This article is sponsored by Lapicida

As a nation, we have always taken great pride in our homes.

And in the age of Pinterest and Instagram, online shopping and interiors influencers, it has become easier than ever to have a go at being an interior designer.

You only have to look at the continuing success of glossy magazines like Ideal Home, as well as popular TV shows like Changing Rooms and Grand Designs, to recognise we have a huge fascination with transforming our homes.

And in 2021 – after 18 months of being very much at home – we are more obsessed than ever.

Guilty pleasure

Interior design is well and truly having a moment and I am here for it. My guilty pleasure on an evening when the kids have gone to bed is trawling through Instagram and screenshotting all the gorgeous images of people’s homes. I’m also a Rightmove addict and I read every interiors magazine I can get my hands on.

A rear view of Joanie’s renovated home on Wetherby Road.

So when Harrogate interior designer Joanie Mac invited me to join one of her masterclass dayschools at her own incredible home in Harrogate, it was a no-brainer.

While I have tried to absorb every tip and piece of knowledge passed on by designers, I will admit I’m still pretty clueless. I know when something works in my home, but I don’t necessarily know why.

So when I rocked up to Joanie’s house on Wetherby Road on Sunday morning at 9.30am, I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

Fabulous

Joanie’s home is everything you expect from an interior designer. Completely fabulous. Obviously I couldn’t stop myself having a nosy at all her quirky furniture, artwork, accessories and bold colour schemes. I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

Joanie’s fabulous open-plan sitting area and dining room.

I was joined by four other students from a variety of backgrounds. There was a mum who attended with her art student daughter, an upholsterer and a primary school teacher, who was planning on changing her career.

After a welcome cup of coffee, we all took a seat at Joanie’s white marble kitchen island and began our first lesson of the day on colour theory.

“Colour is such a powerful thing,” explained Joanie, as she showed us various colour schemes and images and explained why they worked or didn’t.

“Colour changes everything.”

Four seasons

Joanie explained how colours can be broken down into the four seasons. Spring features bright vibrant colours, summer is more muted, soft and “flowery”, autumn is dark and cocooning, while winter, again with its darker tones, has a more “masculine edge”.

Apparently these colours play to our personalities and most of us usually fall into two seasons.

Joanie said:

“The big thing about colour is it can pull everything together – the things you wouldn’t think match. But you have to use it to create cohesiveness not choppiness.”

After another cup of coffee – it was a Sunday after all – Joanie took us on a tour of her house, which she has renovated and decorated to showcase her ideas and methods.

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With her walls painted predominantly in Little Owl, a soft warm grey by Fired Earth, Joanie explained that she had used furniture, accessories and lighting to inject colour and bring her home to life. Her rule is to stick to three colours and use variants of these in each room.

Exhibition

Joanie’s home is like one big beautiful exhibition and it certainly gave me some inspiration – from her mixture of vintage and modern design to the way she had hung a stunning floral dress on the wall as a piece of art.

A pretty floral dress can be used as a piece of wall art.

Importantly she had made everything flow by using the “red thread” concept. The idea is that you use this when decorating your own home to link the spaces and bind them together as a whole house, rather than just a series of rooms linked by passages.

For example you could use a splash of blue in all of your rooms. The idea is you must never decorate a room in isolation but consider the property as a whole.

Patterns and textures

After we had explored her house, including her amazing garden, Joanie spoke about patterns and textures.

She said:

“It’s about the friction between the textures. You don’t want to overload the room, but you want to create friction.”

Joanie takes us on a tour of her amazing home.

She suggested sticking to three textures in the room, using accessories like rugs, cushions, wallpaper and vases, and to also make sure you add plenty of green with plants.

It was then time to get stuck into some practical work. We were asked to cut up pictures from interior magazines of images we were drawn to, as well as fabrics and wallpapers, and stick them down to create a mood board.

Art project

This was actually lots of fun, as I’m so used to doing this sort of thing digitally on Pinterest. It felt so much more satisfying to actually create a board with something tangible. It was like doing a school art project and I found it really therapeutic.

Part of my moodboard.

We were then told to write down the first five words that came into our heads to describe ourselves. And it turns out our moodboards, and the colours and textures we used to create them, actually said a lot about us as people.

Brave

Initially I was quite reserved and almost needed permission from Joanie to go nuts with colour and texture. It turns out this summed up the anxious side of my personality perfectly. Once I relaxed into it, I started adding floral patterns, velvet, metallics and bright pink, and somehow it actually worked. I already felt braver when it came to putting this into practice at home.

