Harrogate Archives - Page 283 of 783

Three schools near Harrogate to share executive head under new agreement

Three village schools near Harrogate and Knaresborough have agreed to work in partnership in a move leaders say will benefit pupils and staff.

Goldsborough Church of England Primary School and Sicklinghall Community Primary School formed the Goldsborough Sicklinghall Federation in 2015.

Now the federation has entered into a less formal “collaborative agreement” with Admiral Long Church of England Primary School at Burnt Yates.

The move will see federation executive headteacher Zoe Ellis also become executive headteacher at Admiral Long in September and work across all three sites.

Admiral Long Primary School in Burnt Yates.

A letter from to parents from Cerys Townend, chair of the federation’s governing board, said it was “approached by the local authority to enter into a collaborative agreement with another small school”.

It added the move “provides an exciting new opportunity to learn and develop as well as building the financial resilience of all three schools”.

The letter said the schools “share core values rooted in Christian beliefs and practice” and “high quality learning opportunities”. It added:

“By sharing knowledge, expertise, and resources, the schools can enhance their educational offerings and provide a more enriching experience for their pupils.

“Collaboration enables the schools to pool their strengths, resulting in a wider range of learning opportunities, improved teaching practices, and a more comprehensive curriculum.”

Admiral Long is 11 miles from Goldsborough and 10 miles from Sicklinghall.

‘Exciting opportunity’

The Stray Ferret asked the council why the collaboration was happening and what impact it will have on staffing and finances.

Amanda Newbold, assistant director for education and skills at the council, replied in a statement:

“This is an exciting opportunity for Admiral Long CE Primary School to work in collaboration with the Goldsborough Sicklinghall Federation, led by executive headteacher Zoe Ellis and her team from the start of September.

“The collaboration will help the schools to work together, share expertise and resources for the benefit of pupils, staff and the wider school communities.”

Business Breakfast: Harrogate care company appoints new chief executive

The Stray Ferret Business Club’s next meeting is a breakfast event on Thursday, 27 July at Banyan in Harrogate between 8-10am.

The Business Club provides monthly opportunities to network, make new connections and hear local success stories. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate district care company has appointed a new chief executive.

Homes Together, which is based on Victoria Avenue, provides accommodation for disabled people across Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough.

The company has appointed David Ashton-Jones as its new chief executive, as well as restructuring its senior management team.

Mr Ashton-Jones said:

“I am incredibly proud to take on the role of chief executive at Homes Together.

“This is an organisation that means a lot to me and I look forward to helping drive exceptional residential care for disabled young adults across our 13 different services in both Harrogate District and Gateshead.”

Meanwhile, the firm has also unveiled plans to invest in its training, infrastructure and technology in an effort to improve its services.

Harrogate company reaches sustainability targets

A Harrogate company has celebrated achieving three of its sustainability targets.

Techbuyer, which is based on Hornbeam Park, set nine targets including responsible consumption and production, quality education and good health and wellbeing.

The targets were set in line with the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals, which were drawn up in 2015.

Steve Sexton, group managing director of Techbuyer.

Techbuyer has now reached three of the goals ahead of its 2025 deadline.

Of those it has achieved include logging 15,000 hours of staff physical activity, £3 million in savings for educational institutions and promoting sustainable technology to 5,000 organisations.

Steve Sexton, group managing director at Techbuyer, said:

“As a global organisation we are proud to be able to align our own ESG efforts with a number of the UN Sustainability Development Goals focused specifically on where we feel we can take meaningful action and make a real difference.”

No trains on Harrogate line for two days next week amid strikes

No trains will run through Harrogate and Knaresborough next week as staff stage further walkouts.

Members of the RMT Union are set to strike on Thursday, July 20, and Saturday, July 22, over a pay dispute.

A further walkout will take place on Saturday, July 29.

Northern, which operates trains between York and Leeds through Harrogate, has announced that the industrial action will affect services.

The company has said no trains will run on strike days and early morning services on Friday (July 21) and Sunday (July 23) are also expected to be disrupted.

Northern has urged people to check train times ahead of planning a journey.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said:

“Yet again, thousands of our customers will be inconvenienced as a result of this action by the RMT union.

