Harrogate is set to host Comic Con Yorkshire in 2023 after details have been announced.

The convention, which is organised by Monopoly Events, will be held on Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4, at the Yorkshire Events Centre.

The two-day event will run from 9am until 6pm each day.

Monopoly Events, which is hosting a similar event in Liverpool and Manchester, said it was aiming for a sell out convention.

Andy Kleek, CEO of Monopoly Events, said: 

“We want to build a solid sell out show over the next two years and make this into another one of our flagship Monopoly shows, for all our fans in the Yorkshire area. 

“We are very excited to be working with the Yorkshire Event Centre who have the same passion we do about building this event. 

“As with all our shows we have a three- year roadmap which we will be looking to extend for many years afterwards. Expect big guests, amazing set and prop builds, major attractions, cosplay, anime, traders, gaming and more.”

Heather Parry, managing director of the Yorkshire Event Centre, added: 

“We are delighted to be hosting this exciting new event and we look forward to working with Monopoly on its amazing debut in Yorkshire.”

Tickets for Comic Con Yorkshire 2023 are on sale now. For more information visit the convention website here.

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Further tributes have been paid to a long-serving Harrogate councillor, who died just over a week ago.

Jim Clark, who was born in Arbroath and later moved to North Yorkshire, represented residents on both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

He represented the Harlow division on the county council for 20 years before stepping down in May.

Local politicians and residents have paid tribute to Mr Clark, who was well known in Harrogate, since his death.

Jane Blayney, a friend and former council colleague, described him as “very supportive” and dedicated to his local area.

She said:

“I knew him very well and he was very much a family man.

“He was very supportive of the Pinewoods and Friends of Valley Gardens. He was very supportive of the tree book, which would never have happened without his donation.

“Even though we were from different parties, we always worked in unison.”

A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group said:

“We are very sad to hear about the recent death of Jim Clark. As well as representing the Pinewoods area for both Harrogate council and North Yorkshire council, Jim was a dedicated committee member of Pinewoods Conservation Group for 15 years before standing down in 2018 as part of his retirement plans.

“Many will remember Cllr Clark’s passionate debate as part of the council’s refusal to grant a larger extension of Harrogate Spring Water into Rotary Woods. Jim was also a regular attendee at our various litter picks, planting events and balsam bashing, often seen in his Pinewoods fleece.

“We were also honoured that in 2014 when Mayor, Jim also opened our new picnic area and wildflower meadows in our Irongate Field area.

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

Meanwhile, Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate described Mr Clark as a “stalwart” of the council.

He said in a tweet:

“He was a stalwart of North Yorkshire council and Harrogate Borough Council and an effective and hard working representative who provided selfless public service for years.

“Lady Kirkhope joins these remarks and sympathy to his family.”

As well as a councillor, Mr Clark was a keen supporter of the arts and served as chairman of Harrogate Theatre for 10 years.

After standing down from the county council, Mr Clark had moved back to Scotland to be closer to family.

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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.

As Knaresborough is now to have the Pure Gym, as well as the existing gym in the old town hall, and the new leisure centre on Fysche Field, isn’t it time that the machines in these gyms were attached to electricity generators to provide human-powered energy for the town?

Shan Oakes, Knaresborough

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Nidderdale ‘poorly served’ by buses

This letter was submitted prior to leak fix

Nidderdale is poorly served by buses as it is, they are every two hours. But now, until the burst pipe is fixed there’s no bus running through Darley.

It’s not good enough just to cut out a huge chunk of the bus route and provide no alternative. It’s a four mile walk from Darley to Birstwith to pick up the bus there before and after it’s diversion. 

I have been quoted £30 for a taxi on Saturday morning at 7.30 am to get to Harrogate from Darley. The same to return is £60. They are having a laugh.

Helen Staniforth, Birstwith

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.

A Harrogate homeless charity has celebrated rehousing its 100th resident in nearly 10 years.

Lifeline, which is based on East Parade, works in partnership with the Harrogate Homeless Project to help those who used to be homeless.

