‘The Grantley effect’: Property boom near luxury hotel

This post is sponsored by Lapicida

Since opening its doors in 2019, Grantley Hall has quickly earned a reputation as a top destination for the rich and famous.

It is a stately countryside stay, a glitzy resort, a wellness retreat and a foodie haven. And it is without doubt the place to be you want to show off on Instagram.

The 18th-century mansion, which has been dubbed by guests as “The Ritz of Ripon”, opened as a hotel after a £70m refurbishment.

It boasts 47 rooms, four restaurants, including one with a Michelin star, and 30 acres of sweeping wooded parkland and grounds.

The Palladian playground also has an elite performance fitness centre, with equipment so plush –  I would genuinely be scared to perspire – and a luxurious spa with two swimming pools. There’s even a nightclub.

Then there are the lavish events that are held regularly at the hotel, for example this month you can attend a champagne party and discover the “floral secrets of the stars” with a celebrity florist. There are also various super car meets across the year, so you can show-off your Lamborghini and swill champagne.

The fact that you can live your best life without leaving the grounds of the hotel, has sparked a property boom in the Grantley area, according to the owner of a Harrogate estate agents.

‘The Grantley effect’

Jeremy Hopkinson OBE, owner of Hopkinsons, said as well as property prices going up, people are also requesting to live within a 20-mile radius of Grantley Hall, making it one of the most desirable areas to live in the district.

He has labelled this ‘The Grantley effect’.

He said:

“We have seen a strong demand for the villages within a short drive to Grantley Hall.

“For example properties in Ripley, Hampsthwaite and the Burnt Yates area, as well as the immediate villages close to Grantley.

“Clients have approached me to see if there are properties that can be offered off-market.

“I have one client at the moment looking for a period family home within a 15-20 minute drive of Grantley.

“The whole Grantley set-up appeals to a wide range and age of buyer. They offer a high quality service and obviously you have got some fantastic bedrooms there as well.

“People are staying for two or three nights at Grantley and then ringing me to see if they can view properties close to it.

“I’ve currently got two local clients trying to find something in the area because they like going there. I’ve also got a couple from London coming to view properties because they have heard about Grantley.”

Read more:

Property boom 

Mr Hopkinson OBE said the whole district is currently seeing a major property boom.

He said:

“It’s a very interesting time. Most estate agents are short of properties because they have been so busy.

“In this area there has been a 10 per cent increase in property prices this year – specifically for country homes which are in huge demand.

“People want a change of scenery and more space for everybody. I think they want a view and bigger gardens and are prepared to travel to Ripon or Harrogate and get the train down to London for work.

“There are also more people wanting to move into the area.”

Mr Hopkinson OBE said he had just sold three major properties off-market in the area, including one as a result of the buyers wanting to use the spa at Grantley Hall.

He said:

“It has boosted sales of properties around that area and will continue to do so.

“It’s a very desirable area and people want to be in a short drive of it. This is good news for the local economy basically. They use local producers and employ a lot of staff locally as well.”

Three properties that have sold or are for sale in villages near Grantley

A £1.7million five-bedroom detached home in Burnt Yates that has just been sold by Hopkinsons.

Click here to view the property

A detached five-bedroom property for sale by Hunters in Kirkby Malzeard for £750,000.

Click here to view the property

Nicholls Tyreman is selling this new semi-detached three-bedroom home in Birstwith for £395,000.

Click here to view the property

Police commissioner trends with calls for his resignation

North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is facing thousands of calls for his resignation for comments he made about the murder of Sarah Everard.

Philip Allott told the BBC today that women “need to be streetwise” about police powers and that Ms Everard should “never have submitted to arrest”.

Mr Allott initially defended his comments by saying he was not blaming the victim on Twitter before he deleted the Tweet and apologised.

However, his apology has not stemmed a tide of fury on Twitter. More than a thousand people commented on his apology in under an hour.

These comments are completely obscene. It is victim blaming 101.

