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Plan approved to convert Knaresborough mill into banking hub

A plan has been approved to convert part of a grade-II listed former Knaresborough mill into a banking hub.

Cash Access UK submitted the proposal to North Yorkshire Council for the building on Kirkgate in the town.

The mill was built in the 18th century and was most recently used as a tile showroom.

It will see the ground floor of the former mill converted into a banking hub, which will offer a counter service operated by the Post Office where customers of all major banks and building societies can carry out regular cash transactions.

It will also provide a community banker service where customers can talk to their own banking provider about more complicated issues, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

The company identified the former mill as its site for the banking hub in June.

At the time, Gareth Oakley, chief executive at Cash Access UK, said:

“We know the new banking hub has been eagerly anticipated by the local community and so we’re delighted we’ve now been able to secure a fantastic location for you in the heart of the community.

“This brings us a significant step closer in being able to deliver improved access to cash services to individuals and businesses in Knaresborough.”

MPs Watch: HS2, Yorkshire Water and maiden speeches

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In October, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the northern leg of HS2 would be scrapped and Yorkshire Water unveiled a £7.8 billion investment plan.

Meanwhile, Keir Mather, Selby and Ainsty MP which includes south Harrogate, made his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

We Selby and Ainsty MP Keir Mather if they would like to highlight anything in particular, but did not receive a response.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found on Mr Jones:

On October 3, Mr Jones welcomed a £7.8 billion investment plan being submitted by Yorkshire Water.
On October 4, Mr Jones attended the Conservative Party conference and was present for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s speech.
Following the speech, Mr Jones said he was “disappointed” with the decision to scrap the northern leg of the HS2 project.
On October 5, he met with the owners of the former McColls store in Starbeck who are expected to unveil plans for the building this year.
On the same day, Mr Jones attended the opening of the Rachel Daly pitch at Killinghall Nomads JFC.
On October 18, Mr Jones called for a 138-home development on Water Lane in Knaresborough to be cancelled. He also raised the issue in the House of Commons on October 16.
On October 19, he hosted the Street Works UK awards in Parliament.
Mr Jones announced on the same day that he would be objecting to a planned asphalt plan at Allerton Park near Knaresborough.
On October 21, he visited Harrogate synagogue to discuss events in Israel and Gaza.
On October 28, he met with the Harrogate Imam to discuss events in Isreal and Gaza.

When we contacted Mr Jones for comment, his office sent a list of his engagements for September.

They included attending a roundtable with the British Dental Association and a Northern Powerhouse Partnership Transport Reception. He also with members of Zero Carbon Harrogate and met a local dentist to discuss NHS dentistry.

Others included visiting Yorkshire Cancer Research’s new facility at Hornbeam Park, chairing a meeting of the European Statutory Instruments Committee and meeting leaders from Luminate Education Group at a reception in the House of Commons.

Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

In Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

Mr Smith made no spoken contributions in the House of Commons in October.
On October 11, Mr Smith tweeted that he had met residents and North Yorkshire Council to discuss recent deaths on the A61 at South Stainley and to campaign for a lower speed limit.
On October 16, Mr Smith visited the Ripon Inn ahead of its opening.
Mr Smith posted on his website on October 22 that he had visited Sharow Church of England Primary School to meet with its headteacher and answer questions from pupils.
Mr Smith updated his website 11 times in October, which included posts promoting government initiatives and visits within his constituency.

When we contacted Mr Smith’s for comment, his office sent a roundup of his engagements for October.

Among them included visiting local schools and businesses in Skipton and Ripon, including Cundall Manor School.

Meanwhile, he also visited The Beer Engine in Skipton and met with Bentham resident, Viv Barclay, who will attempt to become the oldest woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Keir Mather, Selby and Ainsty MP.

In Selby and Ainsty, which includes rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Mather:

Mr Mather posted 11 times on his Facebook page in October. None of the updates related to areas of his constituency which fall in Harrogate.
On October 16, Mr Mather made his maiden speech in the House of Commons.
On October 23, Mr Mather asked the minister for environment, Rebecca Pow, how she would be working with the Environment Agency to support people during Storm Babet.
He joined a debate on the sustainability of rural post offices in Westminster Hall on October 25.

