Parents from Harrogate took part in a demonstration yesterday calling for better school provision for children with special educational needs.
SEND Reform England is staging peaceful protests outside town halls across the country this autumn. Parents from Sen Hub Harrogate joined the latest one in Leeds yesterday.
They are campaigning about issues including lack of spaces at special educational schools and unlawful rejections for Education, Health and Care Plans, which set out what additional support is required by young people with additional needs.
Emily Mitchell and Ashlie Charleton, who co-founded Sen Hub Harrogare to help parents of children with special educational needs, were among the Harrogate contingency in Leeds yesterday.
Emily, whose daughter Elsie is autistic and non-verbal, told the Stray Ferret parents should not have to fight for an education for their children. She added:
“I joined the protest due to my own fight with getting my child into education.
“I am currently going through a tribunal process to fight the local authority who aren’t taking my child’s needs into any consideration.”
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Fourth of July protest to take place at RAF Menwith Hill
Campaigners will hold an Independence from America demonstration at RAF Menwith Hill on Tuesday.
Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign and Yorkshire CND have timed the event to coincide with the Fourth of July — American Independence Day.
The groups believe the American spy base poses a significant risk to local people because its surveillance work makes it a military target.
The demonstration aims to increase awareness of US operations at the base and ensure activities take place in accordance with UK and international law.
RAF Menwith Hill. Photo credit – Wikimedia.
Running from 5pm to 8pm, speakers include Peter Burt of Drone Wars UK, Prof Fiona Macauley from Bradford Peace Studies and Prof David Webb from Yorkshire CND.
There will also be a steel band, performance poet and a choir.
This year’s gathering will not occur outside the main gate as usual. Instead if will take place at Kettlesing lay-by on the A59 as the area around the main gate will be closed for upgrades and expansions.
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Animal rights activists march through Harrogate to Labcorp
Animal rights protestors marched from Harrogate town centre to Labcorp yesterday to protest against animal testing.
American-owned Labcorp, formerly known as Covance, has tested medicine on animals at Harlow Hill since the 1970s.
The company says this helps to develop life-saving and life-enhancing medicines for diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
Demonstrators from Vivisection Exposed gave out leaflets, held placards and banners and used a microphone to spread their messages in the town centre at noon yesterday.
Protesting in the town centre.
At 2pm they walked along Cold Bath Road and up Otley Road to Labcorp’s buildings.
Activist Jane Rose said:
“We held a one-minute silence to remember the animals that had entered Labcorp but didn’t get to leave and all those imprisoned in laboratories around the world.
“We also remembered Barry Horne, an animal rights activist who died on 5th November 2001 after suffering liver failure brought on by numerous hunger strikes.”
One of the placards at the demo.
Ms Rose said many people in Harrogate didn’t know Labcorp existed or thought it had shut down. She added:
“We gave out facts over a microphone so residents and visitors of Harrogate could hear the truth and hopefully do some research themselves to see how animal testing is not helping to find drugs and cures for humans.”
Labcorp employs about 1,400 people in Harrogate, has 170 study rooms and has 15 PhD students working there.
The Stray Ferret approached Labcorp for comment but has not had a reply.
The company previously said it takes “very seriously” the ethical and regulatory responsibilities to treat research animals with the “greatest care and respect”. It added testing new drugs on animals “is the right thing to do”.
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Campaigner accuses Harrogate Spring Water of ‘greenwashing’ over expansion plans
A campaigner has accused Harrogate Spring Water of “greenwashing” over its latest plans to expand its plastic bottled water plant over a community woodland.
Sarah Gibbs, who has staged several protests dressed as a tree, said she had seen “no evidence” from the company on how it will manage the environmental impacts of the proposed expansion at Rotary Wood, which was planted by children 17 years ago.
Her comments come as Harrogate’s Green Party, Extinction Rebellion and other campaign groups are set to protest against the plans today.
Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by French firm Danone, recently held a public consultation and is now “finalising” its proposals after a larger expansion was refused by Harrogate Borough Council last year.
Ms Gibbs said she took part in a recent consultation event, but added she was left with more questions than answers. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:
“I am interested to know how Harrogate Spring Water are finalising plans without a recent ecological survey.
“I attended the public consultation and saw no evidence of this, nor any evidence of an arboricultural impact assessment or tree protection plan.
“What I did see was a great deal of greenwashing, for example, launching a litter picking campaign.
