Residents and councillors who are facing the prospect of thousands of homes being built around Harlow Hill have called on North Yorkshire Council to remove sites from its new Local Plan.

Around 50 people attended the Green Hut on Harlow Avenue last night for a meeting of Harlow & Pannal Ash Residents Association (HAPARA).

Up to 4,000 homes could be built in the Western arc of Harrogate but there have been long-standing concerns that the area’s roads, schools and healthcare facilities will not be able to cope.

Residents were dismayed at the publication of a ‘parameters plan’ document last year that was drawn up by Harrogate Borough Council to identify infrastructure requirements for the area.

Plans for 770 homes and a primary school on land behind RHS Harlow Carr has already been submitted by Anywl Land and Redrow Homes.

On the other side of the road, Homes England has submitted plans to build 480 homes.

The homes would be built in phases meaning residents living in the area could face a decade or more of disruption.

Neither application on Otley Road has been approved yet and residents at the meeting said there was a glimmer of hope that North Yorkshire Council could remove the sites when it develops its new county-wide Local Plan.

Read more:

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• Controversial plan for 35 homes in Crimple Valley rejected

Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan will be replaced by the document before 2028.

Malcolm Margolis said HBC’s plan was “obviously out of date and needs changing.”

He said: 

“I read about 50 local authorities have cancelled their Local Plan and started again. I can’t understand why North Yorkshire cant take a similar approach and revisit all this.”

One woman said: 

“The government says we don’t need as many houses as before. It seems sensible to me as a layperson why aren’t these plans revisited and some sites taken out?”

Conservative councillor for Oatlands & Pannal, John Mann, said he will be pushing the new authority to reconsider sites that have not already been granted planning permission. 

He said:

“I will be insisting we look afresh at some of these sites that are in the plan and have not yet come forward and I will call for these sites to be revisited.”

However, chair of Haverah Park with Beckwithshaw Parish Council, Derek Spence, said residents would have to be realistic as the new Local Plan is five years away from completion and in that time developers would look to secure planning permission. 

Cllr Spence said:

“If they see that door closing what are they going to do? Commercially, they’ll start putting in planning applications. It’s pretty obvious. If you were them that’s what you’d have to do to protect your investment.”

Traffic will be prohibited on several roads in Harrogate on Sunday afternoon for the annual St George’s Day parade.

The parade, which was held for the first time in three years last year, sees hundreds of Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Cubs and more join together in uniform to mark the occasion.

North Yorkshire Council, the highways authority, has issued temporary prohibition of traffic orders lasting from 1.30pm to 3pm.

It covers Victoria Avenue and parts of West Park, Beech Grove, Station Parade, Marlborough Road, Queen Parade, North Park Road, Coach Road and Christ Church track.

Victoria Avenue is among the roads affected.

Alternative routes will be signposted.

The closures do not apply to emergency vehicles.

Read more:

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• ‘It will hurt businesses’: Lib Dem councillor to vote against Harrogate’s Station Gateway

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The fourth in our series of networking events, with Banyan Bar & Kitchen, is a breakfast event on April 27 from 8am.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate environmental firm has agreed a contract to deliver services to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

Adler and Allan, which is based on Station Parade, confirmed the contract with VINCI Facilities to carry out maintenance work across the Ministry of Defence’s fuel infrastructure in the south east.

The work comes as part of the Future Defence Infrastructure contract with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which oversees the MoD’s estate.

Charles Price, fuel infrastructure director at Adler and Allan, said: 

“We look forward to a successful working relationship with VINCI Facilities over the coming years. Adler and Allan is committed to ensuring day-to-day delivery of great customer service and performance across the remit of our work at the 58 MoD sites under VINCI Facilities FDIS Built Estate Contract in the South East.

“Our experience working with MOD facilities across the design, build, installation and ongoing maintenance of fuel infrastructure, and our continued account management and sustainability credentials, positions Adler and Allan as a key supply chain partner for FDIS primes.”

Truth Legal launches new website

A Harrogate law firm has launched a new website.