DalesBus service from Harrogate and Knaresborough extended to winter

A bus service to the Yorkshire Dales from Harrogate and Knaresborough has been extended through the winter.

DalesBus 74 will run every Saturday to Ilkley, Bolton Abbey and Grassington.

It is expected to run until Easter 2024, when operators hope to extend it into the summer.

The 74 will leave Knaresborough bus station at 9.05am before calling at Harrogate at 9.10am. It returns from Grassington at 5pm and Bolton Abbey at 5.25pm.

The service is managed by Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, which aims to improve sustainable access to the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Vandals damage scarecrow trail in Knaresborough

A scarecrow trail created for children to enjoy during half-term has been vandalised in Knaresborough.

The trail, which began today, encourages people to hunt for 18 scarecrows in the town centre.

But Knaresborough Business Collective, which represents independent traders and organised the initiative, said in a social media post some scarecrows were damaged last night.

It said it was “absolutely heartbroken” but pledged to carry on with the trail.

The group, which was co-founded by Natalie Horner and Annie Wilkinson-Gill, said:

“We have spent weeks planning, two days in the pouring rain putting them all up and businesses have spent a huge amount of effort making these by hand.

“To now have to get up at 7am to come and fix the mindless vandalism some people think is acceptable is so upsetting. Lots of items have been stolen that we now have to spend money on being replaced.

“The Knaresborough Scarecrow Trail is put on entirely by us volunteers and brings so many people in to town and gives families something to do during half term, this is so good for our town and all these people are doing is ruining it before it’s even started.”

The post ended by saying the group would “do all we can to fix them all this morning so you can enjoy the trail”.

To take part in the trail, visit Ye Older Chymist Shoppe on Market Place to buy a £3 map revealing the locations of 18 scarecrows.

Anyone who finds them and fills in a form on the map will then be entered for a £50 prize draw.

Archaeology festival brings Knaresborough’s rich story to life

Anyone walking around Knaresborough could hardly fail to notice it’s a beautiful and historic place. But trying to find out more about its rich past isn’t easy.

The town’s first community archaeological festival, which begins today (Saturday), aims to shine some light — and the organisers hope it will be the start of a long-term drive to tell Knaresborough’s story.

Hundreds of people are expected at the free festival, which takes place from 10am to 4pm today and tomorrow and at the same times next weekend at the Centre-on-Gracious Street.

A 4,000-year-old ceremonial axe found at Hopperton will be among the star attractions. People can bring along their own artefacts for experts to examine and Nun Tabbetha will provide some half-term fun by writing medieval pardons for naughty visitors.

Knaresborough Museum Association, which has organised the festival, hopes the event will prove a springboard for further study into the town’s past.

Chair Kathy Allday said:

“There is so much out there that we don’t know much about. Knaresborough remains a bit of a mystery in many ways.

“We hope the festival will create more interest in the archeology of Knaresborough, generate local pride and raise awareness of how fantastic Knaresborough is.”

Knaresborough Museum Association volunteers at a dig.

Former archaeologist Kathy is passionate about Knaresborough and full of tantalising tales, many of which remain shrouded in secrets.

For example, she says a washing tunnel is believed to have existed in a medieval hospital in Spitalcroft. The tunnel in a swollen pool naturally filled with pure, clean water but the site is now part of a private garden. The Trinitarian Priory, which was dissolved by Henry VIII, is known to have been a regional mother church but its full size and significance needs further research.

Two Roman hordes have been discovered in the area. Viking straps and Saxon pins will be on display this weekend. But Knaresborough’s golden age was the medieval period, when Kathy says Abbey Road “was like Piccadilly Circus” because so many people flocked to St Robert’s Cave, the Trinitarian Priory and Knaresborough Castle.

Nidd Gorge is a key area of historical interest. Kathy says:

“Because we have an ice age gorge that has been cut through we have layers from the past all revealing different artefacts.

