New vicar for Killinghall, Birstwith and Hampsthwaite

The Reverend Suzy McCarter has been appointed vicar of Hampsthwaite with Felliscliffe, Killinghall and Birstwith.

Revd McCarter, who lives in Birstwith vicarage, will be installed at an induction service with the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley, on July 28 at 7pm in Killinghall.

Born in Northampton, Revd McCarter was ordained in Blackburn Diocese.

She said:

“I then served a curacy in Standish, Wigan and my first appointment as a clergyperson was in the benefice of Harden, Wilsden, Cullingworth and Denholme in West Yorkshire where I stayed for nearly 11 years before moving here.

“We hope to settle and remain here for a nice long time.”

Birstwith and Hampsthwaite churches reopened for worship during Holy Week and are now back to the normal pattern of worship.

Killinghall, however, is having work done to repair the chancel after some water damage to the foundations resulted in the floor sinking.

It is expected to open for worship on May 30.

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Killinghall man who headbutted police officer spared jail

A judge has spoken out about violence to police officers after a Killinghall man head-butted a constable.

Two officers were called to Bedlam Lane, near Fewston reservoir, after reports of a man slumped on the steering wheel in a Peugeot 20 parked in an isolated spot, York Crown Court heard.

When the officers arrived, they found 38-year-old Richard Brewins intoxicated but, despite his slurred speech, able to identify himself.

Prosecutor Thomas Parsons-Munn said that after noticing empty Strongbow cans in the footwell, officers asked Brewins to undergo an alcohol breath test but he became aggressive, shouting and swearing at the officers, one of whom grabbed him by the arm.

Brewins pushed one of the officers and tried to get away, at which point the other officer used his pepper spray.

Mr Parsons-Munn said:

“Brewins responded by head-butting (the named officer) in his face, cutting the bridge of his nose.”

A passer-by helped the police restrain Brewins and take him to ground, where he was handcuffed.

Due to his heavily intoxicated state, Brewins was taken to Harrogate District Hospital as a precaution. He was later discharged and taken in for questioning, where he denied “assaulting anyone”.

Brewins, of Thomas Drive, ultimately admitted assaulting the officer, causing actual bodily harm. The offence occurred on January 19.

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Seven previous convictions

The court heard that Brewins, a pizza delivery driver, had seven previous convictions for 15 offences, including three for common assault.

Defence barrister Ayman Khokhar said Brewins was “at the end of his tether” at the time and had parked up in the secluded spot in a highly emotional state.

He said Brewins had “complex” psychiatric difficulties and was now receiving treatment.

Recorder Andrew Dallas told Brewins:

“You head-butted a police officer, causing a nasty cut to the bridge of his nose.

“It was very painful and there appears to be some ongoing psychological effect (to the victim).

“Just because a person is in a uniform doesn’t mean he isn’t a human being and doesn’t suffer the effects of psychological trauma. He should not have to put up with this sort of behaviour.”

It was the second time in a week that Mr Dallas had bemoaned attacks on police officers, which is a topical issue following recent protests in Bristol and London that descended into violence.

Police attacks

The day before Brewins’ court appearance, a 40-year-old man from Scarborough was jailed for attacking a traffic constable at a funeral wake.

Mr Dallas said Brewins’ offence was so serious that it could only be met with a custodial sentence but agreed to suspend this because he was trying to turn his life around through professional help.

The eight-month prison term was suspended for two years but Brewins was ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work.

He must also complete a 25-day rehabilitation programme and pay the injured officer £300 compensation.

 

Work on new Tesco set to begin on Monday

Building work on a new Tesco Express in Killinghall is set to begin on Monday.

The supermarket is to open a store on the site of the former Three Horseshoes pub in the heart of the village on Ripon Road.

Castlehouse Construction, which is carrying out the work, notified residents this week.

It said in a letter to them that work is expected to last for 34 weeks, which would mean a finish date in November. The company is also building four flats.

Demolition of the pub is due to commence on March 29 and take four weeks. The letter adds:

“This operation may cause some noise but we will endeavour to keep this to a minimum.”