Truth Legal, which is based on Victoria Avenue, set up the site to make the firm’s services “easily accessible”.

The Harrogate firm specialises in personal injury, immigration, clinical negligence and employment law.

However, the new site also includes information on the company’s professional negligence and business services.

Louis MacWilliam, director at Truth Legal, said in a post on the firm’s site:

“It has been carefully designed to make our wide range of services and free legal resources easily accessible to all.

“And with its open, clean, and vibrant style, we believe it perfectly reflects our values of truth, morality, and the determined pursuit of justice.”

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A 99-year-old tradition of model boating looks set to continue in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.

Members of Claro Marine Modellers and a representative from North Yorkshire Council held talks at the boating lake today about a new fountain.

The model boating club was concerned the fountain would damage boats and bring an end to their hobby in Harrogate.

But Adrian Selway, the new club secretary who has been sailing model boats for 30 years in Valley Gardens, said the talks had reached a solution.

Mr Selway said the council had agreed the fountain will not operate when club members sail their boats on Sunday mornings all year round and on Wednesday evenings during summer.

He added:

“It was a very amicable meeting and the outcome was favourable. The council was anxious to support the club.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to spend £6,000 installing the fountain prompted concerns of boats running aground on the structure.

There were also fears spray from the fountain could ruin boats.

Harrogate Borough Council was abolished at the end of last month. North Yorkshire Council has inherited its assets, including Valley Gardens.

Read more:

• Harrogate model boating club could fold due to Valley Gardens fountain
• Regal floral art wows visitors at Harrogate Flower Show

A lorry driver who lost control on the A59 at Blubberhouses on Tuesday was three times over the drink-drive limit.

Jacek Borowski, 51, from Poland lost control of his HGV heading down the hill.

His vehicle blocked the road completely for most of the day, causing significant disruption on the main route between Harrogate and Skipton.

Nobody else was involved or injured.

The lorry blocked the road for most of the day.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today Borowski had been banned within 24 hours of the incident. It added:

“Officers breathalysed the driver who blew 92 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milligrams of breath – almost three times the legal limit.

“He was remanded into custody immediately and put before York Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 19 April where he pleaded guilty to driving over the prescribed limit and was disqualified from driving for 23 months.”

Read more:

• Harrogate firefighters release images of Blubberhouses collision
• ‘It will hurt businesses’: Lib Dem councillor to vote against Harrogate’s Station Gateway

Liberal Democrats have come out in favour of the creation of a Harrogate town council.

A second consultation on whether to set-up a town council runs until May 5.

North Yorkshire County Council said in March the move would require 35,000 households to pay an additional council tax charge of between £40 and £60.

But local Liberal Democrats said today a town council would enable locally-elected councillors to take control of assets such as off-street car parks, the Stray, Royal Hall, Sun Pavilion and Valley Gardens.

Harrogate and Scarborough are the only parts of the county not to have a parish or town council.

Eight Liberal Democrats, including former Harrogate borough councillors and current North Yorkshire councillors, signed in support of a town council.

Cllr Pat Marsh, chair of North Yorkshire Council‘s area constituency committee for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said her party supported devolving power. She added:

“Without a new town council, Harrogate would be at a real disadvantage when bidding for services to remain local.

“Harrogate residents need to have a voice when it comes to the future of local assets, just as those in Knaresborough, Ripon, Pateley Bridge, Boroughbridge and many other villages in North Yorkshire have.”

Pat Marsh

Cllr Marsh said “unique decisions relating to Harrogate should be being made in Harrogate by people who have received the endorsement of Harrogate residents” rather than councillors in places such as Catterick, Ryedale and Scarborough.

She added:

“Assets that could be considered for control by the town council include off-street car parks, the Stray, Royal Hall, Sun Pavilion, Valley Gardens and the other green and floral spaces within the town.

“Without local protection, these assets are always in danger of being cut by North Yorkshire councillors not from Harrogate.

“A Harrogate town council would also provide a formal representative voice for local residents on planning applications and other consultations.

