There have been calls for Travellers to have more temporary sites in the Harrogate district.

Cllr David Goode, who is a resident in Knaresborough and a Liberal Democrat town councillor, said recent groups of Travellers setting up camp had been met with “negative feelings” from locals.

Travellers parked on the old rugby field on Hay-a-Park Lane last week and were served legal notice to leave by Harrogate Borough Council.

Several caravans and cars also parked on the Stray near to Oatlands Drive.

All the Travellers have now moved on.

Cllr Goode said while the council has already set up a permanent designated Travellers site off the Knaresborough bypass, there needed to be more transit sites where groups can stay temporarily.

He added that council officials should start to engage with local Gypsy and Travellers trusts to find out what more can be done.

Cllr Goode said:

“My thinking coming out of this is to start engaging with the local Gypsy trust.

“They will know the issues.”

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Sharon Calvert, who also lives in Knaresborough and has worked with Travellers in her role in education, shared the view that more temporary sites should be set up.

She said:

“What they need is to have a transit site. There are always going to be Travellers coming through [the district].

“We need some joined up thinking on this. There needs to be some temporary sites on the A1 with running water and facilities to get rid of rubbish. There must be some sites.”

‘Engagement is number one’

Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange, a charity which aims to improve the quality of life for the communities, said engagement with Gypsy and Travellers in the first instance was important.

In September 2020 the organisation worked with Leeds City Council to create a good practice guide to design Traveller sites as part of its work.

A spokesperson for Leeds GATE told the Stray Ferret that it was important for authorities to make those community links to better understand Gypsy and Traveller people.

They said:

“The engagement with the community is number one. Whether it is a council or a planning department, they really need to make those community links.

“There are organisations that people can speak to. We at Leeds GATE are here and we do make ourselves known.”

In the Harrogate district, North Yorkshire County Council owns and maintains two designated sites for Travellers.

One is at Bickerton and another is off Thistle Hill in Knaresborough.

A Harrogate mum is hosting a family fun day in June to raise money for two organisations that supported her daughter before she died 13 years ago.

Katie Beadle gave birth to her daughter Millie in August 2009. But immediately after she was born, she knew something wasn’t right.

Millie was diagnosed with hypoxia, a condition that results in low oxygen levels in the blood. It can lead to multiple medical conditions and requires around-the-clock care.

Ms Beadle said:

“Most of Millie’s time with us was spent in Manchester St Mary’s Children’s Hospital in the beginning. When she was allowed back to Harrogate, we spent a few days on Special Care Baby Unit at Harrogate District Hospital, before finding a new way of living on Woodlands Ward.”

Millie spent a few weeks at home before she contracted an infection. The family returned to the Woodlands, which is the hospital’s children’s ward, before they were told the devastating news:

“Millie has suffered a substantial amount of trauma at such a young age, her body is tired and I’m afraid this time she isn’t strong enough to fight this one off. It’s only a matter of time, so enjoy your final days with your precious daughter.”

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Millie wasn’t strong enough to travel to Martin House Hospice in Wetherby, so the hospice came to them and set up a room for her on the ward until she passed away in December 2009.

She would have been coming up to her 13th birthday in August so her mum wants to mark her legacy by raising funds for Martin House and Harrogate hospital’s children’s ward.

The family fun day will be held at Knaresborough Rugby Club on June 25 from 11am where there will be a bouncy castle, live music, face painting, stalls, food and drink, rides and more.

Ms Beadle added:

“I am arranging Millie’s 13th birthday party with an open invite for everyone! It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions, stress and required copious amounts of coffee & fizz, however, things are just about finalised and it should be a grand day for all.”

“An incredible job”

The two organisations both paid tribute to Ms Beadle for her fundraising efforts.

Chris Verney, regional fundraiser for Martin House, said:

“Katie has done an incredible job in organising this event and we hope everything goes well for her.  Fundraising like this makes a huge difference to the families with seriously ill children that we support across West, North and East Yorkshire.”

Victoria Lister, manager of acute paediatrics at Harrogate District Foundation Trust, said:

“Katie has worked tirelessly to organise this event to help support our unit. We as a ward are so grateful for her hard work and preparation for Millie’s Fun Day in June. The funds raised will help transform the ward into a more welcoming, bright environment for the children attending Woodlands at HDFT.”

There are still some spaces to hold a stall on the day. If anyone would like more information email Katie-beadle92@hotmail.com

North Yorkshire Police has said it will not “resort straight away” to criminal prosecution of travellers who set up illegal encampments.

Travellers have pitched up at Hay-a-Park in Knaresborough and on the playing field at Ashville College in Harrogate this month.

Asked today by a member of the public why officers did not use the Criminal Disorder Act 1984, which prohibits trespassing, deputy chief constable Phil Cain said the police always looked to resolve the matter at “the earliest opportunity”.

But he added the force had a “graduated response” to dealing with such incidents.

DCC Cain, speaking at a North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner public accountability meeting, said police had to balance the human rights of all those involved, particularly as the travelling community often has families with small children.

He said:

“The graduated response from North Yorkshire Police, as it is with other forces, is that we will not resort straight away to criminal prosecution. We will engage with the travelling community and the land owners as we have done on this occasion.

“We will seek to resolve the matter at the earliest opportunity using the least intrusive means possible. That includes graduating up through private land owners utilising powers in civil courts for unlicensed travellers settlements all the way through to the final element, which would be criminal prosecution.

“On this occasion, local officers have engaged with the travelling community and they have agreed to move on without the need for us to resort to criminal prosecution.”

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“It’s not that we are not prepared to use these powers, it’s that there has to be a graduated response and we have to show that graduated response in order to show that we are complying with the Human Rights Act.”

Last week travellers set up camp on Ashville College’s rugby pitch and demanded £5,000 to leave, according to a college spokesperson.

