Harrogate BID Archives - Page 15 of 22

‘Fire and Light Experience’ arrives in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens this week

In 2016, 40,000 people headed to Harrogate’s Valley Gardens to see it transformed into a stunning fire garden, featuring a flaming display of sculptures and installations.

Now, five years later, the town’s iconic landmark is set for a second blaze of glory, when a magical fire and light trail arrives on Thursday evening.

Harrogate International Festivals has teamed up with outdoor events company Culture Creative for the occasion, which is being billed as ‘The Fire and Light Experience – a trail of blaze and brilliance through the Valley Gardens’.

‘Captivating displays’

Visitors will be able to see “mythical creatures, fire performers and captivating displays of fire and light”, according to HIF, which was also responsible for bringing the hugely successful Cie Carabosse Fire Garden to the town in 2016.

Sharon Canavar, HIF chief executive, said:

“We are incredibly excited to be launching our 2022 festival season with our Fire and Light Experience.

“Culture Creative are masters at delivering stunning visual displays in large, outdoor settings, and they are now adding the Valley Gardens to their impressive list of locations, which includes some of the most famous gardens in the UK, America and Australia.”

Taking place from 6.30pm until 10.30pm from Thursday to Saturday it will be HIF’s first event of 2022 and is being part-funded by Harrogate Borough Council and Harrogate Business Improvement District.

Useful information

Entrance to the event will be via the main access to the gardens, located by the Royal Pump Room Museum.
Visitors are advised to wear sturdy shoes, as the trail takes place on natural paths covering areas of uneven ground and variable terrain.
Photographs are allowed and visitors are encouraged to share images on social media using the hashtag #HIFfireandlight.
There is no food and drink available on site as it is hoped people will use the event as an opportunity to experience “the great food and drink” offer available across Harrogate.
Tickets for the event are priced at £12 for adults, £6 for 5 to 16-year-olds, and under-fives go free. You can buy tickets from the Harrogate International Festivals’ website.

Harrogate BID launches £750 grant scheme to help businesses

Harrogate Business Improvement District has opened its 2022 Town Centre Improvements grant scheme.

Qualifying businesses will be able to claim match-funded grants of up to £750 for making a variety of upgrades, including paintwork, signage and accessibility, which are designed to make Harrogate town centre safe, clean and welcoming.

Harrogate BID manager Matthew Chapman said:

“Harrogate BID is keen to support levy-paying businesses in making improvements to their street frontages, the accessibility of their premises and the gateways to the town centre, by providing financial support through match funding.

“We know that businesses in the town centre are facing unprecedented pressures, and we want to ensure that Harrogate remains a desirable place to do business by helping them deliver an aesthetic ‘Welcome to Harrogate’.

“These grants, which help support one of the key objectives in our business plan, namely Safe, Clean and Welcoming, can be used for a variety of different projects.

“As long as the work enhances a façade, or makes it more accessible for disabled customers, we will consider it. As there is a limited budget for the 2022 Town Centre Improvements grant scheme, they will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.”

Businesses should submit their request for grant support to Harrogate BID via email to: info@harrogatebid.co.uk including a brief description of the proposed work.

Grantley Hall restaurant launches new menu

The Orchard restaurant at Grantley Hall near Ripon has launched its new spring/summer menu.

It offers light, alfresco lunches in the sunshine and cocktails that overlook the manicured grounds of Grantley.

“The Orchard’s spring and summer menu compliments the change of the seasons by offering light and refreshing options, such as an array of succulent seafood dishes, with everything from king prawns and Whitby lobster to chargrilled swordfish – all cooked to perfection by our talented chefs.”

Other options include dry-aged steaks and broad bean, garden pea, mint and Yorkshire feta salad.

Colourful mosaics brighten up Harrogate street

Nine colourful mosaics that spell out the word ‘Harrogate’ have been installed on a town centre street.

The mosaics, which were created by disabled artists at Harrogate charity Artizan International, are now on the side wall of the Boots building on Cambridge Place.

The idea came from Harrogate BID, which funded the project. It asked businesses and residents what they felt best symbolised the town.

The responses, which included Bettys, cycling, Yorkshire Tea and The Stray, were given to Douglas Thompson, who is a local mosaic artist and freelance creative at Artizan.

One of the mosaics

Harrogate BID chair Sara Ferguson said the mosaics have given the drab street a much-needed lift.

“Now in place, the mosaics look absolutely fantastic, and they have given the much-used passage between Cambridge Street and Oxford Street a real lift.