“Harrogate is a very special place and decisions about our town need to be made by local people who know, love and understand this town.”

Read more:

• Second consultation to be held on whether to form Harrogate town council
• Just 3.5% responded to Harrogate town council consultation

A total of 75% favoured setting up a Harrogate town council in last year’s first consultation but only 1,250 homes — 3.5% of those affected — responded. The low response rate triggered concerns about the validity of the response.

The statement urges residents and businesses to respond to the second consultation before the May 5 deadline.

The Lib Dem councillors who signed today’s statement are:

Pat Marsh — Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone.

Philip Broadbank — Fairfax and Starbeck.

Chris Aldred — High Harrogate and Kingsley

Peter Lacey — Coppice Valley and Duchy

Mike Schofield — Harlow and St Georges

Monika Slater — Bilton Grange and New Park

Honorary alderman Trevor Chapman

Honorary alderman Matthew Webber

A plan to convert a 150-year-old church in Harrogate into a house has been approved.

All Saints Church on Otley Road was formerly opened in 1871 as a cemetery chapel.

It was designated as a grade-II listed building in 1975, but was forced to shut in November 2006 due to wet and dry rot.

Three-years later the church closed for good as it was considered unsafe.

Now, North Yorkshire Council has given the go-ahead for the church to be converted into a three-bedroom house.

Read more:

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The application, submitted by ELG Planning on behalf of Mr and Mrs Hunter, said the church could be salvaged and brought back into use.

In a planning statement, the developers said:

“The former Church of All Saints is a building in much need of attention. 

“The applicant has belief that the existing building can be resurrected with restoration and modification to form a long term home for themselves and enjoyed by family members. 

“Without foresight the building can, with the right approach be salvaged, and put to continued use as a sanctuary and place of continued life.”

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The fourth in our series of networking events, with Banyan Bar & Kitchen, is a breakfast event on April 27 from 8am.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate-based branding agency has acquired an East Anglian company for an undisclosed sum.

Impression Studio, which is based on Albert Street, has made the acquisition of Norwich-based digital marketing firm FLOCC.

The addition of FLOCC will see another two members of staff join the business and add a base in East Anglia.

The company now has 15 staff across two brands, Impression and Next Chapter.

Charlie Hartley, founder and managing director of Impression Studio, said:

“I’m delighted to have added FLOCC to our business. It was clear from initial discussions that the values, expertise, client base and culture of FLOCC aligned so closely with our own, and the skills and capabilities of the existing FLOCC team will add significant value to our offering, and vice versa.

“As a growing and ambitious agency, this acquisition enables us to operate more cohesively in East Anglia, expand the group’s overall service offering, continue to recruit outstanding talent, and inject new life into our service delivery and client services.”

Daniel Swepson, head of marketing at Next Chapter, added: 

“We’re really excited to welcome FLOCC’s team and clients to the business and have already identified a wide range of opportunities following the expansion of our service offering and capabilities, which will no doubt be of benefit to Impression, Next Chapter and FLOCC clients alike.”

Harrogate estate agents appoints new head of lettings

A Harrogate estate agency has hired a new head of lettings.

Myrings Estate Agents, which is based on Princes Square, has appointed Georgie Spence to the position.

Ms Spence joins the firm with 10 years experience in the field.

In a Facebook post, Myrings added:

“Georgie joins the team with 10 years of lettings experience, bringing a wealth of knowledge to support and drive the team.

“She is passionate about delivering outstanding customer service and happy to assist Landlords and Tenants throughout their journey with us.”

Read More: 

• Business Breakfast: Harrogate businesswoman wins lifetime achievement award
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A new crossing on Wetherby Road in Harrogate is “still on track” to be installed this financial year, say council officials.

North Yorkshire Council has proposed the crossing to encourage walking and cycling at the junction with Slingsby Walk.

The plan was first revealed in December and officials now say the scheme is in “the design stage”.

It will be the fourth set of lights in less than a mile between the Empress roundabout and the Woodlands junction, which is already one of the most congested stretches of road around Harrogate.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways at the authority, who approved the crossing last December, said the scheme was still on course to be installed this year.