“We all want to see an end to this dispute and the uncertainty that on-going strike action causes to people’s confidence in the railway.”

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, said the strike was a result of ministers failing to put forward a “package that can settle this dispute”.

He said:

“This latest phase of action will show the country just how important railway staff are to the running of the rail industry.

“My team of negotiators and I are available 24/7 for talks with the train operating companies and government ministers.

“Yet quite incredibly neither party has made any attempt whatsoever to arrange any meetings or put forward a decent offer that can help us reach a negotiated solution.”

Councillors raise concerns about role of planning committees on North Yorkshire Council

Councillors have raised concerns about how planning committees have been operating on the new North Yorkshire Council, with some meetings being cancelled due to a lack of suitable applications.

North Yorkshire Council created six planning committees organised by parliamentary constituency areas where a group of cross-party councillors meet around once every six weeks to approve, refuse or defer large or controversial planning applications.

Previous planning committees held on the old district councils would regularly have an agenda of three or more applications for councillors to debate.

But the Skipton & Ripon planning committee last week had just one application for a garage conversion and other committees including Harrogate & Knaresborough and Selby & Ainsty have had meetings cancelled altogether as nothing was brought forward by officers.

Conservative councillor for Bentham & Ingleton, David Ireton, said he believes the current situation is unsustainable.

He said:

“If we’re getting so few applications we will in my view see amalgamation of planning committees.

“By the time you’ve travelled, you’ve spent an afternoon to discuss one application. We’re in danger of losing our identity as a constituency planning committee.”

Councillors who sit on planning committees are able to ‘call in’ particularly contentious applications in their areas, but only if there are sound planning reasons.

North Yorkshire Council planning officer Neville Watson said more applications are now being decided by officers but promised that councillors will still be able to bring forward applications to committee if they meet the threshold.

He said:

“You will end up with a reduced number of applications but they will be the more contentious or difficult applications and the planning committee is the proper forum for that.

“That’s the way things are moving.”

This appeared to frustrate Green Party councillor for Aire Valley, Andy Brown, who said:

“I do want my say. I think I’m entitled to that because I’ve been elected.”

Conservative councillor for Wathvale & Bishop Monkton, Nick Brown, suggested that planning officers had been too powerful on Harrogate Borough Council and said he hoped councillors would be trusted to make key planning decisions on the new authority.

He said:

“I do think from past experience in Harrogate that councillors were not thought of in a helpful light. If a member knows there’s an application that should be contentious then their view should be held.”

The next Harrogate & Knaresborough planning committee is on July 25 and Skipton & Ripon will be on August 1.

Business Breakfast: Knaresborough financial advisors appoint new board members

The Stray Ferret Business Club’s next meeting is a breakfast event on Thursday, 27 July at Banyan in Harrogate between 8-10am.

The Business Club provides monthly opportunities to network, make new connections and hear local success stories. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Knaresborough financial firm has announced a number of changes to its board.

Prosperis Ltd, which is based at St James’ Business Park, said it wanted to appoint experienced professionals to the company as part of its growth strategy.

Among the changes include Dave McLaughlin, who has been appointed as managing director of Prosperis Wealth and David Carrington joins as managing director of Prosperis Corporate Services.

David Carrington and Dawn Cockson.

Dawn Cockson also joins the board as operations director.

Niall Gunn, chief executive of Prosperis Ltd, said:

“These are exciting times for Prosperis. We are concluding our seventh acquisition with the next one due to complete in the autumn and our management team is stepping up to drive our service proposition to our clients.

“Both Davids and Dawn will be a great addition to our board, bringing a wide range and skills and talents.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service among top 100 apprentice employers

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has been named in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers for 2023.

The service, which operates ambulances in the Harrogate district and wider Yorkshire region, was ranked 36 in the list and was the highest ranked NHS organisation.

More than 500 of the service’s 7,200 staff are apprentices, including ambulance support workers, associate ambulance practitioners and paramedic degree apprentices.

It also employs apprentices in corporate services like finance, operational support, learning and development.

Kim Walsh, apprenticeships manager for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said:

“We are delighted to have ranked so highly; this establishes Yorkshire Ambulance Service as one of the leading apprenticeship employers in the country.”