After lunch on a naturally beautifully-laid table, featuring wooden serving platters, vintage cutlery and decorated with sprigs of rosemary, we looked at seven iconic design styles and learned about the style elements for each one. These were:

• Scandinavian
• Eclectic
• Industrial
• Vintage
• Minimalist
• Mid-century modern
• Modern coastal
• Contemporary

Lunch is served on a beautifully-laid table.

We also learned briefly about lighting and how this can transform your space, before moving on to creating vignettes.

A vignette, in terms of interior design, is a tiny, curated style statement, made up of a group of objects that are displayed on a shelf, a table, or elsewhere in the home.

Vignette

We had been asked to bring five objects from our own houses. Mine included an old framed photo of my great grandmother, an antique cigarette box and a vintage coffee tin.

Joanie then made a vignette using each of these items, as well as some of her own accessories, and her creations were really impressive.

We learned to look at them through a picture frame as an individual piece of art and to also contain some of the items, for example on a tray or under a glass cloche, which was extremely effective. Again it was interesting what we all chose to bring, interior design really is about you and projecting your personality.

One of the vignettes created by Joanie using items from my home.

I finished the day feeling really relaxed, but also motivated and excited about putting all the new skills I had learned into practice in my own home.

I am definitely going to be more adventurous with both colour and texture. If think something is going to work in a space, whether that be a really dark paint, a crazy patterned rug, or a random fabric, I’m going to be more confident to give it a go.

After all, my home is a reflection of me and I now feel brave enough to embrace it.

My favourite styling tips from the day:

• Every chair should have a table – you need somewhere to put your cuppa!
• Use lots of lamps in a room – even in a kitchen – as they provide ambience and pools of light
• In a small room, there should be three focal points to distract you from the size
• We hang everything too high – including pictures
• Pull furniture away from the wall to make a room seem bigger – by moving your sofa six inches away from the wall, this will make a big difference.

Learning about colour with Joanie.

• Joanie’s Interior Design Masterclass takes place on various days from 9.30am until 3.30pm and costs £175. Refreshments, lunch and materials are included. There is also an optional day two, where you can learn to become your own project manager for £325 for both days. For more information on the dayschool click here.
• To learn more about the various courses, including upcoming special Christmas workshops, Joanie offers, visit www.joaniemac.com

Business improvement districts (BIDs) were first introduced in the USA to revive economically depressed areas and they came to the UK in the early 2000s.

They have become increasingly popular over the past 10 years, in part due to declining high streets and government cuts to local authorities.

Businesses within a defined area pay an annual fee, called a levy, on top of their usual business rates.

This pooled money then goes directly towards the BID which funds improvements for the area.

Harrogate was the first town in the district to form a BID in 2019. Almost 500 businesses pay 1.5% of their rateable value each year.

It’s estimated that the Harrogate BID brings in around £500,000 from levy payers annually.

But before a BID is set up, businesses in the area must vote in a ballot on whether they want one or not, as Ripon and Knaresborough have done this year.

Once a BID vote has passed, all businesses within the area are obliged to pay the levy or face potential legal action. BIDs last for five years, before businesses are balloted again.

What do BIDs do, and are they value for money?

Harrogate BID has three full-time staff, including BID manager Matthew Chapman who is paid a salary of £45,000.

It has an elected board of 15 directors, which mainly includes business people but also has an officer each from Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

Harrogate’s BID had a difficult first couple of years. In 2020, four directors walked out in protest at the way the organisation was being run, citing accusations of undue council interference. The conservative council leader, Richard Cooper, later resigned as a board member.

It now appears to be on a more steady footing and recent initiatives include power washing 80,000 square metres of the town centre, painting drab walls with colourful murals and buying over 500 pieces of outdoor furniture for businesses to use.

But is it delivering value for money to its levy payers? How is that measured?

Mr Chapman told the Stray Ferret:

“This can be achieved via a number of different methods, including increased footfall, increased bookings, satisfaction surveys, regular conversations with our Levy Payers, positive media coverage, and even good old-fashioned word of mouth.”

Why do some businesses criticise them?

BIDs are private limited companies which critics say means a lack of financial transparency and accountability.

BIDs have been criticised for doing jobs that have traditionally been under the remit of local councils, effectively taxing businesses twice.

An example might be buying 200 hanging baskets for Harrogate town centre, which could be argued should be done by Harrogate Borough Council through business rates.

