing Harrogate. We have enough free displays on with voluntary contributions. Yes, we’ve had struggles, but we always managed to succeed.

Richard Coppinger

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.

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