The charity was founded in 2013 and has since gone on to rehouse 100 people as part of its supported housing programme.

Speaking after the achievement, Carl Good, CEO of Lifeline Harrogate, said:

“This is such a special moment.”

“We have seen so many amazing changes in people’s lives and have supported many people into their own accommodation, many leaving Lifeline with jobs and hence a sustainable lifestyle.”

Lifeline residents out on a day trip

Mr. Good started the company with his wife Georgie because they wanted to help the homeless.

They recall meeting a man in the winter of 2011 who was sleeping in a tunnel on Bower Road.

He said:

“It really moved us both to think that we were going to a nice warm house and here was a man sat out in the cold.”

“It made us think much more deeply about the issue of homelessness.”

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Lifeline has six three-bedroom houses where they re-home their residents.

The houses are owned by Green Pastures, a national Christian housing social enterprise, and leased to the charity.

Residents will usually stay in the three-bedroom houses provided by Lifeline for up to a year.

However, Mr. Good told The Stray Ferret:

“There is no fixed time, we want to support them for independent living.”

This week’s photograph was taken by Nick Payne, capturing the lights and movement on the Ferris Wheel during this year’s Christmas Fraye.

Nick Payne

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

Pinewoods Conservation Group has criticised Harrogate Borough Council after an administrative error meant £32,400 that should have been spent improving the woodland over the last 10 years was not allocated.

The council-owned Pinewoods is a 96-acre woodland close to Harrogate’s Valley Gardens popular with walkers. Although the area is managed by the council, the Pinewoods Conservation Group charity promotes its maintenance and conservation.

A flurry of new housing developments has occurred near to the Pinewoods in recent years. After being granted planning permission, developers agree to pay money to the council through section 106 agreements to improve local infrastructure.

Since 2019, Pinewoods Conservation Group has pressed the council to allocate some of this section 106 money to the Pinewoods to improve things like footpaths and signage.

After a council report in January revealed the authority had £3.7m in unspent section 106 money, the charity again asked it if any of this money could be spent on the Pinewoods before the council is abolished in 2023.

But in an email seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Tim Myatt, Conservative cabinet member for planning, told the charity this money had already been committed to other sites.

The charity responded by saying it was “very surprised” section 106 money would not be spent on the Pinewoods, “especially with the amount of building work underway and planned within the area”.

The Pinewoods

Cllr Myatt responded to the charity again this week to say that following an investigation by officers, the council found three instances when money, worth a combined valued of £32,400, should have gone to the Pinewoods but didn’t due to “administrative and processing” errors.

In the email, Cllr Myatt apologised and said the funds could have been “put to good use” by either Pinewoods Conservation Group or the council. He said:

“I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for this error, as it was an opportunity to bring external money to enhance the Pinewoods. I know that you will find this frustrating and I share this frustration.

“Whilst the monies would have been allocated to the space, not awarded directly to the conservation group, it could still have been put to good use by either the council or conservation group (were an enhancement scheme available for fund allocation).”

A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group said it was “very disappointed” the Pinewoods had missed out on the money due to the error. They added:

“These monies could have supported much needed improvement and conservation efforts for the benefit of visitors and residents.

“We are also disappointed that it took over three years from the charity first raising concerns with the council for the errors to acknowledged, and hopefully now corrected. However, we thank and acknowledge the efforts of Cllr Myatt in finally bringing this matter to a close.”

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A council spokesperson said:

“Due to an administrative processing error, monies were not collected from three developments via section 106 legal agreements that could have been spent on the Pinewoods.

“We have put measures in place to help prevent this from happening in the future.

“The monies do not go directly to the charity, but are earmarked for enhancements to Pinewoods. And as landowner, we continue to undertake woodland management and enhance the Pinewoods, in partnership with the charity.”

A man has received a four-month suspended prison sentence for possessing a knife in Harrogate town centre.

Michael Smith, 32, admitted the offence when he appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday (December 15).