“I have found Harrogate Spring Water bottles littering the streets of Harrogate and London.
“This is not a solution to a problem perpetuated by this industry.”
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In response, a Harrogate Spring Water spokesperson said the company would listen to all concerns from the community and that environmental impact assessments would be provided when the new proposals are revealed in full.
The spokesperson said:
“We remain committed to this approach and to taking on board people’s views about the design and landscaping of the proposed extension, which was granted outline planning permission by Harrogate Borough Council in 2017.
“We are currently putting together our updated proposals for how the new building will look and how the surrounding area will be landscaped.
“We intend to put these proposals on display to the public to gather their thoughts before we send our updated reserved matters proposals to the council.”
When the larger expansion plans were refused in January 2021, the council was accused of putting “profit and plastic before the environment” as the authority recommended approval.
This sparked a huge backlash by the community, and the plans were later rejected by members of the council’s planning committee who said they could not support the recommendation as approval would have been “damaging” for Harrogate’s image.
Harrogate Spring Water, Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate.
Harrogate Spring Water then announced it would revert back to original plans for a smaller expansion, although questions remain over how much of Rotary Wood could be felled as the final designs have yet to be revealed.
Ms Gibbs, who will hold a protest walk from Harrogate Convention Centre to Rotary Wood on Sunday, said she was against the expansion altogether as the woodland needed to be protected because of its “great importance” to biodiversity and the community.
She said:
Rotary Wood campaigners stage demo in Valley Gardens“If Harrogate Spring Water and Danone indeed listened to the community, they would not still be considering the deforestation of Rotary Wood.
“It is, in part, due to community action and outcry that the further expansion on the outline planning was refused.
“It is important that the people of the Harrogate district, and beyond, understand that they can be truly heard, and that their efforts to save Rotary Wood were not, and are not in vain. Still.”
Environmental campaigners held a demonstration in Valley Gardens at the weekend to raise awareness of the threat to Harrogate’s Rotary Wood.
Harrogate Spring Water, which is owned by French firm Danone, has revived 2017 plans to fell trees in Rotary Woods so it can expand its bottling plant.
The company’s plans would involve removing a smaller area of woodland than it proposed in a failed planning application last year.
But campaigners are still concerned about the loss of trees in part of the Pinewoods that was planted by children in 2005 to help tackle climate change.
Harrogate forest school teacher Sarah Gibbs donned her tree costume to join fellow activists during Saturday’s four-hour gathering, which aimed to tell people about Rotary Wood and the company’s expansion plans. She said:
“This issue has really touched my heart. I’m a born and bred Harrogate girl as well as a teacher and knowing children planted this wood to tackle climate change, to say it’s OK to destroy it would send out a terrible message.
“Surely after lockdown we are more aware of the value of green space to the environment and to mental health.”
Rebecca Maunder, who also took part in the protest, said:
“The aim today is to raise awareness that this is on the agenda again. A lot of people still don’t realise it is.
“Harrogate Spring Water wants to have a consultation with local people so they need to be informed about what’s going on.”
Graham Dixon, who was also present, said:
“The best way to get people to care about what’s happening is to come out and tell them.”
‘Net biodiversity gain’
Harrogate Spring Water has said it wants to achieve “net biodiversity gain” for the site, carry out a compensatory tree planting scheme and will make the remaining part of Rotary Wood more accessible to the public.
It is currently consulting on its plans before submitting a formal reserved matters planning application to Harrogate Borough Council. It says the expansion would create 30 jobs.
Richard Hall, managing director at Harrogate Spring Water, said previously:
‘We just want to make a living’: Harrogate cabbies hit out at new rules“We have a shared interest in driving prosperity for the town and creating a sustainable future for a key business that takes the Harrogate name around the UK and the world, and we hope that this process will allow us to come to a resolution which addresses people’s concerns and the town’s aspirations.”
A group of over 100 taxi drivers has said it feels unfairly targeted by Harrogate Borough Council after the authority agreed new licencing conditions that include suspending drivers who get seven penalty points for speeding.
The conditions also stipulate drivers must keep taxi plates on their vehicles even when they are not working and they must attend mandatory training courses.
The council has said the changes are “reasonable” and will improve safety for passengers but cabbies argue the policies are draconian and will put good drivers out of work.
