Revived plans to build eight flats off Stockwell Road in Knaresborough look set to be refused.

Paul Franklin applied to demolish an existing property at 13 Stockwell Road and build six two-bedroom flats and two one-bedroom flats on the site and adjoining land. Parking and landscaping would also be included.

North Yorkshire Council case officer Emma Walsh has recommended councillors on Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee refuse the application when they meet next week.

Mr Franklin submitted plans to the council last year for nine flats on the plot. But those plans were withdrawn after about 30 residents and Knaresborough Town Council objected, citing concerns the development would be “overbearing and will overlook neighbouring properties”, create parking problems and increase congestion.

The Stray Ferret has followed the issue closely and met residents on site in June last year to hear their concerns and to seek Mr Franklin’s response.

He told the Stray Ferret at the time the scheme would “provide local people a quality and sustainable place to live and enjoy Knaresborough”.

In its response to the consultation on the latest plans, the town council said it “sees no reason to change its objections from the previous applications at this site”.

It added:

“The increase in traffic from this site will have a negative impact on the overall traffic in the area and impact on parking around the St Margaret’s area that already experiences difficulties.”

Ms Walsh’s report said the site is within the development limits of Knaresborough but added the apartment block would be “visually cramped due to the limited width of the site, between St Margaret’s Road and St Margaret’s Gardens”.

It said:

“The development would appear as a visually incongruous addition to the street scene which does not respect the pattern of development.”

The land where the flats would be built.

The report also cited concerns about how close the building would be to neighbours’ homes on St Margaret’s Road and St Margaret’s Gardens as well as “an unacceptable impact on highways safety”.

The report concluded:

“The scale, form and massing of the development would fail to adequately safeguard the character of the street scene.”

Twenty-seven letters of objections were sent to the council.

Councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled planning committee will decide whether to accept Ms Walsh’s recommendation when they meet at the Civic Centre in Harrogate on Tuesday, May 7.

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• Knaresborough student entrepreneurs win business award
• Watch servicing shop opens in Knaresborough

A group of Knaresborough sixth form students have launched a business and won an entrepreneurial award.

The students are part of King James School’s sixth form young enterprise team.

They are operating as a business under the Young Enterprise Group, a charity aiming to support and encourage young individuals to enter the business world.

The group are the North Yorkshire winners of The Young Enterprise Company of the Year award.

Their business, Plant Pets, is a creative sustainable approach to planting. They offer boxes of terracotta pots, paint, brushes, seeds, a leaflet and soil.

A spokesperson for the group said:

“Our aim is to encourage creativity and sustainability for people of all ages. The kit allows you to paint and later grow your ‘Plant Pet’ from a variety of seeds, a product that from our research is yet to exist within the market.”

“We try our best to ensure that the majority of our packaging is not only recyclable but made from recycled material. The supplier for our boxes is certified to be carbon neutral, supporting our belief that creative activities which produce calming and mindful effects should not come at the expense of the environment.”

Young enterprise company of the year award 2024

The group plan to sell their products at the next Knaresborough market on Wednesday. They also plan to gift plant pets to St. Michaels hospice.

The Plant Pet founders added:

“We have received overwhelming support from local businesses and King James School themselves who have been nothing but supportive throughout our journey. We hope for further partnership opportunities.”

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• Ripon primary school named as one of the most diverse in North Yorkshire 
• Watch servicing shop opens in Knaresborough 

A new watch repair shop has opened its doors in Knaresborough.

Watchserve has opened on Knaresborough High Street and specialises in watch servicing and repairs.

Owner of the store Martyn Marrocco is from Malton and has owned a watch repair business for the past 15 years.

His wife, Wendy, owns VB treatments, an aesthetic clinic also on Knaresborough High Street.

Mr Marroco said:

“I was already In Knaresborough a lot with my wife and I have wanted to open an old-fashioned watch makers shop for a long time. So, when I saw the sign go up, I bought it the next day.

“I chose Knaresborough because it is a lovely historic town. It is a busy traditional market town, and we chose the location carefully and I waited until something became available.”

He has been refurbishing the store for the past five weeks with a specific focus on keeping the character of the old building. The shop, 72 High Street, has previously been a hairdressers, a beauty clinic, and a tailors.

Mr Marroco began his interest in watches at a young age, when he became fascinated with the mechanical works of clocks.

