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An amusement arcade looks set to open on the site of a former building society in Knaresborough.

The High Street gaming centre will be open to over-18s between 9am and 10pm.

North Yorkshire Council planning officer Sam Witham has recommended councillors approve the scheme when they meet next week — despite objections from Knaresborough Town Council and three residents.

They were concerned about noise, the impact on the High Street appearance and anti-social behaviour.

Carl Bearman, director of a company formed in January called Spectacular Bid, applied to change the use of vacant premises at 30 High Street.

The site, which is on the corner of Knaresborough High Street and Park Place in Knaresborough Conservation Area, was home to Yorkshire Building Society until March 2018.

Mr Whitham’s report to councillors says the location is within the primary shopping area of Knaresborough, complies with the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, and would not harm the character and appearance of the conservation area. It says:

“Subject to conditions, the proposal is acceptable with regards to its impact on neighbouring amenity, and in particular the impact of noise on the residential flats above the ground floor unit subject to this proposal.”

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The report adds:

“The proposed use would bring about the re-use of the property and it is not considered that the use would be incompatible with the town centre location.”

One of the conditions attached to approving the scheme is that machines must not to operate at more than 25% volume.

Councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled 13-person Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee will decide whether to accept the recommendation to approve the scheme when they meet on Tuesday next week.

Business Breakfast: Knaresborough barbers celebrates 20 years in business

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Knaresborough barbers celebrates 20 years in business

Knaresborough barber shop, The Barber Asylum, celebrated 20 years in Knaresborough last week with a day of festivity.

The Barber Asylum, on the High Street, was first opened in Knaresborough on Cheapside by Alex Tabor.

After 20 years Mr Tabor has said barbering has definitely changed, with new styles and trends keeping him and his five staff on their toes.

He said:

“It feels good it seems to have gone really quick. We’ve had customers that have supported us from day one, we’ve got to know them really well. We’ve also watched some of our youngest customers grow up and go off to university.”

The shop is looking to hire one or two new barbers currently:

“Covid was a bit of a nightmare, we lost three members of staff. We’ve just recruited EJ but it’s been really bad getting staff. People have moved out of the industry over covid and there’s probably been a bit of a lag with the colleges getting people trained.”

Mr Tabor also owns Bluebeards Barber Shop on Commercial Street which opened 18 years ago.

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Former Harrogate Convention Centre operations head promoted

A former head of operations at Harrogate Convention Centre has taken up a senior post at Leeds First Direct Arena.

Martin McInulty, who has 20 years experience in the industry, will become general manager at the arena.

He said:

“I have lived and worked in Leeds for over 20 years and I have a real passion for the city.

“I started my events career at Leeds Town Hall in 2000. In this time, I have worked at some of the region’s most iconic venues.”

Knaresborough man to open cafe and physio rooms in old Natwest building

A Knaresborough man is set to turn the former Natwest building on the high street into a cafe and physio rooms.

Mark Holmes is a sports therapist, working out of clinics in Knaresborough and Harrogate but with planning permission approved he can now move his business into the previously unused building.

The size of the building allows for three treatment rooms, a takeaway hatch and a cafe fit for 50 covers.

Mr Holmes said the main driving force behind the cafe was to give people in Knaresborough a bigger space to go for food, he said in Harrogate there are so many places for people to choose from and he felt this was missing in Knaresborough.

As a well-known town landmark, Mr Holmes has chosen to reflect the building’s history and the year it was built and call the cafe 1858.

Hoping to open in July, Mr Holmes said:

“Knaresborough has lots of beautiful tea rooms but I just felt we needed a bigger cafe in town, rather than people feeling like they had to go to Harrogate for that. The ethos is to introduce something new to Knaresborough offering a fusion between healthy and traditional food.

“Also, as a parent, I wanted a place big enough for pushchairs. I love where I live but I felt Knaresborough was missing somewhere like this.”

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The physio rooms are separate to the cafe area and the plans also include a bike storage area in a former safe and outdoor seating at the back of the building.

Mr Holmes said the coffee he will serve will be the one he developed alongside Sheffield Hallam University.

After years working with athletes he decided to make his own performance coffee, Amunra Coffee, which he said has up to 200mg of caffeine per cup compared to 90mg in normal coffee.

Harrogate council approves sale of Knaresborough flats

Four renovated flats on Knaresborough High Street are to be sold off by Harrogate Borough Council for almost £900,000.

Members of the council’s cabinet agreed to the sale at a meeting last night after the Grade II listed properties were unoccupied for several years before being bought by the council in 2019.

A renovation project also including two retail units has recently been completed and the properties are now on the market.

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of the council, said the authority would not make a profit from the £879,900 leasehold sale and that he hoped more vacant properties in Knaresborough town centre would now be brought back into use.

He told last night’s meeting:

“These are a series of properties that have been neglected by the private equity owners for many years.

“The whole area had been dragged down and many residents were aware of this and very disappointed by the state of the high street.

“It is a listed and very complicated building, and has a number of interesting construction aspects which has made it challenging.

“People can now really sense the improvement of the high street and I’m pretty optimistic that we will see other people who own properties in the area join the bandwagon.”

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The flats are individually valued between £189,950 and £295,000.

The council will retain control over the freehold of the flats, as well as the freehold of the two retail units that were part of the refurbishment.

Cllr Swift, who is also cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, added: 

“We have done a lot of work in Knaresborough over the last few years including just up the road at Conyngham Hall with an investment in the tech centre which has been extremely positive.

“And I think we can even do work on Knaresborough House in the future which may be something to keep our eyes on.”

Derelict Knaresborough High Street properties restored

A row of derelict properties on Knaresborough High Street have been renovated with a £1m investment from Harrogate Borough Council.

The council bought the seven Grade II listed properties in 2019 after they had been unoccupied for several years. They consist of three retail units and four residences.

Renovation began with planning permission and listed building consent in 2020, and has just been completed.

One of the properties that did not need renovation has already been occupied by Knaresborough Exotic Rescue.

The other properties have been listed for rent or sale.

Councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader and Cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, said;

“These properties had been a blight on the high street in Knaresborough for several years.

“But after they were brought to our attention by Councillor Darling, we recognised the potential they could have to provide both homes and business spaces, we took the necessary steps to purchase them.”

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A former resident of one of the properties, Ms Hassall, wrote to Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones to share her thanks for the project, saying;

“I am so very pleased that 82a Knaresborough High Street has been renovated; I lived there when I first got married in 1949.

It was quite a bad state then. However, we decorated it and made it as nice as we could.

It is good to see these properties being renovated.”