A large tree has fallen in Harrogate and partly blocked a busy road, causing problems for traffic this afternoon.
The tree fell at around 2pm on Forest Lane near Hookstone Chase Primary School.
Nobody is believed to have been hurt even though the road attracts heavy traffic.
Our traffic system is showing congestion on nearby Wetherby Road and Hookstone Chase as a result.
It is unclear at this time how long it will take to clear the blockage or whether anybody was injured in the incident.
The Stray Ferret has asked North Yorkshire Police for further details but has yet to receive a reply.
Lesley Thompson told the Stray Ferret:
“I was just travelling down the road when I saw the road was blocked. It looks like a massive bough has fallen off of the tree.
“When I saw it I went to make sure that nobody was hurt and I could not see anyone or any cars in there.”
Homeless people blocked off from Harrogate Debenhams
The owner of the former Debenhams building in Harrogate has blocked off the entrance after business owners raised concerns about homeless people in the area.
In recent days workers have built and painted a wooden structure to block off any shelter at the building on Parliament Street.
It comes a couple of weeks after Lucy Gardiner, a local business owner, posted pictures of homeless people in the entrance on the Harrogate Residents Association Facebook group.
Homeless people took shelter in the entrance. Photo: Lucy Gardiner
She told the Stray Ferret at the time:
“There is no shame in having standards and wanting the best for the town you love. This post was about awareness and having the conversation and wanting the best vision and future for Harrogate.
“I don’t have all the answers obviously but all I will say is that no-one can possibly walk past a homeless person sleeping in the street and think that this is okay.”
The Stray Ferret approached Harrogate Homeless Project for comment at the time but did not receive a reply.
Wetherby-based property firm Stirling Prescient, which owns the former Debenhams building, confirmed today it had “dealt with the issue” when approached by the Stray Ferret but declined to comment further.
Stirling Prescient has recently unveiled it plans to demolish the site, which closed in January, and replace it with a brand new building with apartments and space for businesses on the ground floor.
The application warned that if the site cannot be brought back into use the empty building could become an “eyesore” and “blight the high street”.
Harrogate Leeds fans raise £2,000 for Alzheimer’s Research with Stan Bowles calendarLeeds fans in Harrogate have raised more than £2,000 for charity after a chance purchase of a calendar of 1970s footballer Stan Bowles.
Dave Rowson, who is a member of the Harrogate and district branch of Leeds United Supporters Group, held a three-day fundraiser last weekend to raise funds for Alzheimers Research UK.
A charity gig at the Manhattan Snooker Club, a “picture with Stan” day outside the Old Peacock pub at Elland Road and Stan Bowles pairs at the Black Swan Bowling Club in Harrogate helped to raise £2,721 for the cause.
A picture with Stan has become a running theme throughout the fundraising initiative and has seen Leeds favourite, Jermaine Beckford, and Angus Kinnear, managing director of the club, posing for a snap with the calendar.
All of this was a result of Dave making a chance purchase of the calendar of the QPR striker on a trip to Loftus Road in 2020.
Stood outside the Old Peacock on Saturday, some Leeds supporters would have been forgiven for asking why they were being asked for a picture with a QPR player.
Dave said:
“If I had a pound for every time I answered: ‘What’s the Stan Bowles connection?’”
During Leeds’ trip to QPR last year before covid, a charity worker thrust the calendar into Dave’s chest as he was walking past to collect his match ticket.
Initially Dave accepted the gift and went to walk on, until he was told it cost £2.
Instead of handing the calendar back, he decided to use it as a means of getting into some of the home fans-only pubs before the game by posing as a QPR fan.
Later, he offered to give the calendar as a gift to a fellow supporter, Sarah, for her birthday.
Dave said:
“She said: ‘‘What am I going to do with that? I am on the train and only got a small handbag, you two look after it for me!’. How ungrateful after all the trouble I had gone to.”
Left with the calendar, Dave decided to take random pictures of Stan with punters in bars on trips out across the country and in Harrogate.
The move snowballed on social media and, as a result, Dave decided to put the calendar and the “picture with Stan” theme to better use.
Bowles, who played for QPR for seven years and was voted the club’s greatest ever player in a 2004 fans poll, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2015.
He’s among a generation of iconic players, such as Jeff Astle, Nobby Stiles and Jack Charlton, who have been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s after their playing career.
Recent studies have linked the risk of dementia in former professional footballers with persistent heading of the ball.
In the past week, former Liverpool player Terry McDermott and Manchester United favourite, Denis Law, became the latest retired players to be diagnosed with dementia.
The news that professional footballers are at further risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia as a result of heading the ball has since caused further study and debate over the risk to players.
Dave and the Harrogate branch of Leeds supporters are continuing their fundraising. You can donate on their JustGiving page here.
