Plans have been submitted to convert the upper floors of a Grade II listed building in Harrogate into flats.
Five-storey Mercer House towers above the adjoining Mercer Art Gallery in the Harrogate Conservation Area on Swan Road.
Colston Trustees Limited have applied to Harrogate Borough Council to change the use of the site from offices to residential and create two flats.
According to planning documents submitted to the council, the office space has been redundant for over a year, which could leave the building susceptible to water ingress.
The ground floor and basement of Mercer House are occupied by Paul Lown-owned clothing store Prey Four and are not included in the plans.
Mercer House is historically and architecturally significant due to its gable-fronted, white and blue appearance.
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The application seeks to insert new doors, rooflights and an enlarged window. A design and access statement submitted as part of the proposal, says:
“Given the minor internal and external changes required to facilitate residential conversion at Mercer House, and the benefit to the long-term care and maintenance of having the upper floors in active use, this less than substantial harm is outweighed.”
It adds:
“The works, on balance, will both preserve and enhance the historic and architectural interests of Mercer House and special character of the Harrogate Conservation Area.”
Business Breakfast: Harrogate digital agency appoints commercial director
Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.
A Harrogate digital agency has announced the appointment of a new commercial director.
IDHL Group, which is based on Otley Road and specialises in e-commerce, digital PR and social media, has appointed Tom Rigden to the newly created role at the company.
Mr Rigden will be tasked with overseeing the company’s web division as part of the new position.
He said:
“Idhl is an exceptionally well-run agency group with a proven growth model. The clear vision and ambition presented to me by the board made it hugely compelling for me to join.
“I’m looking forward to bringing my experience and energy to the talented team here and am excited about what we can achieve together.”
Dennis Engel, chief executive of the company, added:
“As we continue to see tremendous growth within the digital space, this latest appointment signifies our commitment to bring onboard people that strengthen who we are and what we offer. Tom has the expertise and know-how to bring a new proposition to the business.
“We’re delighted to welcome him to IDHL and to get started on this new chapter within the group.”
Harrogate business event to focus on hospitality support
Support for the hospitality sector in Harrogate will be discussed at a business event this week.
Organised by Philip Bolson of Mr B Hospitality in partnership with York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub, the event will hear from experts and politicians on how the industry can grow in the coming years.
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones and Helen Suckling, partnership and commercial manager at Destination Harrogate, will be among the speakers.
Mr Bolson will also address the discussion, as well as Danny Wild, principal of Harrogate College, and Ross Tatham, general manager of Goldsborough Hall.
There will also be an opportunity for attendees to network and develop contacts.
The event will be held at Goldsborough Hall on Friday, November 25, at 1pm. You can find out more information on how to register here.
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Appeal for pet food donations in Harrogate
There’s been an appeal for donations of pet food in Harrogate as owners struggle to feed their animals.
The call for donations has come from the Harrogate District Foodbank after finding that many pet owners feel they cannot afford to keep their pets with the rising cost of living.
Dog food prices in particular have risen by 40%.
Seeing the appeal, a Harrogate pet shop owner volunteered to collect and deliver pet food donations for distribution across Harrogate district.
Jon Bradley, owner of HG Pets on Cold Bath Road is asking pet owners to come to the store and give unwanted pet food away.
He said:
“We will take any pet food – if it has been sitting in the cupboard because your pet doesn’t like it, we’ll have it. If it is opened, we can tape it up and it can be donated.
The appeal is for all types of small animal pet food –whether that is for a budgie or a dog.”
Mr Bradley said many pet owners are being forced to consider giving away their pets:
“Having got two dogs, I can’t think of anything worse than having to choose between them or myself… I’d put my animal first if I didn’t have a wife and daughter.”
More information regarding food banks in Harrogate district is available on the Harrogate District Foodbank website or via their email at: info@harrogatedistrict.foodbank.org.uk.
If you wish to donate pet food to HG Pets, you can visit them at 47 Cold Bath Road or call at: 07921 169061.
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Harrogate district braced for rail and postal strikes
The Harrogate district is set to be affected by rail and postal strikes this week.
No trains will run through Harrogate and Knaresborough to Leeds and York on Saturday due to a walk-out by members of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen as part of a dispute over pay and conditions.
Northern, which operates local services between Leeds and York, has urged passengers not to travel as no rail replacement services will be operated.
The company said:
“On strike days, only travel by rail if necessary and if you do travel, expect severe disruption and plan ahead – especially the first and last trains of the day.
