Spring arrives at Gouthwaite as temperatures soar

Spring has arrived in the Harrogate district, with temperatures rising to 13 degrees centigrade in some areas.

Few places are more beautiful in spring than Nidderdale, as highlighted in this image by David Benson, a keen amateur photographer from Summerbridge.

Mr Benson shot this image of Gouthwaite Reservoir this morning.

He said:

“I drive by Gouthwaite Reservoir almost daily so decided to try my hand at a bit of photography and share the beautiful scenery with people that aren’t so lucky to live with it on their doorstep as I am.”

Have you taken any great photos of the Harrogate district? We enjoy showing the best ones. Please send your suggestions to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

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Key dates revealed for elections to new North Yorkshire Council

Candidates could be able to put themselves forward as soon as next week for May’s elections to the new North Yorkshire Council.

The election will be one of the most crucial in the county’s history because it will spell out the end of North Yorkshire County Council and the seven district and borough councils in Harrogate, Selby, Scarborough, Craven, Hambleton, Ryedale and Richmondshire.

They will be replaced by the new unitary authority from April 2023.

Nominations are likely to open on Friday next week for candidates hoping to become one of the 90 councillors who will lead a new era of local government.

That date is subject to new legislation, which is currently passing through Parliament and once approved will fire the starting gun for voting to take place on 5 May.

Speaking at a public briefing last night, Ben Nattrass, elections manager at Harrogate Borough Council, said parliamentary approval of the legislation was expected next week as he also set out some of the next steps.

He said:

“We are waiting for the Structural Changes Order to pass through Parliament and we expect that to be done next week, which would allow us to open nominations on March 18.

“Each candidate who wishes to stand in the elections must submit a set of nomination forms and these must be submitted no later than 4pm on 5 April.”

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Once approved, the Structural Changes Order will be followed by an official notice of election, which is likely to be published on March 17.

Voting on May 5

Candidate nominations will then open the following day before closing on April 5.

After voting takes place on May 5, polling cards will then be counted and the results announced the following day.

The newly elected councillors will represent 89 new divisions on North Yorkshire County Council for one year before serving a four-year term on the new council.

They will play a key role in shaping how public services will work in the future, with all areas from bin collections to road maintenance being transferred across to the new council in what will be a mammoth task.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, previously said:

“The councillors elected on 5 May will make decisions on services that affect individuals, families and communities, so we want to make sure that anyone who wants to consider stepping forward as a candidate has all the information they need.

“These elections are important for everyone in the county, so if you are eligible to vote, please make sure that you are registered, then you can be sure that your vote will count.”

The deadline for people to register to vote is April 14.

To find out more on how to become a candidate, tap or click here.

Ukraine crisis: Guide to how you can help locally

As the war in Ukraine wages on, the Harrogate district has stepped up its response to help those fleeing the conflict.

The Stray Ferret will be providing updates on where to give donations and how the district is responding to the ongoing war.

If you have any details on where to donate to those fleeing the conflict or any other information, write to us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Harrogate

Ukrainian woman opens house for donations 

Olga Whiting, from Ukraine, is opening up her home so she can take donations to be sent to her Mum’s village in Ukraine.

Ms Whiting now lives in Harrogate but is in regular contact with her mum who has said the items they’re most in need of are:

Ms Whiting has a friend who has been transporting donations into Ukraine every three weeks. Her friend will now add her native village of Nova Borava to his list of drop-off points.

People can drop donations off at anytime at 14 Yewdale Road, Harrogate, HG2 8NF. Ms Whiting has said if no one is in call her on 07307876103 and she will describe a safe place for them to be left.

Tiger Fifty 7 taking donations

The children’s store on Cold Bath Road has opened itself up as a drop-off point for donations.

It is asking for:

For anyone who would rather donate money via JustGiving link, click here.

Boroughbridge

Car dealer accepting donations

Charltons of Boroughbridge is accepting donations for those feeling the conflict in Ukraine.

Items collected will be sent to a large depot at Thirsk and then forward to Eastern Europe.

Organisers will accept:

The dealership has said it is open for donations from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday and Saturday 8.30am to 5pm.

Plans approved to demolish Little Ouseburn pub for homes

Harrogate Borough Council has approved plans to demolish a Little Ouseburn pub to build new homes.

The proposal by Low Lane Developments will see the Green Tree Inn flattened to make way for four houses.

The pub, which is on the main B6265 from Green Hammerton to Boroughbridge, closed in late 2019.

In documents submitted to the council, the developer said the plan would help to enhance the local area.

It said:

“We believe that redevelopment of this site will enhance the conservation area and will bring a positive contribution to the local environment.”

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In 2017, pub owners Michael and Barbara Briggs were granted permission to convert the property into housing while retaining part of the downstairs as a micro pub.

However, planning documents state Mr Briggs died in January 2017 and Mrs Briggs struggled to maintain the pub alone.

After three years of trying to market the micro pub, Mrs Briggs decided it was no longer a viable business.

Knaresborough hairdresser wins legal battle after customer sues for catastrophic hair loss

A Knaresborough hairdresser accused of causing catastrophic hair loss to a customer has won a ground-breaking legal case.