In August, Tesco applied for an alcohol licence from 6am to 11pm seven days of the week at the site, which has hosted a pub for 150 years.

A Tesco spokesman said:

“We are pleased to say that work is beginning at our new Killinghall Express store.

“We hope to have the store opened by 2022 but we’ll keep the local community updated as the work continues.”

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A pub has operated on the site for 150 years.

Locals asked the public body Historic England to grant the pub listed status but this was rejected.

The Greyhounds Inn opposite the site has been closed for years, which means the centre of Killinghall could be without a pub when they are allowed to re-open, despite huge growth in the village.

Killinghall peacocks could be neutered

Parish councillors are investigating the possibility of neutering peacocks that roam around a village.

Killinghall has been home to an ostentation of peacocks for many years.

Although most people welcome them, some are concerned about the increasing number and their impact.

There are now believed to be least 10, and possibly as many as 16.

At its latest meeting, Killinghall Parish Council resolved to look at ways of stemming the population growth, possibly by neutering.

When contacted by the Stray Ferret, Sue Reid, the clerk of the council, emphasised the organisation had no intention of getting rid of the birds.

But she said the council was obliged to respond to concerns raised by some residents. She said:

“We have never said we want to get rid of the peacocks. All we are doing is respecting the fact that not everybody likes them.

“Killinghall can’t sustain them growing in such numbers.”

Ms Reid said the peacocks had damaged cars and had even got into the home of one older woman and “wreaked havoc”.

The council has put up posters urging people not to feed the birds, which are feral and can take care of themselves.

But Ms Reid is now investigating the practicalities of neutering the males, of which there are believed to be three.

“I am preparing a report for the next parish council meeting.”

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Police appeal after Killinghall collision

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for information about a collision that occurred on the Old Spring Well roundabout on the A59 near Killinghall.

It happened on February 16 at 2.30pm and involved a silver VW hatchback colliding with a black Ford Fiesta.

The driver of the silver VW didn’t stop following the collision and drove off towards Beckwithshaw.

A statement by North Yorkshire Police today said:

“Officers are seeking the identity of the VW driver to establish the circumstances surrounding the cause of the collision.”

Anyone who witnessed this incident or has dash-cam footage, can contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for PC Charles Lonsbrough.

Quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12210061537.

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Harrogate district records 30 new covid cases

The Harrogate district has recorded a further 30 covid cases today.

According to Public Health England figures, the number takes the total amount of cases since March to 7,238.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate of infection has fallen to 88 people per 100,000.

The rate for North Yorkshire stands at 83, while the England average is 116.

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Killinghall and Hampsthwaite remains the area with the most covid cases in the last seven days, with 23 infections.

Boroughbridge and Marton-cum-Grafton is the second highest in the district with 15.

No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

Strayside Sunday: Let’s ruffle a few feathers

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

Not since the hay day of Dawn French’s The Vicar of Dibley have Parish Councils had so much exposure. In the aftermath of Jackie Weaver’s break-out Zoom performance at Handforth Parish Council, local Mayor Barry Burkhill now faces a vote of no confidence because, it is alleged, he did nothing to halt the bullying and laddish behaviour that was very much in evidence.

Here at home, Killinghall Parish Council is at odds with the people it represents.  It seems that a local gang of ruffians have been behaving badly; hanging around street corners, stealing food, squealing and squawking at night, leaving their mess in the streets, giving people the bird.  The Parish Council has labelled the gang “feral” and pleaded with local residents not to encourage them.

I’m all for law and order; tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime and all that; but I give my full-throated support to the vocal locals and take up their Facebook cry, “save the Killinghall 8.”  Yes, a loud, proud, feather-fanning peacock and his harem of peahens are strutting around the village as if they own the place.

Parish councillors have used their Facebook page to plead with local people to give the birds a wide berth and not encourage them by leaving food.  Killinghall residents have used their own Facebook page to hit back in support of what they call these “awesome birds” that are “part of our village identity.”  Local competition is at play here too; just down the road, Bilton’s famed Peter the Peacock has his own Facebook page and can boast over 500 followers.

