Strong winds set to hit Harrogate district today

Strong winds are set to hit the Harrogate district from early this morning and will continue for the rest of the day.

BBC Weather is reporting that gusts of between 40 mph and 45 mph are expected throughout Wednesday.

A weather warning for Storm Dudley has been issued from Wednesday until Friday evening.

Visitor attractions in the district including RHS Harlow Carr and Fountains Abbey have announced they will change their opening hours tomorrow due to the winds.

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Due to the forecast of high winds, the woodland (including play area) and glasshouses will be closed Weds to Fri this week.

We apologise for any inconvenience, but the safety of everyone is paramount. We will continue to monitor the situation, please check for further updates. pic.twitter.com/2CBsh0gMVT

— RHS Harlow Carr (@RHSHarlowCarr) February 15, 2022

It's likely we'll be opening the mains site & deer park later tomorrow (Wed 16 Feb) to allow the worst of Storm Dudley to pass and make the site safe.
Our team will make a decision on opening in the morning so please check in with our website for the most up to date information. pic.twitter.com/Rltps8lVCC

— Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, National Trust (@fountainsabbey) February 15, 2022

Harrogate residents group raises concerns over ‘dangerous’ cycle path

A group behind campaigns to stop the Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood and the Station Gateway has now written to councillors about what they call the “very dangerous” Otley Road cycle path.

North Yorkshire County Council has now completed the initial stretch of the path from Harlow Moor Road to Arthurs Avenue. It is the first of three phases on Otley Road.

However, the project has got off to a difficult start with the council facing criticism about the design of the route, which weaves on and off a shared path with pedestrians.

Anna McIntee and Lucy Gardiner, co-founders of Harrogate Residents Association, have written to every councillor on North Yorkshire County Council expressing fears somebody could get hurt.

They wrote:

“The creation of these paths has been hugely expensive and disruptive. Now, all pedestrians of differing ages and disabilities have to share the path with cyclists and electrics scooters.

“It is very dangerous and there could be an accident.”

Harrogate District Cycle Action has called part of the route unsafe and business owners, including the landlord of Charlie’s Place pub, believe there could be an accident between cyclists and pedestrians due to the way the route has been designed.

The council has also been forced to correct two erroneous signs, including one that points to Harrogate in the wrong direction.

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As well as work to build the cycle path, contractors widened the junction on Harlow Moor Road for motorists, which involved the felling of 10 trees.

Two trees were felled for the cycle path.

Flooding fears

Ms McIntee and Ms Gardiner added:

“Environmentally, it’s also been disastrous as 12 healthy, mature trees have been removed, replaced with concrete and tarmac. Not only were these trees essential for carbon sequestering, but also each tree absorbs litres of water per day.

“This will not help with the continuing flooding at the Prince of Wales roundabout and surrounding area.”

A North Yorkshire County Council spokesperson said it would be issuing a response to Harrogate Residents Association.

Conservative Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, told the Stray Ferret last month:

“There has been some criticism about the fact that it is shared access with pedestrians and cyclists, but that has always been part of the design.

“We have reached an agreement with Yorkshire Water so we can widen the path. I cannot give a date on when those works will start.”

 

Harrogate council spent £5,000 on King’s Cross snow globe

Harrogate Borough Council paid £5,220 to install a Christmas snow globe at London’s King’s Cross station for two days, the Stray Ferret has learned.

The giant inflatable globe was put on the passenger concourse at King’s Cross in November to promote Harrogate’s Christmas Fayre and entice people towards a £140 LNER train service from the capital to Harrogate to sample the festivities.

The snow globe also offered people the chance to have selfies taken inside a winter wonderland scene.

The idea came from the council’s tourism organisation, Visit Harrogate, which partnered with LNER for the rail offer. The first-class service included special Harrogate goodie bags.

Through a freedom of information request, the Stray Ferret discovered Visit Harrogate spent £5,220 to hire the globe for two 12-hour days at King’s Cross. The price included VAT and the wages of two people who operated the globe.

The Stray Ferret also asked Harrogate Borough Council how many tickets to Harrogate were sold for the Christmas rail offer but the council said it did not know. LNER declined to disclose the information.

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Harrogate Christmas Fayre took place from December 2 to December 12 in the town centre. It replaced the previous Harrogate Christmas Market after organisers were not given a licence to run the event by the council.