They have also been criticised for being anti-democratic, controlled by a small group of influential directors.

Read more:

• Knaresborough chamber president hits out at ‘anti-BID activists’
• ‘The aim is to make Ripon a more attractive destination’

Why Knaresborough BID ended in acrimony

Both Ripon and Knaresborough followed in Harrogate’s footsteps by balloting businesses about creating their own BIDs this year.

But the outcomes were acutely different.

Ripon’s ballot sailed through, receiving 70 votes in favour, out of 87 cast.

Whereas in Knaresborough there has been bitterness and acrimony after businesses voted to reject setting up a BID by 80 votes to 73.

In the fallout from the vote, Knaresborough chamber of commerce leader Steve Teggin resigned and said he had “failed” the town by not delivering the BID.

However, some businesses in Knaresborough believe the town is doing fine without a BID. Harrogate Borough Council had a block vote of 29, and those against the BID said this meant the vote wasn’t as close as it appeared.

Knaresborough Liberal Democrat county councillor David Goode told the Stray Ferret he was “extremely disappointed” at the result, which he said will put the town at a disadvantage against Harrogate, Ripon and York, who all have BIDs.

He blamed a national pressure group called Against BID for whipping up anti-BID sentiment among businesses.

He said:

“There was an extremely negative campaign against it that was strongly influenced by a national group who has ideological reasons to campaign against BIDs wherever. Certain local businesses were misguided by what this national group was pedalling.”

A spokesperson for Against BID responded:

“It’s disappointing how a councillor along with the BID proposers are still putting blame on everyone else except themselves, for their failure to deliver the result they wanted. This again demonstrates the contempt with which the great businesses of Knaresborough have been treated throughout the BID development process.

“The Knaresborough business owners are intelligent enough to have made up their own voting decision based on the strength of the BID proposal put before them”.

Why Ripon is excited about its BID

Whereas in Ripon, there was a more unified feeling that a BID would be able to tie together the various tourist attractions such as the ancient Market Square, Fountains Abbey and Newby Hall to benefit the wider local economy.

Some businesses in Ripon have previously complained that Harrogate Borough Council has prioritised its crown jewel of Harrogate over their city.  A BID would, in theory, give more power and money to local businesses to control their own destiny.

Ripon BID will have an annual budget of £160,000 over the next five years.

Ripon BID chair Richard Compton, who owns Newby Hall, told the Stray Ferret he believes the BID will give the city a big boost :

“The aim is to promote and make Ripon more attractive as a retail and tourism destination and the BID can help in a number of ways.

“The signs are looking good and I’m feeling confident about the future.”

This article is sponsored by Berwins

With Halloween falling during October half-term, there is a seriously spooky theme to this year’s family activities across the district.

And with last year’s Halloween celebrations being pretty much cancelled due to the pandemic this year’s spooky season is bigger and better than ever.

So whether you fancy a trip to some dark, scary caves, some pumpkin picking on a farm or some ghostly fun in Harrogate town centre, we’ve put together a list of five places to take your little witches and wizards for some Halloween fun.

Birchfield Farm Pumpkin Festival

Pick your own pumpkins at Birchfield Farm.

When Birchfield Farm launched its Pumpkin Festival on October 2, I think most of Harrogate visited. My social media feeds were jam-packed with pumpkins in wheelbarrows and smiling faces.

Fortunately there are plenty of pumpkins to go around and you can visit everyday until Halloween.

A firm favourite with families across the district, including my own, there are also lots of activities to do on the farm so you can make a morning or afternoon of it.

After you have picked your pumpkin from the patch – and there really is a huge selection of all shapes and sizes – you then have the option of visiting the farm for £5 per person. Then take your kids for a homemade ice cream at the farm’s café, which is currently serving takeout food and drinks.

Activities include:

• A huge carving barn where you can create your pumpkin masterpieces
• Bouncy castles
• Play equipment
• A 6-acre maize maze
• Woodland and den building
• Animals
• A giant bale mountain

Enter Harrogate town centre if you dare this half-term…

• A supernatural-themed interactive trail on the loyalfreeapp
• A mysterious pop-up photobooth in the Victoria Shopping Centre
• Ghostly street entertainment
• A sinister, live radio show with Your Harrogate
• Petrifying prizes to be won throughout

Mother Shipton’s is hosting The Witching Hour over half-term.

Go on a Halloween trail at Stump Cross Caverns.

Stockeld Park has a new skeleton trail this half-term.

Stockeld Park is another firm family favourite and the Halloween festivities are always great fun.