Harrogate residents demand action after tree crashes into garages — again

Residents on a Harrogate street are demanding action after a mighty oak tree crashed down into neighbouring gardens twice in the space of a year.

The multi-trunk oak forms part of a row of mature trees overhanging gardens at Sherwood Drive in Hookstone.

One of its three trunks splintered in July last year, destroying the fence and badly damaging the garage roof belonging to Keith Crawford.

The incident prompted Mr Crawford and several neighbours to urge North Yorkshire Council, which owns the land the trees are on, to undertake pruning to prevent a repeat.

But nothing was done and a second trunk from the oak fell into the garage roofs of two properties alongside Mr Crawford’s at 4am on Sunday morning.

Trees overhanging back gardens on Sherwood Drive.

He said the state of the trees posed a risk to people and property that the council had failed to act upon.

“It took until December to sort out my garage and fence and now it’s happened again to my neighbours.

“The trees are just not being managed properly. People are scared.”

Mr Crawford said he couldn’t recall any maintenance taking place during the 17 years he’d lived on Sherwood Drive and the trees were now far too big for residents to attempt to prune.

Christine Amour, who lives next door to Mr Crawford, was woken on her birthday last weekend by the sound of the tree crashing down. She said:

“I was so upset, I was shaking. I just stood on the steps of my back door saying ‘oh no, it’s happened again’.”

The Stray Ferret met other neighbours at Sherwood Drive last night who were equally concerned about the situation. They said their concerns to the council had also gone unanswered.

Keith and Christine Amour besides the fallen trunk, with their homes in the background.

The trees are situated on a cycleway and footpath that leads to Panhandle Park so they also pose a risk to passers-by.

We asked the council how many residents had complained about the trees on Sherwood Drive, why it had not taken action and whether it would now.

Michael Leah, assistant director for environment at the council, said:

“We visited Sherwood Drive on Monday in order to assess the situation following the adverse weather over the weekend.

“We were initially denied access to neighbouring properties and so returned on Tuesday and held further discussions with residents.

“As a result, we were able to get onto the property directly affected and remove tree debris. We completed this work on Tuesday afternoon. There was no visible damage to the property itself.”

Mr Leah added:

“Over the next three months, we will be carrying out work in the area to thin some trees that are in a poor condition and reduce more overhanging branches.

“Residents can take action to prune trees themselves in order to prevent them reaching the stage where we need to step in. This should be done carefully and with due regard to health and safety. If in any doubt, please call in professional tree surgeons to carry out such work.”

Harrogate town council creation could be delayed by another consultation

Residents are set to be asked for a third time about their views on a potential Harrogate town council — but another consultation could mean its formation is put back from April 2024.

Officers had recommended that each of the proposed 10 wards in Harrogate, which are based on current North Yorkshire Council divisions, be represented by two councillors per ward in the town council with the exception of Saltergate, which would have one councillor.

But councillors at a meeting last week raised concerns that this arrangement would be “unwieldy” and they would instead prefer to create one-member wards based around the 19 old Harrogate Borough Council ward boundaries.

If the council decides to proceed with the original plans it is hoped the new council could be formed by next spring with elections taking place in May 2024.

This could now change with a report that will go before a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council next Wednesday in Northallerton recommending that councillors ask residents for their views on the new proposals that were suggested last week.

The report says as the public were not asked for their opinion on the revised warding pattern, there is a legal risk in proceeding without another consultation exercise.

Councillors who backed the changes included Conservative member for Easingwold Nigel Knapton who said last week it was important for residents that the new council is set up correctly, even though another consultation risked putting back the process by another year.

But Liberal Democrat member for Bilton Grange and New Park, Monika Slater, said another consultation would confuse residents who had already been asked for their views twice before.

There has also been concerns about engagement in the previous consultations with just 4.7% of eligible households responding to the latest round that ran for nine weeks from March to May this year.

Of these, 65% said they backed the creation of the new council.

How much would the new council cost?

Despite it not being confirmed what services the council would run, Harrogate households would be asked to pay between £40 and £60 on top of their council tax each year if a Harrogate Town Council was created.

North Yorkshire Council has said the town council’s council tax precept would allow for an annual budget in the range of £1m to £1.6m.

The budget would be spent on accommodation, employment costs, office and IT equipment, insurance, professional fees, the mayor and delivering services.

