Plans to demolish a 20-bed care home on Claro Road in Harrogate and replace it with a new facility have been recommended for approval.

Disability Action Yorkshire has submitted the proposal, which would see a 34-bed facility built on its current site and on adjacent disused land.

The new home would be built in three three-storey blocks and would ease the shortage of accessible supported housing for local disabled people.

Senior Harrogate Borough Council officers have recommended that the scheme is approved at a planning committee meeting next week.

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The proposal consists of 24 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom flats.

Should it be approved, Disability Action Yorkshire plans to complete the scheme in partnership with Highstone Housing Association.

The council agreed to sell the adjacent land to the housing association for an undisclosed sum in November 2021.

It is hoped the project will be completed by the end of 2023.

Masterplan of the care home development on Claro Road as proposed by Disability Action Yorkshire.

Jackie Snape, chief executive at Disability Action Yorkshire, said previously:

“Our vision is to empower disabled people to live the lifestyle of their choosing, and independent living is at the heart of this.

“This is an incredibly exciting move for us, and something we have been planning for a number of years. Our partners, Highstone Housing Association, are experts in building supported housing.

“Whilst they will develop the site, it will be our staff supporting the residents, all of whom will have tailor-made care packages put in place before moving in.

“Our customers at 34 Claro Road have been fully consulted, and they looking forward to having their own front doors.”

A Harrogate marketing agency is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week.

Extreme was set up by Antony Prince and Mark Gledhill in 2002, predominantly focused on brochure websites and small search engine optimisations projects.

The multi-award-winning team has been in Harrogate’s Windsor House since 2014 and has worked with a range of B2B and B2C local, national and international brands including Severfield plc, Nisa, Lovat Parks, Black Sheep Brewery, Glorious! and Kura Organics.

Antony Prince, managing director, said: 

“20 years in a fast-paced and sometimes fickle industry is something we’re very proud of. We’ve built a fantastic reputation for our creative and technical capabilities and we’ve worked with some amazing brands.”

Theakstons unveils new packaging for festival

Masham-based T&R Theakston is set to launch a limited edition packaging for its Old Peculier beer, ahead of this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

The brewery has repackaged the front of its bottles of Old Peculier to include a bloody thumbprint and the festival logo. Fans of the beer can see the special branding in all shops, and bars and restaurants stocking bottles of Old Peculier.

Simon Theakston, managing director at the brewery, and the packaging for the Old Peculiar.

Simon Theakston, joint managing director of T&R Theakston, said: 

“We have worked closely with Harrogate International Festivals on the Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival for almost two decades now, and are so proud of what it has become.

“With household names such as Mark Billingham, Val McDermid and Ian Rankin regularly attending and participating in the festival, and with stories of book deals being signed over a pint of Old Peculier, it truly is the meeting place for anyone who is anyone in the crime writing world. We’re very pleased to relaunch our limited-edition Old Peculier packaging in anticipation of what we’re sure will be another hugely successful festival.”

Read more:

• Three new restaurants and bars opening in Harrogate in next few days
• New Harrogate bar for craft beer lovers could be coming soon

A former Harrogate district carer once hailed a “health-care hero” has been jailed for over six years for sexually abusing a mentally disordered woman.

Carl McQuilliam-Jenkins, 49, groomed and sexually assaulted the woman at a care home in the Harrogate district over a seven-month period, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Catherine Silverton said the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had reluctantly consented to sex but did not have the mental capacity to do so.

McQuilliam-Jenkins, a father-of-two who won a ‘Local Health Care Hero’ award in 2016 in a separate part of the country, had sex with her on several occasions and told her to make it their secret.

Ms Silverton said the victim had a personality disorder which meant she was “easily led”, over-eager to please people and easy prey. Her condition was so acute that she found it difficult to make decisions for herself, forcing her family to place her in residential care.

McQuilliam-Jenkins, who was an agency worker, had duties which included working at the named care home four or five times a week.

He was “aware of (the victim’s) vulnerabilities”, having raised concerns with his work supervisor in April 2019 about “internet contact” she had had with a male resident of the home.

Exploited her mental disorder

McQuilliam-Jenkins warned staff she was vulnerable – but then began exploiting her mental disorder to sexually abuse her.

In January 2020, the victim told staff she had had sex with McQuilliam-Jenkins. Miss Silverton said:

“She said she had a sexual relationship with the defendant.”

Before the abuse began, the victim told McQuilliam-Jenkins that she liked him and asked for his telephone number. Miss Silverton added:

“He gave it to her but said it would have to be a secret, otherwise he would lose his job. She said they exchanged ‘sex texts and dirty messages’ and communicated via Facebook.”