Daniel Ainsley’s brutal stabbing of Mark Wolsey was the culmination of more than a decade of trouble at one of Harrogate’s most notorious crime hotspots.

Now, as Ainsley awaits his sentence, angry local residents want to know why North Yorkshire Police and Harrogate Borough Council failed to clamp down harder on activities at the house where the murder happened.

They also want to know why the council transferred thousands of pounds to landlord John Willis Properties Ltd to accommodate homeless people, and accuse the council of being complicit in the problems by funding the volatile situation in the property when it should have been taking action.

Numerous residents, whose campaign to make the area safer fell on deaf ears, have vented their frustration to the Stray Ferret. They want to know why so little was done to address longstanding problems at the house — and what is being done to prevent a repeat.

Mark Wolsey, who was murdered at 38 Mayfield Grove.

A recipe for trouble

38 Mayfield Grove was branded the House from Hell in 2005 when a court granted a three-month closure order following a spate of crime, including a crossbow being held at a resident’s head.

The house, owned then and now by John Willis Properties Limited, of which the landlord John Willis is the sole director, has absorbed a huge amount of police time since then.

In this report we’ll hear the views of the local residents, Mr Willis, the council and the police. There is no suggestion of illegal activity by Mr Willis’ or John Willis Properties Limited’s behalf.

But the situation highlights how the system can fail to protect homeless people.

Flowers outside the home after the murder. The closure notice is pinned to the door.

255 police reports about 38 Mayfield Grove

A Freedom of Information request by the Stray Ferret revealed that between April 2008 and July this year, the public reported 38 Mayfield Grove 255 times to North Yorkshire Police. This averages almost two reports a month over 13 years.

The house is divided into six privately let bedsits and tenants often have guests. Ainsley was staying in Mr Wolsey’s bedsit when he killed him. Many tenants over the years have had multiple issues, such as drug and alcohol addictions and mental health problems, as well as backgrounds of homelessness and crime.

Local residents told us it’s difficult to think of a more dangerous scenario than housing people with multiple needs together in a terraced home on a busy street, and this problem should have been identified and tackled.

Daniel Neill, who until recently lived on Nydd Vale Terrace, a street parallel to Mayfield Grove that has other properties let by Mr Willis’ company, has been at the forefront of the residents’ campaign for a safer neighbourhood. He said:

“The entire set-up is a recipe for trouble. It doesn’t take a genius to work it out. The worst thing you can do with addicts is put them alongside other addicts.

“For 15 years people knew that 38 Mayfield Grove was the place to go for drugs. It was an open secret. Police did regular drive-bys. Yet it just kept going on.”

£7,000 council payments to John Willis Properties Ltd

Yet despite longstanding concerns about 38 Mayfield Grove, the council transferred £2,112 in 2017 and £5,424 in 2018 to John Willis Properties Ltd.

The council says the payments were “for the benefit of our homeless customers and were not made as part of a contract or agreement with the landlord”. It adds:

“The money paid to John Willis Properties Ltd was transferred to help customers assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness to access private rented accommodation.”

Taxpayers’ funds were transferred to John Willis Properties Ltd until as recently as December 2018.

Read more:

• Mayfield Grove: house at centre of crime concerns allowed to re-open
• Harrogate man Daniel Ainsley found guilty of murder

While the council was paying John Willis Properties between March 2017 and December 2018, it received six housing complaints relating to seven properties let by the company and seven noise complaints relating to five properties.

Residents, who tried unsuccessfully to get a closure order against another of Mr Willis’ properties in the area in 2018, say the council not only failed to tackle problems going on inside the house but contributed to them by funding the landlord.

A letter from 45 residents to Richard Cooper, the leader of Harrogate Borough Council, sent after the murder, accused the council of oversight and complicity. It added:

“We don’t feel like valued members of the community. We don’t feel safe. We don’t feel like our voices are being heard.”

The letter also accused the council of “pulling the plug” on police and residents’ efforts to tackle issues at 38 Mayfield Grove.

Daniel Ainsley was staying in Mr Wolsey’s bedsit when he murdered him.

What could the council have done?

The council argues it has limited power to act but Mr Neill says the payments beggar belief considering the well-known problems associated with some of Mr Willis’ properties. The council, he says, was either blind or neglectful.

The options included adopting provisions in the Housing Act 2004, which give local authorities the power to use selective licensing to tackle anti-social behaviour, or introducing special interim management orders, which allow local authorities to take over the management of houses in multiple occupation.

