Harrogate council pledges to resettle Afghan refugees under new government scheme

The leader of Harrogate council has pledged that the borough will help house Afghan refugees who are fleeing the country following the Taliban takeover.

Conservative Cllr Richard Cooper said the refugees are “in need of and deserve our assistance” as he pledged his support to a new government scheme to welcome up to 20,000 Afghans over the next few years.

His pledge comes after the council offered resettlement to 19 Afghans in June under a similar scheme which targeted former translators and others who worked for the UK military during the two decades that it has been fighting in Afghanistan.

Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Cooper said this was the “right, humane and just thing to do”.

He said: 

“Back in June, Harrogate Borough Council pledged to take its fair share of the quota of Afghan interpreters who were seeking relocation to this country.

“We not only did that – we pledged to take more than our quota and we have done so.

“The government will now be coming forward with a new scheme for relocating Afghan refugees and on behalf of the council I want to make that pledge again that we will not only take our quota that the government suggests, but we will take more.

“Harrogate is a welcoming, tolerant and diverse place and these people are in need of our assistance and deserve our assistance.”

In June, senior Harrogate borough councillors agreed to offer resettlement to 19 Afghans, which amounts to four families.

The Harrogate district has previously taken part in other resettlement programmes, including welcoming 13 Syrian families between 2016 and 2017.

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Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at the council, said the families are not only offered a place to live, but also given opportunities to go to school, learn English and find employment.

He added that the authority would be prepared to resettle more families if it was required to do so.

Meanwhile, eight families are expected to be resettled across North Yorkshire under the same scheme.

Nationally, more than 3,000 Afghans are expected to be allowed to settle in the UK, joining 1,300 who have already done so.

Former Joe Manby site in Harrogate to be divided into five units

Plans have been lodged to divide a former Harrogate events company base into five industrial units.

The proposal for the Joe Manby Ltd site at Hookstone Park would see the 3,355 square metre unit partially demolished and divided up.

Meanwhile, the number of car parking spaces would be increased from 12 to 40.

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

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Joe Manby Ltd folded last October after 46 years in business. The company employed 30 people and organised more than 50 events a year.

Andrew Manby, director of the firm, had been vocal in calling for more government support for the beleaguered conference and exhibition industry.

Mr Manby told the Stray Ferret “it was a heartbreaking decision” to close the company down.

At the time, he said the government’s job retention scheme had kept the business ticking over but it was difficult to survive without a clear date for return

New event organiser set to take over Harrogate Christmas Market

Harrogate Borough Council has said it will now ‘actively work’ with a new event organiser on a Christmas market this year after unsuccessful talks with the current organisers this morning.

Representatives from Harrogate Christmas Market Ltd, which created the market on Montpellier Hill, met two council officers to resolve a dispute that erupted when the council refused to grant a licence for this year’s event due to safety concerns.

But after 90 minutes of talks the council issued a statement saying alternative locations “have been refused” and that it would now “move forward to ensure Harrogate hosts safe, vibrant and attractive Christmas festivities this year”.

A spokesman added:

“Another event organiser has approached us with great enthusiasm to bring their business and expertise to Harrogate town centre this Christmas. And we will now actively work with them to help formalise that discussion.”

He declined to say who the event organiser was.

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Brian Dunsby, one of the current organisers, told the Stray Ferret the council officers at today’s meeting had agreed there was no better alternative to Montpellier Hill.

An assessment of alternative Christmas market locations conducted on behalf of the organisers this year considered Valley Gardens, the Great Yorkshire Showground, Victoria Avenue and Princes Square, Cambridge Street and Oxford Street, West Park Stray and Oatlands Drive Stray, the Dragon Road car park, the Majestic Hotel, the Cairn Hotel, Hornbeam Park, Harrogate Convention Centre – and concluded the current location was the best.

Mr Dunsby, who has been warned by council leader Richard Cooper not to try to galvanise support for his cause, said:

“We’ve been through every conceivable location and can’t find one that has anywhere near the capacity of Montpellier Hill and it just doesn’t work as well anywhere else.”