Smith, of Harewood Road, Jennyfields, was charged with having the knife on Cambridge Road on November 8.

His sentence was suspended for 24 months.

Magistrates ordered him to carry out 180 hours of supervised unpaid work within the next 12 months.

Smith was also ordered to pay £114 to victim services and £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

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A Harrogate man is donating money raised from his garden display to the Philippines.

Paul Ivison, of Mayfield Terrace, decorates his garden with themed displays at different points in the year.

Mr. Ivison, who has lived in the area for 15 years, told the Stray Ferret it takes him about three hours to put together the display.

He said:

“I started doing this three years ago to put smiles on people’s faces and to spread some joy.”

Last year, his garden had 12 trees but this year he has 18 trees in his display.

Mr. Ivison tries to stay sustainable when creating his display, sourcing his Christmas trees from Freecycle and Freegle which are both charity organisations that aim to increase reuse and reduce landfill with a service where people can give away things that would have been thrown away.

Paul Ivison will be reusing the trees through the organisations Freegle and Freecycle

In December 2021, he started fundraising by selling toys to raise money for family homes that were destroyed by typhoon Rai that hit the Philippines last year.

He raised £700 which was used to make repairs.

This year, he will be sending any money raised to a Catholic priest, who will distribute it to those he can help after another typhoon hit the North of the country on November 23.

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Mr. Ivison said the people of Harrogate enjoy his garden:

“Lots of positive reaction with people coming up to me and saying it brightens up their mood and their kids always look forward to seeing it.”

Mr. Ivison has more than 200 toys on display and for sale with more being added every day.

The Christmas display will be up until January 9. Donations can be made here.

A burst water main has left homes without water and affected businesses in Harrogate this morning.

Yorkshire Water said it was working to repair the fault on Wetherby Road at 5.30am.

⚠️#WetherbyRoad #HG3 ⚠️
Apologies to customers experiencing low pressure or no water due to a burst water main, we will restore supplies as soon as possible. Thank you – Sam pic.twitter.com/ym1zhsszCE

— Yorkshire Water Help (@YWHelp) December 17, 2022

Farm shop Fodder posted on social media that it was unable to open its cafe this morning because of a lack of running water.

Its shop remains open as normal, with eight days to go before Christmas.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said:

“We are currently dealing with a high number of burst pipes in the region due to the weather conditions. We are aware of the burst on Wetherby Road and will be attending to complete repairs as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

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Yorkshire Water also said this morning it was readying its leakage detection and repair teams for an increase in bursts and leaks caused by an expected thaw.

It urged homeowners to take measures to prevent damage.

Homes are particularly at risk if they have exposed water pipes on the outside of the house or an outdoor tap, which are vulnerable to the cold weather.  The spokesman said:

“One way to prevent a frozen pipe is to wrap them in foam insulation to protect them from the cold weather, which is also known as lagging.”

Also this morning, Harrogate Town confirmed its fixture this afternoon at Doncaster Rovers has been called off because of a frozen pitch.

The Harrogate district has had more drink and drug driving arrests in the last week than anywhere else in North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire Police said today 32 people had been arrested in the last seven days of the campaign — a big increase on 18 in the first week.

Of the 32, 10 were from the Harrogate district. The next highest is York with seven, followed by Scarborough with six, Hambleton with four, Ryedale with three and Craven and Richmondshire with one each.

The campaign started on December 1 and has now seen 50 arrests in total at the halfway stage. Of the 50 arrests, 38 were men and 12 were women.

The highest reading was from a 46-year-old woman in Northallerton who was four time over the legal limit.

Superintendent Emma Aldred, head of specialist operations at North Yorkshire Police, said:

“It’s alarming to see that we have arrested 50 people in just over two weeks for drink or drug driving in North Yorkshire.

“The message is clear; we will not tolerate drink and drug drivers on North Yorkshire’s roads”.

Emmerdale actor Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle, launched this year’s campaign when he participated in a mock road traffic collision.

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