The council’s private sector housing enforcement policy, which sets out its approach to complying with its statutory duties to ensure private sector residents live in good quality, safe accommodation, says the council will adopt ‘a positive prevention, intervention and enforcement approach’ to protect people from harm.

Three John Willis properties closed since murder

In the wake of the murder on March 5, the police and council moved swiftly to get a court order to close 38 Mayfield Grove for three months from March 22, which meant tenants had to find alternative accommodation.

On June 28, magistrates granted the police and council partial closure orders against two other properties let as bedsits by Mr Willis, at 19 and 31 Avenue Grove, Starbeck, due to crime concerns.

The police and council have also organised a residents’ summit and a community engagement drop-in session to discuss 38 Mayfield Grove and to reassure people that ‘the Harrogate district remains a safe place to live and any anti-social behaviour is taken very seriously’.

But residents say the recent flurry of activity contrasts sharply with years of inertia that allowed crime to scar the neighbourhood and blight residents’ lives. They also want to see action to prevent a repeat.

Mr Neill, who like many people in the area was concerned about the safety of his family, said:

“These problems have been going on for years.

“I don’t want individuals fired. I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen again, but I don’t get the impression the council is facing up to it.”

Mayfield Grove is close to Harrogate town centre.

Residents scared

Mr Neill says local police officers “have been nothing but helpful and straightforward” and share residents’ frustrations about the lack of council action.

But he was critical of a police initiative asking 120 homes to log anti-social behaviour, which attracted just three replies. The log obliged people to leave their names and addresses, which many residents were scared to do because it came shortly after a woman who was dragged down the street by her hair was threatened after going to the police

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said she had struggled to sell her house because of the area’s reputation. Another said:

“The amount of hassle caused by people in that house over the years is unbelievable.

“It’s almost like there are no lessons being learned. The same things happen again and again. I’m sick to my back teeth about it because nothing ever gets done.”

“I’m passionate about helping disadvantaged people”

The Stray Ferret put these accusations to John Willis. He said he was passionate about helping disadvantaged people, unlike many other housing providers, and did everything he reasonably could to protect them.

“Other landlords cherry pick the best tenants and sadly that leaves a disadvantaged group. Homeless hostels are full. I try to help them.”

Mr Willis said he lets 10 properties in Harrogate and the average age of his tenants is 50.

He said he’d taken many tenants from the council and partner agencies, such as Harrogate Homeless Project on Bower Street, close to Mayfield Grove, during his 31 years as a landlord. Some tenants, he said, had been with him throughout that time.

Asked whether housing people with multiple problems under one roof was a recipe for trouble, he said:

“Some have drug and alcohol addictions but they are mostly engaging with healthcare providers. Sometimes I’ve had to evict tenants but I have always had to work within the framework of the law.

“Sometimes you have to find likeminded people to live together. It can be difficult with tenants with challenging behaviours, that’s why it’s so important to engage with external agencies. But it can accentuate problems when you have them largely living under one roof.”

John Willis

Mr Willis said he offered to pay for a support worker to help tenants in his 10 Harrogate properties.

“I advertised for it and had 22 applications. But the council said it wasn’t a direction they wanted to go in because there was sufficient help already.”

The council, he said, had told him it had “paused” recommending tenants to him.

He said the 255 police reports about Mayfield Grove could include numerous cases of incidents merely being logged. But he added:

“There have been incidents and they have been followed up. Most tenants did have some healthcare professional or support worker. They were all on the radar.

“But it’s not 24/7 support and there’s only so much you can do.”

Mr Willis said he occasionally moved tenants between properties if they didn’t settle.

“Some tenants want to move and this is discussed with external agencies.”

He said he was responsive to tenants’ needs and operated legally.

“I’m not an absent landlord. It’s just unfortunate that there has been this incident.”

He said he and police had met Mr Wolsey a month before his death to discuss ways of helping him.

“He was a jovial character and I was very sad about what happened but at the end of the day there’s only so much a landlord can do.”

Forensic officers at the scene after the murder.

Police and council joint statement

The Stray Ferret asked Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire Police a series of specific questions about why they hadn’t done more to address concerns at 38 Mayfield Grove and their relationship with Mr Willis. It also asked what actions were being taken to prevent further problems.

The two organisations issued a joint statement after the murder verdict. It said:

“Anti-social behaviour can blight the lives of residents and shatter local communities and we are absolutely committed to taking a multi-agency partnership approach to deal with any issues in Harrogate in both the short and long term via a range of strategies.

