Carnival is set to take place in Harrogate this month with an international parade through the town centre and a celebration featuring music and dance in Valley Gardens.

The free, family-friendly festival will take place on Saturday, July 30 and will feature performers from Leeds West Indian Carnival, who will parade through Harrogate town centre joined by Houriat Belly Dancing, Sweep of Swallows kite puppets, Chinese dragon dancers, brass bands and more.

Following the morning parade, an all-day celebration will take place in Valley Gardens including street theatre, interactive workshops, international street food and two stages hosting music and dance performances.

The event, which was previously held in 2019, has been paid for by Harrogate Borough Council‘s tourism body, Destination Harrogate, and will be delivered by Harrogate International Festivals.

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John McGivern, destination events manager at Destination Harrogate, said:

“Carnival is an awesome family-friendly and multicultural event that both local residents and visitors can enjoy, and we’re delighted to be bringing it back to the Harrogate district this year.

“It feels like a great time to celebrate, not only a wonderful event, but with early signs from the recently released STEAM* and STR** figures suggesting a strong start to the summer season, we can look forward to this event also boosting the recovery of our visitor economy.

“Carnival helps to showcase the quality of the Harrogate district as a unique events destination, and we’re excited for our amazing summer continuing with this fantastic celebratory event.”

Sharon Canavar, chief executive, Harrogate International Festivals, said:

“After an incredibly tough couple of years for our community it is wonderful to be able to celebrate with a huge party and celebration in our beautiful open spaces. The Carnival is free for everyone to attend and celebrate the diversity, colours, costumes, sounds and flavours from the four quarters of the world, right here in Harrogate. With global music and dance stages, themed food zones, art and craft workshops and street theatre, this family-friendly day is a true party in every sense of the word.

“Think Rio in Rhododendrons, parade in the petunias, sounds in the sun colonnades, food in the flora and dancing in the dahlias, and you will begin to get a taste of what the day holds in store.”

A new council-backed tourism body for North Yorkshire is expected to launch by spring next year, despite continuing uncertainty about what its functions will be.

A meeting of local authority leaders in North Yorkshire and York heard council officers’ discussions with regional tourism firms were set to conclude this month, the outcomes of which would shape what type of organisation could be developed and its funding structure.

The meeting was told the development of a proposal for a replacement organisation to Welcome to Yorkshire remained at a very early stage, four months after it was placed in administration following years of financial and reputational issues.

However, council chiefs for York and Harrogate highlighted their areas already had well-established tourism marketing and management services and were looking for a strategic regional body to support.

Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson told the meeting it was important that organisations such as its tourism body, Destination Harrogate, did not lose their identity. He said:

“What we’d be keen to see is some integration with a region-wide body. We feel there are some strong benefits to marketing the Yorkshire region as a whole because it has a strong brand. ”

After the meeting, North Yorkshire County Council leader Councillor Carl Les said:

“What we’re looking at as leaders is more about destination management, not just destination marketing.

“It was always thought to have the proper conversations with people in the industry and the councils that it would take until the autumn before an option could be put before the leaders.”

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While some council leaders say the collapse of Welcome to Yorkshire has seen the loss of potential significant interventions in the tourism economy this year,  some councils have used their own staff to take on tasks previously undertaken by the tourism body.

The meeting heard it remained far from clear what type of publicly-backed tourism organisation was wanted across York and North Yorkshire, let alone Yorkshire as a whole, with different areas seeking a body with different functions.

Complications in deciding the way forward, the meeting heard, included agreeing potential deals with Wensleydale entrepreneur Robin Scott’s Silicone Dales, who bought Welcome to Yorkshire’s assets, including the rights to the Tour de Yorkshire, in April.

North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton said following further discussions between the council and the tourism sector a decision on the new organisation’s structure was scheduled to made before Christmas in the hope that the new tourism body could be launched by April next year.

He described the timescale as being “tight and ambitious”.

The region’s official tourism agency was placed into administration at the start of March after council leaders pulled the plug on public funding after years of reputational and financial problems.

Mr Flinton said while Welcome to Yorkshire’s assets had not been bought by a local government body, there was still “a lot of appetite” amongst councils for a body established to protect tourism, promote the brand of Yorkshire and pick up some of Welcome to Yorkshire’s work.