The onus should never be on women to change their behaviour, but on men, our institutions and society to reform. https://t.co/U8SThWM6tb

— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) October 1, 2021

These comments are appalling. It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change. The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it. For change to happen, this needs to be accepted by everyone. https://t.co/8oC2c5U9Pj

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 1, 2021

This idiot needs to be fired. Immediately. https://t.co/tNgeEluFWf

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 1, 2021

The police are telling women that women are responsible for whether or not they are attacked or murdered by the police https://t.co/TS8IAtObuY

— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) October 1, 2021

Since then “Philip Allott” has become number one trending in the UK, “Resign” is number seven trending and “Police Commissioner” is number eight trending.

Labour leader Kier Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and TV personality Piers Morgan were among those expressing anger about Mr Allott’s comments.

The Stray Ferret asked if he would consider his position, Mr Allott said:

“No, I’m not. I have got a great record in protecting women. It was one of my campaign pledges.”

Mr Allott’s comments come as murderer Wayne Couzens, a Met Police officer, had falsely arrested 33-year-old Ms Everard in order to abduct her.

Couzens was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey yesterday

Read more:

 

Harrogate district care homes fear job crisis over mandatory jabs

Care homes in the Harrogate district have sounded the alarm over a looming recruitment crisis over mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for staff.

Government legislation requiring all care home staff and volunteers to have had both jabs comes into force on November 11.

With the date approaching, the health watchdog Healthwatch North Yorkshire conducted a survey of 16 care homes in North Yorkshire and York about the impact of the legislation.

Most care homes supported the sentiment but expressed concerns about its impact.

The social care sector was experiencing staff shortages pre-pandemic and there are concerns that after a tough couple of years, mandatory vaccines will create another recruitment barrier.

Read more:

One care home told Healthwatch it expected to lose staff; another said it had been forced to turn down candidates and a third said it had created a bureaucratic burden on already overstretched staff.

The Coach House Nursing Home in Ripon said in the report:

“I do not agree with making vaccinations mandatory just for those working in a care home, while leaving it entirely open to any friend or relative of a resident to visit without vaccinations.

“This is yet another recruitment hurdle for providers to try to overcome along with the additional administrative burden in policing, enforcing and maintaining records of compliance.

“The impact of this legislation could be huge and widely felt, restricting agreed contractors, maintenance and servicing personnel, along with the effect on the hospitality side of care homes.”

Ashley Green, chief executive of Healthwatch North Yorkshire and Siân Balsom, Healthwatch York manager said in a joint statement:

“The concerns we’ve heard from care home managers aren’t a surprise, but some are very stark in their warnings of the impact of mandatory vaccinations.

“Care homes we spoke to question the decision where all healthcare staff and care home visitors don’t have to be vaccinated. There was strong sentiment that this is being seen as further unfair treatment of an undervalued sector.

“There is an irony that while almost all the care homes we spoke to recognise the importance of the vaccinations to protect vulnerable people, the new rules might put residents at risk due to staff shortages and low morale.”

Most acute recruitment crisis ever

The National Care Forum, which is the membership organisation for not-for-profit organisations in the care sector, has today written an open later to the government asking for support with what is describes as the worst job crisis in the sector’s history.

MHA, the UK’s largest charity care provider which has two care homes in Harrogate, is among the signatories of the letter.

The letter said:

“This is the most acute recruitment and retention crisis that we are aware of historically.

“It is the result of many years of underfunding in the sector, compounded by a number of other factors.

“That is including some staff exhausted from the pandemic and others moving to the NHS due to different approaches on mandatory vaccine regulations.”

The NCF called on the government to offer a retention bonus to care staff, welcome staff from overseas and launch a national recruitment campaign.

North Yorkshire health officials urge 16 and 17-year-olds to get jab

Teenagers aged 16 and 17 in North Yorkshire are being urged to get vaccinated against covid “as soon as possible” ahead of the return to school and college next week.

Those who fall into this age group were first offered a vaccine dose last month, but unlike others no second jab is being scheduled.

The government set a target of offering everyone aged 16 and 17 their first dose or the chance to book one by August 23, and Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said they should now take up the opportunity “as soon as possible”.

