Harrogate Borough Council will again leave sections of the Stray uncut this year to improve biodiversity.

In 2021, the council’s parks team left grass verges close to the roadside on West Park Stray uncut until late autumn.

The new look was welcomed by many who saw it as a sign that the council, which manages parks and green spaces, is serious about improving biodiversity and attracting bees, birds and insects.

But those who cherish Harrogate’s long reputation for organised and elegant planting said it made the town look untidy.

Others suggested the move was down to cost-saving reasons, which the council denied.

A council spokeswoman said this morning:

“We will be repeating what we did last year and will leave the bulb areas on the Stray uncut until September/October time.”

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Two potential plans for housing at Harlow Nurseries in Harrogate have emerged.

The site next to the Pinewoods is owned by Harrogate Borough Council and sells plants, pots and compost to the public.

However, the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, says 40 homes can be built there. The nursery will relocate if a development goes ahead.

Two options for how it could look were displayed at Pinewoods Conservation Group‘s annual general meeting on Monday by the charity’s chair Neil Hind. Both contain more than 40 homes.

The plans were drawn up by consultants on behalf of the council.

The first option includes 57 homes that are a mix of family homes and apartments.

The second option includes 62 homes and apartments and has less garden space than option one.

Both options include 30% ‘affordable’ homes. The two plans also say the development could achieve net-zero emissions, but don’t give further details on how this might be achieved.

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In September 2020, the council appointed three external consultants to draw up plans for the nurseries, as well as for two other brownfield sites in Harrogate.

The consultants will be paid with funding secured by the council in 2018.

The council received £200,000 from the Leeds City Region Business Rates Pool and £36,000 from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Impact on Pinewoods

The plans could still change before the final report is published in May.

It would need to be rubber-stamped by councillors before moving to the next stage, which could involve the sale of the site to a developer.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Hind said:

“My view is there is no point objecting, it’s in the Local Plan, it’s a brownfield site and it’s going to happen. Our role is to ensure it has as little impact on the Pinewoods as it can have.”

Pinewoods Conservation Group’s AGM on Monday evening.

Harrogate Spring Water

The AGM was attended by around 25 people. Also on the agenda was Harrogate Spring Water’s hopes to expand its bottling plant on Harlow Moor Road.

The Stray Ferret reported this week that Harrogate Borough Council has said it would consider selling Rotary Wood to the company, which is preparing to submit a new planning application.

Mr Hind told the meeting that Pinewoods Conservation Group had lawyers on hand to ensure due process on any sale was followed.

Harrogate Borough Council has said it would consider selling Rotary Wood to Harrogate Spring Water, as the company looks to expand its bottling plant on Harlow Moor Road.

The move was revealed in an email sent by Trevor Watson, the council’s director of economy and culture, to HSW in October 2021. It was obtained via a freedom of information request.

HSW leases the land where it is based, on Harlow Moor Road, from the council. The company pays the council ground rent of £13,000 a year plus turnover rent revenue, but this figure has never been publicly revealed.

The council is also the planning authority and in January last year councillors rejected a bid by HSW to expand its bottling plant into Rotary Wood.

The woodland was planted by the Rotary Club of Harrogate and local schoolchildren and is part of the council-owned Pinewoods.

In July 2021, Harrogate Spring Water said it would table new proposals to expand the bottling plant ‘within weeks’ but eight months on it has yet to do so.

Asset of Community Value

Pinewoods Conservation Group successfully registered the Pinewoods as an Asset of Community Value in 2015.

This means if the council decided to sell any of it, it must pause any sale for six months whilst it gives local community groups the chance to make an offer to buy it.

The email from the HSW employee, whose name is redacted, to Mr Watson reveals that representatives from HSW had a ‘helpful’ meeting with Conservative council leader Richard Cooper and deputy leader Graham Swift in September 2021. The ACV status of the woodland was discussed.

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In the email to Mr Watson, the HSW employee asked about the process for “releasing the land of this status”.

The email says as HSW decided to ‘do right by the town’ by not appealing last January’s refusal to grant planning permission, it asks the council to ‘lend your assistance’ around the ACV status of the wood, which it would like removed to speed up its planning application. It adds:

“A key element of the new application would be to try to expediate the process of releasing this land of its status, in order to avoid an unnecessarily protracted period of consultation and media scrutiny. I firmly believe this would be in the best interest of both parties.”

Open to offers

Mr Watson’s reply said that any sale of land with ACV status must follow due process but the authority would be open to offers.