The proposed £47 million redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre will seek cash from the government’s Levelling Up fund.

Harrogate Borough Council is behind the major project and has today confirmed it will bid to the second round of the fund which has a limit of £20m per project and a submission deadline of July 6.

The redevelopment plans were first revealed in 2020, but questions over how the project would be funded have remained ahead of the council being abolished next April.

The council issued a statement today, but did not say how much it would bid for.

It said:

“We can confirm we will be submitting a formal bid through the government’s Levelling Up Fund to help support the redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre.

“If successful, a version without commercially sensitive information will be available on our website after the announcement.”

The Levelling Up Fund was set up to help areas in need of economic recovery and growth, and each project must have the support of an area’s local MP.

Cash for the 40-year-old convention centre has also been included in a proposed devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York, which is currently being negotiated with government.

It is expected that a deal will be reached this summer, although there are questions over what funding could be agreed for the convention centre.

The venue has been described as in “critical need” of an upgrade by the council which previously said that without investment its maintenance costs could reach £19 million over the next two decades.

The proposed redevelopment could involve three exhibition halls being demolished to make way for a new 5,000 sq m hall and a refurbished auditorium.

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Plans to refurbish the venue’s studio two with a flexible events space for up to 1,200 delegates are also included in the proposals.

A start date for these works was earmarked for October, although the wider project has yet to be given approval.

Figures revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service last year showed the council has already spent £1.5 million on planning the redevelopment ahead of a final decision from councillors.

Contracts have been awarded to several companies to produce design and feasibility works, an economic impact assessment and a business case.

These works will be presented to the council’s cabinet in “the coming months,” a spokesperson said.

In the first round of the Levelling Up Fund, Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council submitted a joint bid for £6 million for regeneration projects in Ripon, Skipton and Masham.

The projects would have included “high-quality place-making, improved cultural and community assets, and improved sustainable connectivity” in the three areas.

However, the bid was not successful and no funding was awarded.

A plan to tackle the affordable housing crisis in North Yorkshire by doubling the council tax charge on second homes has received a mixed reception.

North Yorkshire County Council has said the proposal to introduce a 100% council tax premium on all second homes in the county from April 2024 will depend on the government passing legislation in the coming months.

The move would double an average band D council tax charge for second home owners to more than £4,100 in some of the most heavily affected areas of the county.

Announcing the proposal, the authority stated it had potential to generate an annual £14m windfall to fund services and affordable housing schemes, funding for which the North Yorkshire Rural Commission identified as a significant challenge. About £1.5m would come from the Harrogate district.

Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock, whose drive to introduce a council tax premium on second homes was rejected by Richmondshire District Council four years ago, said she was “absolutely delighted” by the county council’s proposal.

She said the premium would bring some rarely used second homes on to the market as “people don’t like paying over the odds for anything”, while the funding it would generate would overcome one of the biggest obstacles to building affordable houses.

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About half of the “windfall” would come from properties in Scarborough district, especially along the coast, and a further large proportion from Richmondshire, which the county council has stated would be shared with all precepting authorities, such as police, rather than ploughed directly back into the most affected areas.

A report to a meeting of the council’s executive, which is considering the proposal on Tuesday, warns that numerous concerns have been raised whether the second homes premium might encourage council tax premium avoidance, with owners transferring properties to holiday lets to qualify for discounted business rates.

Devaluing fears

The proposal has been met with open hostility by some who say it has potential to flood the housing market with properties, devaluing homes and undermining the viability of businesses which depend on second home owners.

County council Independent group leader Councillor Stuart Parsons described the move as “one of the stupidest suggestions the Tories have ever come up with”, adding it would cause more damage than good as there would be “so many loopholes people could dodge out of paying the premium as they wish”.

Restricting the premium to second homes rather than holiday lets would simply lead to the creation of “a multitude of small companies”, he added, to which owners would pay a small nominal fee to themselves to stay at their properties.

Cllr Parsons predicted the authority would see a net loss in council tax as a result and that a levy limited to 100 per cent more council tax would be “pass vaguely unnoticed” by many second homeowners.

