Harrogate Borough Council

3 April 2008: OVER £1.1m is being invested in the market towns of Knaresborough and Boroughbridge following the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward, agreeing to support a number of improvement projects across the towns with a £500,000 grant.

1 April 2008: A public meeting held last week to discuss plans to provide skateboarders in Harrogate with their own facility at Stonefall Park was attended by over 120 people of all ages and gave a good opportunity for all views to be aired.

1 April 2008: The Planning Inspector appointed to conduct the public examination of Harrogate Borough Council’s core strategy for the development of the district to 2023 has confirmed that this will take place on 22 April as programmed.

31 March 2008: Harrogate Borough Council’s Sports Development Team is on the look out for more volunteer coaches.

Harrogate Borough Council will be making a bid to Cycling England to become one of 10 Cycling Demonstration Towns in England.

Harrogate and District Safer Communities Partnership (HDCSP) has been working with North Yorkshire County Council’s Trading Standards to set up ‘No Cold Calling Zones’ across the district.

13 March 2008: Yorkshire Forward, the local regional development agency, has developed a great opportunity for urban settlements in Harrogate, York and Scarborough to access grant funding to support community development related activities.

14 March 2008: RESIDENTS in Dragon Road, Harrogate have had peace restored following legal action.

7 March 2008: INITIAL proposals for the redevelopment of the Ripon Spa Baths’ site are being put out to public consultation.

13 March 2008: THE Chief Constable for North Yorkshire, Mr Grahame Maxwell, will be attending a meeting of Harrogate Borough Council’s Community and Partners’ Scrutiny Commission on 3 April.

12 March 2008: AS council tax bills start dropping through letterboxes in the Harrogate district, the latest campaign to get more people claiming council tax benefit also gets underway.

11 March 2008: A major survey into the quality and quantity of hackney carriages in the Harrogate district has given licensed drivers and owners a big ‘thumbs’ up’.

7 March 2008: THE Harrogate and District Safety Community Partnership, has been commended by the Home Office for its work in driving down crime and reducing the fear of crime.

10 March 2008: PLANS to provide a skate park in Harrogate are to be discussed at a public meeting to be held at 7.00 pm on Wednesday, 26 March at the Harrogate Town Football Club on Wetherby Road in Harrogate.

10 March 2008: THE first grant from Harrogate Borough Council’s “community chest” is going to Hookstone Chase Community Association for improvements to the building which is located in what was once the school caretaker’s bungalow.

5 MARCH 2008: A park which nearly had to close its paddling pool because of health and safety regulations may become the first in the Harrogate district to have a children’s modern water play facility.

7 March 2008: A new £440,000 bridge over busy Hookstone Road in Harrogate is to be opened by nine year old Tom Smith and 10 year old Sophie Brook pupils at Oatlands Junior School.

3 MARCH 2008 : Talented modern pentathlete, seventeen year old Sam Sanderson, a member of Harrogate District Swimming Club, has just received notification of his selection to the Great Britain Senior World Cup Team for Round 3 2008

3 March 2008: TWO plane trees that have been causing problems for pedestrians using Hambleton Grove, Knaresborough are to be removed.

27 February 2008: AS rail travel is proving ever popular between Harrogate Leeds and York, there is a growing need to provide parking places for commuters.

20 February 2008: THE new edition of Yellow Pages is being delivered from 28 February and Harrogate Borough Council is once again taking part in the Schools’ Yellow Wood Challenge to divert old directories going into landfill.

19 February 2008: CHILDREN as young as 12 years old were taken off the streets and returned to parents as part of Harrogate’s Operation Beacon on Friday night {15 February}.

13 February 2008: PEOPLE in Starbeck are being invited to apply for funds from the Starbeck Community Fund.

8 February 2008: YOUNG football fans from Fairfax Community Centre in Harrogate who have been taking part in football coaching sessions are being rewarded with a trip to see their favourite team – Leeds United – play at Elland Road on 12 February.

11 February 2008 : COMMUNITY groups and organisations in Knaresborough and surrounding villages are being invited to apply for money.

6 February 2008: ONE man’s quest to unearth everything there is know about Harrogate’s long history has led him to an extraordinary find on ebay.

4 February 2008. WORK on a new £440,000 footbridge crossing the railway line at Hornbeam, Harrogate has been delayed.

4 FEBRUARY 2008: PLANS to provide a mix of sporting facilities alongside public open space in the Claro Road/Kingsley Road area of Harrogate are going under the spotlight.

29 January 2008: YOUNG people aged between 12 and 19 are being invited to help shape plans for a skatepark at Stonefall Park, Harrogate.

