The Electric Bike Shop opened in Harrogate today, hoping to capitalise on cycling’s increased popularity since lockdown.
The shop, situated in the former Fulton’s Food unit on Leeds Road, has about 50 electric bikes in store, with more coming soon. Brands include Raleigh, Cube and Moustache.
It also sells cycling accessories and has an in-store workshop that undertakes repairs for electric and non-electric bikes.
Some of the bikes for sale.
The bikes range in price from £1,600 to £8,000 and contain rechargeable batteries that can last for between 20 and 70 miles.
It is The Electric Bike Shop’s ninth shop in England. Five have opened in the last 18 months, highlighting the impact of covid and environmental concerns on cycling participation.
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Kurt Davison, who manages the Harrogate branch, has been working in the electric bike market for eight years. He said:
“I’ve seen the industry grow and grow and it is now at a stage where it is no longer pigeon-holed as something for older people or people who don’t usually ride. Electric bikes make hills and headwind enjoyable!”
Harrogate Electric Bikes already operates in Harrogate and some other bike shops also include a selection of electric bikes.
The shop is in the former Fulton’s Foods unit on Leeds Road.
Alan Fowler, retail director of the Electric Bike Shop, said the quality of electric bikes had improved significantly in the last five years.
He added the product was well suited to Harrogate because it contained commuters to York and Leeds as well as pleasure riders in the Yorkshire Dales. He said:
“Harrogate suits our demographic really well.”
The shop employs three staff and plans to recruit one more.
North Yorkshire fire service ‘struggling to buy the basics’, says union
The government has left North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in a “horrendous position” struggling to buy basic equipment, according to union bosses.
The Fire Brigade Union said the decision by ministers to scrap its capital grant entirely will have “serious implications” for the service.
Officials at North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s office revealed last month that the fire service may have to borrow up to £31 million to help fund projects over the next five years.
But Steve Howley, Fire Brigades Union North Yorkshire brigade secretary, said the bleak financial position meant the fire service was struggling to buy basics.
He said:
“The government has left North Yorkshire fire and rescue service in a horrendous position – it’s abolished the entirety of its capital funding for it. When coupled with the already desperate financial state of the service there will be serious implications.
“The fire and rescue service is now struggling to buy the basics needed for our firefighters to protect their communities, and struggling to invest in its dilapidated buildings, many of which are unfit for purpose in 2022. For example, we still have several stations which do not have adequate facilities for female members of staff.
“The government needs to start taking fire and rescue seriously and fund it appropriately. The firefighters of North Yorkshire are staring down the barrel of a gun, either cut firefighter jobs to pay for basic provisions or fail to have adequate facilities or equipment. Neither option provides the public of North Yorkshire with the protection they deserve or require.”
On Monday, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel agreed a 1.98% increase in the fire service precept, which amounts to £75.61 for the year.
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The service was limited to such an increase because it is not one of the eight lowest charging services in the country.
Zoe Metclafe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, told the panel that she would continue to lobby government for further flexibility in the precept.
She said:
“The financial challenges for the service are considerable with pressures around utilities, estates cost and staff pay.
“I do appreciate and understand members concerns around funding and the budget request at the last meeting and I do share these.
“As you are aware, I have lobbied hard for the government on precept flexibility.”
Meanwhile, Michael Porter, chief finance officer at the commissioner’s office, said:
“I think it is fair to say that the financial needs of the organisation and the service outstrip what we are asking for and proposing today.”
Jonathan Dyson, deputy chief fire officer at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, sought to reassure the public that despite the financial pressures the public would “continue to receive a high standard of response”.
Starbeck schoolchildren highlight air pollution dangers of idle enginesChildren from Starbeck Primary Academy were at Starbeck level crossing this morning armed with placards asking motorists to turn their engines off.
An idling engine can produce up to twice as many exhaust emissions as an engine in motion, with air pollution known to harm children’s growing lungs.
At Starbeck crossing, the barriers are activated several times an hour to let trains pass. With queues of traffic on both sides of the crossing a regular sight, it is a notorious air pollution hotspot.
Today’s campaign was organised by the school and Starbeck Residents Association.
Darren Leeming, who has two children at the school and is on the SRA committee said “there are no excuses” for motorists not to turn their engines off whilst they waited.
He said:
“The barriers go down and people don’t turn their engines off. Air pollution goes into children’s lungs. A lot of these drivers have children themselves.”
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Starbeck Primary Academy is on Starbeck High Street and bears the brunt of the air pollution from waiting cars and vehicles.
Its headteacher, Gary de Castro-Morland, said 99% of its children walk to school so he hopes motorists can turn their engines off to help protect their health.
He said:
Forty-one Harrogate district schools take part in ‘walk to school day’“This year five class has been learning about air pollution and the children wanted to come down.
“Traffic queues right in front of our school, air pollution from standing traffic is a significant issue for us.”
Forty-one schools from across the Harrogate district took part in Friday’s walk to school day, which aims to tackle the impact on the climate from transport.
The event, which was the first of 2022 and the fourth since its launch in June 2021, saw pupils from across Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Ripon take part.