“There is evidence of people living there for thousands of years. There are bones and teeth of prehistoric animals. Think Woolly Mammoths.”

A mudlarker called Steve has spent 20 years extracting items from the Nidd. His finds include medieval pottery, a Victorian doll and a jug inscribed with the name John Ingleby, from the family that owns Ripley Castle.

Kathy wants to know more about the Iron Age fort that existed at Nidd Gorge and talks excitedly about the possibility of bringing home Knaresborough treasures currently housed elsewhere, including the Brotherton Library in Leeds and the nomadic Harrison Collection.

For that to happen, Knaresborough needs a larger museum.

The association currently operates Knaresborough Museum at 8 York Place, which is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It has served the town well but the ground floor of a house was never likely to be an adequate long-term solution and there are plans to move to larger premises after a bid to use the former Castle girls school fell through.

Kathy is quick to pay tribute to the work of other local groups, including Knaresborough Castle and Courthouse Museum, Claro Community Archaeology Group and Bilton Conservation Group for their work in specific fields.

But she hopes the museum can become the overarching focal point for telling Knaresborough’s story — not only a place to go but also a hub to conduct further research and hold events, including more festivals, that take the town’s story to community groups and schools.

It’s a long-term mission — but few would doubt Knaresborough has a story worth telling.

Campaign launched against asphalt plant proposal near Knaresborough

Residents have launched a campaign against plans to build an asphalt plant next to Allerton Waste Recovery Park near Knaresborough.

The proposal has been re-advertised after the company making the application, Tynedale Roadstone Ltd, submitted an updated environmental statement to accompany the plans.

As well as the asphalt plant, the application includes plans for a site office, car parking, material storage bays, lighting, hard standing and the removal of trees.

The meeting at Marton Cum Grafton. Pic: Gerard Binks

More than 100 people crammed into the Marton Cum Grafton Village Hall this week to devise a plan to object to the proposal.

Communities Against Toxins has urged North Yorkshire Council to reject the plan amid claims that those living within a nine-kilometre radius of the plant would be affected by numerous potentially harmful pollutants.

Michael Emsley. Pic: Gerard Binks

Michael Emsley, organiser of the campaign group, said:

“There are a lot of concerned residents in the area, and we have decided to make our voices heard.

“Given all the detailed research already done, it is beyond belief that something of this nature and on this scale should be located in a rural area when there are industrial sites available at which the bulk of the risks we have highlighted would be minimised.

“The proposed asphalt plant is going to disperse an awful lot of toxic chemicals into the environment, airborne and waterborne, while some will also be dust particles, which are particularly nasty. It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen.”

More than 600 residents have signed up with the group to lobby the council to refuse the plans.

Meanwhile Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones, has also voiced his objection to the proposal.

Mr Jones said he had already objected to the plant earlier on in the application process, but felt his concerns had not been addressed.

He said:

“I worked with residents’ groups and parish councils campaigning against the incinerator being built. Part of our objections were the potential for ‘industrial creep’ in the area. This application is precisely that.

“I have already registered my objection when the application was at an earlier stage of the planning process. I have read the new documents the applicants have submitted and I do not believe the concerns I raised have been adequately addressed.”

Both Arkendale, Coneythorpe & Clareton Parish Council and Goldsborough & Flaxby Parish Council have also lodged objection to the plans.

Tynedale Roadstone is part of Durham-based MGL Group and currently operates two asphalt production plants, one in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and another at Barton, north of Catterick in North Yorkshire.

Knaresborough scarecrow trail to begin on Saturday

Knaresborough will host a scarecrow trail from this weekend in a fun scheme to attract more people to the town.

From Saturday, Ye Older Chymist Shoppe will sell maps for £3 revealing the locations of 18 scarecrows.

Anyone who finds them and fills in a form on the map will then be entered for a £50 prize draw.

Children hunting for scarecrows last year.

Knaresborough Business Collective, which represents independent traders in the town, has organised the initiative to boost trade in the pre-Christmas period. It will run until November 5.