30 January 2008: THE decision taken by North Yorkshire County Council to terminate a 30 year old highway agency arrangement with Harrogate Borough Council is being legally challenged.

28 January 2008 – PUT YOUR BACKS INTO IT LADS is not an instruction you will hear very often these days whether you are in the Army or work in the building and construction industry.

28 January 2008: A local authority at the cutting edge of providing alternative sources of power for homes, has recently approved funding to install ground source heat pumps at a further 24 of its properties.

23 January 2008 – RESIDENTS of Ripon and surrounding villages are being invited to comment on proposals to provide a new £3.3m swimming pool in the City.

15 January 2008: PROPOSALS to develop land at Spacey Houses Farm, Pannal near Harrogate, are to be discussed at a public meeting on Monday, 28 January.

16 January 2008: THE gate to over 30 acres of walled parkland in Scriven near Knaresborough is now open following completion of safety work by Harrogate Borough Council.

14 January 2008: For the next six weeks, Harrogate Borough Council will be carrying out full public consultation on the new framework to guide future growth and development in the district up to 2025.

15 January 2008: Businesses as diverse as brewers and stationery suppliers are being invited to an event being held at the Pavilions, Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate on 30 January when they will hear from experts

15 January 2008: FOLLOWING the decision by North Yorkshire County Council’s Executive to approve recommendations that the highway agency with Harrogate and Scarborough Borough Councils, highway chiefs say they are prepared to fight on.

14 January 2008 : ASPIRING sporting stars and artistes of the future are being invited to apply for a grant from Harrogate Borough Council’s 2008 Centenary Grants Project.

8th January, 2008 - His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, will officially reopen the Royal Hall in Harrogate on Tuesday 22nd January 2008. Timings will be announced next week.

2 January 2008: A five thousand pound reward is being offered by Harrogate Borough Council which leads to the conviction of those guilty of destroying seven cherry trees

21 December 2007: This Christmas the dogs’ trust is raising awareness of their freedom project. The project provides a free and confidential fostering service in Yorkshire for dogs belonging to families fleeing domestic violence.

20 December 2007: PROPOSALS to terminate the local highway agency in Harrogate and Knaresborough is against the Government’s Central-Local Concordat say highway chiefs at Harrogate Borough Council.

14 DECEMBER 2007: CHILDREN and young people in the Harrogate district are celebrating their local council’s huge lottery win.

17 December 2007: ACHIEVING nearly 100 per cent reduction in mercury abatement at Harrogate’s Stonefall crematorium, puts Harrogate Borough Council right at the top of authorities caring for the environment.

17 December 2007: PLANS to open the gate to the new Jacob Smith Park in Scriven, Knaresborough have been delayed because contractors are having a Christmas break.

13 December 2007: OPTIONS for providing Ripon City and surrounding villages with new swimming facilities were last night discussed by members of Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet.

12 DECEMBER 2007: CHANGES to business rates are to come into effect following the government’s announcement that it intends to change the current package of relief.

12 DECEMBER 2007: CYCLISTS, horseriders and walkers wishing to see the opening of the Bilton to Ripley bridleway are celebrating today. They have just heard that the Sustrans Connect2 bid was the outright winner in the £50m People’s Big Lottery.

11 December 2007: MARKET traders in Knaresborough and Ripon are doing their bit to support the environment.

11 DECEMBER 2007: SENIOR transport councillors and officers at Harrogate Borough Council have heard today that North Yorkshire County Council has declined to be present at a meeting of the Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Commission

5 December 2007: This Friday night sees the launch of a Christmas safety campaign in Harrogate. The Harrogate District Safer Communities Partnership is raising awareness of the ‘know your limit’ campaign fully supported by the Harrogate Pubwatch.

5 December 2007: In the run up to Christmas and the New Year sales, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will be out and about acting like Santa giving away early Christmas treats.

30 November 2007: LIKE all local authorities, Harrogate Borough Council relies on Government grant and local council tax to provide services for its residents. But it also relies more and more on attracting external funding.

3 December 2007: THE legal transfer to public ownership of over 30 acres of parkland in Scriven, near Knaresborough, has taken place this week following a generous bequest from Miss Winifred Jacob Smith.

29 November 2007: SENIOR councillors and officers at Harrogate Borough Council have expressed their dismay at the decision taken by North Yorkshire County Council’s Transport and Telecommunications Overview and Scrutiny Committee

26 November 2007: Harrogate Borough Council’s influential District Development Committee, made up of 32 of the council’s 54 members, will have the opportunity early next month to give its views on the recommended sites

26 November 2007: Pannal Primary School in Pannal, Harrogate has become the first primary school in North Yorkshire to install a wind turbine in its grounds.