Parents and children who were unable to stop using their cars completely were encouraged to “park and stride” by parking further from the school gate and continuing the journey on foot.
Kettlesing Fellscliffe Primary School won the district’s “Zero Hero” primary school award with 100% of pupils taking part.
Meanwhile, Harrogate Grammar School won the secondary school prize with 90% participation.
Winning pupils from Kettlesing Felliscliffe Primary School.
Holly Whyte, interim head of school at Kettlesing Felliscliffe Community Primary School, said:
“At Kettlesing Felliscliffe Primary School we are committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing for our pupils.
“While many of our children are local to the village, some of our families made the extra effort to take public transport for part of their journey to school before walking the final kilometre into school.
“This ties in with our schools plans to reduce the carbon footprint in the area with our child-led eco-committee.”
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Sarah Bissett, events coordinator for Zero Carbon Harrogate, the volunteer-led charity that runs the initiative, said:
“We have been positively overwhelmed by the level of support received from schools, families and children since the Harrogate District Walk to School Day initiative launched last summer.
“This first event of 2022 has demonstrated the continued enthusiasm towards positive transport choices both on the day and beyond; building habits which benefit our environment and the health of participants in both the short and long-term.
“Encouragingly, there has also been an increase in the geographical spread of schools taking part across the district: a trend which we hope is set to continue throughout the year.”
The next walk to school day is set to take place on Friday, March 25.
Harrogate district hospitalisations and covid rate fallsThe number of patients who tested positive for covid at Harrogate District Hospital has fallen.
Latest figures from Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust show 30 patients are currently being treated at the hospital – down on 34 last week.
Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has also fallen to 1,175 cases per 100,000 people.
But this remains above the county-wide average which is 856 and the England rate of 873.
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UK Health Security Agency data shows the daily number positive covid cases yesterday was 158.
No further deaths from patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been reported at Harrogate hospital, according to NHS England figures.
The death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 220.
Historic 37-room Boroughbridge pub and hotel soldThe Crown Hotel in Boroughbridge has been sold to a national chain.
RedCat Pub Company has bought the 37-room hotel and former coaching inn from Best Western for an undisclosed fee.
It will be run by RedCat’s subsidiary, The Coaching Inn Group, which operates 24 coaching inns in market towns across the UK.
Kevin Charity, chief executive of the group, said:
“We’re pleased to have added The Crown Hotel to our high quality and fast-growing estate. I’m delighted with how The Coaching Inn Group is accelerating its growth with RedCat’s support.”
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The building has been in the town for centuries.
In 1569, it was known as the Manor House and was the meeting place for the Council of the North where local notables, led by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, planned to free Mary, Queen of Scots.
In the 1570s, it was turned into a Mass centre for seminary priests and local families.
Firefighters rescue passengers from car stuck in Dallowgill fordFire crews from Ripon and Lofthouse rescued two passengers from a car trapped in water in a ford at Dallowgill yesterday.
Emergency services were called when the vehicle got submerged in water half a metre deep at around 11am.
Dallowgill is situated between Ripon, Pateley Bridge and Masham.
According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log, one passenger had managed to get out of the vehicle by the time firefighters arrived but two others required assistance.
Firefighters then used a winch to lift the car to safety.
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Comments on a Facebook group for the area said the car was stuck on Belford Lane in Kirkby Malzeard.
The occupants are believed to be from Leeds and there was some debate over whether the road was either open to traffic or suitable, given the amount of rain.
Residents also said they saw an air ambulance attend.
The fire and rescue service incident log said:
22-home ‘affordable’ development in Staveley refused“Crews rescued two passengers from the vehicle by assisting them to walk to the bank side from their car, which was stuck in water half a metre deep. Crews used a winch to remove the vehicle from the ford.”
Harrogate Borough Council has refused plans to build 22 “affordable” homes in Staveley.
Jack Lunn Properties hoped to build three one-bedroom, 13 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom homes on Main Street in the village, which is four miles north of Knaresborough.
The site isn’t in the council’s Local Plan outlining where development can take place in the district, which in normal circumstances would mean it’s highly unlikely the development would be granted planning permission.
However, the application had been brought forward through a rural exception scheme, which allows councils to grant planning permission for affordable housing in the open countryside if a developer can prove there is a need for it.
The government defines affordable as homes sold at 80% of the market rate, homes for social rent or sold through shared ownership schemes.
In the council’s refusal, chief planner John Worthington said there were “no exceptional circumstances” for granting the application and that it did not satisfy the requirements of the affordable housing exception scheme.
A similar plan by the same developer to build 23 affordable homes in Scotton was refused last month.
Carl Wright, director of Jack Lunn, said the company was considering an appeal.
He said:
“We’ve only received a copy of the decision today and have yet to fully digest the same. Suffice to say we are somewhat disappointed that the council have included reasons for refusal that we have not been allowed to comment on or respond to prior to issue.
“Naturally this is disappointing to say the least and we will now take further advice from our consultants prior to deciding whether we ought to appeal or take matters further.”