It turns out, by the way, that peacocks are not indigenous.  It is thought the magnificent birds were brought here from India by the Romans.  What did they ever do for us?  Cement, roads, canals, viaducts, personal hygiene and peacocks; who knew?  According to the RSPB, peacocks and peahens in the wild (as opposed to in Killinghall or in Bilton) survive largely on a diet of grass.  They can live off the land, quite happily, without human intervention.  Perhaps therein lies the solution to this unseemly stand-off.  Killinghall Parish Council should resist its jobsworth impulses to be seen to be doing something important and local residents should be left free to appreciate these great birds; but not to treat them as domesticated pets.

My dodgy ticker means that I’m classed as clinically vulnerable and therefore advised to stay indoors and Covid-safe.  And, as lockdown drags on I look longingly through my sitting room window at my parked car on the street opposite.  I’m not a Clarkson supporting “petrol head” but I do like to drive my car.  It’s quick, handles like a dream and, given it is an electric hybrid, produces both limited emissions and is just enough of a virtue signal for me to get an environmentally friendly pass from my Generation Z daughters.

Regular readers of this column will know the loathing I feel for the use of hyperbolic language to inflame the often mundane but nonetheless important situation to the point where heat obscures light.  The “war on motorists” is one such turn of phrase.  Really?  Ok, cars are not as interesting to look at as they used to be.  They don’t growl and belch smoke as much as in the old days.  They use much less carbon fuel and produce far fewer emissions.  They are safer, both for their passengers and for the occasional pedestrian they collide with.  All this must be progress, I suppose.

However, passions flare when the interests of cyclists or the walker are introduced into the discussion.  Much kerfuffle has resulted this week from North Yorkshire County Council’s use of a LTN (Low Traffic Neighbourhood) experimental order for Harrogate’s Beech Grove and Lancaster Road.  The order bans non-residential traffic and allows for the installation of barriers such as bollards and planters.  This is part of the county council’s plan to help address climate change and increase active travel to get our increasingly obese and (consequently) chronically unwell population off their spreading behinds.  Rather than getting bogged down in protracted public consultation, NYCC has shown the courage of its convictions and, for once, acted in the unambiguous common good.

Through gritted teeth and in the interests of balance I find I have to endorse, for this one time only, the words of Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper, “the fact of the matter is that we cannot pretend that traffic congestion, poor air quality, a diminishing environment and climate change can be solved without radical changes to our transport infrastructure and our personal travel habits.”  He is spot on.

I’ve used this column previously to agitate for a new and imaginative plan to reinvigorate what is now, in the age of Covid-19, a ghastly, ghostly Harrogate town centre.  When we emerge from lockdown (please let it be ‘when’) the county and borough councils need to act with the initiative shown by NYCC and its use of experimental orders.  We need to scrap moribund planning rules, encourage mixed use, bring in small and artisan business with grants and attractive rates, open enterprise zone workplaces for creative and technology business, create affordable residential space and yes, use imaginative shared-space traffic schemes that balance the access, safety and speed needs of car drivers, cyclists and pedestrians and that balance economic with environmental interests.  If we succeed we could be as proud as a Killinghall peacock.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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Do you have a view on this column or is there a political issue you’d like Paul to write about? Get in touch on paul@thestrayferret.co.uk

 

‘Feral’ peacocks causing damage in Killinghall

Killinghall Parish Council has pleaded with locals to stop feeding peacocks that it says are “feral” and causing damage to the village.

A post on the council’s Facebook page says the birds are damaging homes, gardens and vehicles, and people should “stop encouraging them” by giving them food.

It reads:

“Whilst these birds are beautiful to look at it must be emphasised that they are FERAL.

The parish council would be grateful if the birds were not to be encouraged, especially by leaving food out for them as they are causing damage to properties, gardens and vehicles in the village.”

Peacocks are also known for their loud and distinctive squark, with many councils across the country receiving complaints from residents about the noise.

