Local father starts boxing classes for people with autism

A father to autistic children in the Harrogate district has started boxing lessons for people with the condition.

Dean Lund from Knaresborough has two young children who have been diagnosed with autism.  He decided he wanted to teach boxing to both children and adults with autism while studying Sport Coaching and Development at Harrogate College.

Mr Lund called his weekly classes ‘The Zone’ and feels that boxing is a great sport for autistic people to focus on as it helps develop fitness and confidence.

Autism is a disability that affects around 700,000 people in the UK.

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Mr Lund has a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) certified course in Autism, Sport and Physical Activity.

Dean said a qualification from the National Autistic Society was important:

“I needed to know the parameters of autism, how my own boys fall within that, and what to expect when it comes to teaching boxing outside of college.”

“I really want to expand the autism sessions. As its an area that isn’t provided enough, considering how many people have autism”

The Zone provides a safe spaces for people to take a break if their autism is triggered and also teaches boxing in lanes, allowing participants to have their own space.

Parents can come along to do the session with their autistic child.

For more information about ‘The Zone’ click here or email deano@fighting-fit-coaching.co.uk.

O2 apologises for network problems in Harrogate

Mobile network O2 has apologised to customers in Harrogate who have been experiencing network issues due to a faulty phone mast.

The company said in a statement today it had ordered a new part to fix the problem but it had been out of stock for a long time.

The Stray Ferret understands that customers of O2 have complained about problems with calls, texts and data for about four months.

However, there appears to be no end to the problems in sight.

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A spokesperson for O2 told the Stray Ferret:

“We apologise to customers who may be experiencing network issues in the area.

“This is due to a faulty unit, which we have requested a replacement for but which has unfortunately been out of stock for a long time.

“We are doing all we can to escalate and progress this, our network team is speaking regularly with the site owners so that as soon as we can, we will have engineers on site to fix the equipment and restore full service for our customers.”

There are other masts serving the Harrogate area. However, the fault has meant that customers are struggling to access 4G speeds.

Dates and locations for new Harrogate Christmas market revealed

The new Harrogate Christmas market is to be held on various streets in the town centre across 10 days in December.

New organisers Market Place Europe will stage its version of the seasonal market from Friday, December 3 until Sunday, December 12.

Stalls will be located on Cambridge Street, Market Place, Station Square and Cambridge Crescent.

Harrogate Borough Council revealed the details in a statement today, which also said that due to coronavirus, there will be around 50 traders with stalls spaced wider than usual.

The original Harrogate Christmas Market had around 170 traders and 55 coaches booked to attend and was expected to attract around 90,000 visitors over four days.

The council is working with Market Place Europe, Harrogate BID and North Yorkshire County Council on the new event, which will take the place of the one traditionally held on Montpellier Hill.

The organisers plan to have a larger number of stalls next year, subject to an improved public health situation.

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However, the Harrogate Christmas Fayre, as the new event is known, still needs to wait to get an approved event management plan.

According to today’s statement, the new event will feature “a number of local traders” as well as those from across Europe. Arts and crafts as well as food and drink will all be on offer.

Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“As operators of award-winning markets in cities such as Belfast and Glasgow, I’m sure Market Place Europe will bring a first-class offering that truly gets people in the festive mood.

“It’s been a difficult 18 months for everyone and I am confident that by working with them, local partners and stakeholders we will be able to deliver a safe, vibrant and attractive Christmas fayre.

“It will drive visitors to our district’s shops, restaurants, visitor attractions, hotels and B&Bs this festive season.”

Nick Rhodes, chief executive of Market Place Europe, said:

“Extensive research has demonstrated that our events provide additional support to town centre economies.

“As Harrogate emerges from a challenging number of months we are looking forward to bringing a quality family friendly yuletide offering to the town centre.

“We have already had several expressions of interest from a number of coach companies who are keen to bring visitors to Harrogate this Christmas.”

Cllr Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for access and member for Harrogate Saltergate, said:

“As always, our priority will be to ensure that the highways arrangements will be safe, with minimal disruption to local businesses and to residents.