“If you do decide to travel, there will be very limited services running across the whole rail network so remember to check your entire journey as other train service providers may be affected.”
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LNER, which operates trains from Harrogate to London King’s Cross, has urged passengers to check services before they travel.
The company is set to operate a limited timetable on Saturday when strike action is being held.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of the ASLEF, said staging a walkout was a “last resort” for the union.
Further strikes are planned after the RMT union announced today it planned four 48-hour strikes on December 13-14 and 16-17 and January 3-4 and 6-7.
Postal strike
The Communication Workers Union has notified Royal Mail they plan to call on their members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to take national strike action on Thursday and Friday this week as well as on November 30 and December 1.
Royal Mail said in a statement:
International squash tournament to be held in Harrogate“Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but we cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce.
“We’ll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption.”
An international squash tournament featuring many of the world’s top players is set to come to Harrogate.
The Harrogate Squash Open 2022 tournament will be held at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre, Hookstone Wood Road, on December 8.
It forms part of the PSA World Tour and Challenge Tour, which sees competitions held across the world.
The tournament will see an array of international squash players come to the town to compete, including top ranked New Zealand brothers Lwamba and Temwa Chileshe.
Local player Josh Rowley will also compete as a wildcard.
The event is free to attend and the final will be held on December 11.
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Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre, which had to pay about £5,000 to host the event, is a hub for squash, attracting many top players and coaches, including former world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist James Willstrop.
The club has increased membership from fewer than 300 to more than 1,000 in recent years, helped by the new padel tennis courts.
James Gaston, general manager of the club, said:
“We’ve been growing for the last five or six years and are trying to reach out to people and show we are a hotbed for squash.”
For more information on the tournament, visit the PSA World Tour website here.
Luxury Harrogate food hall opens pop-up shop in LeedsHarrogate food hall Weetons has launched a Christmas pop-up shop in Leeds city centre.
The store, in shopping centre Victoria Leeds, is filled with Yorkshire produce from across the region, alongside Weetons’ own private label range, including coffee, chutneys and gin.
Situated in Victoria Gate, the Weetons team said the location was a natural partner, sharing “an ethos of providing luxury, high-quality produce”.
Rob Coutts, managing director at Weetons, said:
“We are pleased to announce that our Leeds city centre pop-up shop is now open. It showcases our extremely popular hampers and gifts range, perfect when looking for the ‘hard to buy for’.
“Whether you want to fill your own hamper, and have it packed by one of the team, pre-order a gift delivery, or just select a few of your favourite bits to take away on the day, we’ve got everything you need.”
Jo Coburn, senior general manager at Victoria Leeds, said:
“We are delighted to welcome one of Yorkshire’s most treasured brands, Weetons, to Victoria Leeds.
“The new pop-up store in Victoria Gate is a fantastic addition to our collection of premium brands and lands with perfect timing for all those gift ideas during the exciting Christmas season.”
The Weetons pop-up will be aopen until Christmas.
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Controversial plan for 35 homes in Crimple Valley rejected
A controversial plan to build 35 homes in Harrogate’s Crimple Valley has been refused.
The application by Square Feet Ltd and Antela Developments Ltd would have seen homes built at Almsford Bank Stables on Leeds Road.
It included plans for 14 affordable homes, seven first homes and 14 self or custom build plots.
The proposal was objected to by residents, who described it as “ludicrous” and unsafe.
A total of 247 letters of objection were submitted to Harrogate Borough Council against the scheme.
The council rejected the development on the grounds that the site was not allocated for housing under the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, and “would result in harm to the character and appearance of its surroundings”.
It said in its reasons for refusal:
“The proposed development would result in harm to the character and appearance of its surroundings, including the Crimple Valley Special Landscape Area, through the loss of open fields and woodland and the introduction of unacceptable and incongruous (sub)urban development into an area of high landscape value, important to the setting of Harrogate and the grade II* listed Crimple Valley viaduct.”
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The application was the third for the site since 2018, when plans for 65 homes were put forward but withdrawn.
The following year, a reduced proposal of 35 homes was submitted, but again withdrawn in the face of extensive objections.
Campaign group Save Crimple Valley urged the public to submit objections to the new proposal.
Among them was Judith Hooper, who told the council that the site was unsafe for such a housing scheme.
She said:
Business Breakfast: Future of farming in spotlight at Harrogate event“In the time we have been resident in Harrogate there have been numerous car accidents on Almsford bank, the most recent very serious one being only a few weeks ago.
