Plans for 20 apartments at Harrogate office block

Plans have been submitted to convert the office block Mowbray House near Asda into 20 apartments.

The four-story building on Mowbray Square dates from 1995 and would be converted into a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

Local property developer Jeevani Properties Ltd is behind the plans which have been submitted under permitted development rules. This fast tracks the planning process for office to residential conversions.

In March 2020, former owner of the building P M Whitaker Pension Trust was granted planning permission to turn the offices to into 12 apartments, but then put the building up for sale for £1.25m.

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In the latest plans, each of the top three floors would contain four 1-bedroom apartments and two 2-bedroom apartments with the top floor also having a studio apartment.

The ground floor will be opened up for 17 car parking spaces for use by the residents.

The building was home to cashmere clothing company Pure Collection which went into administration in February 2020, closing eight of its stores across the UK.

Harrogate restaurants fully booked for final week of government scheme

As the eat out to help out scheme enters its fourth week, restaurants in Harrogate have said its been “massively helpful”.

The scheme has ran throughout August offering diners an incentive to support local restaurants Monday to Wednesday.

Several of the local restaurants have reported huge increases in bookings, many getting booked up quickly. The scheme is also said to have  this has encouraged new visitors who may otherwise have never come out.

Lydia Hewitt-Craft, supervisor at So! Bar and eats Harrogate, said:

“We’ve been really busy, before the eat out to help out it wasn’t too busy during the week but now we are fully booked Monday to Wednesday. It’s the new weekend. The restaurants in Knaresborough and Ripon are just as busy and fully booked too. It’s been massively helpful and it’s a relief because it was hard at the start when everyone was worried about coming out but this has been great for us.”

Nertil Xhallo, manager at Sarando on Station Bridge, said:

“It has been really busy, we’ve had a lot of bookings. Most people have returned which is good. The offer has been helpful for the business. We’ve had a really busy week, we are always busy at the weekend but now it is at the beginning of the week too. We’re very grateful.”

Caffe Marconi Harrogate

Restaurants and cafes throughout the district have taken part in the initiative to boost trade after lockdown.

The scheme will continue this week and into next week’s bank holiday morning.

The hope is that customers will continue to support these restaurants after the offer is removed.

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Sara Ferguson, acting chair of Harrogate BID and owner of two Harrogate restaurants, said:

“I think it’s been a massive help, everyone I have spoken to says it’s been worth doing. I think with the uncertainty going forward its given all those places a boost, it also gives diners the chance to try new restaurants. Everyone wants to participate which is great and knowing we won’t be out of pocket has been great for us.

“It means for retail as well more people have come into the town centre and during the day who may not have done otherwise. They may have saved money on lunch so go and spend it elsewhere in the town.”

Harrogate artist hopes for gallery showcase as lockdown eases

A Harrogate artist is hoping for further recognition for his work as galleries begin to reopen following lockdown.

Andrew Moodie was a lawyer for 30 years before he changed career paths to pursue his love for art.

During lockdown, he has enjoyed the additional free time to explore the local countryside and paint. He now hopes to build on his skills and find a gallery to work alongside.

Mr Moodie said:

“I was a lawyer for 30 years but never felt like the right thing to be doing. It paid the bills but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I can now just head out into the sun instead of staring at it out of a window. I go out quite a lot to find somewhere to paint but it’s not as easy it sounds. You need local knowledge to find the best places.”

Art by Andrew Moodie

Andrew is often taking his easel around the district to paint.

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Over lockdown, Andrew has been able to take part in online classes to improve his skills within different art forms. Now, he is hoping to take the next step in his new career. He said:

“I hope to get more recognition and improve my skills. You need that recognition to get a spot in a gallery but hopefully that will come with time. Being a lawyer, I had to be direct and precise but now I can just splash the paint on the canvas which is always fun.”

He also featured on the previous series of Sky Arts “Landscape Artist of the Year”. His work is currently sold through online platforms Artfinder, in the UK, and Singulart, based in Paris.

Residents ‘gobsmacked’ after Harcourt Drive incident

Residents said they were left “gobsmacked” after an incident on Harcourt Drive which left one man dead and another in hospital.

Police were called to a serious incident on the street at 7.15pm on Sunday evening. Multiple police cars attended and an air ambulance was called out.

Officers have since reassured residents in Harrogate that the incident was “tragic and isolated”.

Max Melville, who lives on Christ Church Oval behind the street where it happened, said he was left shocked and “gobsmacked”. He added the area is normally quiet.

Mr Melville said:

“I was having Sunday lunch when I heard someone screaming.

“It’s a really quiet area in town and there is nothing that goes on around there. They are all nice people there and never in a million years would I think that this would happen around here.”