Mr Watson added:

“The timing of all this therefore largely rests with HSW, in terms of how soon you wish to commence negotiations for the land and ultimately whether an in-principle agreement can be reached on potential disposal terms.”

He said informal discussions between the council and the business about buying the land took place “a number of years ago” but terms could not be reached.

Harrogate Spring Water’s head office on Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate.

Mr Watson said if a bid came in from HSW for the land, it would be subject to the usual six-month consultation period.

“We would therefore see the ball being in the HSW court in terms of formally approaching the council with a new, meaningful proposal for our consideration.

“If and when disposal terms are agreed in principle, the ACV process would then be formally triggered and we would carefully follow all the legal processes required, including public consultation as appropriate.”

Planning process ‘needs to be followed’

A Harrogate Spring Water spokesperson said:

“Harrogate Spring Water is evaluating its plans for the site and will communicate any update as and when that occurs. We are committed to working with the public and we will continue to keep people engaged and informed as part of the process”.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokeswoman said:

“This matter remains entirely in the hands of Harrogate Spring Water.  We wrote to them back in Autumn 2021 setting out a factual response to questions that they asked us about our decision-making processes.  We made very clear that there are distinct, statutory processes that we need to follow and that planning and land disposal processes are, quite rightly, dealt with as very separate matters. We have not had a response or any further discussions with the company on either the planning or land ownership situation”.

A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group said

“With each year that passes the Rotary Wood area of The Pinewoods becomes a more mature woodland with increasing bird and plant life, improving the biodiversity of the area and improving air quality.

“We are aware that Cllr Swift has been vocal in his support of this planned development but would be very concerned if any promises had been made to expedite any part of this complicated process and avoid full transparency and consultation. We also note that Cllr Cooper has recently been attending planning committee meeting and would hope he would now excuse himself from any future planning committee that considered these planning matters.

“However, we are somewhat comforted by comments from council officers restating the legal and planning processes that needs to be followed with respect to disposal of public land, and land that is protected as an ‘asset of community value’.

“Our lawyers will continue to monitor progress with interest.”

Plans have been submitted to convert the disused Church of St Mary on Harlow Terrace in Harrogate into seven homes and office space.

The homes would have either two or three bedrooms and 9 car parking spaces would be added.

The grade II* listed Gothic building was built in 1916 but has structural problems.

Mineral felt in the roof is leaking and the stone is deteriorating. It was designed by renowned architect Sir Walter Tapper.

In October 2020 it was placed on Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ register.

Previous plans

A different application to convert the church into office space was granted by Harrogate Borough Council in 2017 but it never materialised.

Shaw and Jagger Architects bought the church in November 2018 with the intention of turning part of the church into its offices with a business partner. 

These plans were approved in 2020 but building work did not start.

The latest proposals for the church still include office space intended for the architect firm, but most of the building would now be turned into housing.

The council will decide on the plans at a later date.

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As the landlord of the Shepherd’s Dog pub on Otley Road, Michael Schofield has been the eyes and ears of Harlow Hill for the past nine years.

He believes his unique place in the community will help give the area a stronger voice on the new North Yorkshire Council. Mr Schofield will be standing in the newly created Harlow Hill & St Georges ward for the Liberal Democrats in May’s local elections.

Newly elected councillors will sit on North Yorkshire County Council until it is replaced by the new unitary authority in April 2023.

Both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council are currently dominated by Conservative councillors but Mr Schofield said their legacy in Harrogate had not been positive.

He said the two councils have been a “shambles” on issues like housing and transport.

Harlow Hill 

Mr Schofield was a member of the LibDems since the days of the alliance with the SDP but quit when Nick Clegg “sold young people down the river” only to rejoin in recent years.

He runs the Shepherd’s Dog with his wife Donna and has lived in Harlow Hill, on-and-off, since 1982. His daughter Mollie, 16, goes to Rossett High School and Harry, 12, goes to Harrogate Grammar School.

The Liberal Democrats emailed local members asking if anyone would like to stand in the upcoming elections and he said it wasn’t a difficult decision to put himself forward.

“I’ve wanted to do it for years. I thought, ‘do you know what? I’ve had enough of the ineptitude of the council’. With all the issues we have around Harlow Hill and St George’s, it’s time for a strong voice.”

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Pub chatter

The council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which lays out where development can take place in the district until 2035, says around 4,000 new homes could be built in the area that surrounds Harlow Hill.

Some residents believe the sheer volume of housing being built is changing the west of Harrogate for the worse.