Natalie Horner, co-founder of the collective, said:

“We try to do things when it’s quiet and there is less going on. We thought this would bring people into town and provide a cheap activity to do.”

This is the second year the scarecrow trail has been held. Last year saw 444 maps sold and raised almost £2,000.

‘Rethink’ needed after another Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee cancelled

North Yorkshire Council’s system of delegating key planning decisions to officers needs a “rethink”, according to the chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee.

Cllr Pat Marsh’s comments come as the council has cancelled next week’s planning committee for the area due to a lack of agenda items.

Planning committees comprise of a group of cross-party councillors who are supposed to meet each month to make decisions on key planning applications.

But it is the third time a meeting has been cancelled since North Yorkshire Council was created in April to replace Harrogate Borough Council as the lead planning authority.

Councillors are able to call in contentious applications for committees to consider if there are sound planning reasons.

However, elected councillors across the county have been left frustrated due to far fewer applications being decided by the committees, which cover each parliamentary constituency area in North Yorkshire.

Cllr Marsh told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she has expressed her concern to officers in Northallerton regarding the issue.

She said:

“As councillors we do need to be seen to be taking planning decisions especially in the areas we represent we have the local knowledge and understanding.

“Planning is all about openness and transparency and we do need to make sure that is how the public see it. Hopefully the officers will have taken my concerns onboard and that a rethink is happening.

“I am not critical of our planning officers they do a great job it is just about the scheme of delegation that does need a rethink and soon.”

According to a report by the Local Democracy Reporting Sserive in September, a council planning officer told a meeting there had been no attempt to try to block proposals going before councillors and officers were “trying to understand where those lines should be drawn”.

He added the authority would examine changing the balance over which planning applications should go before councillors.

The officer said:

“The intention here isn’t to disenfranchise members. Members are a key part of this process.”

Tired of bank branch closures? Meet the building society fighting back

This story is sponsored by Newcastle Building Society.

In many towns and cities just like Knaresborough, the growth of online shopping and the popularity of out-of-town retail outlets has changed the face of our high streets over recent years. And it’s hard to ignore the fact that the rise of digital banking is having an impact on the number of bank branches and the availability of financial services in our communities.

With more than 5,000 bank branches across the UK closing since 2015, people who don’t have access to digital banking, or those who prefer to manage their money in person might well worry about the future of the once-familiar bank branch.

However, one building society is gaining attention in the region by bucking the national trend of branch closures and for coming up with new ways to restore access to financial services in its communities.

Newcastle Building Society has 31 branches across the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria – a number which has actually grown over recent years with the recent addition of the Knaresborough branch – and despite the number of branch closures by others around the UK, says its commitment to face-to-face financial services is only getting stronger.

Michael Conville, chief customer officer at Newcastle Building Society said:

“Customers tell us again and again that they’re worried about the future of branches. As an organisation owned by our members we’re constantly thinking about how to better serve our communities and we’re absolutely committed to investing in our branches and growing access to local financial services.

“Branches are expensive to run, but instead of admitting defeat and pulling down the shutters, we’re taking a fresh approach, working with local people and finding new ways to make branches work for our communities. That includes rethinking what the branch might look like and showing what can be achieved when you’ve got customers’ best interests at heart.”

How has Newcastle Building Society bucked the trend?

One of the ways Newcastle Building Society has been able to open more branches when others around them close is through its innovative community partnership branch. Since 2016 the Society has opened in four new locations – Yarm, Hawes, Wooler, and Knaresborough, each time working with local partners to open a new branch in a space shared with other local services.

In Knaresborough, the Society’s branch sits inside the local library, taking up a fraction of the space of a traditional branch but offering all the same services and making it easy for people checking out the latest books to check out the latest savings interest rates.

The Newcastle Building Society branch is a part of the library and information centre.

The Society is also investing in its presence in Newcastle city centre, with plans to open a brand new flagship community branch at Monument in summer 2024.