However, after less than two days the travellers hitched up their caravans and moved on. The college said they left of their own accord.

Hay-a-Park rugby field in Knaresborough was sealed off by police and deemed to be a health hazard due to the amount of human excrement after travellers departed on August 10.

A police cordon sealing off Hay-a-Park rugby field after travellers left.

Harrogate Borough Council has begun moves to evict travellers from a field at Hay-A-Park Lane in Knaresborough.

Numerous caravans have pitched up at the site near the rugby field in the last week. Many locals think they will move on to Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria this weekend.

But a council spokesman said today the site was not designated for use by travellers and Gypsies. He said:

“We have visited the illegal encampment and served a notice to vacate.”

Christine Willoughby, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Knaresborough Eastfield, said:

“We do suffer from these illegal encampments in Knaresborough. They stay long enough to make a mess and make residents unhappy. I just wish they would be respectful of local residents.

“I’ve had a few residents get in touch about the travellers. So far they seem to be tidy and maybe they will leave peacefully but in previous years they’ve left a mess.”

The travellers have polarised opinion on social media, with some local residents saying people should “leave them be” and others expressing concerns about tidiness.

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The council’s website says:

“There are two official Gypsy and traveller sites in the Harrogate district, at Bickerton and Thistle Hill, both owned and managed by North Yorkshire County Council.

“Outside of these sites, if Gypsies and travellers set up a camp on council-owned land, and if they’re causing problems, they’ll be moved on as soon as is possible and reasonable. We consider each case on its merits.

“If they’re on private land, it’s usually the landowner’s responsibility.”

Plans for 170 homes on Water Lane in Knaresborough will have a ‘catastrophic’ impact on wildlife at nearby beauty spot Hay-a-Park, according to local people.

Landowner Geoffrey Holland’s application would see homes built on the north-eastern edge of the town, next to the Hay-a-Park lake and three smaller ponds.

The site, which is on a flooded former quarry, was designated as a site of special scientific interest in 1995 because it supports a number of rare birds, including the goosander and reed warbler.

The planning application has provoked a passionate response from residents, with about 60 objections at the time of publication. Several raised concerns about the impact of the housing on hedgerows within the SSSI where birds nest.

David Bunting, who lives next to the lake, told the Stray Ferret he has concerns about flooding and the impact on the birds’ habitat:

“This housing would go right up to the lake and risks huge environmental damage to the site. Birds have come from across the world to nest here over winter for thousands of years.”

Goosander fears

Another local resident, James McKay, highlighted a report from 2012 which stated numbers of goosander have been decreasing. He told the Stray Ferret:

“It will have a catastrophic impact on Hay-a-Park gravel pit, which is already under pressure from increased urbanisation.”

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Harrogate Borough Council refused an application from Mr Holland for 218 homes in October last year, despite the site being allocated for development in what was then the council’s draft Local Plan.

The council said the proposal did not include enough affordable housing and was ‘of poor quality and out of character with its surroundings’. It also said it did not include a proper assessment that explored the impact of housing on the SSSI.

A planning statement submitted for the new application said the proposals included “a wide range of ecological enhancement measures”.

It added:

“The design-led approach, informed by consultation with the local planning authority and Natural England, responds sensitively to the site setting, respecting the urban grain and ecology features present in the surrounding landscape, both built and undeveloped.”

Minimise impact on birds

Following the refusal last year, ecological consultancy Baker Consultants produced a Hay-a-Park SSSI impact assessment on behalf of the developer. It recommends that Harrogate Borough Council and Natural England manage the SSSI’s grassland and woodland to improve biodiversity.

A separate ecological appraisal recommended the impact on birds is minimised through the creation of green space within the development and with nest boxes.

It also says construction that might directly impact breeding birds should be limited to September to February when they do not breed.

The Stray Ferret asked the agent for the application, Cunnard Town Planning, for a statement but we had not received a response at the time of publication.

The application will be considered by HBC’s planning committee at a later date.

A second consultation will be held over the future of leisure services in the Harrogate district.

After 417 people responded to a consultation which closed earlier this month, Harrogate Borough Council said it will go back to the public – but it has not confirmed when, or what it will ask.

Campaigners in Knaresborough are calling for the council to rule out using the Conyngham Hall site for a new leisure centre,. However, HBC said responses to the survey are being assessed and no decision has been made over where it will be built, with Knaresborough House, Hay-a-Park and the existing swimming pool site all on the shortlist.

The council has confirmed residents will get another chance to express their opinions in a follow-up consultation in the coming weeks. A spokesman said:

“The results will be evaluated and used to inform the various options and subsequent recommendations for the multi-million pound investment in sport and leisure across the Harrogate district.”

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The suggestion of the Grade II* listed Conyngham Hall as a potential spot for the new leisure centre has been met with criticism. The hall itself is used as office space and leased by the council to businesses, while the grounds are popular for leisure activities.

Campaigns to protect the green space have been set up by local residents on Facebook, and by the Harrogate & Knaresborough Liberal Democrats and Knaresborough Civic Society.

Civic society chairman James Monaghan said:

“Knaresborough Civic Society believes that building a new leisure centre and car park on green space at the grade 2 star listed Conyngham Hall would be completely unacceptable.

Our preference is to see the Conyngham Hall site removed from consideration full stop.”

The current site being used for the swimming pool is favoured by local groups over the proposal to build at Conyngham Hall

Mr Monaghan said he was pleased that the council had agreed to consult again and was hopeful that it would give local people a say on the location of the new leisure centre. The civic society’s preference is for the existing site to be used.

He added:

“The proposals for a leisure centre at either Conyngham Hall or on the green space at Knaresborough House would have a terrible impact on the historical character of Knaresborough.”