Harrogate Borough Council has revealed plans for social housing at seven sites which it said would make a “small but important contribution” to the serious shortage of affordable homes.

With around 1,800 households on its housing waiting list, the council has made a push to bring forward new homes on small sites.

However, it has been criticised for not going further or faster enough to provide more homes for Harrogate’s low-income earners who are being driven out of the area by high rent and house prices.

The council’s latest plans include social housing at sites in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Huby.

The Knaresborough site off Halfpenny Close is the largest and could accommodate around 14 homes for market, social rent and shared ownership if approved. All of the properties would be classed as “affordable”.

Read more:

• Harrogate district second home owners face extra council tax charge
• Plan to convert former Harrogate taxi office into flat approved

A total of £170,000 in government cash has been secured by the council to progress these plans, and some of the money has already been spent on site surveys.

There are also proposals for five shared ownership apartments at the former Cavendish House hostel on Robert Street, Harrogate.

The council said these apartments would be for “first time buyers unable to afford to access the property market”.

Also in Harrogate, two properties are planned for St Andrew’s Place where the council has admitted vehicular access would be “tight” on the single lane street.

Another home has been proposed for Gascoigne Crescent in the town.

On Knaresborough’s Charlton Drive, a garage site which has been described as in “very poor condition” could also become a new build.

There are also proposals for single properties on both Springfield Drive, Boroughbridge, and Kingsway in Huby.

A decision to submit planning applications for all six sites is set to be signed off by Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities, at a meeting next Tuesday.

A report to the meeting said the development of similar sites has been “long established” and “makes good use of the council’s landholdings”.

The report also said the council would bid for extra government funding to develop the proposals if planning permission is granted.

It added:

 “There are circa 1,800 households on the waiting list for social/affordable rented housing and circa 650 first time buyers registered for shared ownership.

“These underutilised sites will make a small but important contribution to helping meet that need.”

It’s Greased Lightning! Young actors from Boroughbridge are taking to the stage tonight to put on Grease the musical.

The youth group of The Hightimers, an amateur theatre company, are putting on the musical two years later than originally planned.

The show was casted in 2020 but due to the pandemic it had to be delayed. After a few cast stages and new members, the kids can finally take to the stage.

The ‘Pink Ladies’

The first show is this evening at 7.30pm in the Coronation Hall. It will be performed at the same time on Friday and Saturday evening as well as a 1.30pm Saturday matinee show.

Director, Marlo Lomas, said:

“The kids have worked so hard and so have the crew to ensure that we put on a cracking show for the audience. So, for all you Greasers Pink Ladies out there let’s go back in time together and support these kids. You will not be disappointed.”

Tickets can be bought online, here, Boroughbridge Post Office, cafe Chez Nous and Ripon’s Realitea.

Read more:

• First Ripon Theatre Festival launches today
• Sculpture trail opens at Newby Hall

The “T-Birds” 

A BMW was destroyed by fire on the A1 near Boroughbridge last night.

Firefighters from Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge were called to the blaze at 9.16pm last night.

They used two hose reels and two breathing apparatus to douse the flames.

It is not believed anyone was injured but in a tweet last night North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said:

“Vehicle totally destroyed. Two hose reels and two breathing apparatus used. Believed to be due to an electrical fault.”

Plumes of smoke rising above the carriageway. Photograph: @NorthYorksFire, Twitter

It was one of two car fires in the district last night.

A crew from Boroughbridge was called when a Skoda Fabia caught fire in Minskip shortly before 8pm.

The cause is again believed to be a faulty engine.

The Skoda engine suffered fire, heat and smoke damage.

Read more:

• Fire warning to farmers after dung heap spontaneously combusts
• Harrogate firefighter brands plans to rely on one fire engine ‘farcical’

The owners of the Crown Hotel in Boroughbridge have unveiled plans for a £450,000 refurbishment.

The Coaching Inn Group took over the historic 37-bedroom hotel back in February after its parent company, RedCat Pub Company, purchased it from Best Western for an undisclosed fee.

Now, according to planning documents submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, the company looks set to refurbish the site.

The plans include a range of alternations both inside and outside the hotel including creation of cycle and motorbike parking, new external hanging baskets, new signage and painting scheme and an outdoor seating area.

It also includes proposals to refurbish the current facilities, including the bar, kitchen, office and reception area and the creation of a coffee lounge.

Read more:

• Historic 37-room Boroughbridge pub and hotel sold
• Knaresborough’s Dower House accelerates closure of spa and gym
• Knaresborough Museum plan given go-ahead

JEH Planning, the agent which submitted the plans on behalf of Coaching Inn Group, said in a planning statement that the hotel had been in “decline as a business”.

It added:

“The Crown Hotel at Boroughbridge has been in decline as a business. 