Michael added:

“There’s a real risk of financial exclusion in places where banks have left town. Often that impacts the most vulnerable and makes people more reliant on others to help manage their money. The community partnership branch works when there is a real need for financial services and a clear desire from local people and leaders to work together to bring those essential services back to the high street. It’s been a success for us in four places already and we’re working on more community branches all the time.”

Banking for everyone

As well as its commitment to branches, Newcastle Building Society is sticking with some of the more traditional ways of keeping up to date with your savings, such as the savings passbook, which many banks and building societies are phasing out.

But the Society is also investing in the latest technology to hand the power of choice to its customers and help restore access to cash and basic banking services in places where the banks have left. In its Knaresborough and Gosforth branches, a UK-first pilot of a multi-bank kiosk allows customers of any bank to withdraw and deposit cash from their current account – whoever they bank with – under the Society’s roof, free of charge without the need to be a customer of the society. For small businesses in particular, it means less time spent travelling to their nearest bank and more time running their business.

Michael concluded:

“Technology is probably the biggest driver of change in financial services and by working with OneBanx and their multi-bank kiosk, we’re helping to restore basic banking services which are especially important for small businesses and the wider health of the high street economy. We’re also investing in our digital offering, including our online savings portal and app, because we believe customers deserve the best of both worlds – the convenience of online services and the reassurance and comfort that only comes from a friendly conversation on your local high street.”

To find out more about what we can do for you, pop into your local branch at 40 Market Place or visit the branch page by clicking or tapping here.

North Yorkshire Council set to lobby government for water quality measures

North Yorkshire Council looks set to write to the government calling for fundamental reform of the planning system to improve the county’s rivers, watercourses and coastline.

The Conservative-run council will consider pressing Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Thérèse Coffey, to make a series of changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to avert pollution as a result of new development.

The proposal has been approved by the authority’s transport, economy and environment scrutiny committee as a recommendation to be considered at a full meeting of the authority next month, alongside a series of other proposals to get to grips with water pollution in the county.

The meeting heard councillors raise serious concerns over water pollution in rivers such as the Swale and Ure, which run through Rishi Sunak’s constituency, as well as the county’s coastal waters, where marine life has repeatedly been impacted by a mystery issue in the water.

Liberal Democrat councillor Steve Mason told the committee the proposals needed bolstering by national policy to ensure developers could not use devices such as viability tests to avoid consideration of water issues.

He said:

“We need to be lobbying hard for this to be included in national legislation.”

Cllr Hannah Gostlow, whose division includes Knaresborough and the River Nidd, which saw 870 sewage dump incidents last year, said lobbying government would be viewed as “a major step” by the authority.

The proposed measures will aim to establish what the impacts and receptors are in relation to any development.

The meeting heard neither Local Plan policies nor national framework have the capacity to extend consideration in planning decisions to where foul water is in the main sewer, in terms of how it is treated.

Councillors were told a motion of council, to make water issues a “material planning consideration” would be of limited weight, and were they to be treated as having more weight in a development decision than the Local Plan or national framework, the decision could be challenged by developers at appeal.

Councillors from a range of political groups told the meeting there was a clear mandate to seek to have more robust engagement with water firms “to fully understand capacity constraints and opportunities”.

It is hoped making water firms statutory consultees in planning decisions, in the same way as exists for flooding and highways authorities, would allow the companies to embed expanding their capacity and technologies to reduce the incidence of flooding, whilst accommodating increased usage.

After the meeting, the council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said he sympathised with proposals to make water firms statutory consultees in planning decisions.

He said he believed councillors would all support lobbying the government to enable water firms to levy infrastructure charges on property developers to enable them to finance improving the capacity of systems such as sewage.

When asked whether the government should introduce a tougher system of fines for pollution breaches, Cllr Les said he was concerned water users would face increased charges to cover the firms’ fines.

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How has Newcastle Building Society bucked the trend?

Banking for everyone

To find out more about what we can do for you, pop into your local branch at 40 Market Place or visit the branch page by clicking or tapping here.

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