“Cars accelerate down the bank on reaching the 50mph sign and already have to contend with traffic coming out of Crimple Hall.
“Putting access at the bottom of such a busy section of road, on a bend, seems to invite accidents. At night there are many cars clearly speeding on this stretch. At busy periods traffic is queuing both up and down the hill.”
Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.
The future of the farming sector will be under the spotlight at a meeting in Harrogate next week.
Held at the Pavilions of Harrogate, the Future Farmers of Yorkshire’s autumn debate will see industry leaders discuss how the sector can cope with current levels of inflation.
Among the speakers will be Mark Berrisford-Smith, head of economics at HSBC UK’s commercial banking business.
Mr Berrisford-Smith said current inflation levels were having an impact on the agricultural sector.
He said:
“The war in Ukraine has unleashed twin inflationary shocks in the form of higher food and energy prices. For farmers in the UK, annual input price inflation is now running at 30%, while output price inflation stands at 21%.
“Although many businesses have been able to absorb higher costs thanks to better prices, this is not universally the case. Prices for some cereal products are up by more than 50% compared with a year earlier, while poultry and lamb prices have hardly increased at all.”
The meeting will also hear from Great Yorkshire Show director Charles Mills, Farmers Weekly young farmer of the year Matthew Nichols and Andrew Hardcastle, director of Hardcastle Rural Surveyors.
Future Farmers of Yorkshire management board member Isobel Eames will chair the panel.
The event will be held on Thursday, December 1. Those interested in attending can register at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society website here.
Yorkshire business urged to sign climate pledge
Business across Yorkshire are being urged to sign a pledge to tackle climate change.
Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, an independent body set up to support and guide the region’s organisations, launched its Climate Action Pledge this past week.
It is the first regional pledge of its kind in the UK to require businesses and organisations to make a commitment across four areas of action: becoming climate resilient; reducing carbon emissions; enhancing nature and biodiversity; and promoting a just transition.
Liz Barber, chair of Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, said:
“With COP27 in Egypt putting a global focus on climate action, it’s the perfect time for us to seize the initiative as a region and show how businesses and organisations can demonstrate strong leadership at all levels here in Yorkshire and Humber.
“We are launching a ‘sprint’ of climate action today, and we want to see a year of progress that puts us on the road to net zero, improves our fantastic natural assets, helps us build our resilience to climate impacts, and does this in a way that leaves no-one or nowhere behind.”
Businesses and organisations of all kinds in Yorkshire and Humber are encouraged to sign the pledge here.
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Oliver Bonas set to open in Harrogate this week
Harrogate’s upmarket James Street is set to get a new addition this week with the opening of an Oliver Bonas shop.
The fashion and lifestyle brand has been refurbishing the spacious 3,700-square foot unit formerly used as a discount store.
Next also previously rented the site.
The doors were previously expected to open in September but renovations have been ongoing.
However, sources have indicated Oliver Bonas is finally due to open on Thursday.
The company, which has 85 stores in the UK, is advertising for team members at £9.75 an hour on its website.
The opening will strengthen James Street’s claim to be Harrogate’s premier destination for luxury goods.
Pret A Manger, Ebru Evrim and Carl Scarpa have all joined the street recently and Hotel Chocolat has upsized to larger premises.
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Tom Limbert, director of property consultants, Central Retail, which acted for property owners Countrylarge, previously said James Street had been “reinvigorated”, adding:
Burglary at Harrogate hairdressers this morning“Oliver Bonas will be a great addition to the existing tenant line up on James Street which truly is one of the best high streets in the north of England.”
A man and woman have been arrested on suspicion of burgling a Harrogate hairdressers in the early hours of this morning.
The suspects, both in their 30s and from Harrogate, remain in police custody.
According to North Yorkshire Police, a man and woman were seen to break a window at Contemporary Salons’ studio on Station Parade at 3.56am. It added:
“The two people then entered the property and filled two bags with items before leaving the area in a taxi.”
It is the latest criminal attack this month on a Harrogate shop, with previous incidents reported at salon Dangerfield & Keane and James Barber Tobacconists on Cold Bath Road.
Police said in a statement:
“If you witnessed this incident or have any further information which could help the investigation, please email: pamela.luettke@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101 quoting reference 12220206294
“If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
According to its website, Contemporary Salons is a group of nine hair salons across north Yorkshire and Teesside
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