Golf clubs stolen from vehicle in Harrogate

Police are appealing for information after a set of golf clubs was stolen from a vehicle in Harrogate.

The clubs, which were in a black Mizuno golf bag, were taken from Bilton Grove Avenue on Sunday, April 17 between 7pm and midnight.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today:

“We are requesting the public’s assistance to help establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

“In particular, we are appealing for information about any CCTV footage or anybody who has sighted the Mizuno golf carry bag or golf clubs.”

Anyone with information can contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for PC Chloe Kinnear. You can also email chloe.kinnear@northyorkshire.police.uk

Quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12220065288.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

How Stean Gorge plans to expand under new management

How Stean Gorge has revealed plans to expand under new management.

The 10,000-year-old gorge in Nidderdale currently provides abseiling, gorge scrambling, caving, canoeing and a high ropes course.

Tony Liddy, 33, and Rebecca Verity, 29 who have taken over control of the site after working there for more than a decade, have revealed a five-year plan to install 11 chalets, including hot tubs and wood burning stoves.

The attraction currently has a 20-pitch campsite. The new chalets will sleep up to 11 people each.

Mr Liddy said there was “huge demand for adventure tourism”, adding:

“We’re transforming the site with these ambitious expansion plans with an eco-friendly build in fitting with the spectacular setting.”

Pre-covid the centre, previously run by Stan and Ann Beer, attracted about 10,000 people each year for outdoor activities.

The new owners said bookings for hen and stag weekends had doubled since the lifting of restrictions.

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There are also plans to revamp the visitor centre, with new interpretation boards containing historical surveys and maps of its cave network.

How Stean Gorge employs 18 full and part-time members of staff with an additional 10 casual instructors. Mr Liddy said:

“We’re very proud to be continuing the values of Stan and Ann, they helped raise How Stean Gorge into a leading visitor attraction, as well as a vital lifeline for local employment and our rural economy. It’s a fantastic legacy, and we are incredibly excited to take that on and build on that hard work.”

Stray Views: Boris Johnson has paid the fine – it’s time to move on

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Boris Johnson fine: get over it

Ask those complaining about the Prime Minister who they voted for. Give him a break; he’s had to deal with Brexit, a covid pandemic plus having covid himself.

There are many families who aren’t with loved ones when they die; I wasn’t with my son when he drowned.

Do these people not consider that there are more important things to deal with now? It’s done, he’s apologised and paid the fine, get over it.

Susan Mitchell, Harrogate

What has Nigel Adams done as MP?

Nigel Adams, the Conservative MP for Selby and Ainsty, has announced he will be standing down at the next election, so possibly not until 2024. To quote his own website, this is what he is supposed to do: “…to represent the interests and concerns of all the people who live in their constituency, whether they voted for them at the General Election or not”.

Yet this MP does nothing and represents no one unless it be himself or to benefit himself. His senior parliamentary secretary must have a difficult job – they reply to almost all the letters I have ever sent, either having to defend the indefensible on his behalf e.g the Owen Paterson issue or they are generic responses that miss the points being made.  

Yet Mr Adams has accepted well over £30,000 from a former Kremlin-related oligarch, Alexander Temerko (previously associated with the arms trade in Russia and who, according to Catherine Belton, author of Putin’s People, has praised senior members of the Russian security establishment, including the Russian security council chief Nikolai Patrushev).

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What due diligence was done to establish the money was ‘clean’? He has also accepted £11,350 from Sanjeev Gupta, who had links with Greensill Capital, the company which collapsed in March 2021 and has been at the centre of a financial and political scandal.

His Twitter account consists mostly of re-Tweets but he has also happily accepted thousands of pounds of hospitality from gaming and betting organisations to attend the football Euros during the pandemic – then tweeted about it.  Yet he has remained silent on any of the many substantive, ethical issues which have occurred under the Johnson government, including even Partygate.

Hansard records show that he almost never mentions any of his own, specific constituents’ problems or issues (merely using  the word ‘constituents’ in general) and the Stray Ferret itself has shown month after month in its MPs Watch articles just how little trace there is of what exactly this MP does. A particularly memorable note was made that in July 2021, Nigel Adams tweeted that a dog had visited his office.

What a difficult life.

He should go now so his constituents can have a by-election. Why should the public purse continue to finance this ‘career’ until the next election?