Other local politicians have claimed some areas of the county are suffering more due to holiday lets than second homes.

Nevertheless, Councillor John Amsden, chairman of planning in Richmondshire district, said while he welcomed action, the proposed premium would be “a non-starter unless you can pin a property’s ownership down”.

He said:

“It is a step in the right direction, but the problem is now local people cannot afford many of the properties due to a rise in demand, particularly in areas with good broadband connections, after the pandemic.

“Why should we have to suffer depopulation, see our infrastructure like schools and roads dwindle and watch hospitality industry struggle to find staff due to people wanting a second home?”

Harrogate’s Leon drive-thru restaurant on Wetherby Road will open on Friday from 7am.

The Mediterranean-inspired fast food chain will be open daily from 7am to 10pm, except Sundays when it will be open from 8am to 10pm. It will have 70 covers, including some outdoor seating.

The restaurant has created 20 jobs and will feature digital kiosks.

Alex Parkinson, a Harrogate local who was originally hired by Leon as the assistant general manager at the firm’s Gildersome drive-thru, is leading the team.

The company describes itself as being good for the environment and its menu includes “carbon neutral” burgers, rice boxes, breakfast muffins, egg pots and cakes.

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The opening will end a saga that has gone back several years.

Originally, a Starbucks coffee drive-thru was planned for the site but it was refused by Harrogate Borough Council only for the decision to be overturned by a government inspector.

Concerns remain from residents who live near the site on how the drive-thru will affect traffic on the busy Wetherby Road.

Leon was bought by Blackburn billionaires the Issa brothers in 2021.

Glenn Edwards, Leon’s managing director said:

“Since opening our first drive-thru restaurant last year, we have been eager to grow this style of restaurant in order to  bring Leon to more guests and allow them to experience Leon while on the go – something that aligns with our mission to bring naturally fast food that tastes good, does you good and is kind to the planet.

“Our opening in Harrogate is a massive achievement across all fronts.”

Harrogate Borough Council is pushing ahead with proposals to build a new plant nursery as a replacement for its Harlow Hill site, which will become new housing.

However, the council has refused to reveal its preferred location for the new nursery.

Around 60 homes are set to be built at the existing site, which was allocated for development in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35 two years ago, although a planning application has yet to be submitted.

The plans have previously been met with anger from residents who objected to the closure of the Harlow Hill nursery where thousands of plants are grown each year for the district’s award-winning gardens.

In March, the Stray Ferret revealed two proposals for the site.

£50,000 consultants’ fee

Councillor Sam Gibbs, the council’s new cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, has this week signed off £50,000 for “in-depth professional advice,” site surveys and other works to progress the replacement nursery plans.

A council spokesperson said these proposals are in the early stages and that it wanted to see whether the unnamed preferred site is “viable”.

The spokesperson said:

“To ensure we can continue to deliver and develop the award winning floral displays for which the Harrogate district is well known for and attracts thousands of visitors every year, alternative locations are now being explored.

“Following a successful bid for funding, the council has commissioned consultants to look at master planning and delivery options for the site with a focus on achieving innovative, quality design.

“The development will not be progressed in advance of certainty regarding the relocation of the nursery.”

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The spokesperson also said the housing plans will include “a range of private and affordable homes”.

The council previously spent another £50,000 on a “professional site appraisal” for the new nursery plans after holding a consultation on the future of the Harlow Hill site

One resident responded to the survey to say:

“I hope this nursery is not going to close. Don’t ruin anything with more houses please.”

Another said:

“It would be a very, very sad day if the site was sold off for housing.”

The organisation that commissions local GP services has issued a strongly worded objection to a plan to build 53 homes in Bilton.

North East property developer Jomast wants to build the homes on a field off Knox Lane, in what has been a controversial and long-running planning application.

Many objections from residents in Knox and Bilton have focused on the impact of the potential new homes on roads and congestion.

Knox Lane

However, NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group says GP practices in Harrogate are already over-saturated and have “very limited capacity” to accept another 123 patients that the new homes could bring.

The letter says:

“Having consulted with the local GP practices and primary care networks directly impacted we wish to strongly object to this proposed residential development.

