Harrogate Archives - Page 373 of 955

Plan to convert Harrogate house into children’s home

A planning application has been submitted to convert a residential Harrogate house into a children’s home.

The change of use application, submitted by Jolyon McKay, was put to North Yorkshire Council last week.

It outlines proposals to turn Oak Back, a house on Ashgarth Court near Ashville College, into c2 classified housing – which refers to residential accommodation for people in need of care.

In a covering letter to the council, Mr McKay said:

“We aim to convert our family’s c3 [dwelling house] in to a c2 [residential child placement].

“This will cause no change to the exterior or interior of the property. The plan for the home will be to remain looking and feeling as if it were an average family home.”

The application adds there will “never be more than a maximum of three children living at the home in permanent residence”. It added that this was in order to “create a sense of family for the children”.

The children’s home would have four bedrooms and employ nine full-time staff.

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the application at a later date.

Mediterranean café opens in Harrogate

A Mediterranean café has opened on Beulah Street in Harrogate.

Tulip Café has set up in the former Sirius Café site and aims to offer Mediterranean flair serving coffee and scones alongside Turkish tea and sucuklu toast.

The owners of Tulip, Aydan Eski and Karen Ula, decided to set up their business venture in the heart of Harrogate.

Ms Eksi, is originally from Bodrum and Ms Ula has always lived in Harrogate with her husband, Mehmet Ula, owner of Woodlands Car Wash And Valeting.

The site has undergone refurbishments costing approximately £5,000, from painting throughout and new signage to upgrading the kitchen equipment.

Ms Ula previously worked at Rosset High School and said the café is not a huge change as she “loves working and talking to people”.

She said:

“We are in a great location, Beulah Street is nice and busy and right in the centre, and there is a great community here. Our products are homemade and we try to source things locally.

“We chose to go Mediterranean because it is huge, we didn’t want to limit ourselves just to Turkish products.”

The café stocks tea from True Tea and its bouquets of Tulips come from Blamey’s Florist of Harrogate.

Alongside the local produce the pair are selling traditional Mediterranean souvenirs including rose jam, olive butter and evil eye jewellery.

Ms Eksi added:

“It was important for us that we didn’t take over retail space, we chose to set up in a café that was already here, and it means it is good for Harrogate and Sirius customers can come back.

“We are trying to get people to try our Turkish foods, such as the suckuk (Turkish sauasage) but of course we have English things too like the the scones.”

Take a look at Tulip Café:

The interior of Tulip Café

Karen Ula making a coffee

Homemade produce on sale

Mediterranean souvenirs on sale

Tulips and muffins in the café

Yemi’s Food Stories: Rafi’s Spicebox Harrogate

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in the 2022 series of BBC TV’s Masterchef competition.

Every Saturday Yemi writes for the Stray Ferret about her love of the area’s food and shares cooking tips – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

Anyone who knows me well will already know that I love spices from all parts of the world. I am intrigued by the unfamiliar and some of my highlights from my trip to the Middle East revolved around the spice markets, and the waft of aromas that hit you creating a beautiful assault on your culinary senses.

Walking into Rafi’s Spicebox in Harrogate took me right back to those places evoking the same memories. There is something beautiful about the colours and smells from different spices, that each tell their stories.

From saffron, the king of all spices, to golden yellow turmeric, from the redness of kashmiri chilli powder to the lemony tang and orange hue of pul biber, there is no end to the response that each spice is able to elicit.

A selection of goods at Rafi’s Spicebox

The rich darkness of tamarind belies its sourness, but this might just be what you need to cut through a rich dessert if you want to avoid the saltiness from salted or miso caramel. Add some tamarind to your sticky toffee sauce to elevate it to something special.

I love hibiscus because of the stunning colour and tart flavours it adds to dishes. Hibiscus is hugely popular in Nigeria as it is used to make a local drink called Zobo. To make Zobo, simply steep hibiscus in boiling water to extract the colours and add a sugar syrup. You can add spices like cloves, nutmeg, ginger and citrus rind to introduce some complexity.