“I am sure that the fayre will provide a welcome boost for the town’s businesses and residents after a difficult couple of years.”

What happened to Harrogate Christmas Market?

Harrogate Borough Council refused a licence for the former Harrogate Christmas Market due to concerns about coronavirus, overcrowding and terrorism.

After three weeks of wrangling with the council, co-organiser Brian Dunsby admitted defeat in his battle to hold the event on Montpellier Hill.

It later emerged the council had been engaged in talks with Manchester-based organisers Market Place Europe since March and has now ramped up those discussions about staging an alternative Christmas market in December.

Brian Dunsby, who co-founded the original Harrogate Christmas Market with former mayor John Fox, said:

“We are determined to organise another traditional Harrogate Christmas Market in November 2022 – hopefully in the usual location.

“We also ploughed back over £90,000 into local good causes over the past five years. It will be interesting to see how much the new venture will donate to similar local good causes.”

Micah Richards tackled by Harrogate council in bid to go green

Ex-England footballer Micah Richards has claimed Harrogate Borough Council thwarted his bid to install an electric vehicle charging point at his Harrogate home.

Richards is a regular pundit on Sky Sports alongside Roy Keane and Graeme Souness. During Sunday’s coverage, the trio discussed what steps they had taken to tackle climate change and improve the environment.

Richards said he had an electric car and hoped to install a charging point at his home.

However, the former England player claimed he was held back by the council’s planning department. He said:

“I had an electric car for a while. Harrogate council though didn’t allow me to have a charger. So I had to stop that for about six months.”

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Richards’ comments received support on Twitter, with one person saying councils and government should do more to install charging points and encourage electric vehicle use:

“Good of Micah Richards to mention Harrogate council. The government and councils don’t help on the expense involved of electric cars and charging points to make it practical. You either want to do this as a country for people or not.”

Another person tweeted:

“Micah Richards calling out Harrogate planning department for refusing an electric charging point was not the content I was expecting when turning on Sky Sports today!”

A council spokesman said:

“Planning permission is not normally required for the installation of wall-mounted electric vehicle charging points so we’d welcome Mr Richards getting in touch with us as we’d be happy to help.

“He is also welcome to use the charging points at our civic centre on St Luke’s Avenue in Harrogate.”

 

World famous UFC fighter heading to Harrogate

A world famous UFC fighter who wrestled a bear as a child is heading to Harrogate for a charity event.

Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov, who has 30 million followers on Instagram, is attending just two events in the UK: one in London and the other in Harrogate.

The Harrogate event will take place at the Harrogate Convention Centre on Sunday, October 3.

Rather than stepping into a ring, the retired fighter will instead talk about his journey from a small village in the mountains of Russia to international fame.

Nurmagomedov is the longest reigning UFC lightweight champion, having held the title from April 2018 to March 2021.

With 29 wins and no losses in his mixed martial arts career, he retired undefeated after beating the likes of Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier

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All the money raised from the Harrogate event will go towards Muslim charity SKT Welfare to help orphans around the world.

Tickets for the event range from £25 for a standard ticket to £250 for the front row. However, front row seats have already sold out.

Anyone buying a ticket will be entered into a competition to attend a meet and greet with Nurmagomedov.

 

Police release teenager after knife incident in Harrogate

Police said today they are taking no further action against a teenager arrested following reports of a man brandishing a knife outside the Odeon in Harrogate.

Pub chef Chloe Horner told the Stray Ferret she saw a man holding a “huge” knife outside the cinema after she got home from work at about midnight on Saturday night.

She said the man walked off in the direction of Asda after another man, who walked by and was threatened, called the police.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said today:

“I can confirm a 19-year-old man was arrested in relation to this incident on Saturday night. The man has since been released from police custody and faces no further action.

“We have nothing further to add at this time.”

According to Ms Horner, armed officers attended the scene. She said:

“It’s crazy. You don’t expect to see that in Harrogate”.

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Fraudsters offering £200 to fix TVs following Bilsdale fire

Fraudsters are offering to retune residents’ TVs for £200 in the wake of the Bilsdale mast fire.