Speaking at a meeting of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a collaboration of agencies fighting covid, today, she said: 

“The key message does remain the same for everyone across the county who is eligible for a vaccine to come forward. It is still the best form of protection.

“If you are 16 or 17 years of age, please come forward and get vaccinated as soon as possible – and ideally before you go back to school.”

Her plea coincides with NHS England beginning to draw up plans for a possible extension of the vaccination programme to all 12 to 15-year-olds.

Read more:

However, experts on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the government, have yet to make a final decision on whether it should go ahead – and there are national reports that they may opt against it because of fears it could disrupt the programme of boosters for older people.

School bubble groups scrapped

School distancing rules, ‘bubble’ groups and staggered starts have now been scrapped, although ventilation measures and extra hygiene precautions will still be in place.

All secondary pupils are also being urged to get tested either at school or in the community before term starts. After that, pupils will be encouraged to carry on with the twice-weekly testing regime in order to keep cases under control.

Ms Wallace said it was “massively” important that pupils now made a return to school.

She added: 

“All schools and colleges are advised to keep continuing with regular hand washing, cleaning regimes and keeping spaces well ventilated.

“And of course, we will give support from a local public health perspective to any school or college if they see a spike in cases.”

Social care at ‘tipping point’ as staff shortages deepen with 1,000 vacancies

Social care in North Yorkshire is facing an imminent staffing crisis health officials have warned after they revealed a worrying drop in the number of people coming forward for vacant jobs.

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said the sector is facing “unrelenting” pressures and that it had reached “tipping point” over recent weeks with a 70 per cent drop in applications for 1,000 jobs currently vacant.

He said the NHS has also not escaped the staffing problems which existed before the pandemic but have only been exacerbated by the virus outbreak.

Mr Webb told a meeting of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum today:

“We have seen a real tipping point over the last four to six weeks, particularly as the wider economy has reopened.

“What we are seeing is fierce competition between care services, hospitality, retail and other sectors for people to fill jobs.

“We have about 1,000 vacancies in social care across North Yorkshire – that’s not just us, that’s the 500 organisations that provide care in the county – and we have seen a 70 per cent drop in applications for those jobs in the last few weeks.

“In North Yorkshire, we are as well placed as anywhere to deal with some of these pressures, but they are pretty unrelenting and they are probably the most significant I have seen in a quarter of a century working in social care and the NHS.”

Nationally, social care looks after around 400,000 people in care and nursing homes – three times the number in NHS hospital beds.

Read more:

There are also around 640,000 people receiving care in their own homes.

Independent Care Group (ICG), a non-profit organisation which provides services in North Yorkshire and York, has raised concerns that as these numbers continue to rise, there may soon not be enough staff to care for the elderly and most vulnerable in society.

Mike Padgham, ICG chairman, said in a statement: 

“We are approaching a crisis point where there simply won’t be enough people to go out and provide care to people at home and to those living in care and nursing homes.

“Care providers are facing a daily battle to cover home calls and care home shifts and it can’t go on.”

Mr Padgham is also calling on the government for short-term help and to also accelerate its long-delayed plans to overhaul the social care sector which ministers have pledged to publish by the end of the year.

A specific tax to help find the extra billions needed in funding and directing more cash straight to care homes are all ideas which have previously been brought to table, but these have never come to fruition.

Speaking at today’s meeting, Mr Webb said the reforms would not be a quick fix to the problems the sector is facing and that the county council would continue stepping up its support for care providers.

He said: 

“I’m pleased that the government is looking at how it can reform social care, but that will take probably three to five years – it is not going to be an instant solution.

“That is why we have continued to put additional funding into social care while we have been giving so much other support to individual care providers.”

The county council is also urging people to consider careers in social care as part of its Make Care Matter campaign.

Council to reject 42 requests for extra gritting despite warnings

More than 40 requests for extra gritting on North Yorkshire’s huge roads network are set to be rejected despite warnings over “dangerous” conditions and salt bins running empty.