Meanwhile, other residents at the scene were told by officers to move away from the scene and stay inside their homes.

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One local resident told the Stray Ferret:

“Nothing like this happens around here.

“We came outside and were asked by an officer to move along. Another lady came out but was asked to go back into her house.”

This morning, DI Steve Menzies, senior investigating officer at North Yorkshire Police, reassured residents that officers were not looking for anyone in connection with the incident.

He said:

“I want to reassure the residents of Harrogate that this is a tragic and isolated incident and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

“Our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to the family of the man who sadly lost his life.

“I would like to appeal again to anyone who witnessed, including recording, the incident or events leading up to it to get in touch by calling 101, quoting reference 12200147262.”

Police said investigations are ongoing and no arrests had been made.

Police reassurance over ‘tragic and isolated’ Harcourt Drive incident

North Yorkshire Police has reassured people in Harrogate that an incident on Harcourt Drive yesterday was isolated and officers are not looking for anyone in connection with it.

Police confirmed in a statement that one man was pronounced dead at the scene and another was being treated in hospital.

Multiple police cars and ambulances attended the incident at around 7.15pm on Sunday evening. An air ambulance was also called out to the incident.

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DI Steve Menzies, senior investigating officer at North Yorkshire Police, said this morning:

“I want to reassure the residents of Harrogate that this is a tragic and isolated incident and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

“Our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to the family of the man who sadly lost his life.

“I would like to appeal again to anyone who witnessed, including recording, the incident or events leading up to it to get in touch by calling 101, quoting reference 12200147262.”

North Yorkshire Police said investigations are ongoing into the incident. One local resident said people were asked to move away from the scene and return to their homes while officers dealt with the incident.

They said:

“Nothing like this happens around here.

“We came outside and were asked by an officer to move along. Another lady came out but was asked to go back into her house.”

Man dead after incident near Harrogate town centre

Police have confirmed that one man has died and another is being treated in hospital after a serious incident near Harrogate Town centre last night.

Police and the ambulance service attended the incident on Harcourt Drive near believed to be a double stabbing.

Multiple police cars and ambulances attended the incident at around 7.15pm on Sunday evening. An air ambulance was also called out to the incident.

A North Yorkshire Police statement said:

“Around 7.15pm this evening police attended an incident on Harcourt Drive, Harrogate.

“Two men had sustained injuries, one is currently being treated in hospital and the second man was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene.

Investigations are ongoing and North Yorkshire Police is asking anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident to call 101, quoting reference: 12200147262.”

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One local resident said people were asked to move along from the scene and return to their homes while officers dealt with the incident.

They said:

“Nothing like this happens around here.

“We came outside and were asked by an officer to move along. Another lady came out but was asked to go back into her house.”

Former Leeds star Danny Mills urges rethink on James Street pedestrianisation

Former England and Leeds United star turned businessman, Danny Mills, has called for an urgent rethink on a decision to temporarily pedestrianise James Street in Harrogate.

Mr Mills, who has lived in Harrogate for 20 years and owns four properties on the street, described the decision as “very damaging” and said businesses need all the help they can get.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Mr Mills said the decision would affect businesses which have already been through enough during the coronavirus pandemic.

It comes as the county council lent its support for a temporary pedestrianisation of the street, which could be in place as early as next month.

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The borough council, which put the request in for the closure, said the move was needed to help “safety and social distancing measures” and that it would benefit shoppers and businesses.

But Mr Mills, who owns buildings at Kuoni Travel and Ecco Footwear among others, said the decision would only make matters worse for shops and landlords.

He said:

“We have had to take a hit already and I feel we have done our bit and it’s bizarre that such a decision would be made without speaking to the businesses it affects.

“All the businesses are struggling to get footfall through the doors and I think the parking restrictions make it look a little bit unsightly at the moment.

“There are so many potential advertising opportunities because of the traffic is going through the street. It would be very, very damaging.”

James Street, which has already seen its pavements widened, has been earmarked for pedestrianisation.

James Street, which has already seen its pavements widened, has been earmarked for pedestrianisation.

As part of his opposition to the plan, the former England defender has written to both Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, and Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, urging them to reconsider the decision.

He said those who own property on the street want the best for the town and want to see Harrogate succeed.

“The last thing that the council needs is for shops to close. 

“People come to Betty’s and to see the Stray and if that means that shops are boarded up then that’s not good for the town.”

Mr Mills said he has had no contact from either council over the measure. But, he added that it was not too late for council bosses to change their minds and speak with those affected.

Mr Mills said:

“The most important thing is to open dialogue with business and talk with landlords. We all want want is best for Harrogate.