Several drivers the Stray Ferret spoke to today on Harrogate’s taxi rank on Station Parade said the new conditions were the last thing they needed after a tough couple of years due to covid and spiralling fuel costs.
Currently drivers face a suspension if they tot up 12 points for speeding.
‘Totally out of order’
Dave Goodall, a taxi driver at Blueline, called the new conditions “upsetting” and “totally out of order”.
He said drivers could easily rack up thousands of miles a month and were faced with an ever-increasing number of hidden mobile speed vans around the Harrogate district, as well as cameras in nearby cities such as Leeds, York and Bradford.
He said:
“To have this put on us, on top of everything else, it’s a bit too much.”
Mr Goodall said cabbies often had difficult customers who were drunk, high on drugs or had mental health issues, which could distract drivers and result in them inadvertently going over the speed limit.
He added:
“If someone is caught doing 70mph in a 30mph zone, yes, they should be reprimanded.
“But to say if you get seven points you could be suspended, we think that’s totally out of order. With the best will in the world it’s so easy to get points sometimes.
“There are drivers who are on six points now who are very, very nervous. They are not bad drivers.”
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Musa Ebzao, a Hackney cab driver in Harrogate, said covid had already led to an exodus of drivers in the town. He fears the changes would put off new drivers from joining.
He said:
“We are fighting for our businesses. There’s a shortage of drivers already and a lot of lads will leave the trade. It’s the Harrogate people who will suffer.”
United front
A letter objecting to the new conditions has been signed by over 100 drivers and it will be delivered to Harrogate Borough Council’s civic centre next week.
The drivers are putting on a united front, with signatures from drivers at all the large firms, such as Blueline, Mainline and Central as well as smaller companies and private hire drivers.
They said they have not ruled out legal action or protests, like those seen in Leeds over similar proposals, in the future.
Council’s response
The proposal to suspend taxi drivers who receive penalty points has been put forward by the Department for Transport. However, it does not specify how many points a taxi driver can get before their licence is revoked.
In Harrogate, drivers will still be given the chance to argue their case and give reasons why their licence should not be revoked.
A council spokesperson said:
Environment campaigner revives Harrogate Spring Water protest“The safety of customers using taxis is paramount.
“Seven penalty points issued for motoring offences is consistent with proposals for City of York and the West Yorkshire authorities and is recommended in national guidance.
“Taxi drivers’ licences are reviewed on an individual basis when points accumulate. And while the policy specifies seven points, an opportunity is given to the driver to put their side and reasons why their licence should not be revoked.
“Once a vehicle is licensed it is always a licensed vehicle and the law does not permit drivers to take licence plates off. It cannot sometimes be a private vehicle and sometimes be a licensed vehicle at the driver’s choice. And by ensuring a valid licence plate is secured and displayed at all times it allows the public to identify the vehicle as licenced by the local authority, and prevents it being stolen and used by others.”
Environmental campaigner Sarah Gibbs has revived her campaign to oppose the expansion of Harrogate Spring Water‘s bottling factory.
Ms Gibbs played a major role in the previous campaign against the company’s plans to fell trees in the Pinewoods to expand its site.
She stood outside Harrogate Borough Council during winter in a tree costume, urging the local authority to reject the scheme. The council, which received more than 400 objections, rejected the plans in January last year.
Now that the company has announced new plans, albeit on a smaller scale, Ms Gibbs has started campaigning again.
Last weekend she put up banners in the town centre and Valley Gardens for people to see during the jubilee celebrations. She is also considering protesting outside the council offices again.
She told the Stray Ferret she was “trying to do something rather than nothing” because she felt so passionately about the issue.
“I am trying to raise awareness because not everybody will be aware that this is on the agenda again.
“I would like to see our council take the climate emergency seriously.”
Pinewoods Conservation Group has said it is “encouraged” by Harrogate Spring Water’s decision to consult with people about its plans and and its commitment to “work with us and other key stakeholders to achieve a net biodiversity gain”.
But Ms Gibbs, a forest school teacher, said “there can be no mitigation against the loss of trees”.
She said she often received abuse from people and was called a hypocrite, a claim she denied, but even so said “I’d rather be a hypocrite than do nothing”.
Read more:
- Pinewoods tree protester vows to lobby council offices every week
- Harrogate Spring Water to submit new plans to expand bottling plant soon
Harrogate Spring Water said last month it planned to revert to its original 2017 plan to expand its bottling plant.