“The building has not benefitted from the level of investment commensurate with its high architectural and historic significance. 

“Over the years piecemeal changes and additions have resulted in a situation that does not optimise the use of the building or serve to enhance its special character.

“The Coaching Inn Group have recently purchased the property and are keen to undertake sensitive refurbishment works. They have a significant budget of around £450,000 to invest in undertaking these works.”

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the planned refurbishments at a later date.

A body has been found in the search for a missing 31-year-old from Minskip, near Boroughbridge.

Luke Earnshaw was reported missing after leaving home on Saturday just before 2.30pm.

He was seen walking down Thorndikes Lane towards Staveley.

North Yorkshire Police said the body found today has not been formally identified but is believed to be that of the missing man. His family have been informed.

Posting on a local Facebook group, a family member thanked everyone who had helped in the search for Mr Earnshaw.

She also praised police officers’ support to the family, adding:

“He’s finally at peace after suffering with mental health for many years.”

Read more:

• Police search for missing man last seen in Harrogate
• Police find missing Ripon man

World-class opera singers used to performing in New York and Paris will be at the picture-perfect village of Aldborough for a production of Handel’s Theodora tomorrow evening.

The performance will take place on the opening day of the two-week Northern Aldborough Festival, which hosts some huge names in jazz, opera and pop music.

Theodora will be the biggest performance in the festival’s 29-year history and will be performed in the 14th century St Andrew’s Church, which is rich in history.

The Stray Ferret dropped in on rehearsals at the church this morning and met Robert Ogden, the festival’s director.

He said:

“There isn’t a huge amount up north where you can go to a small rural community like Aldborough and hear world class artists that have just stepped off platforms in London, Paris or New York.

“You can get very close. Some stages are bigger than this church, so you’re right in the thick of it hearing these world class performances.”

Theodora is being played by soprano Fflur Wyn and directed by Joe Austin, whose recent credits include Katya Kabanova at the Royal Opera House.

It will include a line-up of soloists, chorus and orchestra under the baton of Baroque specialist, Julian Perkins.

Mr Ogden called the opera “a tragic tale”.

“It’s about persecution and a small sect of Christians in Pagan times that are in hiding practicing their religion. There’s an edict from the emperor that says anyone who doesn’t worship the pagan god will be killed.

“It does take quite a dark turn but it’s very moving. It’s about a noblewoman called Theodora who is very devout and a young Roman soldier who who wants to rescue her.”

Read more: 

• Boroughbridge Town Council ‘very concerned’ about state of road
• Rural property firm opens office in Boroughbridge

Other festival highlights

The festival,  near Boroughbridge, will also include an appearance by the British bass, Sir John Tomlinson, who will star in a new opera by John Casken based on Shakespeare’s King Lear.

There will also be performances from Blur’s Britpop rebel rock star turned cheesemaker, Alex James, and classical guitar player Sean Shibe.

Other acts include an evening of jazz by Claire Martin and clarinetists Julian Bliss performing with leading pianist James Baillieu. Clare Hammond, a leading light on the UK piano scene, will play Schubert, Stravinsky and Schumann.

As well as established names, the festival supports young talent. It hosts a Young Artists Showcase, as well as the upcoming harp and saxophone duo, The Polaris Duo.

On the final evening, the grounds of Aldborough Manor will be opened for the festival finale, an outdoor concert with fireworks that often attracts around 1,000 people.

The last night concert features Harrogate-born vocalist Alex Denny of The Big Cheese, with high-voltage pop and rock covers, supported by So 80s, who set a light show to 80s tracks.

To book tickets for Theodora or any of the other events visit here.

This advertorial is sponsored by Elderflower Homecare.

Three years ago, Katie Livesley was working as a nanny but, after looking after her auntie who had early-onset dementia, she decided to change tack and she is now building her career at Elderflower Homecare.

Starting out as a homecare and rehabilitation assistant in August 2019, Katie has worked her way up to care co-ordinator. Now, she not only cares for clients in their own homes, but she also spends part of her time working in the office, supporting clients and staff. 

Elderflower Homecare is a care provider covering Boroughbridge, Ripon and local villages and supporting people in their own homes. 

Despite having no previous experience in health and social care, Katie was given the support and training to develop.

Elderflower offered her in-house training and the opportunity to undertake a National Vocational Qualification in health and social care.

The company also supports its carers through paid mileage and providing uniforms and PPE.

Katie said the team has helped her feel at home.

She said:

“It’s just nice to be part of a big family.

“Everybody helps each other out and every day is totally different.”

At Elderflower, she helps a range of clients including people with disabilities and dementia.

But her responsibilities do not stop there, Katie also looks after marketing, social media and publishes a monthly newsletter.

Part of a team of around 40 staff, she said carers at Elderflower are given the space to build a rapport with their clients.