Councillor Elwyn Hinchcliffe, who represented Lower Nidderdale on the council, lost his courageous battle with cancer on Saturday, 17 November. Elwyn was nearing completion of a four year stint on the authority.

21 November 2007: RESIDENTS of Bilton are set to have their own park, as Harrogate Borough Council has completed the purchase of over four acres of land just off Bachelor Gardens close to North Outfall Allotments.

19 November 2007 – CADETS from the Army Foundation College in Harrogate are joining forces with the Pinewoods Conservation Group and the Tree Team at Harrogate Borough Council to plant over 600 tree whips in the Pinewoods

15 NOVEMBER 2007. CONTRACTORS working on the re-development West of the Market Place in Ripon will open 60 properly laid out car parking spaces from Thursday, 15 November. These will be four-hour free disc parking spaces.

A planning application from Tesco for a 107,630 sq ft store at the former gas works site off Ripon Road and Skipton Road in Harrogate has today (14 November 2007) been withdrawn.

13 November 2007 : REPRESENTATIVES from voluntary and community groups in the Harrogate district are being invited to a series of lottery funding workshops in Harrogate’s Council Offices.

12 November 2007: Harrogate Borough Council’s Sports Development Team is on the look out for more volunteer coaches.

8 November 2007: Mrs Lilian Mina, Chairman of the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, will be admitted as a Freeman of the Borough of Harrogate at a ceremony to be held in the Sun Pavilion on Tuesday, 13 November 2007.

7 November 2007- NEGOTIATIONS are underway between Harrogate Borough Council and Ripon City Council, which will result in a major investment in leisure facilities for the city.

1 NOVEMBER 2007: OVER 2000 young people are being invited to a drama performance ‘aimed at positively influencing their lifestyle choices’.

23 OCTOBER 2007: Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Richard Cooper, has acted quickly to allay residents concerns over the confusion about possible powers contained in the Climate Change Bill

24 October 2007: A local football club has been offered a 10-year interest free loan from Harrogate Borough Council to help it secure a £414,000 grant from the Football Foundation.

23 October 2007: THE lid of a £37,000 ‘community chest’ has been opened by Harrogate Borough Council who now wants to hear from voluntary and community groups who need small grants to help support their projects.

17 OCTOBER 2007: A POPULAR bridge over the River Nidd in Knaresborough is to be repaired following the creation of an £80,000 fund to reinstate the rotten timbers at Horseshoe Field Bridge.

18 OCTOBER 2007: WHEN Harrogate Borough Council dedicated a plaque some years ago in honour of two of its gallant sons – Victoria Cross holders’ Donald Bell and Charles Hull –

17 OCTOBER 2007: BRAND new woods don’t get planted very often but that is exactly what members of the Bilton Conservation Group are planning to do on 26 and 27 October.

11 October 2007: A £760,00,000 lifeline to save Starbeck Baths has today been revealed by Harrogate Borough Council.

5 OCTOBER 2007: Harrogate District Safer Communities Partnership is taking their crime fighting story straight to the streets as part of a Home Office national campaign.

2 October 2007 - A pioneering housing project in the Harrogate district to provide homes and jobs for young people has been shortlised in a national housing award scheme

2 OCTOBER 2007 - IT is recognised that good provision for arts and culture lead to vibrant communities, which is why the Harrogate District’s Cultural Partnership is celebrating news that provision in this area is at an all time high.

24 September 2007: SUPPORTERS of 79 projects - which collectively will be one of six nationwide bids for £50m of lottery money - will be out in force up and down the country on Thursday, 27 September.

18 September 2007: AS well as providing annual financial support for major cultural events in the Harrogate district, Harrogate Borough Council created a funding stream in 2006 to help small arts and heritage projects.

18 September 2007: BIKE crime dropped in the Harrogate district during a very successful campaign organised by the Harrogate District Safer Communities Partnership during 2006.

18 September 2007 : CONFIRMATION that a local crime fighting partnership has once again topped the crime reduction league, is followed by news that crime in the Harrogate district is down by 10 per cent compared to the same time last year.

18 September 2007: ENGLAND’S floral town, Harrogate, will be the focus of Europe’s floral and environmental best when Harrogate Borough Council hosts the Entente Florale Awards Ceremony 2007.

11 SEPTEMBER 2007 - IT’s that time of year again, when residents in Starbeck are being invited to apply for funding from the Starbeck Community Fund.