North Yorkshire County Council, which spends about £7m every winter to treat more than half of the county’s 5,753 miles of roads, considers requests for routes to be added or given greater priority on an annual basis.

This year it has received 42 requests from residents, councillors and businesses, but none have been recommended for approval at a meeting on Friday.

These include 14 requests in the Harrogate district, 15 in Richmondshire, seven in Craven and six in Hambleton.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said the authority already treated a large proportion of roads and that routes are rarely added due to the time and costs involved.

However, he added safety and efficiency were always priorities when deciding how to use resources.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“An efficient winter gritting service is one of our top priorities.

“We are in a part of the country with some very remote and exposed roads, but we still have got to make sure people can go about their daily lives safely in bad weather conditions.

“We have not often made changes simply because we already treat a bigger proportion of our highways network in a routine winter than any other local authority.

“And of course, we do have to prioritise in order to keep the main roads and bus routes open in periods of bad weather.”

Motorways and trunk roads are the responsibility of Highways England, while the county council looks after all other routes.

Read more:

The county council is also responsible for treating pedestrian footpaths and aims to cover all busy shopping areas and main footpaths before 9am in severe weather.

Between October 1 and April 30, road gritters are on call 24 hours a day, while farmer contractors, duty managers and overnight patrols are all on standby when necessary.

Roads are treated with rock salt on a priority basis and where icy and snowy conditions are at their worst.

But some residents believe more roads should be added or given greater priority, with one resident describing Regent Road in Skipton as “dangerous” during bad weather conditions.

They said in a request:

“Regent residents wishing to travel to work are faced with a hazardous task. I would imagine some people will be genuinely fearful for their safety.”

Another resident said salt bins in Harrogate are often running empty, while another claimed cars were abandoned on Kent Road in the town last year due to a lack of gritting.

Councillor Mackenzie added:

“We will always look very carefully at requests, especially if there are concerns about safety on busy routes or travel to school.

“But generally speaking, officers will recommend rejection of a request if there are perfectly good alternative routes for a person to get from A to B safely under the current gritting routes.”

North Yorkshire highways boss ‘confident’ in bid for £1.5m active travel projects

The highways boss of North Yorkshire County Council has expressed confidence that the authority will win most of the £1.5m it is bidding for under the latest round of active travel projects.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, approved the bid to the government’s active travel fund at a meeting on Friday.

The application includes funding for four projects, two of which are in the Harrogate district. They include traffic calming measures in Ripon and a feasibility study into the creation of a 7km cycleway and footpath between Knaresborough and Flaxby Green Park.

The bid is being made to the third round of the active travel fund. The council only secured half of the £266,000 allocated to it by the Department for Transport in the first round but won almost all of the £1m it bid for in the second round.

Cllr Mackenzie said:

“We have been told to expect roughly around the same amount we received in tranche two and as soon as we know what this value is our bid will be submitted with the government.

“Clearly there are various sources of money for these kinds of projects in the future. The government has set aside £2bn as part of its active travel fund and I believe it has only allocated around a quarter of this so there will be plenty more to come.”

Under the latest plans, around £550,000 would be spent on the development of “sustainable travel corridors” in the west of Ripon. These could include footway widening, better crossing facilities and traffic calming measures.

The council also said feasibility work for the proposed 7km cyclepath between Knaresborough and Flaxby Green Park would cost £50,000 and that it would link with wider plans to improve connections to York.

There are also plans for schemes in Craven and Ryedale.

Read more:

Under earlier rounds of the fund, cash has been earmarked for cycle lanes and junction upgrades on the A59 between Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well as similar improvements in the Victoria Avenue area of Harrogate town centre.

There were also plans for a one-way traffic system and junction filters on Oatlands Drive but these were scrapped after a fierce backlash from residents.

Instead, the council is carrying out a feasibility study this summer to look into what other improvements could be made not just on Oatlands Drive but also the surrounding area.

The aim for the A59 and Victoria Avenue schemes is for construction to start in November with completion in March 2022.

A government decision on the third round bid is expected in autumn and, if successful, the funds must be spent before March 2023.