Premixed spices can work for you

At Rafi’s Spicebox, you don’t need to be an expert to cook a curry because they have done all the hard work for you with their premixed spice blends which are suitable for vegetables, seafood or other proteins.

Spices can be customised to your taste if you describe the flavours you like. From Thai to Indian, mild to hot, creamy to nutty, thick curries to broths, spices can be blended to help you deliver the perfect results.

I love the spice blends which are designed to get everyone eating more vegetables. From adding spices to stir fried broccoli, spiced aubergine and potatoes, as well as elevating grated carrots with toasted seeds, there is something for everyone.

Rafi’s Spicebox is a family-owned business with shops in Harrogate, Sudbury and York

Each curry blend comes with instructions on how to cook it and many of their recipes can be ready in under 30 minutes which makes it a viable way to get home cooked meals ready in the same time it would take to have a takeaway delivered.

Rafi’s also curates a seasonal curry range so you can get spice blends that match the season from comforting, cooling to heating to keep the cold away.

The beauty of many dishes from around the world is that they come with ‘buddies’ so at Rafi’s you can get pre-prepped pilau rices, flours, and a range of chutneys, sauces, and flat breads to complete your meals.

Lamb curry with a Rafi’s twist

I left Rafi’s with a pack of Previn’s Thepla – a spiced roti – and a packet of ‘Paretal Spice Blend’ that elevated the Nidderdale lamb I purchased from Addyman K butchers, that I cooked with coconut, asafoetida, tamarind, curry leaves, chillies and the usual staples of onion, garlic and tomatoes.

I added some pul biber for a bit more heat and served the delicious lamb curry with saffron and turmeric rice topped with ghati masala. To accompany this meal, I pan-heated the roti, which has fenugreek, coriander leaves mixed with flour, ginger, turmeric and coriander powder.

Yemi’s lamb curry

My nervousness about pre-made curry spices has always been the salt levels. In my experience, many popular brands make their spice mixes overly salty, that can give dishes a raw and harsh taste.

However with the Rafi’s Spicebox packet, the salt level after following the instructions was perfect for me, and the spices cooked in the 20 minutes suggested time. I cooked my lamb curry for an extra ten minutes to get it more tender.

Find out more

Rafi’s Spicebox is a family-owned business with shops in Harrogate, Sudbury and York. You can pick up their spices from some local butchers, fishmongers and farm shops but for an immersive experience and a chat to their lovely experts, I would recommend popping into their main shop along Commercial Street.

Spices can be customised to your taste if you describe the flavours you like

I’m doing a chef demonstration at the Living North Food event at York Racecourse this Saturday, March 23, so I will share some highlights in next week’s post.

Read more:

Harrogate needs ‘collective approach’ to town centre problems, says MP

Harrogate needs a “collective approach” to tackling problems in the town centre, says Harrogate and Knaresborough’s MP.

This week, the Stray Ferret revealed how town-centre traders feel about anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and threats to staff through our unprecedented Trading Hell survey.

We also took a deep dive into crime data, heard from Harrogate Homeless Project about the limits constraining the charity sector’s response and put concerns over trader confidence to North Yorkshire Police.

Nearly all of the businesses who responded to our survey agreed that anti-social behaviour was an issue in the town centre.

The Stray Ferret asked local politicians how they felt about our findings and what they feel could be done to tackle some of Harrogate’s problems.

Andrew Jones, Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, described the issues as complex and in need of a collective approach to tackle them.

He said:

“Although Harrogate is by any measure a safe town that does not mean we do not have our problems. We do and the Stray Ferret articles highlighted some of these.

“The interviews with the BID, the police, the Harrogate Homeless Project and other organisations highlighted the need for a collective approach to dealing with these issues.

“For example, simply asking the police to move street beggars from one street to the next does not tackle the underlying issues with which that person needs help.It may be a housing issue, a benefits issue, it might be a mental or physical health problem, it might be addiction, it might a criminal justice issues such as county lines drug dealing.