Friedy Luther, Spofforth

Government ‘prioritises self-indulgence over social responsibility’ with covid

Three weeks ago, I left these shores for the first time since 2019: a three-day visit to Madrid. Covid was still rife, but few people inside the terminal at Leeds-Bradford were wearing masks in spite of the signs.

On the plane, however, masks were mandatory except when refreshments were served. They were much in evidence during transfer at Schipol airport and then at Adolfo Suárez. On the metro to Madrid centre, everyone wore masks and did their best to leave free seats between passengers. Madrid was buzzing, but on the wide streets, well over half of the people were masked, a higher number still in crowded areas.

In the bars and restaurants, customers scrupulously replaced their face coverings when moving around the establishment. In the hotel lift, signs urged guests not to mix households when using them. At my appointments, masks were worn even during business. I found this eminently sensible and reassuring, under the circumstances. The complaints and worries I heard were not about restrictions but about non-compliance and what might happen when guidelines were relaxed.

Back in England 15 days later, having dodged covid since the start of the pandemic, I tested positive. The next day my partner did, and six days later, my younger daughter. That, I suspect, is what happens when, under the pretext of returning to ‘normal’ and unshackling the economy, a government prioritises the right to self-indulgence over social responsibility.

Glyn Hambrook, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Harrogate district primary school places: Majority of parents get first choice

The vast majority of parents have got their child in to their first choice primary school in the Harrogate district, new figures reveal.

Primary school admissions statistics for entry in September show that 96.6 per cent of children have been given their first preference.

The figures published by North Yorkshire County Council also show that 99.5 per cent of pupils got one of their five preferences.

However, some parents have been left disappointed.

Nicola Njie’s daughter missed out on a place at her first choice school of Killinghall and her second of Hampsthwaite. She was offered her third choice of Bilton Grange, which she says is closer to where she lives, but she works full-time at a nursery in Killinghall.

She plans to appeal against the decision, but said she had to explain to her daughter that she “probably wouldn’t be going to school with most of her friends”.

She said:

“I will appeal and see what happens.”

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Stuart Carlton, the county council’s corporate director of children and young people’s services, said every effort was made to accommodate the families’ preference of school for their child.

He said:

“The handful of children not offered one of their families’ school preferences were offered a place at their local school.

“Families can preference any school, and are encouraged to preference up to five schools.

“Where a school is oversubscribed, the admissions criteria for the school determines the priority for places. In most cases, the deciding factor is the distance from home to school.

“We closely monitor developing areas to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to accommodate the children living in the local area.”

Mr Carlton said parents could appeal here.

Across North Yorkshire, there has been a slight increase of more than one per cent from last year to 96 per cent on the number securing their first choice.

Mr Carlton added:

“We wish all children who start primary school in September all the best and hope they enjoy a happy and exciting start in their new schools.”

Fashion retailer Jules B to open in Harrogate

Fashion retailer Jules B is to open a shop in Harrogate at the start of September.

The shop, which will be in the former Jaeger unit on Cambridge Crescent, will sell only womenswear.

It becomes the latest national retailer this month to confirm plans to move to Harrogate, after Oliver Bonas and Pret A Manger.

Julian Blades, managing director of Jules B, said its brands “will be perfect for the sophisticated customer demographic in Harrogate and surrounding areas”.

He added:

“We have wanted to open in Harrogate for a very long time but never found the right location but once I saw that the old Jaeger unit was available we decided the time was right.

“The store will be purely womenswear and we have some very exciting new collections that I’m sure will prove very popular with the discerning public.

“We will be looking for four full time members of staff and two part time, preferably with a good fashion retail background.”

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Mr Blades and his wife, Rhona, opened their first womenswear store in Jesmond in 1984.

The retailer offers collections by designers, including Hugo Boss, Armani, Victoria Beckham, Barbour and Vivienne Westwood.

Jackie Wilson, property manager for landlord Hornbeam Park Developments, said:

“We are delighted to have secured award-winning independent retailer Jules B as a tenant in the former Jaeger Shop on Cambridge Crescent; a great addition to the high street which will enhance the shopping experience of locals and visitors alike.”

Harrogate Lib Dem leader accuses council leader and MP of harassment over ‘threatening’ legal letters

The leader of Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Liberal Democrats has revealed she received legal “threats” from the council leader and local MP over alleged defamatory statements.

Councillor Pat Marsh said one letter from lawyers representing Conservative council leader Richard Cooper included demands for £5,000.