The Stray Ferret revealed last month that Visit Harrogate paid a social media influencer from Bristol £700 to promote the fayre in a blog, which only received two likes on Facebook, including one from the council itself.

Christmas festivities across the country were dampened by the Omicron wave that hit the UK in the days leading up to Christmas.

‘Record traffic’

A spokesperson for Destination Harrogate, which includes Visit Harrogate, said:

“Visit Harrogate’s partnership with LNER saw the eye-catching snow globe travel to the capital to take a prime position in one of London’s busiest train stations, Kings Cross. The station which sees hundreds of thousands of commuters each day, allowed for maximum exposure of Harrogate district while promoting the direct LNER line from London to Harrogate.

“Located in the centre of the concourse and visible from all the main approaches, the giant snow globe became a key meeting point at the station on a Friday and Saturday – two busy days for a train station in the capital – with hundreds of people pulling out their phones to take photographs, sharing them on social media and further extend the reach of the campaign.

“During this period, the Visit Harrogate website received record levels of traffic, demonstrating the success of not only this activity, but also the wider Destination Christmas campaign.

“The purpose of all of our campaigns is to support our local visitor economy which makes up around 15% of the economy in the Harrogate district and provides jobs for around 8,000 people. For a visitor economy to continue to thrive and grow, it requires a collaborative approach and ambitious and exciting campaigns, such as this.”

Harrogate district covid rate continues rapid fall

The Harrogate district’s covid rate is continuing to fall rapidly and now stands at 756 cases per 100,000 people.

It’s the lowest the rate has been since December 20. At the peak of the Omicron wave in early January, the rate had risen to almost 2,000 cases per 100,000 people.

A total of 132 more positive covid cases were reported today in the district, according to UK Health Security Agency data.

Meanwhile, the number of positive patients with covid who have died at Harrogate District Hospital since March 2020 remains at 221.

The latest death was reported on February 5, according to NHS England figures.

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The Stray Ferret reported yesterday that Harrogate District Hospital reached maximum bed occupancy this month, with all 292 beds filled.

Figures published by NHS England show that on February 4 the hospital was at maximum capacity although the situation has improved slightly since.

The hospital is currently operating at 90% bed occupancy, as it battles covid and winter pressures, say trust managers.

Moves to close Woodfield School in Bilton to begin next week

Formal moves to close Woodfield Community Primary School in Bilton will begin next week.

North Yorkshire County Council revealed plans in October to ‘technically close’ the school and merge it with Grove Road Community Primary School.

Now, after a two-month consultation, the wheels are to be set in motion.

A report by Stuart Carlton, corporate director for children and young people’s services at the council, recommends councillors vote to approve the closure on Tuesday next week.

If they agree, the council will issue statutory notices on March 3 proposing to amalgamate the schools from August 31 this year.

Mr Carlton’s report says:

“While it is acknowledged that the proposed closure of Woodfield Community Primary School will cause uncertainty and disruption for pupils, parents and staff, Grove Road School would work closely with parents, as both schools do now, to meet the needs of individual children.”

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Woodfield has been unable to find an academy willing to take it on since it was rated inadequate by Ofsted in January 2020.

The council says it therefore has little option but to close it.

Walking bus between sites

Two online public meetings were held on January 10 and 17 as part of the closure consultation.

According to council notes of the meetings, concerns were raised at the meetings about problems for parents picking up and dropping off children at both sites, leadership arrangements, provision for children with special educational needs and use of the Woodfield site.

Woodfield School parents

Parents rallied to oppose the closure when it was announced.

If the plans go ahead, all nursery children would be based at the current Woodfield site from September and all other children would be at Grove Road. From September 2023, reception children would join nursery children at Woodfield and eventually all early years and key stage one children would be located at Woodfield.

There are plans to organise a ‘walking bus’ between the two schools, which would see pupils move between the two sites accompanied by staff via the Nidderdale Greenway cycle route, the iron bridge and a school crossing patrol on Skipton Road.

One parent said during the consultation that children would be:

“Absolutely freezing and there is going to have to be half an hour at either end of the day to allow for walking. It doesn’t seem feasible.”

Another parent raised safety concerns.

There are plans to re-open a rear entrance to the Woodfield site to shorten the journey.

Pupil numbers fall to 41

Documents to councillors reveal that pupil numbers at Woodfield have slumped from 49 to 41 since the closure proposal was announced.