The move, which would result in the loss of two acres of woodland, would create 30 jobs. A planning application is expected in autumn after a period of public consultation.
Harrogate Spring Water’s offices on Harlow Moor Road.
Richard Hall, managing director at Harrogate Spring Water, said:
“The town of Harrogate and the local community are at the heart of our business. So it is important for us to ensure that, as we look to grow, create further job opportunities and continue to support the local and regional economy, we also listen to them.
“That’s why we are now encouraging people to engage with us on this process, to give us the benefit of their views and to help shape the future of the company.
“We have a shared interest in driving prosperity for the town and creating a sustainable future for a key business that takes the Harrogate name around the UK and the world, and we hope that this process will allow us to come to a resolution which addresses people’s concerns and the town’s aspirations.”
Siblings, 11 and 7, get creative to protest against new Knox Lane houses
Two creative siblings have put up posters and written poems to protest against a housing development on Harrogate’s Knox Lane.
North-east property developer Jomast wants to build 53 homes on a field off Knox Lane in a green corner of Bilton that residents cherish.
Jasmine Stoyles, 7, and her brother Francis, 11, both go to Richard Taylor Church of England Primary School in Bilton.
They live close to where the homes could be built and enjoy admiring the deer, birds and other wildlife in the green fields.
But they fear the idyllic scene won’t be there when they grow up.
Mum Caroline said the threat of development inspired the kids to get their pens out and protest. Over the weekend they put up posters and poems on trees and a notice board nearby.
Jasmine’s poem says it’s a “horrible sight looking at concrete and cement” and Francis’ poem pleads “see the trees that grew up there, soon it will be all bare”.
Ms Stoyles said:
“We just appreciated all through lockdown how many people come here. It’s a lovely place to be.
“To lose that connection to the countryside would totally change the nature of the area.”
Jasmine’s poem is below:
“Spring is a lovely time, but not when people are killing nature,
“People do not care about nature anymore because they are looking at their toes,
“Wrens and other birds are going to lose their homes because they are cutting down the trees,
“It is a horrible sight looking at concrete and cement,
“Nothing can replace Harrogate’s space.”
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Ripon MP calls for PM to withdraw ‘Savile slur’ after Keir Starmer protest
Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith last night called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to withdraw “false Savile slurs” after Sir Keir Starmer was surrounded by protesters outside parliament.
It is the second time in a week the local MP has criticised his party leader on Twitter. He said:
“What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling. It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.”
Mr Smith’s tweet has received 50,000 likes and attracted national media coverage.
Sir Keir, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, required a police escort last night after being surrounded by a mob shouting slurs about Savile.
It came a week after Boris Johnson criticised the Labour Party leader for failing to prosecute the serial sex offender.
Mr Smith tweeted after that incident that “false and baseless personal slurs are dangerous”.
There have been subsequent calls for Mr Johnson to apologise for his comments but Downing street has indicated he will not.
What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling. It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.
— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) February 7, 2022
Sir Keir had to be escorted to a police car whilst protesters criticised him for supporting covid vaccinations and supposedly shouted “Jimmy Saville”.
On his twitter, the Skipton and Ripon MP said:
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Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, agreed with Mr Smith. He posted on Twitter last night:
“PM – Apologise please. We claim to be the Mother of all Parliaments. Let’s stop this drift towards a Trumpian style of politics from becoming the norm. We are better than this.”
Mr Johnson is yet to withdraw the comments but did condemn last night’s protest saying:
Group marches through Harrogate demanding climate change action“The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.”
A group of over 50 people marched through Harrogate town centre this morning to demand action on climate change.
The good-natured march was organised by Harrogate resident Ian Hallett who was inspired after cycling to COP26 in Glasgow and back.
There were chants and banners with messages about climate change as curious shoppers looked on.
The group included members of Extinction Rebellion Harrogate, Harrogate & District Green Party and Harrogate District Cycle Action,
Mr Hallett said:
“[After COP] it was an opportunity to invite people along for a march.”
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The march was attended by people of all ages. At the front was a colourful banner made by Anna Bryer and her children with the message “Act on the science”.
The colours represent Met Office temperatures from 1850 to the present day and show how the planet has heated.
It was made from recycled fabric, including a prom dress and an old pillow.
Ms Bryer said:
“It’s a striking dramatic and frightening image. It’s based on scientific fact, and we can’t argue with that.
“This is about our children’s future”