The letters, which Cllr Marsh waived in her hand at the meeting, relate to claims she made that Cllr Cooper was not “direct in condemning” the former North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Philip Allott who resigned last October over comments he made on the murder of Sarah Everard.

At a Harrogate Borough Council meeting that month, Cllr Cooper said Mr Allott’s previous comments that women needed to be “streetwise” were “very, very wrong.”

Councillor Cooper then repeated his remarks, saying there was “no credible defence” for what Mr Allott said. In an email sent to several media outlets after this, Cllr Marsh claimed “Cllr Cooper’s response did not lead to a direct condemnation”.

The legal letter to Cllr Marsh ended with a demand she pay £5,000 as “an interim payment” ahead of any legal proceedings:

An extract of the letter from a law firm representing Cllr Cooper.

Meanwhile, another letter from lawyers representing Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, demanded an apology from Cllr Marsh. This related to comments she made that a resident had become “caught up” in a “web” of problems because Cllr Cooper is employed by Mr Jones.

At a council meeting last night, Cllr Marsh said she believed the letters amounted to “harassment”. She said:

“I would like to make the chamber aware of two recent legal letters which I felt were threatening – I had one from Cllr Cooper and Andrew Jones MP.

“The legal letter from Cllr Cooper went on so far as to demand £5,000 from me personally.

“These letters made me feel extremely stressed – I considered them harassment and they forced me to seek legal advice to defend myself.”

In response, Cllr Cooper said last night:

“I’m afraid if you say something that is libellous and a lie, then you can expect legal activity.
“I’ve had it in my various roles going back as far as 1996.”

The Stray Ferret understands that neither letter led to any further action being taken against Cllr Marsh.

Calls for ‘positive’ campaign

The revelations came during last night’s meeting as Cllr Cooper made calls for a “positive and constructive” local election campaign ahead of elections to the new North Yorkshire Council on 5 May.

However, the meeting soon turned sour with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats trading blows on several issues, from their records on attending meetings to claims made in their campaign material.

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Later in the meeting, Cllr Cooper, who is not standing in the elections, said:

“I’m not going to get into this tit for tat.

“I tried to do something nice to enable us all to say to the people who will be elected – there will be some Liberal Democrats, some Conservatives – good luck to you, fight for all of us.

“I wish that could have been reciprocated in a rather less hostile way.

“Nonetheless, the sentiments expressed stand and, I believe, irrespective of the comments made, they stand for all of us.”

Cllr Cooper added:

“We have worked together on the vast majority of things this council does well over the eight years that I’ve been leader.
“We agree on 99% of things but on the 1% of things we don’t agree about, we can make a hell of a lot of noise.”

Rodent droppings found in kitchen of Harrogate care home

A Harrogate care home has been put in special measures after inspectors found rodent droppings in the kitchen and some medicine practices were found to be “unsafe”.

The Care Quality Commission inspected Mary Fisher House care home on Cold Bath Road in February.

In a report published yesterday, the care regulator rated the home as “inadequate” and placed it into special measures.

The inspection found that parts of the home, which provides personal and nursing care for up to 24 people, had “not been well maintained and were unsafe”.

Bedrooms “smelt strongly of urine” and there was evidence of rodent droppings in the kitchen.

On occasions, residents had either been given medication late or had not been given any.

It said:

“Medicines practices were unsafe.

“There were occasions whereby people who used the service had received their medicines late or had not been given them, as there were none left. Sufficient and timely actions were not taken to address this.

“A medicines policy was in place, but staff practice was not always in line with this. Staff who administered medicines had not always been trained.”

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Inspectors also found that staffing levels at the home were unsafe, with some reporting that there “wasn’t always enough staff to meet their needs in a timely manner”.

However, the report did find that staff were polite with people at the home and “worked hard to try and meet there needs”.

‘Fallen below standards’

In a statement, the home said it regretted that it had “fallen below the standards expected of us”.

The home, which is run by Svivekcaregroup Limited, said:

“Areas for improvement were identified in the recent inspection and we are committed to working closely with the CQC and North Yorkshire County Council to ensure changes are made quickly to redress this situation.”

Rachel Bowes, North Yorkshire’s assistant director of adult social care, said: 

“The CQC inspection identified some serious failings but we are confident management at Mary Fisher House want to take swift and meaningful action to improve the service they offer.

“We fully intend to support them in that and look forward to seeing progress. We were also pleased to see the CQC report highlighted the fact that staff at Mary Fisher House worked hard to meet the needs of people in their care and people were able to speak freely when the inspection took place.”