Two Christmas markets?

Mr Dunsby said he was “absolutely livid” at the prospect of losing the market he and his team have built up into such a major event. Nevertheless they planned to resubmit their event management plan to address issues raised by the council about the current site.

Mr Dunsby said he was open to the town centre hosting a second Christmas market in December in addition to the established one.

His team currently has 170 traders and 53 coaches arranged for this year’s event, which was expected to attract 85,000 people and generate £2.5 million for the local economy from November 18 to 21. Mr Dunsby said he had received “massive support” from traders, adding.

“It’s a very frustrating situation. The event has been successful for the last eight years. Harrogate needs a Christmas market and this is the right place to have it.”

 

‘Strong support’ for more Harrogate bus lanes

Harrogate councillors have signalled their strong support for ideas including more bus lanes and a smart ticketing system to boost use of public transport.

Members of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny commission will put the ideas to North Yorkshire County Council to support a multi-million pound bid for government cash, which could help pave the way for a greener transport.

The ideas, which also include more electric buses and more frequent services in rural areas, are part of a wider move to reduce car travel.

But after years of cuts to services and declining passenger numbers, there are questions over how willing motorists will be to make the switch to public transport.

Speaking at a meeting on Monday, Cllr Michael Harrison, the Conservative representative for Killinghall and Hampsthwaite, said: 

“All these ideas to make buses more attractive are clearly welcome but we must not kid ourselves that if people do not use them and they are just running empty tins of fresh air, then eventually they will fail.

“We need to be realistic about running empty buses because the funding will always run out if no-one is using them.”

£7m a year on bus passes

North Yorkshire County Council is the area’s public transport authority and subsidises around £1.5 million a year to keep services running.

It also spends about £7 million a year on bus passes for the elderly and disabled, as well as their carers.

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The county council is currently drawing up bidding proposals for the government’s new bus strategy, under which £3 billion is to be made available to make buses across the country cheaper and easier to use.

The bid is being prepared through a Bus Service Improvement Plan and so-called enhanced partnerships where the county council will agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.

Cllr Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability at Harrogate Borough Council, said the proposals would play a key part in funding a greener future and highlighted the importance of collaboration between Harrogate’s two bus companies – Transdev and Connexions.

He said: 

“These two key pieces of work will unlock the potential of future funding via the national bus strategy, so it is vital that the county prepare these and that we feed in Harrogate Borough Council’s views.

“We have particularly discussed the integration of tickets and had a long debate about trying to resolve the impasse between Transdev and Connexions.

“I’m no miracle worker and I can’t guarantee we will be able to overcome that problem.

“But it is important that we do get this integration moving forward and get collaboration between bus providers in the district if we are going to persuade people to discard their cars and use public transport more frequently.”

Park and ride

Under the plans for smart ticketing, passengers would be able to use their tickets on different modes of transport and with different travel companies.

Councillors have also signalled their strong support for a Harrogate park and ride scheme, which county council officials are currently looking into. There are two potential sites for this – land near Pannal Golf Club and another site near Buttersyke Bar roundabout south of the village.

It comes as the county council is currently piloting its on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track services on-demand in the Ripon, Bedale and Masham areas.

Since its launch in July, 726 journeys have been completed with an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5.

Mice found in ‘dirty throughout’ Harrogate district pub

A mice infestation, a dirty kitchen and cross-contamination between raw and cooked food led to the closure of the kitchen at The Black Swan Inn at Fearby, near Masham.

In a statement today, Harrogate Borough Council said a routine investigation by its food safety team found the pub to be “dirty throughout” with “potentially serious hygiene issues”.

Along with the mice and cross-contamination of food, the statement added that staff were unable to wash their hands after handling raw food.

The Stray Ferret revealed yesterday that York Magistrates Court had granted the council an Emergency Hygiene Prohibition Order for the kitchen on Friday. The council will need to be satisfied it no longer poses a health risk before it can reopen.

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The court also ordered the pub to pay £697 in costs to the council on or before September 10.