Mother-of-two Kelly Teggin challenged the customer’s claims that large clumps of her hair had fallen out after bleaching, leaving her with a blistered scalp.

A two-day county court trial, which could have landed Ms Teggin with a bill of more than £100,000, including costs, and damaged her reputation, ruled in her favour.

Court documents summarising the case, which was heard in October last year, state:

“On the balance of probabilities, nothing untoward happened to the claimant in the salon that evening and no concerns were raised that night. It was accepted that the claimant was content when she left.”

Ms Teggin, of Kelly Teggin Hair and Beauty in Knaresborough, has now spoken about the verdict publicly for the first time. She said:

“I was positive I had done nothing wrong and wanted to clear my name.”

Kelly Teggin

Kelly Teggin (right) and assistant Penny Ledgeway

The Leeds County Court judge’s ruling in favour of Ms Teggin has been hailed as a breakthrough for hairdressers struggling to disprove claims that cost insurance companies millions of pounds every year.

‘Hair reduced to stubble in some places’

The claimant, from Boroughbridge, argued her hair started falling out on holiday, a few days after Ms Teggin bleached the roots in August 2019, and continued to fall out until she only had half her hair left, with it being reduced to stubble in some places.

The judge, Recorder Murray, said there was only evidence of minor breakage, which did not demonstrate there had been negligence.

Dismissing the claim, he also pointed out that UV light, heat and mechanical processes could damage bleached hair.

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Ms Teggin’s solicitor, Sarah Pether, said the case could have been settled at the outset for around £6,000 damages and costs. She added:

“Trials in such cases are rare as insurers usually consider it more cost effective to settle at an early stage and pay the low level fixed legal fees.

“I have seen obvious cases of negligence before with ‘chewing gum’ hair, huge clumps falling out, hair turning green etc, where most people would accept the treatment was negligent and those cases should be settled to avoid court costs.

“However, a lot of claims now seem to be based on minor breakage which are not necessarily due to negligence, or do not prove there has been negligence, and with only £3,000 to £4,000 claimed each time the insurers have tended to settle them.”

‘Reputation on the line’

Ms Teggin said afterwards:

“I was putting my reputation on the line and risked losing my business if it all went wrong but I was never going to settle because the story simply didn’t stack up and I knew I had the evidence to prove it.

“I just hope this gives other hairdressers and the insurance industry in general the confidence to stand up against false claims, which are more common than people realise,” added Mrs Teggin.

Expert witness, forensic trichologist Prof Barry Stevens, welcomed the verdict, adding:

“It will hopefully lead to a closer review of claims within the industry.”

Bride’s disappointment as Harrogate Register Office maintains covid guest limit

A bride-to-be has expressed disappointment after discovering Harrogate Register Office is still imposing covid restrictions on the number of wedding guests.

Deanna Contreras and Sean Wilkinson are due to tie the knot at the register office on May 27.

They have been told the maximum amount of guests permitted remains 32 rather than 55 — which was the number pre-covid.

Ms Contreras, who got engaged shortly before covid struck two years ago, said:

“We were supposed to get married last year but postponed it because we wanted all our family there.

“It never entered my head that the limit would still be 32 people.”

It means the couple have had to restrict family invitations as well as partners of guests.

Harrogate Register Office

The register office on Park Parade.

Ms Contreras, who lives in Starbeck, said:

“We thought ‘let’s wait and have a happy time in 2022’ — and it will be a happy time but this has put a dampener on it.

“I’m not going to get stressed about it. I’m 56 and have been married before but I do feel sorry for young brides.

“I think this is a bit over the top. We can’t keep putting everything on hold for covid.”

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Last month Ms Contreras wrote to Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper about the matter.

Cllr Cooper replied to say:

“From my point of view I cannot see what possible justification there can be for restrictions in numbers to be given when all national restrictions have been lifted and the event is three months away.”

He added he would contact the leader of North Yorkshire County Council, which is responsible for the register office, urging it to think again.

‘Reviewing arrangements’

Neil Irving, assistant director for policy, partnerships and communities at the county council, told the Stray Ferret:

“Until April 1 we are required by law explicitly to consider covid transmission risks around public events.

“Government continues to advise that space and ventilation are important factors in minimising covid transmission.

“We are currently reviewing all our arrangements for events such as weddings and to bring in changes from the beginning of April, but for the present we continue to take steps to minimise covid transmission as rates, though falling, continue to be relatively high.”

Knaresborough charity shop forced to close after fifth flood

A Knaresborough business owner has made made the “devastating” decision to close her charity shop after it flooded for the fifth time in five years.

Rachel Wills runs the Watermill Cafe at The Lido leisure park in Knaresborough.

When her niece Bella was diagnosed with leukaemia, Ms Wills wanted to support the hospital caring for her so she decided to open a charity shop within the premises.

It began as a book table in the corner of the cafe but as more people heard Bella’s story, a bigger space was needed for donations so Ms Wills converted the ground floor cellar and opened a ‘bring and buy’ shop.