Since fire damaged the mast in August, thousands of residents across the Harrogate district have been without a TV signal. Some have also experienced intermittent service.

This has prompted some opportunistic scammers to knock on doors in North Yorkshire and offer to fix TVs for a fee.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:

“If anyone knocks on your door to offer this service, do not let them into your home and do not give them any money.

“If anyone approaches you at your home and you are concerned, do not let them in and call the police on 101 to report this.”

Arqiva, has said a temporary mast should be up by October 5, meaning local residents should finally see an improvement to their TV signal.

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Stray Ferret reveals high number of old and harmful school buses in Harrogate

A Stray Ferret investigation has found that children in Harrogate are being taken to school in diesel buses that are amongst the dirtiest and most polluting vehicles on our roads.

As our local councils push for sustainable transport, we have discovered that schoolchildren in Harrogate are being allowed to get to school on buses that are over 20 years old and pump out high levels of toxic fumes that can harm their growing lungs.

The Stray Ferret sent a freedom of information request to North Yorkshire County Council, which is in charge of school buses in the district, asking them for the registration number of every bus contracted to pick up and drop off children at Harrogate district secondary schools.

The council awards contracts to private bus providers to run routes.

We then used DVLA data to find out what year the vehicle was made and what type of fuel it used. We found that all 91 buses that were currently taxed and MOT’d are fuelled by diesel.

Almost 50% of these buses are over a decade old and almost 20% of these go back at least 20 years.

How old are Harrogate’s school buses?

“Not appropriate anymore”

These older buses pump out significantly higher levels of air pollution compared with newer models.

European Union emissions tests on buses made 20 years ago found they produce over 10 times as much nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions than buses made in the last five years. This figure halves for buses made around 2011.

The Stray Ferret also observed some school buses outside St Aidans, Rossett, and Harrogate Grammar school with their engines idle, effectively creating concentrated arenas of air pollution as children end the school day.

University of Leeds climate scientist and Harrogate resident Professor Piers Forster told the Stray Ferret that the old school buses will be having a damaging impact on children’s lungs in Harrogate.

He said:

“That is the time when your lungs are developing. It’s not just kids on buses, either, but those who walk or cycle have to stand by these buses that are belting out diesel. It’s not really appropriate anymore.”

What damage can diesel fumes cause?

A 14-year-old Abbotts of Leeming school bus on the Prince of Wales roundabout

Knowledge about the harm diesel fumes can cause to children’s growing lungs has been known for decades.

Diesel buses pump out nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions through their exhausts. Multiple studies have found it can cause reduced lung function in children, trigger asthma attacks and hospital admissions.

Diesel also produces particulate matter (PM2.5) particles which when breathed in can penetrate deep into the lungs and be absorbed into the bloodstream. It’s been linked with a myriad of health impacts for children, including asthma.

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In a landmark case in December 2020, a coroner said air pollution from diesel vehicles contributed to the death of nine-year-old Londoner Ella Kissi-Debrah due to her exposure to toxic exhaust fumes near her home by a busy road.

Sarah Hart is a parent of a child at Harrogate Grammar School who previously went to Western Primary School on Cold Bath Road. She told the Stray Ferret that her daughter suffers from a lung condition that she believes is exacerbated by air pollution from Harrogate’s school buses.

Buses outside St Aidan’s

She said:

“She found the experience of walking to Western really uncomfortable as she has issues with her lungs.

“The buses are really, really old. When they are stationary you can physically see the fumes.

“They should try and get cleaner buses.”

Jemima Hartshorn created a campaign group to tackle air pollution called Mums for Lungs. She told the Stray Ferret that it was “worrying” that so many of Harrogate’s buses are “very old” and use “very polluting diesel”.

She added:

“We really urge schools, authorities and bus companies to work together and electrify this bus fleet to ensure pollution levels across Yorkshire drop and health levels increase.”

“We need electric buses”

A 16-year-old Transdev bus on Hookstone Drive

Not only does air pollution have a potentially deadly impact on children’s lungs, but a 2019 US study also found it affects cognitive performance too.

It reported that children who went to school on diesel buses that had been retrofitted to make them cleaner achieved 10% better exam results at the end of the school year, particularly in English.