“The council has to have a rethink and a consultation process. We are not doing this to be spiteful, we are doing this for the town. I do not want a town where shops are closing.”

Nick Hubbert is the general manager at Hoopers.

Meanwhile, Nick Hubbert, general manager at department store Hoopers, has also written a strongly worded letter to borough council leader, Cllr Cooper, regarding pedestrianisation.

Mr Hubbert told the Stray Ferret that he does not believe that the temporary pedestrianisation of James Street will help businesses and said he based that on years of experience:

He added that he is not against pedestrianisation long term but he does not think that the middle of a pandemic is the right time to change things.

Strayside Sunday: Pay MPs more and ban outside interests

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

What are we to make of this weeks’ news that two Conservative MP’s and former cabinet ministers, Sajid Javid, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Ripon’s own Julian Smith, the former Norther Ireland Secretary, are both supplementing their income to the combined tune of almost a half a million pounds.  This from “interests” beyond the walls of the Palace of Westminster?  Mr. Javid is to work for the American bankers JP Morgan, for a reported salary of £400,000.  Mr. Smith is set to work for a company called Ryse Hydrogen Limited and, as the register of member’s interests states, will provide 20 hours advice annually for the princely sum of £60,000, a billable rate of a cool £3,000 per hour. How do you like those apples?

Before I go on I should point out that both Javid and Smith asked for, and received, advice on the propriety of their new positions from the government’s Advisory Committee on Business Interests.  Both sinecures were approved by the committee, led by former Conservative Cabinet Minister and professional Yorkshireman, Eric (now Baron) Pickles.  In short, Javid and Smith played by the parliamentary rule book and their commercial actions and activities have been given a clean bill of health.  Well that’s ok then.  But it isn’t really, is it?  Not now, not ever.

Let’s first look at the numbers.  The salary of a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament is £81,932.  None too shabby when one considers that the average full-time salary in the UK is £36,611.  We pay MPs more than twice the average wage to exercise their duties – and I contend they are duties – as public servants.  Given they ask for our vote and seek our trust at election, isn’t full-time working the least we can expect from them in return?  I think so and that it is fair to demand it.  I believe that MPs should not be allowed outside interests, however my view is that we don’t actually pay MPs enough to attract individuals of a calibre to deliver good government.

Most of our current crop of MPs seem like intellectual pygmies in comparison to the politicians we grew up with and that polls show we respected a great deal more than today’s lot.  Margaret Thatcher, Michael Heseltine and Ken Clarke for the blues; Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle, Dennis Healey for the reds; and Roy Jenkins, David Owen and Shirley Williams for the yellows.  Giants all.

Being an MP was an entirely different proposition then of course: Far greater power was vested in local government, meaning that the volume of business conducted in Westminster was much less than it is today, constituency mailboxes could be dealt with (in written hand) in one good sitting per week, and the demands of the media and social media were not 24/7.  Our politics was better because of it and our politicians were unambiguously superior.  But nostalgia for the good old days will not a significant improvement make.

 

What do we need to do to make things better?  Let’s say that we paid MPs a salary of £150,000 per annum and that outside interests are, in-turn, banned.  By way of comparison and perspective, the basic pay for an NHS consultant (a Doctor with 5 years of medical school training and then another 8 years of on the job experience) tops out at £107,688.  With bonuses known as Clinical Excellence Awards consultants pay nears the £150,000.  This places them just below the average UK Chief Executive, who makes £156,000 per year.  My argument, not original, is that increasing MPs pay will attract a much better quality of potential candidate and that politics can once again become one of the respected professions.  In my view there should also be a lower age limit on parliamentarians, say 30 years old, so that they have to bring several years-worth of real-world experience into their role as elected representatives.  I would create too an independent public HR body to vet potential parliamentary candidates of all parties for their suitability for the profession.

 

When one is recruited to any paid position of employment these days, expert interviews are held, salary benchmarking is conducted, reference checks are made, and personality tests are assessed – especially if the process is handled by a professional headhunting or recruitment agency.  Which brings me back to the Right Honourable Julian Smith.  Before he entered parliament Mr. Smith founded and ran a successful recruiting company.  I doubt very much that he achieved a billable rate of £3,000 an hour for any of the candidates he placed.

Again let’s place this in perspective; a leading London commercial “silk” (a barrister appointed Queen’s Counsel; “Her Majesty’s Counsel Learned in Law”), of which there are very few, following 20 years of practice and an ascent to the very pinnacle of their profession, might, just might, be able to bill their multi-national corporate clients up to £2,000 per hour.  I cannot, in any view, see how Mr. Smith can justify £3,000 an hour for the advice he is giving to a private company to his Ripon constituents (and, for that matter, to himself).  It would be good to hear from Mr. Smith precisely the kind of advice he is to provide for such riches. It looks just awful.