Robert Jenrick: Two councils for North Yorkshire would have been risky

Two councils to serve North Yorkshire would have been too risky and was not “credible” geographically, according to the government.

In a letter to council chief executives across the county and York, Paul Roswell, head of governance and reform at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, explained why the secretary of state chose a single council.

The move to an east/west model, which was tabled by the seven district council leaders including Harrogate, would have seen the county split into two unitary councils.

The letter said that Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick found that the proposal posed “significant risks of disruption for some major services” during the transition period.

He also found that it would cause “longer-term risks around the lack of alignment with other key public sector partners”.

Read more:

Among the risks were the break-up of North Yorkshire’s children’s services, which are rated outstanding by Ofsted, and “longer-term sustainability” of adult social care.

However, Mr Jenrick recognised that there was good local support for the model, including town and parish councils and business organisations.

He also noted that the authorities would bring £32.5 million per year in financial benefits to the area.

But, the letter said:

“The secretary of state was also aware that the department’s analysts confirmed that in their view the risks of this option would be greater than for the single unitary, although this proposal would produce savings, improve value for money and improve the financial sustainability of local government in the area.”

It added:

“The secretary of state also considered that the two-unitary proposal could not be judged to meet the credible geography criterion. 

“He noted that the populations of the councils in the proposal are within the range of population size set out in the invitation, however the areas would not appear to be based on local identity for either area.”

By comparison, Mr Jenrick found that the single authority could be “easily understood” by residents and retained local identity.

“He [Mr Jenrick] noted that the population of the council is just over the range of population size set out in the invitation, but has an established local identity as referred to in the criterion.”

“Not a good day for democracy” 

In response to the decision last week, Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said he was disappointed with the announcement.

Cllr Cooper, who backed an east/west model, said the government’s decision “flies in the face” of its own criteria.

Meanwhile, Cllr Steve Siddons, Labour leader of Scarborough Borough Council, the move to a single council was “not a good day for democracy”.

He added that the council, which will cover 618,000 residents and cost up to £38 million to set up, was a “dog’s breakfast”.

The plans are now subject to Parliamentary approval later in the year.

Mr Jenrick said the government aimed to have the new unitary council up and running by April 2023.

Devolution: A seismic week for Harrogate and North Yorkshire

This week has been seismic for local government and politics in Harrogate as the council learned its fate over the government’s devolution agenda.

Robert Jenrick, secretary of state for local government, confirmed that the borough council will be abolished and replaced with one authority for the entire of North Yorkshire.

It’s the first time since 1974 that such a shake-up of the system of local authorities and governance in North Yorkshire has been made.

The decision has left politicians and council officials either elated or disappointed – all though wondering what is to come.

It has also raised more questions than answers. For instance, what happens to the borough council’s potential £46.8 million investment in Harrogate Convention Centre?

Another is the future for staff at the borough council and where the decision leaves them and their jobs.

Read more:

Much of those who were on the frontline of the devolution debate made their feelings clear this week. 

Here’s what they thought of the landmark decision.

“A dog’s breakfast”

As the saying goes, history is written by the winners.

But that did not stop those in the east/west camp making their feelings known.

Perhaps the most vocal was Cllr Steve Siddons, Labour leader of Scarborough Borough Council, who described the single unitary authority as a “dog’s breakfast”.

He went onto say:

“I am extremely disappointed with this announcement.

“The government appears to have ignored their own criteria and advice and have approved a single countywide unitary that is bigger than any other in the country and far bigger than their recommended maximum size.

“It also leaves York as a unitary much smaller than the government’s minimum size recommendation.

“My prediction is that York will inevitably be swallowed up by this mega county. A dog’s breakfast springs to mind.”

Cllr Steve Siddons, leader of Scarborough Borough Council.

Cllr Steve Siddons, leader of Scarborough Borough Council.

Conservative Craven District Council leader, Cllr Richard Foster, was equally as disappointed.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he raised concerns over the future of staff and how councils will now respond to the covid pandemic.