Some parents told the consultation that the closure was already a done deal, with one saying “the children will have to suffer for it”.

But another response said it provided “unprecedented” opportunities, adding:

“I believe the benefits to our current pupils and prospective ones will be enormous.”

 

Energy crisis could mean £796 increase for Harrogate district households

Harrogate district residents will be among the hardest hit by the energy crisis with households paying around £796 more this year, according to analysis by the Liberal Democrats.

The Lib Dems have hit out at government proposals to deal with soaring energy bills and urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap the planned National Insurance tax hike, which will pile further pressure on household budgets from April.

Their calls come as figures show the Harrogate district will be the 12th hardest hit area in England during the energy price hikes.

Cllr Bryn Griffiths

Bryn Griffiths

Councillor Bryn Griffiths, leader of the Lib Dems on North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Residents across North Yorkshire have been sorely let down by this Conservative government, they are shouldering the financial pain of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s poor decisions.

“The Lib Dems demand better and object to the Chancellor’s approach, he is not fit to lead.”

Windfall tax

The Lib Dems are also calling for a windfall tax on big profit oil and gas companies, something Spain’s left-wing government has already announced.

However, the UK government has argued that a one-off tax like this would stop companies investing as it also defended its own plans for a repayable £200 discount on all energy bills and a further £150 council tax rebate for most households.

Andrew Jones

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones said:

“I understand the arguments for a windfall tax and can see it is superficially attractive.

“But we can only tax UK companies and the current tax rate on oil and gas profits is already 40% – double that on most other sectors of the economy.

“In the gas and oil industry we have investment needs of £11bn in an industry and supply chain which supports almost 200,000 jobs.

“Putting that investment and those jobs at risk would be a very dangerous and potentially hugely damaging blow to British industry.”

“Global gas prices are high due to various factors but primarily driven by an increase in demand, a reduction in the availability and because the number of suppliers and the length of the supply chains has decreased.

“Many expect these changes to be medium-term effects and that the factors that have driven the price increase will ease but not totally disappear.

“Anyone claiming that there is a way of avoiding these global higher energy prices for domestic customers going forward is simply making it up.”

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Council tax rebate

The council tax rebate will apply from April to homes in council tax bands A to D, benefiting around 52,000 households in the Harrogate district.

It will be made directly by Harrogate Borough Council and will not need to be repaid.

The further £200 discount on energy bills will apply to all domestic electricity customers from October, with the government meeting the costs.

However, unlike the council tax rebate, this discount will be automatically recovered from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over a five year period from 2023, when it is hoped global wholesale gas prices will have come down.

Announcing the measures earlier this month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said:

“I know the number one issue on people’s minds is the rising cost of living.

“That’s why the government is stepping in with direct support that will help around 28 million households with their rising energy costs over the next year.

“We stood behind British people and businesses throughout the pandemic and it’s right we continue to do that as our economy recovers in the months ahead.”

Man exposes himself at Harrogate’s RHS Harlow Carr

Police are appealing for information and witnesses after a man exposed himself at Harrogate’s RHS Garden Harlow Carr.

According to a statement by North Yorkshire Police today, the man exposed himself to members of the public in the gardens at about 2.40pm on Tuesday last week.

The gardens are frequently used by children and families.

Police described the man as white, in his 40s and having a pale complexion. They added he has an athletic build with dark/grey cropped hair. They said:

“On the day of this incident the man was seen wearing a tight fitting baseball cap, blue baggy trousers or short and dark shoes.”

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If you saw the man or have any other information, you can contact the police by emailing ryan.rudd@northyorkshire.police.uk or calling 101, pressing option 2 and asking for PC 791 Rudd.

If you’d rather remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Quote reference number 12220022840.

Harrogate ranked most expensive place in Yorkshire for first-time buyers

Harrogate has been ranked as the most expensive place for first time buyers in Yorkshire in a survey published today.

The survey shows homes in Harrogate typically cost £401,747 compared to the national average of £287,830.

With residents typically earning £34,634 a year, a couple who’d saved a 15 per cent deposit would need to borrow 4.93 times their salary for a mid-market home.

This ranks Harrogate as the 21st least affordable place in the UK in a list of 100 locations analysed by online mortgage broker Mojo Mortgages.

The top 20 most expensive towns and cities are all in or around the south of England, apart from Stratford-upon-Avon in 18th. Bath is the most expensive place, followed by Oxford and London.