“In relation to 38 Mayfield Grove, extensive work has been undertaken over the years to ensure that a robust plan is in place to respond to concerns about crime, drug use and anti-social behaviour at the property and improve the quality of life for those living in the area.

“This has included undertaking a full options appraisal to consider the best use of available legislation and powers; progressing the use of a closure order at the property; and meeting with the landlord to specifically discuss the management of the property including the vetting and letting of perspective tenants. Further to this, a number of online meetings have taken place with community representatives; a community engagement event took place in June 2021 with representatives from both the police and council and residents have been sent several updates via letter.

“Since 2008, North Yorkshire Police has received 255 reports connected to the address – an average of around 20 reports a year – which has enabled authorities to respond and deal with issues quickly and effectively. The local community are our eyes and ears, and we would urge neighbours and residents to continue reporting matters and intelligence to us and we will continue to take the necessary action. If people commit criminal acts then they will be held to account for their actions.”

Northern Gas Networks has yet to reveal what caused the leak that left 3,000 Harrogate homes without gas last weekend.

Gas could be smelled for miles around following the incident at the Ripon Road roadworks near the Hydro leisure centre. Thousands of electric fan heaters, electric hobs and food vouchers were distributed to residents in the Jennyfields area.

An emergency hub opened at the Styan Community Centre to help those affected.

One week on, the cause remains unknown and the roadworks, which were initially due to last for four weeks from September 6, are still ongoing.

John Richardson, director of customer operations at Northern Gas Networks, said a “full investigation” would take place after a new pipe was laid.

He said:

“Our engineers are continuing to closely monitor the gas network in the Jennyfields area of Harrogate while we complete our essential work.

“We’re aware that some people were experiencing low gas pressure yesterday, which occurred while we worked to permanently repair the gas pipe. Our engineers responded promptly and normal pressures were restored the same day.

“We worked around the clock, laying a further over-land bypass pipe to increase the gas available to the local network and also increased gas pressure in the area to ensure that supplies were maintained while our engineers worked.

Read more:

• Gas leak: Harrogate told to reduce heating and showers again
• Harrogate man Daniel Ainsley found guilty of murder

“Once a new pipe has been commissioned this weekend, we will be carrying out a full investigation into the cause of the gas escape, which occurred on Friday 15 October.

“Temporary two way traffic lights will remain in place at the junction with Grainbeck Lane and Otley Road for another week while we complete our essential work to modernise the gas network in Harrogate.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, said:

“We approved an extension to the roadworks on October 6 lasting until October 22. Northern Gas Networks has since requested an extension until October 28.”

A 24-year-old man has been found guilty of murder on Mayfield Grove in Harrogate.

Daniel Ainsley, of no fixed address, killed 48-year-old Mark Wolsey after stabbing him 15 times in the chest and arm with a kitchen knife on March 5.

Ainsley was living in Mr Wolsey’s bedsit at 38 Mayfield Grove after he became homeless.

He admitted manslaughter, but denied murdering Mr Wolsey on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to an “abnormality of mental functioning”.

However, a jury at Leeds Crown Court delivered a verdict of guilty verdict for the murder charge today.

Police were first called to 38 Mayfield Grove on the night of March 5 after Mr Wolsey made a 999 call asking officers to remove Ainsley from his flat because he was scaring him.

Ainsley had been living with Mr Wolsey since being made homeless.

He complained to the officers who arrived at the property that Mr Wolsey was keeping his medication from him, which led to an argument.

Read more:

• Harrogate murder accused ‘acted purposefully’, court told
• Daytime knifepoint robbery in Ripon left ‘little boy crying’
• Investigation: Murder at Harrogate’s House from Hell

Ainsley was taken to Harrogate District Hospital to pick up medication by police and instructed not to go back to the flat.

At 9.21pm, Ainsley left the hospital and was filmed on CCTV walking to Asda on Bower Road.

After entering the supermarket, he went to the kitchenware aisle where he purchased a box of knives. Ainsley used his own bank card to pay for the knives and went outside to dispose of all but one of them.

Ainsley then returned to Mayfield Grove where he stabbed Mr Wolsey to death, leaving the victim in his chair with the murder weapon still in his chest.

Mark Wolsey

Mr Wolsey was found by neighbours and certified dead at the scene at 10.22pm. His cause of death was stab wounds to the chest.

After leaving the bedsit, Ainsley made a phone call to police admitting to the killing and asking for officers to come and arrest him. He also called his mother and father to tell them he “loved them” and that they would not “see him for a while”.