He said:

“The single council model was always the front runner but my biggest annoyance is that this has been a desktop exercise by the government who have not been to North Yorkshire to see the area on the ground.

“To decide the local government future for over 500,000 people in that way is disappointing to say the least.

“We have also always said this is the wrong time to be doing this. We have now got to deal with reorganisation whilst also somehow finding time to deal with our response to the pandemic.

“This will take up a huge amount of officer time when we should be moving forward and getting Craven’s recovery going.”

On the winning side of things, Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of the county council, appeared magnanimous and called for councils to work together.

Perhaps the most relieved was Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat leader of City of York Council, whose authority would have been swallowed up by the east/west model.

He described the decision as a “huge vote of confidence for York”.

Protecting jobs

Aside from the changes in services, political make-up and council capital projects, the landmark decision strikes at the heart of peoples’ jobs.

Thousands of council staff face uncertainty over where their futures will be in two years time.

Among those to react to the announcement were union officials.

Read more:

Wendy Nichols, secretary of the Unison North Yorkshire branch, said the key focus now should be on protecting jobs and minimising disruption to public services.

She added:

“Council workers have been on the frontline in the response to covid – delivering essential public services in the toughest of conditions. Reorganisation was the last thing that they needed.

“But the key now is to see that jobs are protected and vital services maintained.

“We have clear tests that we will judge the reorganisation by. We hope that it meets them.”

Unanswered questions

While it is clear that North Yorkshire will have a new council by April 2023 and the current two-tier local authority system will no longer exist, questions are left over current projects.

Wallace Sampson, chief executive of the borough council, said in a statement on Friday that the authority was committed to its projects, such as the overhaul of leisure services.

Major assets, such as Harrogate Convention Centre, will fall under the new authority’s control. One of Harrogate Borough Council’s last acts could be to spend £46.8 million on refurbishing the convention centre.

Visit Harrogate and the future of district’s new office building at Knapping Mount still need to be addressed.

Mr Sampson declined an interview with the Stray Ferret in which he would been asked far more questions – in the coming months the call for answers to those questions will only get louder.

North Yorkshire single council ‘will make things simpler’, says county council leader

A single super council for the entire of North Yorkshire will “make things simpler”, says the leader of the county council.

The government announced yesterday that North Yorkshire’s two-tier council system will be scrapped and replaced by one unitary authority in what will be the biggest shake-up of local government since the 1970s.

It means Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the remaining districts will no longer exist. However, the City of York Council will remain in place.

Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, and Cllr Steve Siddons, leader of Scarborough Borough Council, have both said they were disappointed with the announcement.

The plan put forward by the district authorities they represent would have seen the county split in half, with one council in the east and another in the west.

Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of North Yorkshire County Council, whose single super council mode prevailed, said last night:

“We have worked incredibly hard to get to this point because we believe it’s the right thing for North Yorkshire, its people and businesses. Today’s decision allows us to strengthen the services we know matter most to people and ensure they are fit for the future.

“A single council will also make things simpler for everyone – just one number to call, one website, one customer service team and one accountable body delivering all local government services here.

“Support for businesses, high streets and market towns can be aligned more closely with investment in infrastructure like highways and broadband. Planning, housing and health services will be able to provide more joined up support for families and communities.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat leader of City of York Council, welcomed the new that the authority will not be affected by the shake-up.

Read more:

Councillors in York voted in October 2020 to reject the notion of a merger and to support City of York’s continuation as a council in its own right.

Cllr Aspden said:

“The government’s decision is a huge vote of confidence for York, its council and recognition of the progress we have achieved with our local partners, businesses and communities.

“From the very beginning of this process, residents and organisations from across the city strongly made the case for York, stressing the need for continuity to support our recovery.”

The move was also welcomed by Unison North Yorkshire, which represents 5,500 council workers across the county.

Wendy Nichols, secretary of the North Yorkshire branch, said district authority employees would be able to transfer to the new authority on current terms and conditions under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE).

She said:

“I hope this announcement is welcomed by all members as really positive and that the spirit of professionalism continues as teams across councils work together to deliver a stronger future for everyone’s benefit.”