“We need to look on a case-by-case basis and decide which interventions are going to be most effective to support that individual so that they do not feel that street begging is the only or the most viable option for them to address their circumstances. We need to support them into a stable situation with their home, job, health and personal life.

“So these are complex issues and a complex approach involving many different groups is required to solve them.”

Mr Jones added that he would continue to meet with businesses and organisations to listen to concerns over the problems in the town.

He said:

“We all have the same objective. To continue to have a vibrant town centre where we see brilliant events, our trademark independent shops thrive alongside branded stores, where we feel safe as retailers and customers and where our town attracts tourists to provide the footfall businesses need.

“I meet regularly with the organisations who have contributed to this series of articles and will be doing so again to continue discussing how we can work together to achieve that objective. I hope the Stray Ferret will repeat their survey in a year’s time so we can see how effective the solutions we develop as a town centre community are.”

More comprehensive strategies needed

Meanwhile, Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency, said the issues had been raised with him on the doorstep.

He said:

“Over the last few weeks and months this is something that has come up more frequently on the doorsteps and in my inbox. Retail employees make a huge contribution to our society and economy and they are the life blood of our town. Abuse against retail staff has an incredibly serious impact on those who experience it.

“The Liberal Democrats recognise that the UK government are asking shop workers to enforce the law themselves; they are enforcing the law on age-restricted products such as alcohol, games, DVDs and more.

“For retail workers specifically, we believe that where they are enforcing the law (e.g. minimum age for alcohol) or acting to prevent/detect crime (e.g. detaining a shoplifter), the law should give them extra protection.

“That’s why the Liberal Democrats are backing the measures in the Criminal Justice Bill to create a new statutory offence of assaulting, threatening, or abusing a retail worker, allowing for the aggravation of that offence where the retail worker is seeking to enforce a statutory age restriction.”

Tom Gordon.

However, Mr Gordon said more comprehensive strategies would be needed to tackle the issues in Harrogate.

He added:

“I welcome and support the efforts of Harrogate BID and other organisations working to tackle these problems, including initiatives such as the Report a Crime campaign. However, it’s clear that more comprehensive strategies are required.

“We also need to do more to look at and address the root causes of anti-social behaviour, such as substance abuse and homelessness. This requires an evidence based approach that is multifaceted and takes into account access to support services, mental health resources, and addiction treatment.”

Council-owned Brimhams Active to spend £8,000 on staff awards party

Council leisure company Brimhams Active is to spend at least £8,000 of public money on a staff awards ceremony this weekend.

Brimhams operates all leisure provision in the Harrogate district on behalf of North Yorkshire Council, including leisure centres in Harrogate, Ripon Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge, as well as Starbeck Baths.

A source alerted the Stray Ferret to Sunday’s event at the Pavilions of Harrogate. They added:

“I would think as a North Yorkshire Council-owned company, the council taxpayers’ money they have left at the end of a financial year would go back to the council rather than finding an excuse to spend it, particularly given the increases we’ve all had on our council tax bills this week.”

The new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre

The Stray Ferret contacted North Yorkshire Council for further details of the event, including the cost.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, initially said costs had been “kept to a minimum by suppliers sponsoring the awards” but did not disclose a figure.

He added:

“Our annual people awards event is a fabulous opportunity to recognise and celebrate effort and achievement.

“The event itself helps our people who work day-to-day across different facilities to come together and connect. It plays a huge part in boosting morale, which in turn helps enhance workforce productivity.

“Up to 200 members of our team will attend the awards event at the Pavilions of Harrogate.”

When pressed for a figure, Mr Tweedie said:

“The venue hire and food is charged at £40 per person and we have 200 people attending. We are very careful in how we manage our budget. We believe this is a sound, proportionate investment in our people that helps to optimise people recruitment, retention and productivity for a business with a circa £8 million turnover.