7SEPTEMBER 2007: PEOPLE with an interest in protecting the unique character of Ripon are being invited to attend two workshops being held by Harrogate Borough Council’s Heritage and Design Team,

20 AUGUST 2007: RIPON residents who were missing out on benefits they were entitled to now have more money in their pockets following a special event held recently in the city.

21 AUGUST 2007: UNANIMOUS approval from Harrogate Borough Council’s Human Resources Committee to provide *extra resources for its parking service is followed by news that

22 AUGUST 2007: HARROGATE Borough Council’s policy of planting two trees for every tree it has to remove will be implemented at Hambleton Grove in Knaresborough.

22 AUGUST 2007: FOR the third year running, Harrogate Borough Council’s review of car parking charges will not lead to increased costs for the city of Ripon.

22 AUGUST 2007: WORK will start in the next two weeks on two experimental traffic schemes before the autumn school term begins. The two schemes are aimed at relieving traffic congestion during weekday peak periods.

28 AUGUST 2007: WORK is underway on the latest link in Harrogate Borough Council’s cycling network. This will run around the edge of the Harrogate High School Campus between Avondale Road and Kingsley Drive.

28 AUGUST 2007: ORIENTEERING is a growing sport which has just been given a boost locally with news that three permanent courses in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens extending into the Pinewoods and Birk Crag are to be improved.

29AUGUST 2007 – NOW in its fourth year, the Harrogate district ‘community football challenge’ is growing in popularity and this year’s challenge will be bigger than ever.

29 AUGUST 2007- PEOPLE with an interest in protecting the unique character of Knaresborough are being invited to attend a workshop being held by Harrogate Borough Council’s Heritage and Design Team,

31 AUGUST 2007: LIKE all local planning authorities, Harrogate Borough Council has to prepare a new style Local Development Framework (LDF) made up of a number of documents that will replace the current Local District Plan.

31 AUGUST 2007: PARKING in Ripon is at a premium following the start of work on the long awaited residential and commercial redevelopment west of the Market Place, which is expected to take two years to complete.

4 SEPTEMBER 2007 – HARROGATE has done it again - winning the coveted Yorkshire in Bloom Large Town Category. This is the 26th time the town has taken this title, which will be added to a string of other floral excellence awards,

15 AUGUST 2007 -HARROGATE Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council have agreed in principle to support the creation of a Bridleway on a route from Bilton to Ripley using the existing disused railway track.

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13 AUGUST 2007: WORK gets underway this week on a new £440,000 footbridge crossing the railway line at Hornbeam to make it easier for those walking or cycling to the college and business park.

13 AUGUST 2007: OWNERS or tenants of properties in the town centres of Boroughbridge and Knaresborough which have unused empty space are being urged to contact Harrogate Borough Council.

We are very concerned at the criticism you have unjustly levelled at Harrogate Borough Council concerning its care for trees in its control (Sunday Times 5 August 2007).

10 AUGUST 2007: With over 116,000 electors and 130 polling stations covering the 500 square mile Harrogate District, Harrogate Borough Council regularly reviews its procedures to make sure polling in person is as easy as possible.

10 AUGUST 2007: WHEN you think of managing an emergency, thoughts normally turn to the blue light services.

10 AUGUST 2007: ARTS Council, Yorkshire, with the support of Harrogate Borough Council’s Community Development Team, will be running a seminar in Harrogate to offer advice and assistance

8 AUGUST 2007: HARROGATE district has been found to be exceedingly clean in the latest report from ENCAMS.

8 August 2007: - Live music, kids’ activities, competitions and of course lots of organic produce means that this year’s annual Allotment Show is sure to be as successful as ever.

6 August 2007: EXPERIMENTAL traffic signal arrangements to manage traffic at the busy Stockwell Road Railway Bridge in Knaresborough are to be made permanent in the next few weeks before children return to school after the summer holidays.

6 AUGUST 2007: PLANNERS in the county’s busiest planning team are celebrating news that improvement in their handling of planning applications has been rewarded with the highest planning delivery grant (PDG) in North Yorkshire.

2 August 2007 : A high powered meeting between officials from Northern Rail, Network Rail and Harrogate Borough Council has seen the first positive step towards the re-development of the Harrogate railway station.

31 JULY 2007 - RESIDENTS living in Mashamshire don’t have to rely on car or public transport if they want to access council services.

OVER 200 hundred children will come together on 1 August to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of National Play Day. All these young people aged between 4 and 12.