McQuilliam-Jenkins sent her pictures of an intimate part of his body and a video in which he performed a lewd act. She in turn sent him photos of intimate parts of her body.

The victim said that McQuilliam-Jenkins “wanted to do sex and I said yes”. Miss SIlverton said:

“She said at first she liked him, but she said it was ‘getting too much with the sex things and stuff’. She said she didn’t want the sex to happen but she consented because she wanted to make him happy.

“She said she went along with it because he wanted it to happen. She said it was always him who instigated it.”

Arrested after a complaint

The victim, who also suffers from anxiety, said McQuilliam-Jenkins never used contraception and “continued to tell her to keep their sex a secret to prevent him losing his job”.

The victim, who needed 24-hour care, had to have treatment at a clinic after suffering a genital condition due to having unprotected sex with her abuser.

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McQuilliam-Jenkins, from Durham, was ultimately arrested after a complaint was made to police and was initially charged with six counts of sexual activity with a mentally disordered female while working as a care worker. The charges alleged that he knew or ought to have known that the woman had a mental disorder.

He initially denied all allegations but ultimately admitted three of the six charges. The offences occurred between July 2019 and January 2020. He appeared for sentence today

In a statement read out in court, the victim said she had felt “anxious and upset” and thought it was “okay to be with (McQuilliam-Jenkins) because he told her it would be okay”.

She had since not been sleeping and was worried that “people would call her a liar”.

McQuilliam’s wife had left him since his offences came to light, adding his offending had had a big impact on her family.

Care worker for 15 years

Syam Soni, mitigating, said McQuilliam-Jenkins realised his actions were “patently inappropriate”.

He said McQuilliam-Jenkins was himself suffering from mental health problems at the time due to work pressures and being the sole breadwinner for his family..

McQuilliam-Jenkins, of Howarth Terrace, Haswell, had worked in the care industry for 15 years with a “hitherto-unblemished record”.

Judge Simon Hickey said the victim was “clearly vulnerable and this was known by (McQuilliam-Jenkins)”. He told the defendant:

“You were aware of her vulnerability. She simply consented (to sex) to make you happy.”

Jailing McQuilliam-Jenkins for six years and four months, the judge told him he would have to serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

McQuilliam-Jenkins was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order for an indefinite period. He was barred for life from working with vulnerable adults.

The prosecution said they accepted McQuilliam-Jenkins’s denials to the other charges on a “pragmatic basis” and would be offering no further evidence on those allegations.

Former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls was quizzed by students about politics and life with a stammer during a visit to Harrogate’s Ashville College.

Mr Balls visited last week at the invitation of sixth former Thomas Grattoni-May, who is an advocate for stammering children and youth panel member of the charity Action for Stammering Children.

The former politician and TV personality, who is vice president of the charity, spent half an hour chatting to pupils about their studies, interests and aspirations.

Students from St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate and All Saints Roman Catholic School in York also attended and were able to take part in a question and answer session.

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Thomas Grattoni-May, Ed Balls and Leanne Norton, head of sixth form at Ashville College.

Leanne Norton, assistant head of sixth form at Ashville College, said:

“He showed a real interest in our learning support department and how the team helps pupils like Thomas throughout their school life, and prepares them for the next stage in their careers, be it further education or into the workplace.

“It was also a fantastic opportunity for our pupils, plus those from St Aidan’s and All Saints, to hear from a former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer about his own personal experiences. In the audience were our own Year 11s who have opted to study our brand new government and politics A Level in the 2022-23 academic year, so this was a great insight into what a life in government can be like from someone who has experienced it first-hand.”

Thomas Grattoni-May said:

“I am incredibly grateful to Mr Balls for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit Ashville and to help promote Action for Stammering Children. He is a superb advocate for the charity, and it was fabulous having him here.”

The organisers of Harrogate Christmas Market on Montpellier Hill have given up their battle to bring the event back.

The market, which was staged from 2012 to 2019, attracted over 80,000 visitors, 187 coaches and nearly 200 traders.

But the event was scuppered late into its planning stages last year when Harrogate Borough Council refused its event management plan.

The council then staged an alternative 10-day Harrogate Christmas Fayre in the town centre in partnership with Market Place, a specialist market company from Greater Manchester.

Brian Dunsby, co-organiser of the Montpellier Hill event, had been campaigning to bring back the event but he has now conceded defeat.

‘Fed-up to the back teeth’

He told the Stray Ferret he was “fed-up to the back teeth” with the situation with the council and negotiations had “reached the end of the line”.

“It’s extremely disappointing after eight years of extremely successful events and then two years waiting in the wings trying to keep it going.”

Mr Dunsby added it was too soon to contemplate what might happen when Harrogate Borough Council is abolished next year and replaced by the new North Yorkshire Council.