He said:

“We remain on track to install a toucan crossing on Wetherby Road at the junction with Slingsby Walk during this financial year in a bid to encourage walking and cycling.

“A feasibility study has been carried out and we are now in the design stage of the scheme.

“This is a key and popular route, and the crossing will make journeys on foot and by bike safer and more convenient.”

Council officials have estimated the crossing could double the number of cyclists using the Slingsby Walk route, which runs alongside the Stray.

Read more:

• Wetherby Road crossing ‘likely to cause further delays’ for Harrogate drivers
• Council plans new crossing on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road

However, officers at the authority also admitted the crossing is likely to cause further delays for drivers.

In a report outlining the proposal, Barrie Mason, assistant director for highways and transportation at the council, accepted the move would likely increase pressure on the road network.

He added there were also officer concerns over “existing traffic congestion on this section of Wetherby Road”.

However, he said these concerns had to be balanced against the benefit that it would offer to pedestrians and cyclists.

Funding of £75,000 for the crossing was secured from the former Harrogate Borough Council sustainable transport budget last year.

A drug dealer has been jailed for supplying cocaine in Harrogate for the second time in the space of a year.

Robert Luke Varela, 27, was caught “bang at it” after police spotted him lurking suspiciously on Franklin Road, Harrogate.

Prosecutor Camille Morland told York Crown Court that Varela – who once bragged he would “need a counting machine” due to the vast profits he was making from his illicit trade – took his hands out of his pockets as police drove past and threw a bag of crack cocaine to the ground.

She said that when officers went to speak to him, they found the bag, containing 11 wraps of high-purity crack cocaine, dumped on the pavement.   

They seized an iPhone from Varela on which WhatsApp messages showed he had been dealing crack cocaine in the three months preceding his arrest in February 2021.

Varela, formerly of Harrogate, was charged with possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply and ultimately admitted the offence. He appeared for sentence via video link today.

Ms Morland said that in February 2022, Varela was jailed for two years and three months for possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply in 2019. 

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That sentence was imposed without Varela or the prosecuting authorities informing the then sentencing judge that he had been quizzed about the new matter a year earlier. 

He was arrested for the 2019 offences after security staff and Harrogate Borough Council’s CCTV operators spotted Varela and his notorious sidekick Sirus Alexander, then aged 21 and from Idle, Bradford, engaged in a transaction in a red Audi with two “unknown men” behind an Early Learning Centre in Harrogate.

Alexander and Varela scuttled off to a nearby Travelodge where they stashed over 60 wraps of heroin and cocaine in their room.

Police turned up at the hotel, but the two men had vanished. A search of the room revealed a major cocaine and heroin stash worth about £2,575 – as well as a machete and digital weighing scales.

In the early hours of the following morning, police received another call from CCTV operators who spotted the pair going into Asda in the town centre. 

Officers swooped on the supermarket and arrested the two men. Varela was found with a large hunting knife in his jacket and about £300 cash.

17 previous offences

Varela, who was living in Elland before being jailed, had 17 previous offences on his record including assault, possessing cocaine and carrying a blade. He was jailed for the latter offence in August 2021.

Defence barrister Lydia Pearce said Varela should have been sentenced for all the dealing offences in February last year.

She said that Varela was twice interviewed about the previous dealing matters in 2019 but carried on offending until his arrest in Harrogate in February 2021.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Varela: 

“This case has come back to bite you, but that’s your fault, as well as the prosecution’s fault.”

He said that if Varela had been facing this new offence alone, he would have been looking at a jail sentence measured in years, but that he should have been sentenced for all matters over a year ago, which meant he would receive a reduced sentence.

The judge said that the new offence was part and parcel of Varela’s overall offending and “showed you were a determined drug dealer bang at it”.

Varela, who was due to be released from his existing prison sentence in December this year, was handed a new 12-month jail sentence which will run consecutively and extend his period behind bars by a further six months.