Martyn Marroco at work repairing watches

He said:

“I have been interested in watches forever, I got into it when I was very young. I was interested in watches and cars, as a lot of men are, I just got interested in the mechanics of things.”

From there Mr Marroco qualified and opened his own business working entirely from home. He also has three sales cabinets in antique centres, in Knaresborough, York, and Lincolnshire.

He said:

“Many jewellers will send a watch off to be fixed and that is what I do, I offer services and repairs. I often get sent watches a regular jeweller doesn’t want to do because it is high value or a detailed job, like a Rolex. My work comes from jewellers in other towns so I could work from home or anywhere, but it is nice to have a high street presence.

“There has been a greater interest locally than I imagined originally. This is the first time I have been available to the public and everyone has given me a fantastic welcome. People have said it is unusual but they all think it is good to have a traditional shop on the High Street.”

Knaresborough and District Chamber released a statement on social media, in support of Watchserve, which said:

“A warm Knaresborough welcome to Watchserve who have opened their watch servicing and repair business on the High Street today. You can find them opposite the Pop Up shop.”

The Knaresborough Business Collective offered a similar welcome. They said:

“Welcome to Knaresborough High Street Watchserve, good luck and great job on the lovely shop. I know we say it all the time but there is such a variety of fantastic shops in Knaresborough.”

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• Police to carry life-saving nasal spray to prevent drug overdoses 

Firefighters were called to a Knaresborough home after a car crashed into it last night.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log today said Harrogate and Knaresborough crews responded to reports of a single-vehicle road traffic collision, on Blind Lane, at 10.04pm.

The log said the car collided “into a property”.

Firefighters added:

“The occupants of the house safely evacuated the property.

“Crews isolated the utilities while waiting for further assistance from an emergency gas engineer.”

The report also said the occupants of the car were out on arrival and “not at the scene”.

North Yorkshire Police told the Stray Ferret “enquiries are ongoing” into the collision.

No further details have been revealed.

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• New bus service set for Harrogate’s Wedderburn Road
• Watch servicing shop opens in Knaresborough

Passengers are set to experience rail disruptions next week and into the Early May Bank Holiday as unions carry out further strikes.

Train union ASLEF has announced its members will carry out “action short of strike” between Monday April 29 and Saturday May 4 in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Northern, which operates stations in Harrogate, Starbeck and Knaresborough, has warned passengers to expect late notice cancellations during the time period.

On its website, the company said:

“If travelling with Northern, or connecting onto other services across the country, check before you travel as industrial action may affect multiple parts of your journey.

“Between April 29 and May 4 (during ‘action short of strike’) we expect some late notice cancellations to services, particularly the first and last services of the day.

“The majority of services will be running as planned on these days, but please check before travelling, as close to the time as possible as short notice cancellations are likely.”

There are also disruptions predicted between May 6- 11 due to ‘action short of strike’ called by ASLEF, meaning almost two weeks of disruptions with a strike on Thursday May 9.

Passengers also faced disruptions on the last bank holiday, over Easter weekend.

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Knaresborough St John’s Church of England Primary School  has received a ‘good’ Ofsted rating in its latest report.

Inspectors described the school, which is part of Elevate Multi Academy Trust, as “welcoming and caring” and said “the school places very high value on pupils’ personal development”.

The report said there was a strong relationships between pupils and adults. It added that there was a rarity of bullying in the school and a broad and ambitious curriculum.

The report said:

“Respect is at the very heart of this school and individuality is celebrated. Pupils say that one of the best things about their school is how kind staff are. Leaders at all levels are passionate about their school and have high expectations.

“Their goal is for students to flourish in all areas, this includes academically, spiritually and by becoming active in the local community.”

Knaresborough St John’s Church of England Primary School on Stockwell Road.

Alex Hope, the school’s headteacher, said the staff took pride in the findings in the latest Ofsted report.

He said:

“I am so proud of everyone involved with Knaresborough St John’s C of E Primary School for being recognised as being a good school that provides the best possible start for our youngest children.

“We know the importance of the earliest years in school and how they create the foundation for the rest of a child’s school life. We take pride in this being one of our exceptional strengths.”

Read more:

• Knaresborough health and beauty week begins today
• Councillors reject last-ditch bid to save Fountains Earth school

Knaresborough’s first health and beauty week begins today.

Sixteen businesses are involved in the venture, which runs from April 22 to Sunday, April 28.

It is one of many events being organised this year by Knaresborough Business Collective.

