Editor’s Pick of the Week: Tesco’s opening brings fear and excitement

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Construction workers were still on site, a sign was the wrong way round and the parking bays were full… but there was a heady sense of excitement in the New Park area of Harrogate on Tuesday for the opening of Tesco.

Twenty-two years after acquiring the old gas works site, Tesco’s tills were ringing shortly after the first customers crossed the threshold at 8am.

By contrast, the Jennyfields Local Centre half a mile away was almost deserted. A sign of things to come?

Jennyfields does, however, have possibly the best Christmas lights show in the district. Not long ago it was hard to get a dozen lights on a tree to work without blowing a fuse. Now Dale Hughes somehow manages to make 40,000 lights on the side of his house dance in time to music.

The season of goodwill has brought Christmas markets to Harrogate and Knaresborough. Harrogate Christmas Fayre finishes this weekend; Knaresborough’s two-day Christmas market took place last weekend. It was a great time to be in Knaresborough, with free food and showings of the new Tinsel Town film, fireworks and the Christmas tree festival. Knaresborough 1, Harrogate 0.

Tentative plans for 1,100 homes in Tockwith were unveiled this week. It could become the third current 1,000-home-plus scheme for the Harrogate district, along with Maltkiln in nearby Cattal, where 3,000 homes are planned, and Clotherholme in Ripon, where 1,300 homes are in the pipeline. 

We gave an update on the Clotherholme scheme this week. North Yorkshire Council is drawing up a new local plan, and until that process is complete it is unable to demonstrate it has enough land allocated for development to meet government targets. You can feel developers swirling.

The Stray Ferret revealed this week that David Skaith, the Labour mayor for York and North Yorkshire, had not revealed any of his expenses for his first 19 months in office. Some claims were finally published this week but full details are eagerly awaited.

The pantomime season continued in Ripon, when the latest city council meeting began with prayers for peace and wisdom then soon descended into more bloodletting. 

The chill inside the town hall was in contrast to the warmth of the greeting outside in Market Place, where the illuminated Ripon sign alongside the Christmas tree is a fabulous festive addition.