Are Harrogate’s high housing costs to blame for the hospitality recruitment crisis?A recruitment crisis at Betty’s forced the famous cafe to close its doors early last week — and other Harrogate hotels, pubs, and restaurants have spoken of difficulties in employing people.
But could Harrogate’s notoriously high rental and property costs be to blame?
The average rental property in Harrogate for a one-bedroom flat is £656 a month. For an adult earning full-time minimum wage at a local bar, this would make up more than half their monthly pay packet — and that’s before council tax, bills and other expenses.
The Stray Ferret spoke to two people who work in housing in Harrogate to ask if the two are linked.
Sarah Hart helped create Harrogate Community Land Trust four years ago after becoming demoralised with the cost of housing in the town.
She thinks high living costs have made Harrogate an unviable option for people earning hospitality wages. She predicts more venues will be forced to reduce their opening hours due to staff shortages.
“House prices and rents have been pushed up even further whilst wages haven’t. It’s a crucial link and we’re at a critical point. It’s not a housing crisis, it’s becoming an armageddon situation.”
Ms Hart says that with both petrol prices and housing costs increasing, hospitality workers who could commute to Harrogate from Bradford and Leeds will decide to find jobs closer to home.
She believes an intervention in the housing market such as rent caps is needed so hospitality workers can afford to rent in the town.
Rent caps have been used in Germany and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also believes it could help solve the housing inequalities in the capital.
Ms Hart added:
“Housing in Harrogate benefits the few and not the many.
“If people had lower rent they’d have a higher disposable income.
“I met someone from Harrogate paying 60% in housing costs. There’s nothing left at the end of the day. No money for summer holidays or for her kids to do to stuff. If she had a lower rent she’d have money to spend in the local economy. It’s as basic as it gets.”
Harrogate-based property consultant Alex Goldstein believes that job shortages in hospitality are primarily due to covid and not high property or rental prices.
Mr Goldstein said property prices and rents have increased in Harrogate whilst wages have stagnated but he believes it’s wrong to suggest that Harrogate’s economy is overly dependent on low-paid hospitality workers. He thinks that increasing housing costs are good for the town as it brings in investment.
He said:
“Some people feel they’ve been left out in the cold. You’ve got to earn your keep. If you can’t afford to live in Harrogate you should move elsewhere.
“You work up the ladder and Harrogate opens up for you. You’ve got to bide your time. If you can’t afford something, you can’t afford it. A lot of society wants it here and the world doesn’t work like that.”
On the subject of rent caps, Mr Goldstein said the “draconian” measure would unfairly hurt investors who purchase buy-to-let properties in Harrogate which he believes gives the local economy a boost. He said: “We can’t make sweeping changes to the market”.
He added:
“Harrogate has always been an expensive part of the world and it’s increased hugely.
“But there will always be winners and losers.
“I would like to live in Mayfair with a Lamborghini, but I can’t afford it.”
Owners of Harrogate hospitality venues have complained for years that it’s not easy to fill roles pulling pints or waiting tables in the town.
Whether this is because of low wages, Brexit, undesirable working conditions, too many bars and restaurants, or high living costs, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason.
But in Harrogate, there is a feeling the issue of attracting and keeping good hospitality staff won’t be solved anytime soon.
Are you looking for a job or have a job vacancy you need to promote to as many people as possible? Take a look at the Stray Ferret jobs page to see the latest jobs or to submit a new one. Every job is placed on our homepage and posted on our social media channels.
Tomorrow we’ll be looking at the acute shortage of chefs and the impact of Brexit on the recruitment crisis.
Police are appealing for information after a motorbike was stolen in Harrogate and the attempted theft of another one.
The first was taken from an address on St Georges Road at around 2:30am before being abandoned.
North Yorkshire Police is looking for information on four men who are believed to have attended an address on South Park Road, Harrogate at 3:20am where a rare, Aprilia RS250 Mk2 was stolen.
The force said the motorbike has a distinctive bubbling to the surface of the fuel tank which should distinguish it from similar bikes.
A police statement added:
Harrogate council to offer £800,000 for three empty homes“Officers are appealing to anyone in the area including residents with CCTV or doorbell video, and passing motorists with dashcam footage. to check their devices in case the suspects have been captured on camera.
“In particular, they are appealing to anyone who saw four males acting suspiciously at this time.
Anyone with information or footage that could assist the investigation should contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for PC Dean Barrett, collar number 1573.
“You can also email dean.Barrett@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk
“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12210185790.”
Harrogate Borough Council is set to offer £811,000 for three empty homes in the district.
The homes, which are on Greenfields Drive and Electic Avenue in Harrogate, and Beech Lane in Spofforth, would not be used for social housing but instead would be sold on by HBC on the open market should the offers be accepted by the owners.
Any profits made would go back into buying more empty homes so they can be brought back into use.