The collective was set up by independent traders Natalie Horner and Annie Wilkinson-Gill in 2021. The health and beauty week has been created to showcase Knaresborough’s beauty venues.

The event follows the Knaresborough Business Collective’s first week of exclusive offers, Knaresborough food and drink week, in March.

Similar to the food and drink week, the beauty event will give people cut-price deals throughout the week. Salons, clinics and wellness shops will have a range of exclusive offers, many of which are yet to be announced.

Loft salon Knaresborough, is one of the locations offering discounted treatments

In an interview with the Stray Ferret, prior to the Knaresborough food and drink week, Ms Horner said:

“There are so many amazing businesses in Knaresborough it is just a case of showcasing what we have to offer and drawing people in.

“We have launched to event to show what is on offer in Knaresborough, sometimes people get stuck in a routine and need to be shown what options they have. Sometimes people don’t realise these places even exist, so it helps to put them on the map.

“All the businesses are so different they have lots to offer and we had to make sure there was a mutual benefit.”

The collective has also revealed plans to run another event, a retail week in the run-up to the Knaresborough Business Awards in summer.

Deals for this week will be updated daily and shared to the Knaresborough Business Collective Facebook page. Participating businesses will also put posters in their windows.

The Yorkshire Beeswax Candle Co will have offers this week.

The businesses involved are:

• Castle Clinic
• Watkins-Wright hairdressing Knaresborough
• Aimes Health and Beauty
• Orchis Escape
• Divine Hairdressing
• Kirkgate Cutting Room
• Natural Choice Knaresborough
• Swish Beauty
• The Lash Gallery
• Nails by Melanie The Beauty Box Knaresborough
• The Crystal Buddha
• KB Medical Aesthetics
• Loft
• Boujeé
• The Yorkshire Beeswax Candle Co
• Vital Beauty

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• The Yorkshire cafés putting sustainability at the heart of their business 

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 followed news of the Liberal Democrats winning the Stray, Woodlands & Hookstone by-election in Harrogate earlier this month.

It is not surprising that the Lib Dems won the local by-election.

Their candidate was the only person dressed smartly, despite being a bit inarticulate when thanking everyone. The shock I suppose.

The Conservative candidate looked very sour. Who would want to vote for someone like that?

Let the lesson be learnt by everyone: dress smartly with a tie if you want to be seen as a good candidate, no matter which party you represent.

Who wants to vote for someone who looks as if they are just going down to the pub?

Valerie Cooke, Harrogate

Could Harrogate’s Conference Centre house spa facilities instead?

This letter responds to uncertainty over the future of Harrogate’s Convention Centre. In an exclusive, the Stray Ferret recently revealed North Yorkshire Council spent £1.9 million on consultants for now-scrapped plans for the site. 

The fate of the conference centre is too important for there to be any discord.

What do you think of the idea of Harrogate having spa facilities based in the conference centre? We were once so important as a spa town.

In 2024 we are losing our way – what are we now? What do we have to offer visitors?

In 1984 I set up Friends of the Valley Gardens to save the Sun Pavilion and Colonnade from being demolished. I knew Geoffrey Smith, James Herriot and David Bellamy and asked them to be presidents, to which they agreed.

We have the Valley Gardens and all it contains, as well as the Royal Hall, the Turkish Baths and the Royal Baths. Could the conference centre be used to house spa facilities, plus hairdressers, beauticians, physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths etc? Essentially, everything to do with wellbeing all under the one roof, with easy parking too.

I am a golfer and walker and have often heard ladies saying it would be nice to have somewhere easy to park to go and be “pampered”. Not forgetting the gentlemen and all their needs.

It could also have a nice tea rooms with staff in uniform. I have lived here 60 years and can remember how genteel Harrogate was. As I said, now what is it?

It has really lost its way with thousands of houses being built – it seems that’s all the “powers that be” can think of.  They may as well hand it over to the developers and just build with no infrastructure.

Please no one give them the idea of turning the conference centre into flats – they would love that.

Anne Smith, Pannal

It’s ‘potluck’ if a Knaresborough bus actually turns up

This letter is in response to a story about North Yorkshire Council accepting £3.5 million of additional funding from the Department of Transport. The money, which is being used to support a one-year pilot scheme, will go towards expanding timetables, £1 bus fares for young people and improvements to bus shelters.

I read with interest your article about money to improve bus services in the Harrogate district, especially about the number 1 service from Harrogate to Knaresborough via Starbeck.