“This investment serves to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding team and individual efforts that have delivered remarkable results, including overachieving in relation to footfall and budget and achievement of national accreditations (Quest and Water Wellbeing) within 2.5 years of the company’s inception.”

He added “the decorations are provided by staff” and the photographer and DJ were “providing their services in kind”.

Brimhams to be abolished

Brimhams Active, which was set-up up by the now defunct Harrogate Borough Council, is due to be abolished after executive councillors decided to bring leisure provision back in-house in January.

The council’s current portfolio, which includes 19 leisure centres, 16 swimming pools, three wellbeing hubs, a nursery and Harrogate’s Turkish Baths, is run by five different operators.

But despite councillors stating the existing Brimhams model is “particularly advanced”, the leisure shake-up will see all these services moved to a single in-house operation.

The local authority believes the new structure will see a greater focus on health and wellbeing, provide more opportunities for people to participate and will focus on addressing inequalities.

It hopes the transition will be complete by 2028.

Boroughbridge takeaway opens Harrogate branch

A Boroughbridge takeaway has opened a second branch in Harrogate.

Bozza Fodder, which was first established in the kitchen of the Fox and Hounds pub in 2019, began serving food at The Manhattan on Beech Avenue last Thursday.

Owner Mark Davies, who moved from Teeside to Boroughbridge, said he hopes to bring a taste of the northeast to north Yorkshire and introduce Harrogate residents to a “proper Teeside parmo”.

Mr Davies said he launched Bozza Fodder, which currently offers takeaway, eat-in and delivery services, after realising Boroughbridge “did not have a food delivery service of its own”.

He said after struggling to find IT work locally, he turned to the kitchen to develop his skills.

Mr Davies and his partner Rachael have since offered the town traditional takeaway-style food, including pizzas, burgers and wraps, which he said is “nearly all made in-house”.

Now embarking on a new venture in Harrogate, Mr Davies said:

“I play a lot of pool and started playing at the Manhattan club in Harrogate.

“When I told the owner about my venture in Boroughbridge, he too had an unused kitchen which we thought could be used to benefit us both.”

Bozza Fodder’s chicken parmo.

Bozza Fodder Harrogate also offers both eat-in and takeaway food, as well as delivery services around the centre of the town and as far as Jennyfields and Starbeck.

Chicken parmos, pizzas, gyros, toasted sandwiches and desserts are all available at the new Harrogate site.

Mr Davies said people can expect “the same great service we provide in Boroughbridge but with a few twists to the menu”, adding:

“It’s very exciting times and I’m looking forward to seeing new faces and getting good feedback. Harrogate is a big place, but we have equally big ambitions!

“My mum passed away not long after I started the business, and she always wanted me to do well.

“I’ve put my heart into it for her and I hope she’d be proud how far we have come.”

Both Bozza Fodder branches are open Monday to Friday, from 4pm to 10pm, and 1pm to 10pm on Saturdays.

French brasserie Côte to close Harrogate restaurant

French brasserie Côte is set to close its Harrogate branch in the first week of April.

The restaurant is part of a chain specialising in all-day French bistro cuisine. The company has more than 80 restaurants in the United Kingdom and 2,500 employees.

Côte, which has operated on Albert Street for several years in the former Beales Department Stores unit, will close on April 6. It will result in approximately 20 job losses although staff have been offered placements at other Côte restaurants.

Neighbouring Côte restaurants, including one in York, will remain open.

A Côte spokesperson said:

“The restaurant will close on April 6. Just the Harrogate store is closing, we have reached the end of the tenancy contract and have not found anywhere else to relocate.

“We are trying to find a new location but it will take time, it is unpredictable and we are asking loyal customers to subscribe to our newsletter so we can keep them posted about a new location. We have no further updates at this time.”

Today’s email newsletter read:

“We regret to inform you that our Harrogate restaurant will be closing on the 6th of April. Whilst the site is a permanent closure, we love the city and we have been working hard to find a new location; however, this process takes time, and we want it to be in the right place for our future growth.