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The survey ranks York (4.7), Wakefield (3.81) and Leeds (3.56) as the next least affordable locations in Yorkshire after Harrogate.

Hull is the UK’s most affordable location, with 2.03 of a couple’s average income multiple required, followed by Bradford (2.35) and Barnsley (2.59).

The full research is available here.

 

Harrogate hospital paid consultants £82,000 to investigate bullying

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has paid consultants £82,000 to investigate concerns of a “culture of bullying” within the organisation.

Deloitte was commissioned for £30,000 to examine concerns about leadership and culture at the trust and Harrogate Integrated Facilities, a a wholly-owned subsidiary that supplies services to Harrogate District Hospital and community services.

A 2018 national NHS staff survey, a British Medical Association member survey and the trust’s own ‘fair and just culture’ diagnostic had triggered concerns.

After it found issues in some areas of the service, the trust commissioned Deloitte for a further £52,000 to undertake a detailed review of leadership and recruitment practices at HIF which was published at a trust board meeting in June 2020.

Deloitte’s report said some staff described the culture at HIF as “toxic”. It cited cases of people being ignored or ostracised, belongings defaced with offensive graffiti and people’s lockers and equipment being glued.

£82,000 culture review

The initial review included interviews with 52 members of staff and 63 surveys. It found “widespread concerns” over bullying, leadership and poor recruitment practice at HIF.

The report said a “significant number” of those interviewed explicitly stated that bullying was taking place or described events that could be labeled as such. It added some of the reports were dismissed as “banter”.

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Deloitte also found that the approach to recruitment at HIF “did not demonstrate good practice” and recommended a thorough review of its policies.

As a result, the trust launched a formal investigations into the findings.

Trust ‘confident’ it has addressed report findings

The Stray Ferret asked the trust how it had addressed poor recruitment at HIF and whether any staff members were disciplined as a result of the investigation.

The trust said it was confident its recruitment policy complied with company policy and that it had addressed Deloitte’s findings.

Steve Russell, chief executive of HDFT, said:

“In 2018, we conducted a staff survey which showed that whilst staff at both HDFT and our subsidiary company Harrogate Integrated Facilities generally had positive experiences, there were some experiences that were not in line with the trust’s values.

“We felt that a more detailed assessment of culture at HDFT and HIF was required to help us to understand the issues. It was important that the assessment was independent, objective and avoided conflicts of interest to ensure we had an accurate picture of what we were doing well, but more importantly what we needed to improve on.

“Deloitte was commissioned at an initial cost of £30,000 to undertake the assessment. This revealed a number of issues that needed to be addressed in a small number of services, and we decided therefore to commission a second piece of work from Deloitte at a cost of £52,000, which explored in much greater detail the areas of concern that had been identified.

“The concerns have been treated as a matter of priority. An investigation into the issues identified within our radiology department was undertaken by two experienced people who were independent of the trust and each other. Their finding and recommendations have been used to improve the environment for our staff.

“A formal investigation into allegations and harassment in estates and HIF was undertaken by colleagues within the trust. A capacity and capability review of leadership in HIF was also conducted by an independent, experienced NHS director of estates and facilities. This review has led to changes within the company. We are confident that recruitment practices now comply with the company’s policy.

“There are a number of other changes we have made in line with the plan we published at the time of the Deloitte review to improve the experience of colleagues who work here and this work will continue.”

Harrogate jigsaw marathon to raise money for dementia charity

A Harrogate woman is organising a jigsaw marathon to raise money for the Ripon-based charity Dementia Forward, after her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease aged just 54.

Wendy Thickett turns 60 this year and has created a bucket list of 60 things she wants to do to celebrate the milestone.

On the list is organising a fundraising event for the charity, which has supported her family since her husband Mark was diagnosed five years ago.

There will be seven hours of continuous jigsawing from 12-7pm on Sunday at Geek Retreat on Oxford Street to see how many jigsaw puzzles they can complete. Anyone can join in and they are accepting donations at the following JustGiving page.

Ms Thickett said:

“We decided to do something different hence the idea for the jigsaws marathon. We approached The Geek Retreat as we need tables and thought their central position would make it easy for people to join us. They were amazing and said yes with out hesitation.

“I decided to try to raise as much money as I can in as many ways as I can in my birthday month of February. So I have also been making cakes and baking, posting donated items and and making marmalade to sell this week.”

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