Conservative councillor Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities, said:

“It is imperative that food businesses maintain hygiene and food safety at all times, even more so during the current covid pandemic.

“The council’s environmental health officers work hard to provide guidance and advice to businesses in ensuring that they can operate safely.

“Any business failing to heed and act on such advice – which then subsequently fails an inspection which identifies a risk to public health – needs to understand that we will, when necessary, not hesitate to take formal action which could well result in prosecution.”

The pub has received ‘good’ or ‘very good’ food hygiene ratings in the past five years from the council.

The Stray Ferret contacted The Black Swan for a response by telephone today but there was no answer.

Crunch talks to save Harrogate Christmas Market

Harrogate Borough Council and the organisers of the Harrogate Christmas Market are set to hold crunch talks to try to save the event for this year.

It will be the first time that the two groups have held a meeting since the council refused a licence for the market on Montpellier Hill just over two weeks ago.

The meeting will take place tomorrow morning and will centre on alternative locations for the Harrogate Christmas Market.

Brian Dunsby and his team of directors are set to talk with Alison Wilson, the head of parks and environmental services at the council.

Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the Lib Dems at Harrogate Borough Council, set up the meeting but has been told by the council not to attend. She said:

“I felt very upset and saddened that this annual event would not be going ahead.

“I contacted the council to see if a meeting could be set up to resolve the issue, either by getting the event licenced or looking for alternative sites.

“Harrogate needs this market, it is a part of Harrogate’s events calendar and we cannot and should not lose it.”

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This comes after council leader Richard Cooper formalised talks with a new set of organisers and described Mr Dunsby’s team as the “former Christmas market organisers”.

If the council were to proceed without Mr Dunsby’s team it is unclear what would happen to the 170 traders and 53 coaches which are already booked to attend this year’s event.

Brian Dunsby told the Stray Ferret ahead of his meeting:

“The agenda is alternative locations. I don’t think there are any other locations which are suitable for the Christmas market.

“We have got everything set up and ready to run at Montpellier Hill.

“I am hoping they will explain why the event is not suitable on Montpellier Hill, that is something the council have not yet done.

“We just have to wait and see.”

Council closes kitchen at Masham pub over food hygiene

Harrogate Borough Council has closed the kitchen of a pub near Masham over food hygiene fears.

Magistrates granted the council a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order for The Black Swan in Fearby on Friday.

The order entitles the council to prevent the premises trading in any food-related activity immediately.

Such orders are usually granted when an environmental health officer believes serious breaches of standards are putting customers or staff at risk.

York Magistrates Court also ordered the pub to pay £697 in costs to Harrogate Borough Council on or before September 10.

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The pub has received ‘good’ or ‘very good’ food hygiene ratings in the past five years from the council.

It will need to apply for re-inspection before the order can be lifted.

The Stray Ferret contacted The Black Swan today but was told the manager was unavailable.

We also approached Harrogate Borough Council for comment but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

Plan to convert Ripon Cathedral Choir School into townhouses

Persimmon Homes has lodged plans to convert the former Ripon Cathedral Choir School into four townhouses.

The school was previously earmarked to be demolished to make way for 12 new apartments.

The proposal came as part of a wider plan to build 105 homes on the Whitcliffe Lane site.

However, the developer said the demolition of the former school site was met “negatively by the public” and has since tabled a fresh application.

A total of 68 objections from residents were lodged to the council against the previous proposal.

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The developer said in planning documents that the new bid to convert the building into homes followed conversations with officers at Harrogate Borough Council.

It said:

“Following feedback and discussions with case officer, Persimmon Homes have sought to amend the proposal, withdraw the application and submit a new application for the conversion of the school building. 

“The Conservation Officer confirmed via email in April 2021 that retaining the building is ‘the way forward’.”

Persimmon said in its plans that the current building is in “extremely poor condition”.

The new proposal will see the existing brickwork retained but the roof replaced in its entirety due to its poor condition.

The building was originally constructed as a late 19th Century grandstand. It was converted in the early 20th century into two semi-detached dwellings, then extended for use as a school.