TENANTS of Harrogate Borough Council have taken up the challenge and their cameras to provide some stunning shots for next year's Tenants' calendar

NORTH Yorkshire County Council's proposals to site a household waste recycling centre on Penny Pot Lane has received a resounding 'no' vote at Harrogate Borough Council's planning committee held Tuesday, 17 July.

OVER 150 young people from around the Harrogate district have been invited to a civic reception to recognise their participation in the North Yorkshire Youth Games held at Ampleforth College in June.

THE footballing Charlton brothers are world famous but not many people know that they honed their footballing skills by kicking balls against the coalhouse doors in the back alleys of Ashington.

TWO young people chosen to take part in a pioneering Youthbuild housing project in the Harrogate district are inviting contractors, college lecturers, councillors and representatives from the Government office to view their new homes on Tuesday, 17 July

THOSE in receipt of benefits are one of the most vulnerable sectors of society, so any fraudulent activity is a particularly nasty crime. In the last financial year, Harrogate Borough Council issued benefits totalling £25m.

Organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show are urging visitors and exhibitors to consider alternatives to driving to the event next week.

AS the new football season gets underway next week, there will be a bigger buzz at Wetherby Road home of Harrogate Town AFC. The team plays in the Blue Square North League, just two steps away from the Football League.

PEOPLE with an interest in protecting the unique character of the Pateley Bridge area are being invited to a workshop on 11 July, which will start the process of an appraisal of the Conservation Area.

TREE specialists have been saddened and sickened by wanton vandalism of ancient trees in private land which is to be dedicated to the people of the Harrogate district.

OVER 200 representatives from local businesses, schools and community groups attended Harrogate district's 2007 Best Action of the Environment (BAFTERS) Awards Ceremony.

IN the week that the Government has announced support to ease the country's rural housing problems, a new North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Board is hoping to bring up to £63m of additional housing investment to ease housing problems across the county

THE latest innovative housing development from Harrogate Borough Council, in partnership with Yorkshire Housing and the Housing Corporation, is to be named after one of its most famous sons - the Victorian artist William Powell Frith.

WHEN Harrogate Borough Council began an £8m restoration of the Royal Hall it was thought that this budget would bring just a partial restoration to protect the fabric of the building and that a full restoration couldn't be achieved

HARROGATE Borough Council is a step closer to finding a way of meeting the Government's requirements that 400 homes a year be built throughout the district every year for the next fifteen years.

Jo Kilburn, Housing Policy Strategy Officer, was last night chosen as Harrogate Borough Council's Employee of the Year 2007. Jo was nominated for her tireless efforts to deliver an innovative but complex housing scheme

SERVICES provided by Harrogate Borough Council have bucked the national trend. The latest statutory user satisfaction survey of the country's larger district councils has revealed

THE countdown continues to England becoming smoke free on 1 July 2007 and as Harrogate Borough Council's Public Protection Division continues its work with businesses to help them be prepared,

PUPILS and staff from local primary schools have been getting to grips with big environmental issues with the help of Harrogate Borough Council.

BABIES, toddlers and young children love to splash so if mums and dads fancy keeping the bathroom floor dry for a change they should bring them down to Starbeck Baths for this year's Splashathon.

The question Could Community Land Trusts be the answer to providing affordable housing in rural areas? was answered at a recent conference held in Knaresborough.

A youth shelter being provided in Belmont Field, Starbeck has been painted in 'Starbeck Blue' to highlight local support for this new facility.

An independent Panel appointed by the Government to look at housing growth rate has listened to Harrogate Borough Council and not developers when it comes to the number of new houses which can be built over the next 15 years.

NO single person can prevent climate change but we can all do our bit. Many people in the Harrogate district, either as part of a group, business, school or organisation, are doing just that and more besides.

North Yorkshire residents have delivered a resounding NO to plans to create a single unitary council providing all services across the whole of North Yorkshire - 77% preferred instead to see

EXOTIC and unusual plants and trees are plentiful in the Harrogate district but thanks to the generosity of Harrogate resident, Tony Robinson, the Valley Gardens in Harrogate will become home to one of the rarest trees in the world the Wollemi Pine tree

RESIDENTS not on the Electoral Roll have until just 18 April to make sure that they get registered and thereby become eligible to vote in the forthcoming Harrogate Borough Council elections on 3 May.

THE competition may not be quite as intensive or as competitive as the National in Bloom Awards, but Harrogate Council's housing tenants are being asked to take part in a gardening competition

SPECIALIST tree work is being undertaken in over 30 acres of open space and woodland in Scriven near Knaresborough which has been bequeathed by Miss Winifred Jacob Smith to become a public park for the enjoyment of local residents and visitors.