‘A clear case of revenge’

The prosecution during the trial described the murder as “premeditated”, “goal-directed” and “purposeful”.

Mark McKode QC, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court:

“There can be no doubt that the defendant intended to kill Mark.

“The defendant knew exactly what he was doing and did it in a calm and calculated way.”

Ainsley has a personality disorder, which his defence claimed “impaired his ability to form a rational judgement” and resulted in diminished responsibility.

The court was told that Ainsley had a “traumatic upbringing”, which contributed to his personality disorder.

He was also suffering from alcohol dependancy. There was evidence that Ainsley was intoxicated on the night of the murder.

Both parties in the case agreed that Ainsley was suffering from an “abnormality of mental functioning”, which was his personality disorder.

However, Mark McKone, prosecuting, said Ainsley “knew what he was doing was wrong” and pointed to his 999 phone call after the killing and as evidence.

He said:

“This was a clear case of revenge.”

Ainsley is due to be sentenced on November 24.

North Yorkshire County Council has officially extended the closure of Beech Grove by 18 months in a bid to encourage cycling and walking.

The experimental closure has been in place since February. The council said at the time it would end in August 2021 but it will now stay until August 2022.

Ahead of August 2022 the council will take a formal decision on how to move forward with Beech Grove.

The closure of Beech Grove has been controversial. Some see it as the way forward but others believe it just shifts traffic onto other roads.

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

“Taking into account the consultation responses, traffic survey data, ongoing site observations and other active travel measures in Harrogate, we have decided to maintain the modal filters until summer 2022.

“A reduction in traffic levels on Beech Grove has resulted in a reduction in the speed of vehicles and an increase in cyclists.

“The various lockdowns have had an impact on traffic levels.

“So an extension means we can collect further data before a decision is made on whether to make the measures permanent or set aside the scheme.”

Read more:

• Victoria Road one-way scheme will stop ‘rat run’, says cycle group
• Transport leader expects Harrogate’s Beech Grove closure to become permanent

Cllr Mackenzie believes that when other projects on Otley Road, Station Parade and Victoria Avenue are all complete there will be a further increase in cycling in Harrogate.

Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper also said:

“We appreciate that some local residents remain sceptical about these new sustainable transport measures. But extending the trial is important to be able to make an informed decision.

“We cannot pretend that traffic congestion, poor air quality, a diminishing environment and climate change can be solved without radical changes.”

A resident has defended a new build housing estate on Harlow Hill following claims that it was built with poor energy efficiency.

Dan Waters lives in a house on Taylor Wimpey‘s Harlow Green development with his wife and daughter. He told the Stray Ferret that around 100 homeowners were unhappy with how the development was portrayed on Channel 4 News and in our subsequent article, and that they could damage the value of properties.

An energy-efficiency consultant claimed on Channel 4 that one of the homes was badly insulated, cold and a potential fire risk.

The daughter of an 82-year-old woman who bought the home claimed she was so cold due to draughts that she was forced to wrap up in warm clothes.

Mr Waters said that when he moved into his home in 2019 there was a draught, but this was quickly rectified by Taylor Wimpey, which tightened the windows. He said the report “doesn’t stack up” with his experience of living there.

He said:

“Heating bills are low. It’s so warm now it’s untrue.”

Mr Waters is concerned the negative publicity surrounding the report could affect house prices for residents in the future.

“It’s an exclusive site, we spent years worth of money to be here. They are our dream houses.

“In that instance [on Channel 4 News] it was draughty and she was elderly, it wasn’t ideal but it was very much an isolated incident.

“But Taylor Wimpey do jump on things quickly. If there’s a problem, they fix it.”

Read more:

• Taylor Wimpey responds to TV report of “nightmare” Harrogate new build
• Boroughbridge family wait 10 months for developer to replace tree

Mr Waters was disappointed by social media comments on the Stray Ferret article and said new builds had an unfair reputation for poor quality.

“Blanket statements were attached to the article, such as ‘new builds are all shoddily built’ or ‘they are drafty and will fall to bits in 10 years’.

“It’s farcical. Every house was once a new build.

“With new builds you are always going to get the odd niggle. They haven’t had 100 years of settling down.

“These were stone-built to a high level, and the price tag reflects that.”

Taylor Wimpey told the Stray Ferret it was working with the homeowner featured in the Channel 4 News report for a “fair outcome”.