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A statement from Mr Dunsby and his wife, Beryl, co-organisers of Harrogate Christmas Market Ltd, said:

“The Harrogate Christmas Market team leaders have now decided not to organise any future markets in Harrogate. We thank all our super local volunteers, voluntary organisations, local contractors and traders for all their support over the years.

“We wish those taking up the challenge of providing a good quality Christmas Market in Harrogate all the best as we know how hard it is to create something that is truly appreciated by visitors and traders and which supports local businesses.

“Thanks for your support over the past 10 years.”

Harrogate Borough Council has said it would consider selling Rotary Wood to Harrogate Spring Water, as the company looks to expand its bottling plant on Harlow Moor Road.

The move was revealed in an email sent by Trevor Watson, the council’s director of economy and culture, to HSW in October 2021. It was obtained via a freedom of information request.

HSW leases the land where it is based, on Harlow Moor Road, from the council. The company pays the council ground rent of £13,000 a year plus turnover rent revenue, but this figure has never been publicly revealed.

The council is also the planning authority and in January last year councillors rejected a bid by HSW to expand its bottling plant into Rotary Wood.

The woodland was planted by the Rotary Club of Harrogate and local schoolchildren and is part of the council-owned Pinewoods.

In July 2021, Harrogate Spring Water said it would table new proposals to expand the bottling plant ‘within weeks’ but eight months on it has yet to do so.

Asset of Community Value

Pinewoods Conservation Group successfully registered the Pinewoods as an Asset of Community Value in 2015.

This means if the council decided to sell any of it, it must pause any sale for six months whilst it gives local community groups the chance to make an offer to buy it.

The email from the HSW employee, whose name is redacted, to Mr Watson reveals that representatives from HSW had a ‘helpful’ meeting with Conservative council leader Richard Cooper and deputy leader Graham Swift in September 2021. The ACV status of the woodland was discussed.

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In the email to Mr Watson, the HSW employee asked about the process for “releasing the land of this status”.

The email says as HSW decided to ‘do right by the town’ by not appealing last January’s refusal to grant planning permission, it asks the council to ‘lend your assistance’ around the ACV status of the wood, which it would like removed to speed up its planning application. It adds:

“A key element of the new application would be to try to expediate the process of releasing this land of its status, in order to avoid an unnecessarily protracted period of consultation and media scrutiny. I firmly believe this would be in the best interest of both parties.”

Open to offers

Mr Watson’s reply said that any sale of land with ACV status must follow due process but the authority would be open to offers.

Mr Watson added:

“The timing of all this therefore largely rests with HSW, in terms of how soon you wish to commence negotiations for the land and ultimately whether an in-principle agreement can be reached on potential disposal terms.”

He said informal discussions between the council and the business about buying the land took place “a number of years ago” but terms could not be reached.

Harrogate Spring Water’s head office on Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate.

Mr Watson said if a bid came in from HSW for the land, it would be subject to the usual six-month consultation period.

“We would therefore see the ball being in the HSW court in terms of formally approaching the council with a new, meaningful proposal for our consideration.

“If and when disposal terms are agreed in principle, the ACV process would then be formally triggered and we would carefully follow all the legal processes required, including public consultation as appropriate.”

Planning process ‘needs to be followed’

A Harrogate Spring Water spokesperson said:

“Harrogate Spring Water is evaluating its plans for the site and will communicate any update as and when that occurs. We are committed to working with the public and we will continue to keep people engaged and informed as part of the process”.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokeswoman said:

“This matter remains entirely in the hands of Harrogate Spring Water.  We wrote to them back in Autumn 2021 setting out a factual response to questions that they asked us about our decision-making processes.  We made very clear that there are distinct, statutory processes that we need to follow and that planning and land disposal processes are, quite rightly, dealt with as very separate matters. We have not had a response or any further discussions with the company on either the planning or land ownership situation”.

A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group said

“With each year that passes the Rotary Wood area of The Pinewoods becomes a more mature woodland with increasing bird and plant life, improving the biodiversity of the area and improving air quality.

“We are aware that Cllr Swift has been vocal in his support of this planned development but would be very concerned if any promises had been made to expedite any part of this complicated process and avoid full transparency and consultation. We also note that Cllr Cooper has recently been attending planning committee meeting and would hope he would now excuse himself from any future planning committee that considered these planning matters.

“However, we are somewhat comforted by comments from council officers restating the legal and planning processes that needs to be followed with respect to disposal of public land, and land that is protected as an ‘asset of community value’.

“Our lawyers will continue to monitor progress with interest.”

More than 200 children from a Harrogate primary school took part in a peace walk for Ukraine this morning.