Katie said:

“We are provided with our uniform and a work phone. We get paid our mileage as we all need to drive to see our clients.

“It’s a really worthwhile job and I feel we’re helping our clients lead the lives they want in their own homes.”

For more information on how you can join Elderflower Homecare as a carer, visit their website.

A man was rescued from the River Ure at Sharow, near Ripon, today.

Firefighters were called to the river near Lowfield Lane at 9.39am this morning.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log, water crews from Ripon, Boroughbridge, Richmond, Harrogate and Selby “responded to a report of a male partially in the river”.

The incident log adds:

“The man was brought back up the embankment by fire crews and paramedics on a spinal board, to a waiting helicopter, for transfer to hospital with hypothermic symptoms.”

No further details have been provided.

Read more:

• Hotspots cause second fire in days at old rectory near Ripon
• Cuts to Harrogate fire crews would ‘put money before lives’, says ex-firefighter

From street parties to concerts, the Harrogate district celebrated the Queen’s platinum jubilee in style this past week.

Across the district people draped themselves and their neighbourhoods in red, white and blue as part of the four-day bank holiday weekend.

In Harrogate, a jubilee square was set up just for the occasion while Ripon had a feast of celebrations in the market square.

Read More:

• New horn is the jewel in the crown of Ripon’s royal celebrations
• Your memories of how the district celebrated the Queen’s silver jubilee in 1977

Masham featured a parade of floats and fancy dress, and Knaresborough had an array of events to mark the jubilee.

The Stray Ferret was out every day capturing the celebrations and you can watch our montage of how the district celebrated the jubilee below.

This live blog of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is proudly sponsored by Boundless Networks – delivering quality broadband connectivity at a reasonable cost to homes and businesses in the Harrogate district.

A feast of street parties is set to bring the jubilee weekend to a close. We will be praying for fine weather and covering the festivities in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Masham, as well as the villages in between.

Our reporters will be out and about but please let us know what’s happening where you are and send us pictures so we can add them to this blog. DM us on Facebook or email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

5.35pm: Jubilee reunion for sisters of 1977

Three sisters who celebrated the 1977 silver jubilee waving flags did the same thing today on the same street where they grew up.

Their parents, David and Nelda, are one of two original families still living on Carr Close in Ripon.  The couple, aged 82, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary this year.

They bought the house new in 1973 and all three daughters live around the corner.

That seems like a fitting way to end our four days of live jubilee coverage. We hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for all your photos of beacons, street parties, pig races and everything else.

We will publish a jubilee photo gallery tomorrow.

4.46pm: Ripon rotary clubs unite

The family day provided a meeting point for friends from the Rotary Club of Ripon and Rotary Club of Ripon Rowels, whose charity work can be seen all over the city. They were joined by major Ripon benefactor Michael Abrahams (left).

He is pictured with, from the left: Peter Race (Rotary Club of Ripon) Josie Suddards (Inner Wheel of the Rotary Club of Ripon Rowels) Janet Race, Jenny Moss and Audrey Long (all members of the Inner Wheel of Ripon Rotary Club) and, front David Suddards of the Rotary Club of Ripon Rowels, which gave platinum jubilee pennies to every pupil at the 17 primary schools in Ripon and neighbouring villages.

After such a busy week for event stewards Elaine Reed (pictured left) and Cat Midgley, you might have expected them to be flagging, but there were smiles from them right until the end of four fantastic days that underlined Ripon’s status as one on the most royal and loyal places in the land.

3.55pm: Ripon’s big weekend draws to a close

Ripon’s packed programme of jubilee events is coming to an end. Our city-based reporter Tim has been at the heart of things for the last four days.

It was a day for both waving and wearing the flag, as the curtain came down on Ripon’s platinum jubilee celebrations with the focus on families, as epitomised by the fact that great grandmother Hazel Barker, of event organiser The Ripon Community Poppy Project had four generations of her family present, including grandson Martin Wright and great grandchildren Evie (aged 6) and cousins Alana and Imogen aged 5.

For Martin, it was an opportunity to dress to impress, with his Union Jack jacket, trousers and hat.

Ensuring that activities went off safely, was Andy Langford (pictured left) the safety manager overseeing four days of revelry in Ripon Market Square and this afternoon’s family day in Spa Park. He is pictured with Stuart Martin of Ripon Community Poppy Project, who told the Stray Ferret:

“The city-wide celebrations have been amazing and Ripon has done Her Majesty proud.”

3.05pm: Neighbours sing along to Sweet Caroline

This is what it’s all about… dancing in the street with neighbours to Sweet Caroline.

Almost 100 people from Carr Close in Ripon and invited guests got together this afternoon after resident Jennifer Spurgeon applied to close the street.

The gathering included a couple from Australia, who are friends with people who live on Carr Close.