Mr Schofield said many locals are frustrated that houses are being built without the infrastructure, such as roads and schools, to support them. The council’s West of Harrogate Parameters Plan aims to address this.

There is also the ongoing debate around the Otley Road cycle path, which Mr Schofield said was a good idea, poorly executed.

He said:

“The big issue at the moment is the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan, and the infrastructure around that. There is also the cycle lane and how farcical that’s been put together.

“People are also concerned about traffic and schools. Where are the secondary school places going to come from?

“No, I’m sorry, we’ve had more than our fair share over the last four or five years. We’ve had more than enough housing. There’s no need for all this building at this end of Harrogate.”

Community spirit

During the first lockdown in 2020, Mr Schofield and his wife opened a fruit and veg shop two doors down from the pub.

He said the experience reminded him of the importance of community. He said residents wanted a councillor that lives locally and speaks up on issues that matter to them.

“People would come and talk in the shop. It was lovely to see people mixing that don’t normally mix. Nothing is stronger than a good community and Harlow Hill is a special community close to my heart.”

Mr Schofield said if he’s elected he will still be found behind the bar pulling pints.

And if he can deal with difficult customers in the pub, he says going head-to-head with opposition councillors won’t be a problem.

“We’re all soapbox politicians in the pub, but we can no longer have politicians hiding away, we need someone approachable.

“It’s a cross section in the pub. People from every party comes in here. We do talk politics, but we never fall out.”

The elections will take place on May 5. Candidates must submit nomination forms by April 5.

A new roadmap for the creation of a single council for the whole of North Yorkshire will “hold feet to the fire” on the promise of better services, a senior Conservative has said.

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, was one of several members of a new executive board that today approved an implementation plan for the new North Yorkshire Council set to take over from April 2023.

He said while he previously supported a rival vision for two new councils split on an east/west basis, he believed the plan would ensure the single council meets the overall aims of saving money and streamlining services.

Cllr Swift said:

“Today we have got a document in the public domain which I find extremely exciting because it starts to lay out the principles of what the new council can be.

“This is a document which can be used to display with confidence the plans that our councils have, but it will also keep our feet to the fire.”

Major change

The move to a single council will mark the biggest change to local government in North Yorkshire in almost 50 years, and will mean the existing county council and seven district and borough councils are scrapped.

It is linked to a devolution deal with government which said millions of pounds in funding and decision-making powers could only be devolved to North Yorkshire if a unitary system is introduced.

North Yorkshire County Council had proposed the single council plan, while the district and borough councils except Hambleton, which rejected all options on the table, made a bid for two councils split on an east/west basis but failed to win government support.

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These opposing views were described as an “elephant in the room” at today’s first meeting of the new executive board which is made up of 17 county, borough and district councillors from across North Yorkshire.

But members said they were willing to put their previous preferences aside in order to plan for the transition to the new council.

The implementation plan sets out how elections to the new council will take place in May, followed by the appointment of a new council chief executive by autumn and a corporate management team by January 2023.

Residents will be a priority

Almost all remaining staff will then be transferred across on April 1, 2023, as all services from bin collections to business support, and social care to highways, come under new control.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, told today’s meeting that while the transition of services and staff would be a challenge, the needs of residents would still be a priority.

He said:

“We are trying to create a strong council that will be able to meet the huge challenges that will hit the communities of North Yorkshire in the years ahead.

“There will be further austerity and that will need to be tackled by local government and other public services.

“We are finding there are growing numbers of people that need the protection of council services and we expect those challenges to rise over the coming years.”

Harrogate Borough Council‘s conservation officer has objected to the demolition of the former Debenhams building on Parliament Street.

Wetherby-based property company Stirling Prescient is behind a proposal to demolish the three buildings that Debenhams was situated in and replace them with 50 flats and two commercial units.

The site on Parliament Street has been home to different retailers for over a century. Before Debenhams, it housed the Buckley’s and Busby’s stores.

But the developer has said there is no market for the building to be reoccupied as a department store, and the 1902 and 1920-era buildings should be torn down.

‘Harmful to the streetscene’

The council’s objection was submitted last month by Emma Gibbens, principal conservation officer.

Ms Gibbens wrote:

“The loss of the traditional building form and architectural detail would be harmful to the streetscene and character and special interest of the conservation area, the building forming part of the designated heritage asset in a manner that contributes positively to its character.”

Ms Gibbens added that the developer needed to prove that the demolition was justified.

She wrote that redevelopment of the site was possible in a way that did not involve the demolition of historic buildings.