Pupils from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, on Coppice Rise, walked from the school to St John’s Church on Bilton Lane to raise money and awareness for those fleeing the conflict.

Children were encouraged to come to school dressed in yellow and blue, the colours of the Ukraine flag, for the walk and to make a donation to the UNICEF campaign to support children in the country.

Beforehand, they took part in a liturgy led by pupils from years three and five.

Pupils at St Joseph’s with their banners which they created for the Ukraine walk.

Children sang peace hymns for Ukraine, held prayers and read from passages in the Bible.

Rachel Rouse, headteacher at St Joseph’s, said:

“We do a lot of fundraising for other things.

“We felt as a whole school that we needed to do something for Ukraine.”

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On the walk, pupils were given blue and yellow ribbons and waved banners at passing drivers on Skipton Road.

Once at St John’s, the whole school gathered to sing a hymn to show they were united for Ukraine before returning to finish with further prayers and singing.

You can donate to Unicef’s campaign for children here.

Police are appealing for information about a man suspected of withdrawing hundreds of pounds on stolen bank cards.

The man is believed to have stolen a purse from an equestrian event at Rudding Lane near Harrogate between 11am and 1.30pm on Sunday, February 6.

Officers believe the purse was stolen from an unoccupied horsebox.

Police enquires have uncovered CCTV footage of the cards being used at cash machines in Wetherby between 1.50pm and 2.15pm the same day.

Cash was taken from the Halifax bank in the Market Place and Sainsbury’s on Crossley Street.

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A North Yorkshire Police statement added:

“If you can help identify the man in the CCTV images, please call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for Colin Baker. Or email colin.baker@northyorkshire.police.uk.

“If you would prefer to remain anonymous, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

“Please quote reference number 12220021901 when providing details.”

Harrogate roads policing sergeant Paul Cording has published photos of a car that crashed into a Harrogate home over the weekend.

Sgt Cording, who regularly tweets about police life on the road, said the driver, who has not been named, had been charged with drink-driving and would appear in court next month. He tweeted:

“Thankfully no injuries and no one was in the garden at the time.”

He posted about the incident at about 7am yesterday morning.

RTC in #Harrogate where car has crashed into garden of residential property. Thankfully no injuries & no one was in the garden at the time. The driver has been arrested, interviewed & charged with drink driving. They have a date in court next month #Fatal5 pic.twitter.com/47QUe0oYK9

— Sgt Paul Cording BEM (@OscarRomeo1268) March 20, 2022

During two busy weekend night shifts, Sgt Cording also tweeted about a car driver in Ripon refusing to stop when asked by police and the recovery of class A drugs.

The driver of this vehicle decided they didn’t want to stop for Police in #Ripon and made off. Vehicle located a short time later with significant rear end damage and tyres tracks towards a sizeable tree!! Vehicle seized & enquiries ongoing pic.twitter.com/ZWgGr3uUtx

— Sgt Paul Cording BEM (@OscarRomeo1268) March 20, 2022

A flying start to the shift after this vehicle was stopped on the outskirts of #Harrogate I was then joined my my colleagues from #OpExpedite and a search recovered a substantial amount of believed Class A drugs #OneInCustody #PWITS #Result pic.twitter.com/H391LkXuVj

— Sgt Paul Cording BEM (@OscarRomeo1268) March 21, 2022

Read more:

• Police find 16 wraps of class A drugs in vehicle heading to Harrogate
• Plan to convert disused Harrogate church into seven homes

Allertons hair salon will open its fourth location, Allertons Harrogate, tomorrow.

The salon is located on Montpellier Street and will offer haircuts, colouring, treatments and styling.

Beauty treatments including massage and manicures will be available from the summer.

The company has two other locations in Leeds and one in Nottingham.

Founder Nicholas Nicola said:

“We think it will be well received. We aren’t led by fashion but what the clients want from root tints to bright blue. Harrogate already has so many lovely salons and hopefully we can bring something different.”

You can book online now by visiting this website or by calling us on 01423 608868.

Knaresborough-based maternity brand to launch next month

The Mum Collective is a Knaresborough-based maternity and nursing clothing brand that promises to offer “something different”.

Based in Knaresborough and set up by Sophie Baldwin, the online brand is launching with an essentials collection comprising of a t-shirt, sweater and hoodie. Each item has hidden zips for feeding.

Ms Baldwin said:

“When I fell pregnant one thing I found is that there wasn’t a great deal of clothes I actually wanted to wear that I would feel good in, that would also see me through my entire pregnancy as I was growing, and then through to my breastfeeding journey as well.”

“It was created with a mum and mum-to-be’s entire journey in mind.”

The new essentials range