June Wren, 91, wore a hat her mother made for the coronation in 1953.

There was a Queen’s pudding tent, line dancing and badminton.

2.40pm: Maypole fun in Burton Leonard

2.15pm: Band starts family fun in Ripon’s Spa Park 

The Ripon City Band kicked off Spa Park’s Platinum Jubilee family day with an ABBA medley..

1.40pm: Huby gets in the swing

There’s a fabulous party going on in Strait Lane, Huby. Below are some images we’ve been sent.

Send us pics of your jubilee events today and we will include then in our blog. DM us on Facebook or email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

1.25pm: Street parties underway!

Valerie Sanderson, 99, was invited to cut the ribbon this afternoon to start the street party in Almsford Oval, Harrogate.

The street is having a bake-off at 3pm organised by resident Karen Loughran.

Here’s a video and some images of the party.

Jake Crossfield who is 3 years old sent the Queen a letter and drew a picture of her majesty on it to tell her the street was having a party. She wrote back to thank him and wished him a lovely time!

Jean Whinnett who organised making the banner with her husband Alan said:

“We wanted to include all the children in the street – around 20 children were involved. The youngest was 6 months! We have an amazing community here. Everybody takes part”

1.02pm: Ripon Spa Park hosts family afternoon

From 2pm to 5pm today, Ripon Spa Park will be the main focus of the city’s final jubilee celebrations. The family day includes an afternoon tea along with music and children’s entertainment, including face painting, jubilee crafts and a treasure hunt led by Ripon Community Poppy Project. Members of Ripon City Band will performing its version of Last Night at the Proms.

12.32pm: Spitfire flypast at Newby Hall cancelled

Bad news – the weather has put paid to today’s Spitfire flypast at Tractor Fest at Newby Hall, near Boroughbridge.

@thestrayferret @your_harrogate @HgateAdvertiser @yorkshirepost Unfortunately bad weather in the South means no Spitfire flypast over the show today. Still lots of tractors and engines to enjoy though on our final day! #ripon @visitripon #yorkshire #tractor #tractors

— Tractor Fest (@thetractorfest) June 5, 2022

12.23pm: Picnic on the Stray in Harrogate

A picnic has just got underway on the Stray. Later in the day it will broadcast the films Encanto and The Greatest Showman on the big screens at 3pm and 5pm respectively.

Here’s a pic from last night’s big screen broadcast of the jubilee party at Buckingham Palace.

11.41am: Thunderstorm weather warning removed!

The weather forecast continues to inch in the right direction. The yellow weather warming for thunderstorms in the Harrogate district has been removed and the maximum temperature forecast has crept up to, er, 14 degrees centigrade!

Good news!

The yellow thunderstorm warning that just crept in to our district for today has been cancelled. While we may still see rain there are currently no weather warnings in force for the HBC area and the flood risk is very low.

Have a grand Sunday. pic.twitter.com/BzUb9SeTXl

— HBCEmergencyPlanning (@HBCPrepared) June 5, 2022

11.26am: Free electric buses today

The electric service on the 2A, 2B, 3 and 6 are free today as part of a joint initiative between the Harrogate Bus Company and Harrogate Business Improvement District.

https://twitter.com/harrogatebus/status/1533347639856484352

10.20am: 3,000 people party in Ripon as new horn handed over

Ripon’s impressive bank holiday celebrations continued yesterday when about 3,000 people attended the Market Square celebrations, which included 12 hours of live music.

Last night also saw the new ceremonial horn handed over. You can read more here.

9.47am: 500 people expected at Bishop Monkton street party 

Bishop Monkton is preparing to stage one of the biggest street parties in the Harrogate district today. The throne which will transport the village Queen at the head of a ‘seven decades’ fancy dress parade is ready and the village is expecting to have an even bigger event than the last jubilee in 2012 with almost 500 people, about two thirds of the population, booked to attend.

9.27am: Free entertainment for kids about to start in Valley Gardens

It’s your last chance to catch the runaway train, bungee jump on trampolines and enjoy numerous other rides for children. There will also be magicians, a choir, juggling and face painting.

9.22am: Weather forecast improves!

We’ve had three days of mainly pleasant jubilee weather. Today’s forecast has looked a bit iffy for a while and although you’re unlikely to need your sun cream, with temperatures struggling to get above 14 degrees centigrade in Harrogate, the threat of rain has receded sightly.

It was due to rain from about midday but according to the latest update from the BBC, it might hold off until this evening. There’s also the small matter of a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms in place, but let’s not worry about that just yet.

9.15am: Where the Stray Ferret reporters will be today

Tim will be covering events in Ripon.

John will be in and around Harrogate.

Tamsin will be covering events across the district.

Say hello if you see us in our Stray Ferret hats and please send us your photos to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk and we will do our best to upload them on to our blog throughout the day.