Funeral celebrates life of Harrogate musician Aaron Bertenshaw

Family and friends of Harrogate singer-songwriter Aaron Bertenshaw celebrated his life at a funeral in Bilton this morning.

A procession led by motorbikes, including some Harley-Davidsons, set off from the family home on Woodfield Road and arrived at St John’s and St Luke’s Church for the 11am service.

The service was broadcast live on the church’s Facebook page and can still be viewed there.

A wake was held afterwards at The Empress on the Stray.

Aaron Bertenshaw died suddenly last month.

Aaron, a former pupil at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died suddenly aged 26 last month. He had struggled with diabetes and mental health issues.

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Sammy Oates, Aaron’s mother, set up a fundraising page to help people with diabetes overcome mental health problems. That fundraiser is currently on £6,910.

The family said donations at the service would go to Diabetes UK and CALM, the campaign against living miserably.

Ms Oates is now campaigning for extra support for those who struggle with diabetes and mental health. She told the Stray Ferret previously:

“Aaron touched a lot of lives. He was only 26 but packed a lot in. He also worked as a barber and played rugby for Otley when he was young.

“He was such a bright shining star and an absolute social butterfly. Everyone knew him and he never had a bad word to say about anybody.

“What I remember most is his smile. He had the most infectious smile. There was always a twinkle in the eyes.”

Councillors urged to drop ‘crazy’ Harrogate Station Gateway scheme

Councillors will this week debate a petition urging them to abandon the £10.9 million Harrogate Station Gateway.

North Yorkshire County Council is due to decide shortly whether to proceed with the scheme, which would part-pedestrianise James Street and reduce traffic to single lane on some of Station Parade to encourage cycling and walking.

A petition by Harrogate Residents Association calling for the scheme to be halted generated 714 signatures.

Petitions that attract 500 signatures are automatically scheduled for debate by the county council.

It will therefore be discussed by the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee on Thursday – although a final decision on what happens next will be made later.

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Anna McIntee, co-founder of Harrogate Residents Association, will be given five minutes to speak before councillors debate the matter for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Ms McIntee told the Stray Ferret it would be “crazy” to proceed in the face of widespread opposition from residents and businesses.

She said:

“I don’t really understand how they can ignore all the residents and all the businesses that oppose it. It would be crazy to plough ahead.”

Residents were shown the plans at a public meeting at Victoria Shopping Centre today.

Residents were shown the plans at a public meeting at Victoria Shopping Centre.

The county council revealed last month that of 1,320 people who replied to an online survey, 55% felt negatively towards the gateway, 39% felt positively and five per cent felt neutral. One per cent said they didn’t know.

Shortly afterwards three Harrogate business groups urged the county council and Harrogate Borough Council. which also supports the initiative, to “put the brakes on this scheme”.

Many of those opposed fear the scheme will push traffic into residential areas and damage business.

‘No decision taken’

A report to councillors recommends they ‘note’ the petition and ‘consider a response’. It adds:

“The (gateway) proposals aim to introduce a significant high quality uplift to the public realm in the heart of the town aimed at increasing footfall and quality of experience for residents and visitors.

“They will also provide safe cycling infrastructure and improved footways which is key in promoting healthier and more sustainable travel choices.

“Currently no decision has been taken on implementation of the project, the results of the second round of consultation are being analysed and a report with final recommendations will be taken to the executive early in the new year.”

Drink-driver who crashed in Harrogate district was six times over limit

Police officers who arrested a man in a village near Ripon after a crash found that he was almost six times over the legal limit for alcohol.

North Yorkshire Police said today the man was so drunk he could barely speak and had to be physically held up.

Officers responded to reports of a two-car collision in Kirkby Malzeard at around 9.30pm on New Year’s Eve.

Nobody was injured but police said in a statement that one of the drivers was “clearly” under the influence of alcohol.

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When tested, the unnamed man’s breath sample contained 208 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms so he was almost six times over.