It anticipates there would be a surplus in the first year of the town council, which would go to reserves for use in future years and “enable the parish to begin on a secure financial footing”.

The precept would be lower than Ripon City Council, which charges £70.77 for band D properties, but higher than Knaresborough Town Council, which charges £25.27.

Harrogate caterer who serves monarchs at Great Yorkshire Show celebrates 60th birthday

This story is sponsored by Harrogate BID.

A Harrogate caterer who has served a number of royals celebrated his 60th birthday and 21 years of catering at the Great Yorkshire Show yesterday.

Ian King, owner of King’s Catering, founded the company with his wife 27 years ago and, for 21 of those, has served thousands of people every day when the annual show takes place.

The traditional royal visit means Mr King has prepared meals for King Charles III, Princess Anne, and the late Queen Elizabeth II.

He said the current monarch “loves smoked salmon sandwiches and loose Earl Grey tea”, while his sister “always asks for ginger beer”.

Monarchs are provided with a checklist to indicate their likes and dislikes ahead of the show and, said Mr King, only request “the use of local produce”.

The company initially served canapes at the agricultural show but took on the challenge of catering for the entire show in 2012.

That same year, the show was rained off after just the first day. With heaps of leftover stock and a heavy heart, it’s fair to say Mr King described this as his least favourite memory of the show…

The Great Yorkshire Show generates “10% of the company’s annual turnover”, according to Mr King, and is “the busiest and biggest week of the year.”

He said covid was a “very cruel” time for the company but added:

“We’re back and we’re bigger and stronger than ever. This show is what we work towards all year.

“Providing breakfast on the first day goes well the rest of the show is plain sailing!”

Mr King arrives at the showground at 4am each day during show week to prepare and said “the camaraderie of it all makes it so enjoyable”.

This year, the caterer spent his milestone 60th birthday cooking up a storm for the Duke of Gloucester – and thousands of other show attendees.

Find more information on King’s Catering here.

Missing girl from Knaresborough found

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed that a missing girl from Knaresborough has been found.

Officers said she was reported missing on Monday this week.

However, the force confirmed this afternoon that she has since been found.

Plans to build nine flats on site of former Harrogate council building

Plans to build nine apartments on the site of a former council office in Harrogate have been met with opposition from nearby residents.

The site at 18 Victoria Avenue was previously home to Victoria Park House, which was demolished 18 months ago.

Planning permission was granted in late 2018 for an office building to be built by new owner Hornbeam Park Developments. The plans proposed using the original facade, and the stonework was retained to do so.

Now, however, plans have been submitted by Long Marston-based Echo Green Developments, through agent Savills, to create nine residential apartments on the site, arguing attempts to market the building for office use had failed over a number of years.

Documents submitted as part of the application said the proposed building was of “traditional design” but that retaining the facade would no longer be possible. They said:

“Due to the viability of the previous application, which was office use, the client is now seeking residential use based on market advice.

“However, to provide a high quality residential development, we are unable to work with the floor to floor levels of the original build and hence cannot recreate the original front facade.”

In response to the proposed change to residential, North Yorkshire Council‘s economic development unit said it accepted there was a limited market for commercial offices and there was plenty of vacant space elsewhere.

Plans for apartments on the site of the old Victoria Park House.

But the change of plan has drawn criticism from Harrogate Civic Society, for whom Henry Pankhurst wrote:

“We are told by the architects that the client wanted a building that looked of an historic design. What better than to have an actual and important historic building at the heart of the conservation area that currently lies demolished on the site.

“The application should be refused.”

While the five objections received from members of the public were not against residential development, they raised other concerns.

Several residents of The Osborne apartments on South Park Road, which backs onto the site, have expressed worries about overshadowing from the new building, which has a larger footprint than the former office building.

Each of the three floors would have two two-bedroom apartments and one three-bedroom apartment, and there would be 18 parking spaces on the site.

Victoria Park House was one of Harrogate Borough Council’s five office sites which was sold in 2016 for £1 million. Before that, it was home to the register office in Harrogate.

To view the application, visit the North Yorkshire Council planning website and use reference ZC23/01751/FUL.

‘Exciting opportunity’

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How much would the new council cost?

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