“This has been a fantastic partnership, the result of which is now bringing some much-needed colour to Cambridge Place at the same time as enhancing the area.”

Susie Hart, founder of Artizan International said the artists enjoyed creating the mosaics:

“Our members and volunteers spent many hours creating each of the nine letters. They have taken great pride in their work, and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

“And each time they journey along Cambridge Place, they will have the satisfaction of knowing they have made these letters which are now adding a positive contribution to the town centre.”

Picture caption: BID Chair Sara Ferguson, sixth from left, Artizan International Founder Susie Hart MBE, fourth from right, and Douglas Thompson, third from right, pictured with Artizan International members and volunteers in front of their Harrogate letters.

New monthly food market coming to Harrogate

A new monthly food market will take place at Crescent Gardens in Harrogate — and it starts this Sunday.

Real Food Markets, a community interest company that has organised a food market in Ilkley for six years, will be hosting food and drink and craft stalls on the third Sunday of every month.

The free-to-attend market will be based at Crescent Gardens opposite the old Harrogate Borough Council offices and will run from 10am to 3pm.

February’s market will feature stalls offering cheeses, sushi, sticky toffee puddings, scotch eggs and gluten-free products. There will also be stalls selling products including goat milk soaps, candles, fine art and blankets.

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate Business Improvement District manager, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Real Food Markets who are looking to replicate the success they have tasted in Ilkley here in Harrogate. This year, we are hoping to work with a host of different organisations to stage events in Harrogate town centre, which will offer visitors a different experience on each occasion.”

Tim Dabell, event management officer at Harrogate Borough Council, said

“We look forward to working with Lucy and her team in 2022 to encourage the residents of the Harrogate district to shop locally for products in a safe environment. We feel this addition will enhance the whole town centre shopping experience.”

Julia Gabler, owner of Harrogate children’s clothing brand 2 Little Mice, which is among the stallholders, said:

“Our items are ethically made at our Harrogate workshop. While online and retail trading takes up most of our time, we do love to meet our customers face to face and Real Food Harrogate will be a great way to interact with our wonderful customers and show them the faces behind the brand. “

Schoolchildren star in ‘I Love Harrogate’ film

Pupils from six Harrogate schools have said what they love about Harrogate in a new film that aims to pull more people into the town centre.

Children from St Peter’s, Coppice Valley, Birstwith and Admiral Long, Oatlands, Richard Taylor and Western primary schools took centre stage in the ‘I Love Harrogate’ film.

The film is being projected onto the window of an empty shop window on the side of Victoria Shopping Centre, across from Beulah Street, until February 23.

It aims to capture the imagination of some of Harrogate’s youngest residents and encourage more people town.

Paul Griffiths, head of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School said:

“We were delighted to be invited to contribute to this video, and our children really enjoyed saying why they love Harrogate.

“We are very fortunate to live in Harrogate, and even luckier that our school is in the middle of the town. On our doorstep we have The Stray, the library and its gardens, and of course all the great shops, restaurants and entertainment venues, all within a short walk.”

The installation has been put on by Harrogate Business Improvement District. The BID is currently offering grants to entertainers with a “wow factor” to liven up Harrogate town centre’s streets.

It is hoping more events and installations will drive footfall into the town centre. It is offering the grants in order to cover any costs incurred as long as the idea satisfies funding criteria.

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, said:

“The I love Harrogate video is the first in a series of films that we are making with those who live and work in the town. It is also a reminder that for many years Harrogate has been held up as one of the happiest places to live.

“I love Harrogate will be shown on a continuous loop in the window of the empty shop unit, and we hope those who star in it will encourage their family and friends to come into town to view it, and of course to take the opportunity to shop, eat and drink.”

Wanted: entertainment with ‘wow factor’ for Harrogate town centre

Harrogate Business Improvement District is offering grants to entertainers that can liven up Harrogate town centre’s streets.

The BID issued a plea today for events and installations that will drive footfall into the town centre.

It is offering the grants in order to cover any costs incurred as long as the idea satisfies funding criteria.

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, said:

“We are really keen to bring something new and exciting to Harrogate town centre each weekend, and we are calling on individuals and groups to help us achieve this.

“We are particularly looking for something that is unique, exciting and has the wow factor. Harrogate is a standout town, and we want anything that we help deliver to also stand out.”

Mr Chapman added that grants weren’t just available for performers, but for individuals, groups and organisations who want to play a part in benefitting the BID levy area.