A statement from the officer at the scene said:

“He appeared so intoxicated he could barely speak, never mind drive a vehicle, and had to be physically held up as he was unable to stand by himself.

“The man was arrested and upon arriving in police custody he provided a further positive evidential sample of breath before being charged for drink driving.

“Mercifully the collision was a minor one with no injuries but this has clearly been a very lucky escape for everyone involved.

“Despite the clear dangers of drink driving there are still individuals who continue to do so. Not only do they pose a danger to themselves, but they put the lives of many others at risk too. It is nothing short of stupidity.”

The man has been released on bail to appear at court later this month.

North Yorkshire Police has urged anyone who suspects someone of drink driving to call 999.

All-female cast to perform first show by new Harrogate theatre company

A new theatre company is to give its first performances this month with an all-female cast.

Actor Tony Kirkland set up HG1 Productions last year after he moved to the area and wanted to get involved with the local arts community.

The company aims to produce lesser-known plays about topical issues.

The first shows, called Doris Day and Fatal Light, are two short plays performed by an eight-person cast depicting the realities women face in the criminal justice system.

Doris Day, written by E V Crowe and directed by company member Fiona Hunt, follows the lives of two new female police officers as they negotiate the subtle misogyny they encounter every day.

Fatal Light, written by Chloe Moss and directed by Tony Kirkland, looks at the life of a struggling single mother who falls through the cracks of social services and the justice system.

Both plays last around 45 minutes and will be performed at St Wilfrid’s Church in Harrogate on January 21 and 22.

Ms Hunt said:

“The aim was to create something unique and I think we’ve done that. It’s really exciting for me — similar to Tony I moved to Harrogate last year and wanted to get involved in the arts community.

“I’ve found HG1 Productions to be a really good way to do that, there’s already a lot of great arts groups here but we’re hoping to do something a little different.”

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The female cast ranges in age from 12 to 50s. It is hoped the company’s debut performances will generate an eagerness for further productions.

Mr Kirkland said he is always looking for more people to get involved in future shows, both backstage and on stage. He can be contacted at kirklandanthony@hotmail.com.

To find out more about the forthcoming shows, click here.

Harrogate’s Royal Baths: the council’s under-performing ‘trophy investment’

An investigation by the Stray Ferret has revealed that Harrogate’s Royal Baths have massively under-performed as a commercial investment since they were bought by North Yorkshire County Council in 2018.

The council bought the Grade II listed building for £9 million in 2018 as part of a wider strategy to become more entrepreneurial to plug its declining budget from central government.

But the Baths have only generated about a third of the income expected, raising questions about the wisdom of the decision to buy it, as well as whether the council has the necessary business acumen to invest taxpayers’ money in such schemes.

The council was accused of making a “trophy investment” last month when one councillor said he was “absolutely’ speechless” by the £9 million sum paid for the Baths.

It has now emerged that rental income is way down on what was predicted in a confidential report to councillors before they agreed to buy it.

Prepared to pay £10m

The report, which has now been made public, reveals the council was prepared to pay up to £10 million for the Baths, which included four commercial units.

At the time, they were J D Wetherspoon, The Potting Shed bar, the Viper Rooms nightclub and Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant. The Potting Shed subsequently closed.

The report forecast the Baths would generate annual income of £500,940.

But gross income received in the three years since then was just £613,000 — way down on the £1.5 million expected. The council has also incurred maintenance and other costs of £222,000 on the Baths to the end of March 2021, further reducing the income figure to £391,000.

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Philip Broadbank

Philip Broadbank

Councillor Philip Broadbank, a Liberal Democrat who represents Harrogate Starbeck on the county council, said

“The price for the Royal Baths investment seems to be high and the rate of return has been very disappointing and needs to improve.

“The Royal Baths complex is in a central position in Harrogate town centre but margins need to improve quickly for council taxpayers to see some financial benefits. It is vital that all the units are let and fully operational and officers need to ensure that happens soon to help the local economy.