Ripon Cathedral Choir School began using the site in 1960 until it closed in 2012. It had planned to merge with a local preparatory school but this fell through.

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

Union concerns over staffing shortages at Harrogate district leisure centres

A trade union has raised concerns over staffing shortages at Harrogate district leisure centres which have recently been taken over by a new council-controlled company.

Brimhams Active was launched by Harrogate Borough Council this month and around 160 staff were transferred across to the new company to remain in their roles.

But with around 27 vacancies as a result of staffing shortages across the leisure industry, David Houlgate, branch secretary at Unison Harrogate, has raised concerns over the impact on services, as well wider issues over staff pay and retention.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said:

“The main concern is that it could impact on service delivery just as the new venture is starting up, resulting in limits on when facilities will be open.

“We have for some time raised concerns about recruitment and retention, right across the council, due to year on year real-terms pay cuts as a result of pay freezes and below inflation pay rises and also detrimental changes to terms and conditions.

“This year it is happening again, with staff being offered a below inflation pay rise of 1.75%.

“But at Brimhams, staff are also paid at a less favourable rate for overtime, than those in the council, a legacy of when the service was provided directly by the council.”

Leisure centres including Starbeck Baths and Knaresborough Swimming Pool were closed for more than a year earlier during the covid pandemic and since reopening some services have yet to make a full return due to the staffing issues.

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This was after many leisure staff were temporarily redeployed into different areas such as bin collections and as the council introduced a recruitment freeze in order to keep costs down during the pandemic.

Mr Houlgate added:

“The year-long recruitment freeze hasn’t helped.

“We were never consulted on it and we did make representation to the council to relax it sooner but this was not acted upon quickly enough in our opinion and we believe this has contributed to the current situation.

“We’ve also found that some staff who have been re-deployed during the covid-19 pandemic have preferred their new temporary roles and where the opportunity has arisen have chosen to remain in them.

“The council does not always engage with or involve the unions as often as we think it should.”

In response, a council spokesperson said it was “working hard” to fill the vacancies and that the staffing shortages were not specific to Harrogate but a nationwide problem.

The spokesperson said: 

“We have proactively explained to our residents that unfortunately, we may need to scale back some of our non-essential services so that we can protect both our staff and our customers.

“We also have a number of vacancies across our local authority controlled company Brimhams Active that we’re working hard to fill. This is progressing well and a number of new starters will be joining us this month.

“The recruitment issue is being faced right across the country, in both the public and private sector. It is therefore disappointing that the union has decided to paint this issue and the launch of Brimhams Active with the same brush.”

The spokesperson added:

“Brimhams Active will allow us to transform a conventional leisure service into a leading community focused health and wellbeing service.

“There are still strong careers in the leisure industry and we are optimistic that with competitive salaries and a wealth of other benefits we will attract people to come and work for us.”

Knaresborough Christmas Market set to go ahead after land dispute settled

The organisers of Knaresborough Christmas Market are now confident that the event will go ahead this year after a land ownership dispute was resolved.

Harrogate Borough Council had given the organisers’ event management plan the stamp of approval in previous years. But it had not done so this year.

Event management plans set out details of events and are key documents for emergency services and insurers.

Hazel Haas, one of the organisers, told the Stray Ferret previously that without third party approval, the insurance premiums would go up and that would in turn put the event at risk.

So when North Yorkshire County Council officers said this morning that they would step up and ratify the plan it came as a major relief to Mr Haas. She said:

“I have a meeting tonight with the Knaresborough Christmas Market committee where we will discuss this. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

“We have now resolved the issued over the ownership of the land.

“Obviously it is all subject to approval, but we can now kickstart the event and start to get some stalls booked in for later this year.

“This is also good news for all of the events Knaresborough has booked in for the festive calendar as well.”

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The Knaresborough market is due to be held on the first weekend of December in its usual location of Market Place.

Karl Battersby, corporate director for business and environmental services at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Working jointly with colleagues at Harrogate Borough Council, both organisations have been able to offer guidance to the organiser on how to host an event successfully, and we are pleased that planning for the Knaresborough Christmas market is able to move forward.”