Travellers set up encampment in KnaresboroughRoad closures confirmed for Knaresborough Bed RaceReaders’ Letters: Harrogate’s streets are laden with litter and cigarette buttsMPs Watch: General Election, Nidd bathing status and female toiletsLocal history spotlight: Eugene AramKnaresborough road set to reopen after two months of closureElectric vehicle charging points to be installed at Knaresborough retail park5 things to do in Harrogate and the district this weekendReaders’ Letters: Harrogate GP moving to online requests is ‘totally unfair’

Readers’ Letters 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. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.  

This letter comes after a Harrogate GP practice moved the majority of its requests process online. It has since been accused of discriminating against older people.

Reading about the surgery wanting patients to submit letters and prescriptions mainly online made me annoyed.

Although elderly myself, I am computer literate and not at all bad! But my husband’s claim to fame is that he has never touched a computer and has no interest in technology.

Without me, he’d be stumped.

Fortunately, our great surgery prints out the prescriptions for your next month of medication.

It is totally unfair that so many things must be done online when there are probably thousands of people, like my husband, who have no idea how to use a computer.

Sandra Goldberg, Harrogate

Is it a coincidence Knaresborough’s drains are now being cleared?

This letter comes after some of Knaresborough’s gullies were reportedly cleared this week. It follows severe flooding in the town earlier this month, which forced some people to evacuate their homes.

How strange; we are told the drains weren’t to blame for the Knaresborough flooding, yet suddenly jetting equipment is seen all over the town this week.

Coincidence? I don’t think so.

I have reported blocked drains in the town for several years and I always receive the same reply: “we are looking into it”.

Nothing ever gets done until a tragedy ensues.

Ralph Thrower, Knaresborough

How much more money will be ‘wasted’ on Ripon Leisure Centre?

This letter responds to news of an additional £2m being poured into stabilisation works at Ripon Leisure Centre. The total spent on the remedial work is now nearing the original budget for the actual project.

How much more money is going to be wasted on underpinning Ripon Leisure Centre?

Anyone with any knowledge of Ripon could have informed the shower of a council that the ground was not suitable.

When is this total waste of money going to stop? Yet another folly in Ripon’s long list of botched projects.

Tony Sidwell, Ripon

Re-wilding on Harrogate street looks ‘awful’

This letter comes after strips of the Stray have been re-wilded in line with a council policy. 

I do not object to re-wilding as such – but not in a residential area.

I live on Westminster Drive and there is a small semi-circular area on the corner of Burn Bridge Oval and my road, which belongs to the council and has been left to re-wild as of last year.

It looks awful. It’s now full of dandelions and buttercups that are getting bigger every day. The seeds from these plants have blown into nearby gardens and dog walkers allow their dogs to “perform” in the long grass.

This is definitely not a suitable place to allow re-wilding and the council should mow it regularly and thoroughly – not just around the edge.

I’m sure I am not the only one to dislike this way of reducing council expenses and causing residents lots of extra work!

Alison Roscoe, Harrogate

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.

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Knaresborough Cycling Club to host event celebrating Tour de France anniversary

Knaresborough Cycling Club is set to host a family bike ride to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire.

The club was established in the same year, 2014, as a legacy project and this will be its third official family bike ride.

The club have teamed up with the Knaresborough Festival of Entertainment and Visual Arts (FEVA) to host this year’s event. The ride will be held on August 11 starting at Conyngham Hall at 10am and will be cycling along the Ripley Greenway to Ripley Town Hall.

There are 66 members in the club and the event is open to 100 people. The ride is free to attend, although organisers encourage people to donate to Martin House Hospital.

Knaresborough cycling club family bike ride 2019

Amanda Stott, Chair of the Knaresborough Cycling Club said:

“We are blessed to have such a beautiful route. I would encourage people to come and join us and just be a part of it. It is incredible to think it has been ten years (since the Tour de France) time has flown and we are excited to celebrate it.”

Lots of people don’t get on a bike because they are worried about various things but we are here to support them. But there will be support all the way along the ride to encourage them, deal with any bike maintenance, and keep riders safe on the route as they wind their way at their own pace to Ripley.”

Refreshments will be served at the Village Hall before riders make their way back home.

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