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Villagers formed a group called SV2 to fight against the plans.
Julie Bowland from SV2 said she was relieved that the council refused the proposal.
Ms Bowland said:
Will Harrogate district charities lose funding in council shake-up?“I can only applaud, with a certain level of relief, that planning law has been upheld robustly and with great regard to the potentially catastrophic damage to the Staveley conservation area and the wildlife that proliferates this beautiful village.”
Many charities in the Harrogate district rely significantly on Harrogate Borough Council for funding.
So the council’s abolition next year could pose a threat to the financial stability of some of the best-known voluntary organisations in the district.
Richard Cooper, the Conservative leader of the council, said last month it had been a generous funder of charities and urged organisations to prepare for the change in the local government, which will see a single new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council come into existence next year.
He said:
“One of the key things voluntary organisations must do over the next year is build relationships.”
Local Fund
One of the district’s main funding sources for charities is the Local Fund for the Harrogate District, which was set up in 2018 as a three-way partnership between Harrogate Borough Council, Harrogate & District Community Action and Two Ridings Community Foundation.
Last year the fund awarded £85,000 to 29 community groups. Applications for its next funding round open on Monday.
An event last year celebrating the Local Fund.
Last year Harrogate Borough Council gave £200,000 to Two Ridings Community Foundation, which administers the fund, to go towards an endowment so that the fund continues in perpetuity.
It also receives a steady stream of income from the Local Lotto — and the future of this is less certain because it is run by Harrogate Borough Council.
At least 60% from each £1 ticket sold on the lottery, which has a weekly £25,000 jackpot, goes towards the fund.
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Jan Garrill, chief executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, said
“The Local Fund will continue and thrive as it is a fund with Two Ridings and out of any local government process.”
But Ms Garrill added she “could not comment” on the future of the Local Lotto because it is run by the council.
Who else could be affected?
Some charities also rely on council grants for funding.
When the Stray Ferret asked for a list of recipients, the council directed us to a report from October last year that listed five beneficiaries of its voluntary and community sector strategic funding programme, which awards grants to charities to ‘deliver key services across the Harrogate district’. But it does provide other grants.
The recipients and sums received are:
Harrogate and District Community Action – £40,000
Harrogate and Craven Districts Citizens Advice – £60,000
Harrogate Homeless Project – £22,500
Nidderdale Plus Community Partnership – £8,000
Community First Yorkshire – £5,000
Frances Elliot, chief executive of Hadca, which supports other charities in the district, said that besides its £40,000 grant, it received a separate £32,000 grant from the council.
Frances Elliot
Ms Elliot said:
“It’s a difficult time for lots of organisations but it’s relatively early in the transition. I genuinely don’t know what will happen. We are optimistic for our funding over the next financial year and we will have to wait and see after that, People at the top don’t know what’s happening yet.
“We have a good relationship with both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council and we hope that continues.”
All the North Yorkshire councils facing abolition have various workstreams underway, considering what will happen after the shake-up. The voluntary sector is among the issues being discussed.
‘Don’t destroy a model that works well’
Pateley Bridge charity Nidderdale Plus works in partnership with Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council to provide services, such as a community library, a front desk for local council and police matters and a tourist information point.
It receives three council grants worth a total of £21,000, which helps it employ 2.5 staff and manage 150 volunteers to provide the services.
Chief executive Helen Flynn said:
Harlow Hill men’s shed aims to boost mental health“We hope we don’t have to destroy this community support model that has been working so well.
“We are starting to build relationships with North Yorkshire County Council. I do feel they want to work with us. They have been good at talking to us so far.
“I wouldn’t say I was relaxed but I am engaged with developments.”
A men’s shed is being set up for Harlow Hill to boost mental health and tackle loneliness in the area.
Men’s sheds are part of a wider organisation of ‘sheds’ that began in Australia. Their goal is to create a space for older men to come together to create and build while making friends. Women are welcome, too.
Sheds have been created over the past couple of years in Harrogate, Ripon and Pateley Bridge.
Harlow Hill’s men’s shed is being set up by local resident John Hart. He told the Stray Ferret he hopes the space will help men become more active whilst sharing how they feel.
He said:
“What has become apparent since covid is with men in particular and mental health issues, we don’t talk much about until we commit suicide.
“We need to do something to try and prevent it.”
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Men’s sheds have traditionally focused on developing practical skills, such as woodwork or toolmaking.
Mr Hart said the Harlow Hill men’s shed could also offer a variety of activities, from art or rambling to computer literacy.
He is the chairman of the Harlow Hill Community Centre, also known as the Green Hut, which will be utilised as the ‘shed’.
However, Mr Hart is also on the lookout for potential workshops, barns or buildings that could be used too.
He encouraged anyone living locally to give the men’s shed a try:
“Tell your dad, uncle or the bloke down the pub, let’s have a go.”
Mr Hart expects the Harlow Hill men’s shed to begin on Tuesday afternoons from later this month. Anyone with questions or who is interested in joining can contact him: johnrhart@live.co.uk