With behaviour like this the Conservative Party is in grave danger of appearing (again) to harness the worst excesses of “the market” to fill its boots, rather than focussing on the now immense twin tasks of rebuilding our nation’s shattered economy and delivering the much vaunted “levelling up” agenda.  This, by the way, at a time when competence and empathy seem in terribly short supply (think Robert Jenrick and his planning fiasco and; see also Gavin Williamson’s exam results debacle).  When I worked for the party our obsession was to lose the tag of being “the nasty party.”  If the current tone-deaf behaviour of its cabinet members continues it won’t be long before we regain that most unwelcome moniker.

And talking of tone deaf, what of the handling by Harrogate Borough Council of its plans to close James Street (the town’s main shopping thoroughfare) to traffic?  Sara Ferguson, the acting chair of Harrogate Business Improvement District, felt moved this week to call out the fact that the council appears to have decided unilaterally on the pedestrianisation of James Street.  The council had asked the BID to canvass opinion among local business about the plan and, in so doing, the BID found that two thirds of businesses on the street are against full pedestrianisation.  However, with more than a whiff of fait accompli it seems that the council had no intention of waiting to hear the views of local business leaders and had already put in a request to North Yorkshire County Council to close the street for “safety and social distancing measures” (a measure since backed by NYCC to come into effect as early as next month).  Through bull-headed incompetence Harrogate Borough Council, much like the United Kingdom government, is testing our patience and goodwill to the limit.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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Hoopers store warns: ‘Harrogate is not bulletproof anymore’

Hoopers has warned that the store is not sustainable in its current form and that Harrogate’s retail sector is “not bulletproof anymore”.

The department store’s general manager, Nick Hubbert, has spoken openly about its financial difficulties as a result of the coronavirus pandemic for the first time.

He said that the way they have to operate under social distancing rules means that it is not able to make enough sales.

Hoopers’ struggle in numbers

Mr Hubbert told the Stray Ferret that he has concerns about the furlough scheme coming to an end:

“We are preparing for the worst. How long can businesses survive when they are losing money. Hoopers has been in Harrogate for a long time but this has been by far the most difficult time. Some people think that Harrogate is bulletproof but it isn’t anymore. It’s not sustainable, we cannot afford to fully open and we cannot afford to trade the full week. That is not ideal.”

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Mr Hubbert has also weighed into the pedestrianisation debate on James Street with the general manager writing a strongly worded letter to Harrogate Borough Council.

James Street could be temporarily closed to traffic as early as next month after Harrogate Borough Council requested the measures.

Hoopers is based on James Steet which has been full with traffic cones for months.

Mr Hubbert does not believe that the temporary pedestrianisation of James Street will help businesses and said he is basing that on years of experience:

He added that he is not against pedestrianisation long term but he does not think that the middle of a pandemic is the right time to change things:

“Customers want to park up and jump into the shops. It’s easy for young families and it’s easier for older people. That’s what increases footfall. We just need to leave things as is and concentrate on the basics. When someone pulled the cones away it was half full in half an hour and people were getting straight into the shops.”

Harrogate homelessness figures show need for eviction ban extension, say Lib Dems

Harrogate’s Liberal Democrats have called for an extension to an eviction ban after official figures show 53 families in the district are deemed at risk of homelessness.

According to official figures, 89 households in Harrogate are assessed as being threatened with homelessness with another 78 assessed as homeless from January to March this year.

33 of households who were homeless or threatened with homelessness cited the end of a private rented tenancy as the reason for losing their last settled home.

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Meanwhile, three households in the district were also revealed to be rough sleeping between January and March.

Cllr Trevor Chapman, housing spokesperson for the local Liberal Democrats, said the government must extend the eviction ban to prevent homelessness.

He said:

“Families in Harrogate & Knaresborough must be protected from homelessness. Instead, it seems like the Conservatives are happy to leave people to fend for themselves at a time when jobs are at risk and people are struggling.

“People deserve better. These figures are yet further proof the Government must rethink its heartless decision to resume evictions from August 23.”

Following the end of the government’s “Everyone in” scheme, Harrogate Borough Council has sought to work with those in temporary accommodation to find a permanent place.

Part of the council’s plan is to get more people into Avondale Hostel, which it has just bought. It plans to renovate the building and make sure that it is only families living there.

Another key part is the council’s new hostel on Spa Lane. The construction works have been delayed and the expected completion date of October has been moved back to early next year.