Last year’s art on the Stray.

He said:

“Last year, we commissioned the incredible mural that adorns the side of Monsoon, on Cross James Street. We also commissioned Artizan UK to create nine mosaic letters spelling Harrogate to cover the bricked up windows on the side of Boots building, along Cambridge Place.

“I’m really pleased to say these will be in situ next month, adding a much-needed splash of colour to this drab street linking Oxford Street and Cambridge Street. We also provided a colourful banner for Commercial Street to help promote the independent businesses it’s home to.

“We have five key project areas; marketing, promotions and events, access and car parking, safe, clean and welcoming, business plus, and evening and night time economy, and if an idea fits in with one of these, then we are interested and a grant may well be available.”

More information on the grant can be found on the Harrogate BID website.

Crunch vote tomorrow on £10.9m Harrogate Station Gateway

A key decision on progressing the £10.9 million Station Gateway scheme in Harrogate is set to be made tomorrow.

Senior North Yorkshire county councillors have been recommended to approve the plans and move them on to the detailed design stage at a meeting at 11am.

The move could mean that work on the project starts in the spring or summer.

The decision comes despite widespread opposition to the scheme from businesses and residents.

The results of the second phase of consultation, published last month, revealed that of 1,320 people who replied to an online survey, 55% feel negatively, 39% positively and five per cent neutral towards the scheme. One per cent said they didn’t know.

Nevertheless the scheme is expected to proceed with only minor amendments.

However, Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, said last week that the project represented a major investment in Harrogate town centre. Similar schemes are in the pipeline for Selby and Skipton.

He said:

“These proposals represent the biggest investment in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton town centres in decades and aim to increase productivity by making it quicker, easier and safer for people to travel around and connect with economic opportunities.”

Calls for a delay

Despite the recommendation, business groups in Harrogate criticised the project and called for a delay to the vote.

In a joint letter to members of the county council’s executive, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Independent Harrogate warned that work on the scheme would create ‘another 12 months of major disruption and misery’ for businesses already struggling to get over covid.

The letter added:

“Sadly, the views of the business community have been continually ignored. As have those of other key organisations, in particular Harrogate Civic Society and residents’ organisations who believe what is being proposed will not bring the benefits being espoused.

“The Conservative Party, of which you are a member, prided itself on being the party of business. Sadly, this doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.”

The groups also criticised the county council for publishing an economic case for the project just days before the vote.

They said they have had no opportunity to comment on the paper and called for a vote on the scheme to be delayed until they have had chance to scrutinise it.

The executive meeting can be watched tomorrow on the North Yorkshire County Council website.

Harrogate’s first street ranger given licence to ‘fight grime’

Harrogate Business Improvement District has given its new street ranger a licence to fight grime.

It may not be as glamorous a role as James Bond’s, but street ranger Chris Ashby is set to become a familiar figure in the town centre.

Mr Ashby’s job is to give visitors a better first impression of Harrogate by cleaning, painting and pointing out anti-social behaviour.

His work is in addition to Harrogate BID’s four major deep-cleans in a year and Harrogate Borough Council’s usual street cleaning work.

Harrogate BID manager Matthew Chapman said the role was a key part of the organisation’s ambition to create a ‘safe, clean and welcoming’ town centre. He added:

“Harrogate is the jewel in Yorkshire’s crown, and Chris will be there to give it an extra sparkle.

“The council already does a great job in terms of ridding pavements of litter, and Chris will be building on their day-to-day work.

“His battery-powered vehicle will carry a variety of tools including brushes, bin bags and a power washer allowing him to quickly react to any unsightly or hazardous incident that businesses might report, and what and he sees with his own eyes.”

Mr Ashby said:

“Living in Harrogate, I’m aware of a what a very special town it is.

“I’m really looking forward to taking on this new role with Harrogate BID and getting to know business owners and levy payers as I carry out my grime fighting duties.”

Harrogate BID ‘waste of money’, says pub landlord

A Harrogate pub landlord has described the town’s Business Improvement District as a “waste of money” — and is refusing to pay the £370-a-year levy.

Marik Scatchard has been the landlord of Christies Bar on King’s Road for 14 years. He told the Stray Ferret that his pub has seen little benefit from the BID, which was set up in 2019 to improve Harrogate town centre

Businesses within Harrogate’s town centre pay the BID 1.5% of their rateable value a year on top of their usual business rates. Harrogate BID brings in around £500,000 from local firms.