“The periods of closure have been significant and challenging and the poor rates of return need to be substantially improved if taxpayers are to have confidence that the investment policies are to work satisfactorily financially.”

‘It will end in tears’

The council has not been helped by lockdowns, which have affected all three surviving businesses. The Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant remains closed but plans to re-open this year.

Stuart Parsons

Stuart Parsons

Nevertheless, Councillor Stuart Parsons, who represents Richmond and is the Independents group leader at the county council, said the financial performance of the Baths was worrying and predicted the council’s attempts to generate income in new ways would “end in tears”. He said:

“There’s always that belief in local government that they have expertise and can deliver anything but they are experts at delivering services rather than property projects.”

He said the council had been “absolutely strapped for cash by central government for 11 years” and was being encouraged by ministers to find new sources of income to “shore up shortfalls”. But he added:

“We have seen a number of councils fail because they have taken on projects like renewable energy and are unable to deliver them.

“They will try their hardest in North Yorkshire but they don’t have the necessary expertise to drive things forward. This will be one of the black marks against the Conservative government. It will end in tears.

“Councils should not be trading. They should be providing services, not building houses or power plants. If they had kept the £9m it could have been used to help people in desperate need in social care.”

Cllr Parsons added it was concerning that major spending decisions involving taxpayers’ money were being made on the basis of such inaccurate forecasts.

“If they are basing their finances on estimates that are unsound then something seriously needs to change.”

North Yorkshire County Council offices in Northallerton.

Councillor Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the Conservatives on the county council, has been one of the key supporters of the Baths investment.

The Stray Ferret sent him some questions but he did not reply.

‘Better than treasury returns’

A council spokesman said it received legal advice and a surveyor’s report and undertook comparative market analysis to support the business case and necessary due diligence before buying the lease on the Baths from M&G Property Portfolio.

He added the investment “continues to stand up against the alternative investment opportunities where cash returns amounted to an average return of 0.19% p.a. at Quarter 2 21/22”.

Gross income received to the end of 20/21 was £613,000 and standard treasury returns would have generated £152,000, the spokesman added, and therefore the investment “has realised £461,000 of additional benefit to the council and its taxpayer when compared to our standard treasury returns”.

He added covid and lockdowns had had a significant impact since the Baths were bought in 2018.

“Our tenants, in the hospitality sector, have been significantly impacted by the pandemic with extended periods of enforced closure during 2020 and 2021. We are working with them to reach reasonable terms on recovery of arrears where possible.

“National regulations in force until late March 2022 prevent us from evicting tenants that have fallen into arrears as a result of covid.

“All retail and hospitality suffered significant periods of closure and financial challenge throughout the pandemic. The Harrogate Royal Baths is a local asset and we remain confident that Harrogate and the Royal Baths itself will recover from the pandemic and continue to contribute to the Harrogate and North Yorkshire local economy.

Besides the four commercial units, the purchase of the Baths also included two further units held on long-leases by Harrogate Borough Council at a peppercorn rent occupied by the tourist information centre and the Turkish Baths, as well as two car parks similarly let on long leases at nominal rents.

The council set up the Brierley Group of firms, ranging from house builders to lawyers, in 2017 to bring together council-owned companies and find new ways of making money. However, last year it reported a loss of £639,000.

Further losses are forecast for the current financial year.

The council warned last month it faces “enormous financial pressures” and needed to find £19 million in savings.

 

 

 

Harrogate and Ripon vaccination sites reopen today

The vaccination centres at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and Ripon Races reopen today for the first time since Christmas.

The two sites are run by Yorkshire Health Network, which represents the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district.

The Yorkshire Event Centre at the showground will open for booked appointments from 11am until 8pm. Appointments are still available.

The site will also accept walk-ins from 11.30am today but people choosing this option may have to wait because bookings take priority.

The showground will be open at the weekend from 8.30am to 5pm for booked appointments and from 9am to 4pm for walk-ins.

All the clinics are for first, second or booster jabs for over-18s. Special clinics for 12 to 17-year-olds are put on separately.