“As primary care providers, the GPs and primary care networks are extremely concerned regarding any proposals for further residential development within Harrogate. The existing health infrastructure in Harrogate already operates above optimum capacity and has very limited capacity to absorb additional pressures.

“Primary care and community services within the area are already running at, or far beyond their existing capacity. This is further compounded by the fact that primary care networks practices are operating in substandard buildings limiting their ability to cope with the existing high patient demand.”

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The letter adds the application offers “no provision” for healthcare services for residents, but approved, Jomast should make a payment to the CCG through a section 106 agreement.

The CCG has used an NHS formula to calculate that the developer should pay £63,974, which will be spent by GP practices.

But it warns that this figure would only make up a small part of what is required by GPs.

A spokesperson for Jomast’s planning consultant Spawforths said it is currently considering the comments from the CCG and will issue a response in due course.

Latest blow

The objection from the CCG is another blow for the developer’s hopes of building the scheme in its current form.

Last month, North Yorkshire County Council said the layout of the development was ‘not acceptable’ and the plan should be refused unless the developer agrees to pay to widen the road.

Pinewoods Conservation Group is to meet representatives from Harrogate Spring Water to discuss the company’s plans to expand its bottling plant.

The French-owned firm announced last month it will revert to its original 2017 planning application, which involves felling trees in a section of the Pinewoods called Rotary Wood.

However, the number of trees felled would be less than contained in plans rejected last year by Harrogate Borough Council.

Harrogate Spring Water’s new application will propose how the lost trees will be compensated for.

The meeting is set to take place within the next few weeks. It will be the first time the charity, which protects the council-owned woodland, has met the company since it announced it was pressing ahead with the expansion.

Online platform

The charity has used online polling platform Harrogate District Consensus to find out what is and isn’t acceptable to residents with the new planning application.

At the time of publication, over 420 people have given their thoughts on issues such as how many trees the company should replant and plastic pollution and biodiversity loss.

Neil Hind, chair of Pinewoods Conservation Group, said it would bring some of the most popular statements that people have submitted to the meeting in the hopes of presenting a consensus.

He said:

“We know this is a very emotive subject, so we need a way to gather some more scientific based views from our members, visitors to the Pinewoods and Harrogate residents. This system allows people to agree or disagree with statements but also add new statements to express their own feeling on the subject.

“We hope that this will form a consensus of views and even some new thinking on this issue. We would really encourage people to get involved and make their views known. These views will then be shared with the Harrogate Spring Water and Danone management when we meet and will also be used as part of our submission to the consultation process.”

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Harrogate Spring Water’s new chief executive Richard Hall recently told the Stray Ferret the company would be “much more open” about its latest plans, which are yet to be submitted to Harrogate Borough Council.

A series of meetings with local stakeholder groups are planned and there will be an open consultation event next month.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water, whose headquarters is on Harlow Moor Road. said:

“We are starting our consultation process this month via meetings with community stakeholder groups prior to an open public consultation event which we plan to hold in July.

“We will announce details of this event shortly, but anyone who cannot come along can still have their say via a dedicated webpage at https://www.harrogatespring.com/facility-extension/”

Two Harrogate taxi drivers delivered a letter signed by 154 cabbies to Harrogate Borough Council’s Civic Centre this morning protesting against a raft of new licence conditions they believe are unfair.

The changes, which were approved by the council in April, include potentially revoking a driver’s licence if they receive seven penalty points.

They also stipulate drivers must keep taxi plates on their vehicles even when they are not working, attend mandatory training courses and adhere to stricter rules around scuffs and scratches on vehicles.

Following the Stray Ferret’s article on the new conditions last week, the taxi drivers received some criticism on social media for opposing the seven penalty points rule.

Blueline driver David Goodall wanted to stress that drivers are “not asking for permission” to speed but that the points ban was only one aspect of the changes that he believes will irreparably hurt the trade.

He added:

“What we want is for the council to understand within our occupation you can inadvertently go over the speed limit such as when we have a difficult customer in the car or if someone has a medical emergency and there’s a need to get to hospital quickly.”

Taxi driver Musa Ebzao believes making drivers display their taxi plates at all times could put their security at risk and make their cars or their homes a target for thieves.

“I’ve been threatened by somebody who wanted to burn down my house. The plates are telling people where we live.