You mentioned buses to Aspin, Carmires and the Pastures, but there was no mention of the 1B to Aldi and Eastfield.

Sadly, since the X1B Connections bus ceased running, it is now potluck if – and when – a bus turns up at the Eastfield stop.

Are there any plans to improve the 1B service?

Paul Smith, Knaresborough

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.

Read more:

• Readers’ Letters: Bins weren’t overflowing when Harrogate Borough Council existed
• Readers’ Letters: Harrogate ‘feels like Narnia’ compared to where I’m from
• Readers’ Letters: The ‘scruffy’ state of Harrogate makes me ashamed of my town

(Image: Yolk Farm and Number Thirteen)

From dutifully separating plastics and glass for recycling, to thrifting second hand clothes and furniture, there are many small ways we can be kinder to the planet.

As consumers it can feel we can only go so far; extensive research suggests that it is businesses that need to adopt more environmentally conscious methods.

And it’s not only the larger enterprises; while the 2017 Carbon Majors Report revealed that just 100 companies have been the source of 71 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, smaller businesses also have a part to play.

But investing in a greener approach can be costly and time-consuming, especially when plans have to be applied retrospectively to the way a company operates. However, there are plenty of thriving independent businesses that have embraced sustainability from the offset, leading the charge when it comes to greener business practices – especially here in North Yorkshire.

‘I think Knaresborough is quite eco-conscious as a community’

For Sarah Ward, founder of Number Thirteen in Knaresborough, owning her own coffee shop was a dream she’d always held. However, it wasn’t until she moved to New Zealand for a year and experienced their café culture that her vision took on a more environmentally friendly approach.

She explained:

“New Zealanders are very eco conscious anyway, and I noticed that the UK was a bit behind the times in aspects of sustainability, especially in the hospitality industry.”

However, it was important to Sarah that sustainability was an integral cog in the wider machine of running of a café, in order to normalise choosing greener alternatives.

“I wanted to try to create a business that had a focus on sustainability, without shoving it in people’s faces. I wanted it to be engrained in the day to day running of the business, making it work for the business rather than against it.”

(Image: Number Thirteen)

Since Number Thirteen opened in 2018, Sarah estimates they’ve sold over 500 of their own reusable takeaway cups, with many of those customers returning regularly for their caffeine fix.

“Some quick maths will tell you that even if those 500 customers used that cup only once a week, that has stopped 26,000 disposable cups ending up in landfill or being incinerated every year. That’s 156,000 cups since we opened six years ago.

“Many customers use their cups daily, most of them not purchased at Number Thirteen, so that number is unquestionably much higher.”

While she believes that customers primarily seek them out as a coffee shop, the fact that sustainability unpins the operation is an added bonus to many – and encourages them into a greater awareness of the environment in their own lives.

She explained:

“Most customers visit us because we have a good reputation as a local coffee shop, but once they are through the doors and see all the different ways we try to be better for the planet, I think it makes them want to return.

“We have lots of customers commenting on our pre-loved crockery and retro ephemera, taking them back to bygone days, as well as our home compostable takeaway cups or the fact that we use glass milk bottles from a local dairy, making our coffee 100 per cent plastic free.”

Number Thirteen’s efforts certainly haven’t gone unnoticed; this year they were recognised with a Sustainable Business accolade at the Stray Ferret Business Awards.

Number Thirteen at the Stray Ferret Business Awards 2024

In the future, Sarah would love to explore further ways that sustainability could be embraced by not only her business, but the wider community.

She added:

“I would love to set up some kind of commercial composting scheme involving all café businesses in the town. As a lot of takeaway coffee cups are only commercially compostable rather than home compostable, it is difficult to recycle them properly.

“However, setting up this kind of scheme takes a lot of negotiation, compliance and cooperation from both businesses and the public, as well as local authorities, so it’s not something that is achieved overnight.”

“We source all our produce from within a close a radius as possible from our own back door. All our amazing free range eggs and some of our fresh produce are even grown on site, meaning lower food miles.

“93 per cent of everything we sell comes from within 30 miles, which is better for the planet and for the local economy too.”

(Image: Yolk Farm)

It’s not just human colleagues that are pursuing the environmentally friendly agenda; Yolk Farm has three ‘waste warriors’ in the form of their Kunekune pigs, who consume an estimated two tonnes of fruit and vegetable waste from the farm shop per year.

(Image: Yolk Farm)