A spokesperson said:

“At Taylor Wimpey we take sustainability incredibly seriously with a clear environmental strategy including ambitious science-based targets covering our business activity and the efficiency of the homes we build.

“We design our homes to be energy efficient and to accord with the energy requirements as set out in the building regulations. These afford a necessary level of air movement within the home and its structure for the purpose of adequate ventilation and air quality whilst ensuring they remain as energy efficient as possible.

“A permeability test was undertaken on the property by an independent consultant, the results of which demonstrated the home is outperforming the intended design criteria.” “We are committed to delivering high-quality homes and providing excellent service to our customers.

“We acknowledge that sometimes we get this wrong and recognise that in this instance, aspects of the customer’s experience did not meet the high standards we expect. We are guided by the principle of doing the right thing and continue to engage with the customer to gain access to the property to investigate certain outstanding queries in order to reach a fair outcome.”

The rollout of covid jabs to 12 to 15-year-old pupils in Harrogate schools has been delayed, amid fears they now won’t happen until February.

The government initially said all children in that age group would be offered jabs by half-term, which starts this weekend.

Harrogate’s Ashville College issued a statement today saying vaccinations were due to be supplied and administered by the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust childhood immunisations team on school premises.

The independent day and boarding school added:

“Ashville College can confirm there is unfortunately a delay to the roll-out of the 12 to 15-year-old covid vaccinations.

“The college has notified parents of this and will re-organise vaccinations on-site as soon as supplies allow. In the meantime, we have advised parents of pupils aged 12 to 15 to arrange their own vaccination at a drop-in clinic via the NHS website page, ‘Book or manage your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination’.”

The college, which was unable to give an estimated start date, blamed the situation on vaccine shortages.

Read more:

• Harrogate hospital reveals winter plans
• Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine centre to reopen

But a spokesperson for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said this was incorrect. They added:

“Whilst our covid vaccination programme for children aged between 12 and 15 is operating across North Yorkshire and areas in the North East, current staffing capacity has impacted on how soon we can visit some schools.

“We are continuing to develop our timetables and have given all schools a provisional date as to when we will be visiting and will notify them at least one week before our planned visit. Consent packs will be sent to families one week prior to the session. If the opportunity arises, we will look at bringing forward these dates so that we can undertake vaccinations sooner.

“We welcome the recent announcement that parents will now be able to check the NHS National Booking System to see if they can book a covid vaccination for their child at a convenient location, such as a vaccination centre.

“The booking service provides an additional choice alongside the school immunisation programme so that children can be vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

Two parents, who asked not to be named, have contacted the Stray Ferret today saying they have been told by their children’s schools that vaccines won’t be given now until February.

One parent said the Harrogate district’s vaccination programme was lagging five months behind other parts of the country.

“Why are we so far behind given that Harrogate is a hotspot for covid cases at the moment? How many young people will unnecessarily develop long covid as a result of these delays?

The district’s covid rate was 727 per 100,000 people yesterday — the highest in the county.

Queues formed on James Street this morning for the opening of the new, relocated Hotel Chocolat store.  Around 30 people waited for the store to open at 10am with staff serving hot chocolate to them whilst they waited.

The new store is almost opposite the old one but is larger with a cafe that can seat 30 people at the back of the shop. The chocolate chain has seen rapid growth in recent years and the new store will have up to 15 staff in the run up to Christmas — double the number of the previous store.

The co-founder of Hotel Chocolat, Peter Harris, said there was demand in Harrogate for the store to expand:

” Harrogate is a beautiful location and town. The community here like to support local businesses. We’ve been here since 2009, people have loved it and wanted the full Hotel Chocolat experience of drinks and ices as well as a larger store.

“We’re also delighted that we can provide flat access for wheelchairs and buggies which is an improvement on the previous location, which had a step in it and was very narrow.”

Read More:

• £10.9m Harrogate Station Gateway will ‘boost business’
• New Harrogate cocktail bar to open next month

The new store is a boost for James Street which has seen mixed fortunes in recent years with loss of key brands such as Next and Laura Ashley.

Local businesses have expressed concern that plans to pedestrianise the top of the street as part of the Station Gateway proposal will be damaging for trade.  Harrogate Borough Council has argued that the plans will mean  “short-term disruption for long-term gain”.

James Ogden, a new recruit to Hotel Chocolat, said he was excited to be involved in a store opening:

“I’m super excited to be working in my local area – I love coming into work every day and making people happy with chocolate!”

James Ogden at the cafe bar in the new store.