Ripon Races will be open tomorrow and on Saturday at the usual times of 8:30am to 5pm for booked appointments and 9am to 4pm for walk-ins.

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Staff and volunteers at the Yorkshire Event Centre are due to relocate to another building at the showground on Thursday and Friday, ready for the Saturday clinic.

The new site is currently contracted for use until March. A decision on fourth vaccinations has yet to be taken.

 

Covid cases fall in Harrogate district after yesterday’s daily record surge

A total of 404 infections have been recorded in the Harrogate district today — down on yesterday’s daily record figure of 493.

However, the district’s seven-day average rate of infection has risen from 1,139 and now stands at 1,329 per 100,000 people.

North Yorkshire’s rate is 1,269 and the England rate is 1,508.

Harrogate West and Pannal Ash remains the worst hit area, with 163 cases in the last seven days.

The number of people who have received a third or booster vaccine in the district stands at 101.983. A total of 364,100 vaccines have been administered.

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Funeral of Aaron Bertenshaw to take place in Bilton tomorrow

The funeral of Harrogate singer-songwriter Aaron Bertenshaw will take place at St John’s Church in Bilton tomorrow.

Aaron, a former pupil at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died suddenly aged 26 last month. He had struggled with diabetes and mental health issues.

Everyone is welcome to attend the service, which begins at 11am. A wake will be held afterwards at The Empress on the Stray.

For those unable to attend, the service will be broadcast live on the church’s Facebook page.

Sammy Oates, Aaron’s mother, has said the service will be an upbeat celebration of Aaron’s life and asked people not to wear black suits.

Donations will go to Diabetes UK and CALM, the campaign against living miserably.

A fundraising page set up by Sammy to help people with diabetes overcome mental health problems has so far raised almost £6,000. You can donate here.

Sammy is campaigning to make it easier for people who suffer from mental health issues and diabetes to receive treatment that addresses the two issues together.

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How I’d develop the Royal Baths and Prospect Square

Keeping in mind the importance of a vision for Harrogate’s future, the Stray Ferret asked Malcolm Neesam to come up with suggestions for making Harrogate more attractive to visitors and residents alike, regardless of cost or planning requirements. This is the third of three articles. Malcolm fully understands that his “visions” may not appeal to everyone, and he submits them as purely private dreams.

Vision 7: Royal Baths

With my unlimited budget and full planning control, my next vision involves the Royal Baths, and let me explain immediately that contrary to what some might guess, my vision does not consist of restoring the building as a working Spa, as I am not convinced the market for such an amenity exists in Harrogate today outside small, private luxury hotels.

The Royal Baths should remain at the heart of Harrogate’s leisure and entertainment area.

Instead, I see the Royal Baths building as being at the heart of Harrogate’s leisure and entertainment area, and consequently, I would leave the bars and restaurants in the 1897 building intact. As for the former Lounge Hall, I would restore this as Harrogate’s ‘town’s hall’, or an assembly space for use by local groups, Mayor makings, school prize days, fashion shows, or simply as a place of assembly with refreshments still being available, but on a far reduced scale to the present situation.

It was, in my opinion, very wrong of Harrogate Borough Council to have disposed of the lease of this complex for such a long period when the place was built using public money for the whole community. But let that pass, as the centre-piece of my vision for the Royal Baths is outside the former Lounge Hall.

When the council allowed the block of flats known as “Royal Baths 2” to be built, it ensured it had an underground car park, yet for the adjoining site between the former Fountain Court and the road at Montpellier Gardens, it approved its conversion into a surface car park! This was a gross waste of one of the most valuable building sites in Harrogate. And to add to the bad decision, it allowed the lovely Fountain Court to be torn down in an act that provided for a mere nine cars. I would construct an underground car park here, and restore the Fountain Court, but giving it a glazed roof, so that it could be used throughout the year.