“Also so many times, people break in thinking there’s money in the taxi and steal what’s in the meter or sat nav. That has happened many times.”

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He added that sending experienced drivers on four days of compulsory training was “really insulting”.

“Send me on a course to teach manners and honesty? We already have that. I find it really insulting. I have been taxi driving for 30 years on and off.”

Legal action

Mr Ebzao and Mr Goodall said they will be awaiting a response from the council licensing team but hadn’t ruled out future legal action or protests.

Mr Goodall said:

“An increasing concern is the manner the council is using these conditions as a way of antagonising and persecuting licensed drivers.

“The council should abandon this policy, start from scratch, and consult all the licensed drivers. What we want is common sense, that’s all we ask.”

A council spokesperson said it would not be issuing a response to the letter and that its position has not changed from last week’s statement, which said:

“The safety of customers using taxis is paramount.

“Seven penalty points issued for motoring offences is consistent with proposals for City of York and the West Yorkshire authorities and is recommended in national guidance.

“Taxi drivers’ licences are reviewed on an individual basis when points accumulate. And while the policy specifies seven points, an opportunity is given to the driver to put their side and reasons why their licence should not be revoked.

“Once a vehicle is licensed it is always a licensed vehicle and the law does not permit drivers to take licence plates off. It cannot sometimes be a private vehicle and sometimes be a licensed vehicle at the driver’s choice. And by ensuring a valid licence plate is secured and displayed at all times it allows the public to identify the vehicle as licenced by the local authority, and prevents it being stolen and used by others.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s claim that 120,000 visitors attended two jubilee events over the recent four-day weekend has been questioned.

To celebrate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, the council and Harrogate Business Improvement District turned part of the Stray into Jubilee Square. The venue included a stage and big screens showing events such as the Queen’s birthday parade.

Valley Gardens hosted a free family festival, organised by the council, which featured jugglers, magicians, choirs and fairground rides. An artisan market was also held in the Sun Colonnade in the gardens.

The free rides in Valley Gardens were a hit with families.

Following the two events, the council’s tourism body Destination Harrogate issued a news release that said 120,000 visitors attended over the four days.

Whilst the events were clearly popular, the council’s figures suggest as many people attended them as the British Grand Prix, Leeds Festival or the Great Yorkshire Show.

How was the figure calculated?

The Stray Ferret asked the council how the figure of 120,000 was calculated.

At Valley Gardens, a system called PFM counted whenever someone entered, meaning one person could be counted multiple times.

A council spokesperson confirmed that “if people went between two sites then they could be counted twice”. They added:

“Of course, when it isn’t a ticketed event you can’t be 100 per cent but we believe over the four days there were more than 120,000 visits to both locations.”

The council’s method of counting visits means that a family of four would have been counted 8 times if they had begun the day at the Valley Gardens, gone to the Stray and returned to Valley Gardens later in the day.

Jubilee Square on the Sunday night.

If they did the same thing again the next day, the same family would have been counted another 8 times.

This suggests the true number of people that attended the events could be significantly lower than the “120,000 visitors” stated in the news release.

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‘Loose with the facts’

Harrogate district resident and transparency campaigner Alex Smith has queried the council’s use of statistics on previous occasions.

He has questioned its claim that three million people visit Valley Gardens a year and has also queried a comment by Conservative council leader Richard Cooper that 88% of Harrogate Convention Centre conference delegates return to the district for leisure.

Mr Smith accused the council of using “bogus” visitor numbers to trumpet its jubilee events and to justify spending on projects such as the proposed £47m redevelopment of the convention centre.

He added:

“Obviously this is an attempt at PR for their Destination Harrogate intentions.

“But with the future of of the town centre at stake we deserve better than a council playing fast and loose with the facts.”

Asked to respond to Mr Smith’s comments, the council spokesperson insisted its jubilee figure was accurate. They said:

“We use a system called PFM that records visitor numbers to Valley Gardens in Harrogate. This system recorded 120,258 visitors between Thursday 1 June and Sunday 4 June.

“As we knew visitors could – and would understandably want to – enjoy all the events taking place across Harrogate town centre, we used a rounded figure and phrase of ‘more than 120,000’.”