There are currently 811 properties across the district that have been empty for six months or longer. Of these, 215 have been empty and unfurnished for over two years. 31 have been empty for over ten years.
The report says:
“Empty homes represent a wasted housing resource; they also pose other problems for local authorities, owners, neighbours, emergency services and the environment. They are often a blemish on an area and can be subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour.”
A report will go before HBC’s cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Conservative Cllr Mike Chambers, next week that asks him to rubber stamp the move.
If the council’s offers on the three homes are not accepted the report says HBC will consider enforcement action, such as compulsory purchase.
Live: Harrogate district traffic and travelGood morning. It’s Leah with you on this Monday morning, it’s is nearly the weekend! The roads have been a little quieter in the last few weeks but make sure to let me know if anything slows you down.
This blog, brought to you by the HACS Group, brings you live travel updates until 9am.
Were you stuck in a jam? Are there some new roadworks on your route? Let’s help everyone have a smoother journey by letting me know so I can add it to the blog.
Please give me a call on 01423 276197 or join our Facebook group ‘Harrogate district traffic and travel’ to give any updates.
That is it from me this morning, Suzannah will be back with you tomorrow morning with regular updates from 6.30. Have a lovely day.
Roads
The roads are looking busier this morning. Make sure to keep checking in as the morning goes on.
Traffic is building here:
Temporary traffic lights are in place here:
Trains
Buses
Roads
The roads are looking busier this morning. Make sure to keep checking in as the morning goes on.
Traffic is building here:
Temporary traffic lights are in place here:
Trains
Buses
Roads
The roads are looking busier this morning. Make sure to keep checking in as the morning goes on.
Traffic is building here:
Temporary traffic lights are in place here:
Trains
Buses
Roads
The roads are looking quiet so far this morning. Make sure to keep checking in as the morning goes on.
Temporary traffic lights are in place here:
Trains
Buses
Roads
The roads are looking quiet so far this morning. Make sure to keep checking in as the morning goes on.
Temporary traffic lights are in place here:
Trains
Buses
Roads
The roads are looking quiet so far this morning. Make sure to keep checking in as the morning goes on.
Temporary traffic lights are in place here:
Trains
Buses
Original Harrogate Christmas Market will not return next year
The original Harrogate Christmas Market will not return next year after Harrogate Borough Council entered into formal talks with an organiser from Manchester.
Brian Dunsby, who established the Christmas market in 2012 and built it up to a success, has admitted defeat in his battle to hold the event on Montpellier Hill.
Harrogate Borough Council refused the licence at the end of July and has now revealed that Market Place Europe is now planning to hold a smaller event in December.
After three weeks of wrangling with the council Brian Dunsby told the Stray Ferret:
“It is a shame for traders we have and for the sake of the town centre businesses which all need the Harrogate Christmas Market.
“Some of the traders may go bust. I think that very few will get into the event being organised by Market Place Europe.
“We created a marvellous event, it was a great success. It is also a distressing situation for the local charities we raise money for.
“Over the years we donated £90,000 from the profits we made.”
Mr Dunsby does not plan to hold the Harrogate Christmas Market this year of next but thinks there may be an opportunity for it to return in 2023. He added:
“By 2023 North Yorkshire County Council will be in charge. So whether we have another go then, I don’t know. It’s too early to say.
“I will not try next year because I do not think there is any point when Harrogate Borough Council is still in charge.”
The orginial Harrogate Christmas Market had around 170 traders booked in, 55 coaches and it expected to attract around 90,000 visitors for the four-day event.
Harrogate Borough Council refused a licence for Brian Dunsby’s event at the end of July.
It said that the event management plan did not fully take into account overcrowding, counter-terrorism and the ongoing risk of coronavirus.
However, Market Place Europe is planning to host 45 stalls with a mixture of European and local traders over 10 days at a yet undisclosed location in the town centre.
Green Shoots: Why Harrogate should be at the vanguard of tackling climate changeDid you know that Harrogate played a key role in the major IPCC “code red for humanity” climate change report that was published last week? The document was discussed around the globe and warned of climate catastrophe unless we act now.
Renowned climate scientist Piers Forster has lived in Harrogate since 2005 and was one of the main authors of the report. He’s a director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate and Professor of Physical Climate Change at the University of Leeds.
The report was a global effort and each line had to be painstakingly signed off by all 195 countries that are part of the IPCC.
Much of this was done by Prof Forster from his kitchen in Harrogate.
He said:
“That bit was quite tiring. There were 3am calls to talk to places like China and Brazil. It was bizarre.”
As we go about our everyday lives in the Harrogate district it might feel like we are insulated from the most frightening consequences of climate change like wildfires in Australia or landslides in China.
But Prof Forster warns that extreme weather events, such as the January floods in Boroughbridge, will become much more common unless we take immediate action.