‘I love to see them’

The majority of villagers on a Killinghall Facebook group have leaped to the defence of the “awesome birds”, with one person saying they are “part of our village identity”.

Another person said seeing the peacocks has a positive impact on their mental health:

“I think we are really blessed to have them in the village. I love to see them!”.

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Peacocks are classed as peafowl and are a non-indigenous species that are not covered by any UK wildlife protection laws.

Known for their extravagant display feathers, the birds were believed to be introduced from India by the Romans.

There was a suggestion that the Killinghall peacocks could be relocated outside of the village, which was unpopular with one local who said the peacocks have lived in fields that have now being built on with housing.

“We have invaded their home, it would be wrong to relocate them now”.

Another person conceded that the birds have caused scratches on the roof of their car “but that doesn’t bother me” as the car is old anyway.

Harrogate’s top peacock

A post on the RSPB’s forum says a large part of a peacock’s diet is grass, so there is no need to worry about their survival if they are not fed by humans.

The Killinghall birds rival Bilton’s Peter the peacock for Harrogate’s top peacock. Peter even has his own Facebook page with almost 500 followers.

Killinghall bypass ‘yesterday’s solution’ to congestion

Proposals for a £20 million Killinghall bypass have been criticised by environmental group Zero Carbon Harrogate.

North Yorkshire County Council has put forward plans to build a bypass, with a likely route from the Old Spring Well pub on the A59 to the roundabout in Ripley that goes to Pateley Bridge and Ripon.

It would be one of range of measures, including a park and ride bus scheme and enhanced cycling routes, to ease congestion in the Harrogate district.

But Rod Beardshall, transport lead at ZCH, told the Stray Ferret awareness of climate change had increased locally and building a major new road would “send out the wrong message”.

Mr Beardshall described the decision to refuse Harrogate Spring Water’s expansion plans into Rotary Wood as a “tipping point” for the town, where environmental concerns outweighed other factors.

Rod Beardshall, from Zero Carbon Harrogate

He called a bypass “yesterday’s solution” to tackling congestion:

“It would take years to build and as the climate situation moves on the idea would end up being more anachronistic.”

Killinghall has been bedevilled by traffic for decades and the problem has worsened recently as new housing developments have swelled the size of the village.

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Mr Beardshall highlighted a 2017 study by countryside charity CPRE that suggests new roads actually increase traffic rather than ease congestion.

He described roads “a very clumsy tool to address congestion” and called on the council to focus on better bus services and walking and cycling access for Killinghall. He even suggested charging motorists to drive through the village:

“If you build a road, it’s there forever.

“By thinking about a bypass you take the eye off the ball for more imaginative solutions.”

Last month, councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said the bypass would ease congestion in the “fastest-growing village in the county”.

He said:

“We have a duty to respond to the many residents and local members who feel that they want to take some of this traffic out of their village.

“That includes 44-tonne lorries, which could not be replaced by a person walking or cycling. That is why we firmly believe that certainly further consideration of a bypass to take this traffic out of the village is needed.”

Six covid deaths at Killinghall nursing home

A Killinghall nursing home has confirmed it suffered six covid-related deaths in the final fortnight of January.

Westfield House Nursing Home remained almost covid-free until the new fast-acting strain struck around Christmas.

The outbreak had a devastating impact on residents and staff, culminating in the recent spate of deaths.

Many other care homes have also been badly affected by covid in recent weeks.

Tracey Holroyd, chairman of Warmest Welcome, which owns Westfield House and eight other homes, including The Crest Care Home in Harrogate, said:

“We have had six deaths that appeared to be related to covid since January 17.

“We now have just one resident who has to finish the remainder of their isolation period, which ends tomorrow.

‘Currently we don’t have any residents who are ill — or more ill than one would expect given that they already require 24-hour nursing care.

“The staff are all now back to work with the exception of the last two, who will be returning to work on February 5.”

Ms Holroyd said all residents and staff at Westfield able to have covid inoculations had now done so.

But the recent outbreak of the virus has meant delaying jabs for some people.

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