Fountain Court 2001: Walker-Neesam Archive

Fountain Court 2001: Walker-Neesam Archive

But my most ambitious work would be between the restored Fountain Court and Montpellier Gardens, where on the site of the long demolished New Montpellier Pump Room I would build a four-storeyed replica of an old Harrogate coaching inn, complete with galleried courtyard, which would be filled with whatever catering, accommodation and entertainment facilities the market was judged to require. It would need to be attractive and picturesque, to draw as many visitors as possible, and would be a major enhancement for the Montpellier and Royal Parade Quarters.

Vision 8: Prospect Square

The large urban space bounded by Cambridge and Prospect Crescents, St. Peter’s Church, the Yorkshire Hotel, and – across the busy road – the old Pier Head, certainly has as good a claim as any to be regarded as the heart of Harrogate.

Pier head lavatories and terrace: Walker-Neesam Archive

Pier head lavatories and terrace: Pic: Walker-Neesam Archive

As its last makeover came from the experimental pedestrian zones of the 1970s and 1980s, with little subsequent change, it makes a good candidate for the last of my series of visions for the future.

The first thing I would do, if I had unlimited funding and full planning control, would be to re-open the suites of underground lavatories at what is facetiously called Pier Head, which the council built on the Stray after the passing of the 1893 Harrogate Corporation Act. The location, opposite the junction of Prospect Place, James Street, Cambridge Street, Parliament Street and Montpellier Hill was perhaps the best site in the town for such an amenity. As this location was within 75 yards of Hopewell House (now Bettys) the 1893 Act required that it be built underground.

To comply with this requirement, the corporation removed soil from the crown of Montpellier Hill, built the lavatories, and covered them with the excavated soil, thus giving the impression of subterranean construction. Work does not seem to have begun until 1896, and progressed slowly, in that the brick structure was not ready to receive its disguising “ornamental rockery” until January 1897, when the council discussed tenders. On June 2, an advertisement appeared for male and female applicants who would be required to work from 9.00am to 9.00pm each day, including Sundays, at a wage of twenty shillings a week for the man and fifteen shillings a week for the woman.

These wonderfully constructed public lavatories remained in use for nearly a century, until the council, still reeling from the lamentable mishandling of the Conference Centre affair, took the frankly stupid decision to close them to “save money”. The power and water were disconnected, and the entrances filled in with soil. I am sure that 95% of the present council has no idea they are there. Given the wonderfully convenient location of the Pier Head lavatories, it would be sensible to restore and properly staff them, and this would be my first goal for this location.

Prospect Square

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For the rest, I would close the short length of road in front of Cambridge Crescent, to link the central war memorial to the Crescent, and I would pay for a facsimile of Samson Fox’s sensational Water Gas candelabra. This was built by Fox as a demonstration piece for his water gas plant. It consisted of a “gigantic lamp of four tiers of branches, each branch have 12 double branch light, making a total of 48 brilliant lights”.

The Water Gas experiment was a great success, with Parliament Street lit to great effect, so much so that by autumn, the press reported visitors were coming from far and wide to see how the Mayor of Harrogate “had bottled the sun”. Despite the overwhelming brilliance of the Fox Water Gas candelabra, its energy consumption was enormous, so its modern use would have to be minimal. I would also floodlight the whole of Prospect Square and the War Memorial as – hopefully – an attraction for residents and visitors alike.

 

 

 

Huge surge in covid sees new daily record of 493 infections in Harrogate district

The daily record for covid cases in the Harrogate district has been obliterated, with 493 new infections recorded today.

Yesterday’s decline from the previous record of 330 to 279 had suggested numbers could have peaked. But today’s surge has dashed hopes.

The seven-day rate has also set a new record, now standing at 1,139 per 100,000. The North Yorkshire average is 1,140 and the England rate is 1,456.

The growth rate has jumped to 2.2. Harrogate West and Pannal Ash remains the worst hit area, with 156 cases in the last seven days.

Covid has been recorded on the death certificates of 366 people in the district, including one in the last week.

A total of 101,823 booster or third jabs have now been administered in the district.

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