Flooding in Boroughbridge. January 2021.
He said:
“This country gets off gets off quite lightly from the effects of climate change but we are absolutely beginning to see changes. We’re warmed by the gulf stream here a lot, but it might collapse. That will have a very big effect on our weather.”
Harrogate is one of the most affluent towns in the UK and Harrogatonians have a stereotype for enjoying an expensive way of life.
So is our consumption-based capitalist lifestyle part of the problem?
A web tool created by researchers at the University of Leeds suggests it is.
It looks at things like transport use, energy consumption and flights taken and estimates the average carbon footprint of a person living in a particular postcode, grading it from A+ to F-.
Harrogate fares badly with Duchy getting the lowest score of F-, meaning its residents are in the 1% of people across the UK with the biggest carbon footprint.
Credit – the University of Leeds
Prof Forster says:
“On a lot of categories we do a lot worse in our town, particularly in the Duchy. It’s very nice of course, but we’re one of the worst in the country for getting on aeroplanes.
“We also drive a car that’s too big, have a home that’s too big and we heat by gas. It’s up to us to begin to make the changes”.
Prof Forster describes both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council‘s green credentials as “certainly not terrible” but thinks they are hamstrung by a planning system that does not work in the best interests of the environment.
He points to the paradox of NYCC and HBC promoting active travel schemes in the town centre, whilst vast housing developments are approved on the outskirts of town where residents have no choice but to use a car.
He said:
“They absolutely do want to get to net zero. We all have to get there, but I do think the biggest issue is they dont have authority, investment or power to really make the big changes they want to make.
“The biggest issue is with planning. The way the system works and you do not necessarily get the best outcome for the environment.”
One planning application that captured the imagination of the town was Harrogate Spring Water’s controversial advance on Rotary Wood to expand its bottling plant.
In the days leading up the planning committee, Prof Forster intervened to produce his own research paper that said the water company vastly underestimated the number of replacement trees needed to achieve carbon parity with the current woodland.
He believes the refusal was the kind of local victory that needs to be replicated across the country if we are to turn a corner on climate change.
“If you don’t like something, it’s your opportunity to get involved like i did with the spring water application. It was an impressive decision by the council’s planning committee because they went against the norms. There needs to be more and the council needs to be empowered to make these decisions”.
A key message of the report is catastrophe can be averted if the world acts fast. Prof Forster hopes discussions around the climate in Harrogate can be less divisive, as seen with the Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood debate.
He said:
Harrogate MP welcomes new Christmas market as local traders move on“It’s sad as often the first reaction is eurgh!
“We need to learn by doing. We can’t just have endless consultation and reports. We have to try and get on and make changes.
“This big international report has to be translated into changes we want to see in our community.
“We have to try and get on and make changes that works to improve our town, job prospects whilst saving the world.”
Andrew Jones MP has welcomed the proposal of a new Christmas market but some disappointed local traders have already moved on.
Market Place Europe has entered into formal talks with Harrogate Borough Council about holding its own version of a Christmas market.
Talks are in the early stages but the plan is to hold a 45 stall event from December 3 to 12. There is no word yet on where it will be held but it will be in the town centre.
There will be a mixture of European stall holders as well as some local traders.
However, it’s unclear just how many of the 170 booked in with the former organisers will be able to get involved with the new organisers.
Bridget Bailey, founder of Bags and Glad Rags, told the Stray Ferret:
“I have been a trader at the Harrogate Christmas Market since it started so I find it very sad that such a successful event has been destroyed.
“We have been messed about so could not wait for this to be sorted. So I am already committed to other things around that time.”
Howard Heaton, managing director of Westmorland Sheepskins, also said:
“This has been quite frustrating to watch. Harrogate is a destination so we need to build on that.
“But from what I have seen of the new Christmas market I am not sure if it will draw in the same crowds, it’s a much smaller event.”
Steven Green, co-founder of Harrogate Tipple, added:
“I think it’s laughable really to have 45 stalls. With European traders as well I cannot see how the locals will get much of a look in.
“Harrogate Tipple always did well at the Christmas market in Harrogate but we are now going to York instead.”
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has released a statement for the first time about Harrogate Christmas Market since the council refused a licence for Montpellier Hill.
Mr Jones welcomed the news:
“I have read that the usual organisers have announced that they are not going to be seeking approval for a new event plan on Montpellier Hill which addresses the issues raised.
“Retailers contacting me simply want to make sure there is a safe and quality Christmas market in Harrogate. They are not too interested in the wrangling over the exact location.
“That is why, putting the past in the past, I am pleased that a commitment remains from the council to pick up the problem and sort it by speaking to other Christmas market organisers.
“Time though is marching on. I am pleased that contingencies are in place and moving forward at pace.”