Because a majority of companies voted to set up the BID, Christies is legally obliged to pay the levy. However, Mr Scatchard said he would not pay because the BID does not offer good value for money to levy payers and is run by a “private mates’ club”.

He said:

“We’re having to pay these levies but all they seem to do is put stickers in shop windows. I’m not paying. They can lock me up.”

Whilst the landlord said the BID provided the pub with some furniture after lockdown and sponsored the Pubwatch scheme, he dismissed recent BID initiatives such as a ping pong table in the Victoria Shopping Centre.

He said the BID should focus its efforts on cleaning up King’s Road and Parliament Street, which he said were regularly strewn with litter.

BIDs have been criticised for doing jobs that have traditionally been under the remit of local councils, effectively taxing businesses twice.

Mr Scatchard said:

“Hardly anyone is in the ping pong room when I’ve been past. It’s a joke. It won’t bring anything to town.

“You don’t see them doing anything around the King’s Road area. It just winds me up, it doesn’t benefit me at all.”

BID’s response

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID Manager, said:

“We are well aware of Mr Scatchard’s views on the BID and the levy. Whilst he hasn’t paid his levy for the last two years, he has been happy to accept support from us, in particular outdoor furniture to help him out of the first lockdown in July 2020. He also had BID-funded flower boxes surrounding his venue.

“Christies also benefits from our sponsorship of Harrogate Pubwatch, and if he so chose to, he could take advantage of the LoyalFree app to help promote his business, and also become a member of the Harrogate Gift Card Scheme.

“He could also apply for a £750 match-funded grant, which would more than pay for one year’s levy! And whilst happy to criticise us on social media, he isn’t keen to speak with us in person, which we have tried to do on several occasions.

“Even though he personally doesn’t like the ping pong parlour, which I’m delighted to say is reopening at the end of the month, there are many who do, and these people make special trips into town to make use of this BID-funded activity.

“Finally, perhaps he’d like to pass comment on our recent festive partnership with Harrogate Borough Council and Destination Harrogate? Without BID and the levy, much of this would simply have not been possible.”

Harrogate business groups call for Station Gateway vote to be delayed

Business groups in Harrogate have called for a vote on the town’s Station Gateway to be delayed after an economic case for the project was published just days before the key vote takes place.

In a letter to Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Independent Harrogate said there was a “lack of opportunity” to comment on the paper.

The report, which is due before the county council’s executive next week, argues that the gateway will tackle “some of the economic challenges facing the Harrogate economy”.

The 18-page report goes on to cite various case studies and figures from the Office for National Statistics to support its case.

However, the three business groups said they have had no opportunity to comment on the paper and called for a vote on the scheme to be delayed until they have had chance to scrutinise it.

They also criticise the council for releasing the report just a week before the vote on the project.

The letter says:

“Because of this lack of opportunity to comment on the economic impact study, we are now asking that the vote on the project is postponed until your next executive meeting, allowing us, and others, time to digest its contents.

“However, having had a cursory glance through it, it appears the authors have looked to cities for case studies and not towns comparable to Harrogate. Also, they give examples from as along ago as 2007. The world has moved on a lot since then.

“It fails to take into account the impact of covid, out-of-town shopping centres with acres of free parking, and online shopping. And again, we say what of those residents living in our surrounding villages whose only way of getting around is via their car, or the tens-of-thousands of visitors who live outside the district?”

Some of the proposed changes to Station Parade.

The letter also questions whether the study takes into account the effect of construction of the project on businesses who are “already on their knees through to the ongoing impact of covid”.

The letter comes at the same business groups accused the county council of ignoring their views and the opinions of residents during the Station Gateway consultation.

The Stray Ferret revealed this week that the county council is set to give the £10.9m project the green light at a meeting on Tuesday next week — even though the latest consultation revealed the majority of respondents feel negatively towards the scheme.

Earlier this week, Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, described the scheme as the biggest investment in Harrogate “in decades”.

He said:

“These proposals represent the biggest investment in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton town centres in decades.

“We want to encourage more people to travel by foot, bike and public transport because it is good for health and the environment by promoting fitness and reducing congestion.

“The spending will also provide a welcome boost for our town centres after two difficult years of trading during the pandemic.

“We have listened to feedback from the public consultations and are confident people will be pleased with the results.”

‘Captivating displays’

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Useful information

Grantley Hall restaurant launches new menu

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Calls for a delay

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BID’s response

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