Free Easter chicks delight Bilton kids during Holy Week

Churchgoers in Bilton have delighted children each day during Holy Week by giving away free Easter chicks.

Members of Bilton Grange United Reformed Church have knitted 165 chicks and leave about 20 on the hedge outside the church each morning.

Each one contains a message saying, ‘Please take this free gift’.

Bilton Grange United Reformed Church free chicks

The volunteers have run similar community-minded initiatives during other Christian festivals. For instance, they have put out angels at Christmas and doves at Whitsun to spread joy.

The gifts are knitted at their social gatherings.

Norma Trotter, who is one of the volunteers, said:

“There’s so many sad things going on in the world so we just hope it will raise a smile and make some children happy.

“It gives us pleasure to make them happy and it spreads the Easter message. If you do good you feel good.”

The chicks will appear on the hedge at the junction of Skipton Road and Woodfield Road every morning until Easter Sunday.

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North Yorkshire fire service adds motorbike to vehicle fleet

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has acquired a new motorbike to reduce the number of accidents and injuries on the county’s roads.

Volunteers from the service will ride the vehicle, known as FireBike, to biker hotspots where they will speak to motorcyclists about road safety.

Statistics show motorbikes make up less than 7% of all traffic in the county but 26% of incidents where somebody is killed or seriously injured.

The new initiative will operate alongside the Biker Down courses run by the fire and rescue service. This free course delivers first aid advice, road, and rider safety for motorcyclists at numerous locations across North Yorkshire.

Andy Creasey, the Firebike project manager at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said:

“Sadly we deal with a number of road traffic collisions involving motorbikes each year. Many of these collisions involve serious injury or in the worst cases fatalities.

“My colleagues and I want to do everything we can to improve the safety on the the roads for everyone. Motorcyclists enjoy chatting with likeminded enthusiasts and FireBike will help us deliver positive messaging directly within community.”

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Harrogate district taxi drivers hit out at ‘unfair’ penalty points proposal

Taxi drivers in the Harrogate district have hit out at “unfair” plans that could see them lose their licences if they get seven or more penalty points.

Harrogate Borough Council has put forward the proposal for approval at a full council meeting tomorrow in a move which it says is “reasonable” and will improve safety for passengers.

But cabbies argue the policy is too severe and will result in a further loss of drivers in the district.

Kevin O’Boyle, owner of Central Taxis, described the proposals as “draconian” and said it will become “far too easy” for drivers to lose their licences.

He also argued cabbies are more likely to pick up points than regular road users because they spend more time on the roads. Mr O’Boyle said:

“There’s a serious shortage of taxi drivers and this just isn’t going to help.

“I’ve done between 2.5 million and 3 million miles, and the chances of me getting points are much greater than the average driver.

“If you’re driving in a strange place that you don’t know too well, it’s easy to drift over the speed limit by a couple of miles per hour.”

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Under the proposals, drivers would still be given the chance to argue their case and give reasons why their licence should not be revoked.

Currently, the council said licences are reviewed on “an individual basis when points accumulate”.

It also said there is no minimum or maximum time that licences can be revoked for and that drivers can re-apply at any time.

Passenger safety

Speaking at a recent meeting, Gareth Bentley, licensing manager at the council, said while he recognised the concerns over a reduction in drivers, this had to be balanced against the safety of passengers.

He also said taxi drivers had to be treated differently to regular road users as “they are in an elevated position in terms of looking after people’s safety.” Mr Bentley added:

“There is a higher responsibility and a higher need for us to ensure safety.”

The proposals have been put forward as part of new statutory standards from the Department for Transport which all councils are expected to adopt unless there are “compelling reasons” not to.

However, the standards are silent on how many penalty points a taxi driver can get before their licence is revoked, and it’s up to individual councils to decide this.

Nearby in Leeds, hundreds of drivers have gone on strikes over similar proposals that could see them suspended if they get more than six points.

‘People will leave the trade’

Harrogate Borough Council held a consultation on its seven points policy during February and March when it received comments from several drivers, one of which described the plans as “unfair”.

The driver said:

“It’s just another example of one rule for everyone else and one for us as we are at the bottom of the food chain.”

Another added:

“The taxi trade is getting harder year on year with longer hours for less reward and councils are doing nothing to help.

“The long term result will be people leaving the trade.”

The policy has been recommended for approval by the council’s licensing committee at tomorrow’s full council meeting.