She added:

“If demolition can be proven to be required, then a revised scheme would be required for a replacement building; otherwise, the historic buildings should be retained and the later parts replaced with buildings that enhance the conservation area.”

The council’s planning committee will decide on the proposal but the objection by a senior council official is a blow to the developers.

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The council joins two influential heritage groups in submitting objections to the plans.

In January, Save Britain’s Heritage said the developer had failed to provide “clear or adequate justification” for demolishing the buildings.

The public body Historic England has also submitted an objection to the plans. Whilst welcoming the regeneration of the site, it said there should be a “sensitive conversion” of the two older department store buildings.

But the demolition has been supported by Harrogate Civic Society, which said it accepted the building was “very difficult to convert in a logical and practical way”.

However, the group objected to the height of the replacement building, which it said was “overpowering.”

Strengthen the town

A CGI view of the new apartments on Parliament Street.

The developer Stirling Prescient said in planning documents that there was no scope to convert the building into smaller units “due to its internal layout and the age of the building”.

Stirling Prescient said:

“The proposals as a whole will strengthen the town’s vitality and viability, increasing footfall and contributing to the local economy.

“The proposal represents a sustainable form of development and therefore benefits from the presumption in favour of sustainable development, meaning planning permission should be granted without delay.”

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to resurface the whole of Bogs Lane.

Previously, the council said it would only lay fresh tarmac on the stretch of road from the Forest Lane junction of Knaresborough Road to Henshaw’s College. Work began last week.

The road, just off the main A59 Knaresborough Road, is in a busy residential area that has been affected by numerous new housing schemes.

However, following requests from resident Malcolm Binks and Starbeck Liberal Democrat councillor Philip Broadbank, the county council has now agreed to resurface the whole stretch of road.

Cllr Broadbank said that this will now include the section from Henshaw’s College to the low bridge that connects Bogs Lane to Kingsley Road.

He said:

“The road’s been in a very poor condition for a long time. It beggared belief the county council didn’t decide to do it until now.”

The councillor said the resurfacing work should be completed by the end of this week.

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Harrogate Golf Club on Knaresborough Road has submitted plans to build a covered driving range.

The club, which was formed in 1892 and is the oldest golf club in Harrogate, says it will allow members to practice during poor weather.

The proposals include six practice bays as well as a dedicated training bay for the club professionals.

There would also be a golf ball cleaner and dispenser housed in a small attached building.

Planning documents state the building would be similar to other driving ranges found throughout the country. The driving range would be on a part of the course that is currently used for members to practice longer shots.

Harrogate Borough Council will decide on the plans at a later date.

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The owners of Husk Beer Emporium in Harrogate hope to open a bar this summer that showcases the best craft beers from the UK and abroad.

Danny Duckworth and Tom Gill, both 33, opened the shop on King’s Road just before the first covid lockdown. It sells a wide array of craft beers with idiosyncratic branding and flavours.

They said the next step is opening their own bar and they recently submitted plans to Harrogate Borough Council to do this.

The bar would be in a unit that was previously home to Greek restaurant Souvlaki on Station Square, opposite the Queen Victoria monument.

If all goes to plan, they said the venture could open by May. It will offer live music, meet the brewery nights, food, outdoor seating and an ‘Aladdin’s cave’ of unique beers.

The bar would open in this empty unit on Station Square

‘Weird and wonderful’ beers

The friends met as students at St Aidan’s Church of England High School and are excited by the prospect of moving into a more prominent location in the town.

Mr Duckworth believes craft beer can offer a more immersive experience for drinkers than traditional real ale, due to its taste combinations and flavours.

He said variety was the key to what they offer.

“We pride ourselves on weird and wonderful beers”

As well as selling more traditionally brewed craft beers, Husk also has a well-stocked range of alcohol-free and gluten-free options.

Mr Duckworth said:

“People come here on a Friday and buy eight bottles of beer and they will all taste different.”

Inside Husk Beer Emporium

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Craft beer trail

Craft beer muscled its way onto the drinking scene several years ago and the trend has proved that it has staying power.

Harrogate was once not known for alternative, DIY-style bars, but Mr Duckworth said Major Tom’s Social opened the door for places like the Disappearing Chin, North Bar and themselves.

Mr Gill said he hopes Husk bar can be part of a Harrogate craft beer trail, boosted by the Station Gateway scheme that would see the outside area at the end of James Street pedestrianised to allow for al-fresco summer drinking.

He said:

“More and more people are seeking places like this out.”

Mr Duckworth added:

“The craft beer scene in Harrogate is buzzing for us to open, we hope they can support us.”