“We haven’t been able to find the right spot yet, but we hope to have more news on that in the coming months. We would love for you to remain on our mailing list so we can let you know when we’ve found the perfect place”

Flying debris from Harrogate Tesco site smashes resident’s window

Flying debris from work on the new Tesco site in Harrogate has smashed the window of a nearby resident’s home.

Work has begun to build a new Tesco supermarket on the former gasworks site at the junction of Skipton Road and Ripon Road in the New Park area.

Contractors have been carrying out work this week between the site and houses on Electric Avenue to grind down the stumps of trees felled as part of the scheme.

Tree stumps ground down at the site.

While this was taking place yesterday a piece of concrete was projected from the equipment and smashed a kitchen window on Electric Avenue.

Janette Percy, whose house was affected, was shaken by the incident, which happened yesterday between 11am- 12.15pm.

She said:

“I had just come home after being out for an hour and my kitchen window was smashed by a piece of flying concrete from the grinding work in the no man’s land between the houses and the barrier that has flown over.

“God forbid if it had hit someone or a child.”

She added it raised questions about safe working practices.

A Tesco spokesperson said:

“We’re really sorry this happened. All our colleagues and contractors follow rigorous safety processes and completed risk assessments before undertaking work on the site of our new Harrogate superstore.

“Unfortunately, even with all the appropriate safeguards in place, a nearby window was broken by debris from a sub-contractor’s tree-grinding machine.

“The contractor immediately spoke to the resident to apologise and has arranged to cover the costs of the replacement window.”

Worker on the Tesco site, Skipton Road

Monika Slater, a Liberal Democrat who represents Bilton Grange and New Park on North Yorkshire Council, said:

“I am grateful for the swift response from Tesco as soon as they were aware of a safety concern on the site. Unfortunately, the initial response from the temporary site manager to a local resident alerting him to this issue was disappointing and I hope that there will be a learning from this incident.

“Residents want the build to be done in a safe manner, respecting the conditions set out by the planning department and disturbing the local environment as little as is reasonably possible. “

Planning permission for a store, petrol station and 209-space car park was granted last year. It is set to create more than 100 jobs.

Artist impression of how the Tesco will look on Skipton Road.

Harrogate primary school receives ‘good’ Ofsted rating

New Park Primary Academy on Skipton Road in Harrogate has received a ‘good’ Ofsted rating in a report published today.

The report describes the school as “welcoming and friendly” and says it ensure pupils “get the support they need from the moment they start”.

It described the curriculum as “ambitious”, says children feel safe and leaders are “enthusiastic about their roles”.

It adds:

“Pupils settle quickly into the life of the school. Pupil buddies help those who are new to learn the school’s routines. They enjoy making friends.

“Most pupils achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.”

New Park Primary Academy is operated by Northern Star Academies Trust.

The trust has nine schools, with five in the Harrogate area. New Park, Harrogate High, Starbeck community primary, Hookstone Chase primary and Willow Tree community primary.

New Park was rated ‘good’ at its previous inspection in 2018.

Headteacher Sasha Bune, who joined in September last year, said:

“We are really proud to maintain our ‘good’ judgement. We are happy Ofsted have recognised our ambitions for the school and the how hard all of the staff work.

“They looked at all areas of the school and saw our warm and nurturing feel and the high expectations the children have for themselves and how well behaved they all are.

“We have an ambitious curriculum and we are a very inclusive school with a big mix of pupils. We are very well supported by Northern Star Academies Trust and we will carry on being ambitious and keep on learning.”

GALLERY: A night of celebration at the Stray Ferret Business Awards 2024

Last Thursday, March 14, businesses across the Harrogate area came together for a night of celebration at the Stray Ferret Business Awards 2024, sponsored by Prosperis.

The awards showcased the diverse range of talented individuals and businesses, and while over 360 guests attended, 14 finalists were ultimately crowned the winners of their categories.

Photographers were on hand to capture every moment of the evening – see if you can spot some familiar faces.