Since opening three years ago, the venture and annual summer BBQs have raised more than £10,000 for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

But the cafe stands on the banks of the River Nidd, making it a frequent victim of flooding. Now, after last month’s storms, Ms Wills has decided she can’t keep rebuilding the shop.

The high waters during a night of flooding and then a few days later.

Each time it floods she and her partner have to rebuild the shelves and put a call-out for more donations.

Last month’s floods forced the cafe owner to throw away three-and-a-half tips of donations and food stock and pump out more than 500 litres of water.

She said:

“I was watching the waters rise on the CCTV. I could see things dropping into the water. I just knew I couldn’t go through this again, every time it happens it’s harder to build back again.

“If I keep it on and we get flooded again I’m back to square one. It’s an awful decision to make but I will keep holding events to support the hospital but keeping the shop open is just really hard when it floods so regularly.”

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Bella was diagnosed cancer-free in March 2020. Nevertheless, Ms Wills wants to continue finding ways to donate to the hospital.

Each year, she holds a summer barbecue outside the cafe on the river banks, with live music and games, which raises around £1,000 — this will continue.

Coming soon! New pothole machine to improve Harrogate district roads

North Yorkshire County Council has said it will use two new state-of-the-art machines to blitz potholes across the county this month.

The machines are able to fix the potholes through a technique called spray injection patching.

With this method, the machines clean and dry the holes then fill them with a cold bitumen compound to seal cracks. Finally, an aggregate is used to fill the hole.

The county council said in a press release yesterday that acquiring the machines would enable it to undertake “an extended programme of pothole repairs across many North Yorkshire neighbourhoods during March”.

It added “local communities will be informed of locations and anticipated dates for the work very shortly”.

The council was encouraged by a recent trial of the machines and believes they are a cheaper and quicker way to fill in potholes. It also said repairs can last longer.

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Conservative councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for highways, said:

“The trials carried out were very successful and this is a great opportunity to repair more roads.

“This is good news for residents of North Yorkshire, spray injection patching is a much quicker process of repairing potholes and the repairs tend to last a lot longer.

“It offers a cost-effective way of repairing potholes whilst reducing the inconvenience to the travelling public. We have also secured the services of this specialist equipment later in the year.”

OPINION: What people in the Harrogate district can do to help Ukraine

John Harris writes in a personal capacity. He is chair of Harrogate District of Sanctuary.

How can we as individuals respond to yet another terrible humanitarian crisis?

In the scale of horrors visited on fellow human beings, few things compare with having to abandon everything and flee your home and country to escape death or persecution or the complete destruction of your settled life.

Here in Harrogate, as in towns across the country, we have refugee families adjusting as best they can to a new life — the result of humanitarian disasters in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Now the horror of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is unfolding. It includes wanton destruction of towns, indiscriminate killing of civilians, untold numbers sheltering underground and the creation of 1.5 million refugees in a week.

What can we do? Certainly our government needs to focus on deeds not words. Please spare us the overseas photo ops and forget the stupid populist boasts (‘leading the world’). Just get on with sorting out what needs to be done.

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Amid our feeling of helplessness and despair, let’s think of some things we can do:

Lobby our MPs, sign the petitions, join the protest marches and urge the government to:
• Reduce further the refugee visa requirements immediately (the minister suggesting applying for a temporary work visa as a fruit picker and turning back Ukrainians in Calais where there is no Home Office processing is shameful). The requirements are far from as generous as will be needed if, as has been suggested, up to 200,000 Ukrainians are to be given sanctuary here
• Drop the restrictive elements of the Nationality and Borders Bill by accepting the many amendments proposed by the House of Lords e.g. so that refugees are not criminalised by arriving in the UK by an ‘irregular’ route.
• Introduce (not just talk about it with false promises/claims) sanctions against the Russian state, banks, companies and individuals. Action on Russian ‘dirty’ money is glacial. Reports suggest that a minimal number of people and companies have actually been sanctioned yet in the UK while other governments act.
• Support the Ukrainian government with requested supplies as they resist the invasion of their country.
• Introduce a settlement scheme of some kind for the Refugee Council and associated City of Sanctuary charities to operate.

Individuals can also:

• Support NGO charitable organisations working with refugees that are appealing for funds. When in doubt which one, support the Disaster Emergency Fund appeal.
• Support local community efforts, for example by joining as members and volunteers of a local City of Sanctuary charity when it appeals for help. Keep an eye on social media for details of what is needed.

It is tragic that there are still 12,000 Afghan refugees in hotels, months after their arrival in UK. What is even more terrible for Ukraine is that we are warned that, unbelievably, the devastation and killing can only get worse and the 1.5 million who have fled to date are only a start.

Bilton and Woodfield Community Library closed due to flooding

Bilton and Woodfield Community Library will be closed for two weeks due to flooding.

A burst pipe in the nearby children’s centre caused water to enter the library (pictured above). Volunteers that operate the library noticed the problem when they arrived this morning.

Contractors are already on site to assess the damage and work to clean up the leak could start as soon as tomorrow.

However, the library will be closed for two weeks while work is carried out.

People who were due to return library books during the closure will not face fines.

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