It also found that the children saw improvements in cardiovascular health, meaning cleaning up Harrogate’s school buses would have widespread benefits.

Prof Forster added:

“We certainly need a bus fleet that is ideally electric and kids biking and walking to school as much as possible, this is better than anything for both their health and their social development.”

Tomorrow we ask the council, schools and bus companies what they are doing to tackle air pollution on school buses.

Stray Views: Vaccine protesting parents should grow up

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.

Vaccine protestors should grow up

These parents are stupid and putting their children’s lives at risk. We were all lined up at school in the 60’s for our BCGs and polio vaccines, which I am forever grateful for.

They should grow up and consider the more dangerous aspect of drug use in Harrogate than these vaccinations.

Susan Mitchell, Harrogate

Harrogate is a car park

I met someone recently who, upon discovering where I live, commented: “I went to Harrogate recently. It was a car park. The whole town was a car park. Is it always like that?!”

Perhaps Harrogatonians are so used to it that they see this as normal? It’s not. And it’s awful. There would be plenty of space for all – whether they wish to sit, walk, run, scoot, cycle or even drive – if we clear up the parking. For the brief period that James Street ceased being a car park it was a pleasure to negotiate. Yes there were still cars going down the middle however they were a minor inconvenience compared to the car park down both sides. At least we pedestrians could easily see the moving cars, and them us.

Cold Bath Road is horrendous because of the parking. Yes the moving cars aren’t great, but actually we’d all manage ok if the parking rights were removed. The street would buzz with life at the shops, bars, cafes and restaurants on both sides.
I cycle around Harrogate. I have been knocked off my bike once. Not by a moving car. By the driver of a parked car opening his door into my bicycle.

Living in a car park is no fun. I will move away when I can. To a town or city that isn’t a car park. Even in this country, they do exist.

Ruth Ker, Harrogate

Proportional Representation is a fairer system 

The government has now introduced a new clause into the Elections Bill to remove a form of Proportional Representation (PR) from Mayoral elections in England in favour of the archaic system of First Past the Post (FPTP). The reason commonly given is “it works well”. It works well for who? For their party! Under FPTP a “majority” can amount to one vote. If voter turnout is low, that “majority” can be as low as 16% (e.g. Harrogate Bilton by-election 2021). To my mind this is a “lose”. How can it be a win? What post are we talking about?

Under a fair voting system, seats equal votes. It is common sense. Each seat should broadly equal the same number of votes. I am shocked to see democracy in England slither down the drain like this. In North Yorkshire the Conservatives would still probably hold a majority, but debates on policy would be richer and better informed if the views of voters from all parties were heard. The new North Yorkshire mayoral elections in 2023 would benefit from a richer more inclusive discourse rather than one party’s ideas only. PR is shown to work well in Scotland, Wales, current mayoral elections and in most modern democratic nations. So what reason could possibly hold for not using a fair voting system in mayoral elections, including North Yorkshire’s? Cllr Les recently stated on your website that the new single council authority should be accountable, inclusive and locally representative. Perhaps he could make this point to his party.

Louise Mauborgne, Glasshouses 

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Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.
Report of man wielding knife outside Harrogate Odeon

A woman has described seeing a man brandishing a “huge” knife outside the Odeon in Harrogate last night.

Pub chef Chloe Horner had just got home from work when her partner alerted her to a man with a blade several inches long outside the cinema at about midnight.

Ms Horner said she saw the incident clearly from her kitchen window and observed the man standing motionless holding the knife.

She said another man, who walked by and was threatened, called the police.

By the time the police arrived, the person with the knife had walked off in the direction of Asda, she added.

“It was scary. You don’t expect to see that outside your own window. I feel for anyone else who might have walked by him. The knife was huge.”

Ms Horner said police, including armed officers and officers with dogs, were at the scene for about an hour but she does not know if any arrests were made.

By the time they arrived the man, who she said was wearing a dirty brown hoodie and joggers, had walked off.

“It’s crazy. You don’t expect to see that in Harrogate”.

The Stray Ferret has approached North Yorkshire Police for details.

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