New figures on coronavirus deaths, which now includes statistics outside of hospitals, paint the clearest picture yet of the outbreak in the Harrogate district.

The government has released three different sets of data, which will be released on either a weekly or a daily basis.

The first set of data, released daily, is the number of deaths in hospitals and, with two more deaths reported today, Harrogate District Hospital has now reported 46 deaths.

The second set of data, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), has revealed that up to April 17, there have been 22 Harrogate coronavirus deaths outside the hospital.

19 of those deaths outside hospital were recorded in care homes, one death was recorded at home and another two deaths happened in “other communal establishments.”

The final set of figures is the number of care homes that have reported a coronavirus outbreak, which is the first time this data has been released.

Of Harrogate’s 71 care homes, 26 have so far reported outbreaks. That works out at 36.6% of the district’s care homes.

North Yorkshire County Council has approved a £10 million scheme to double rail services between Harrogate and York, allowing two trains per hour in each direction.

Improvement will come from upgrading the signalling technology, from enabling faster speeds as well as from more efficient use of areas with double track.

The Harrogate Line Supporters Group has called for many years for the single-track section between Knaresborough and Cattal to be converted into double-track.

However, the county council – which secured funding for the project back in 2013 – estimates that converting the route into double-track would have cost £40 million.

The scheme could have been scrapped altogether when Northern Rail was taken into public ownership but the council has worked with Network Rail to find a cheaper option.

Network Rail has agreed to fix the cost of the project, including all development and design work, at £9.854 million.

The council has identified £9.6 million from the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership as well as £3.4 million from parking fines to fund the works.

Council documents have proposed using the surplus from the under budget rail improvement scheme for the overbudget A1 (M) Junction 47 works.

Councillors met virtually to approve the funding for the scheme on Tuesday morning. The deadline for the completion of works from December 2020 to May 2021.

Brian Dunsby, from the Harrogate Line Supporters Group, told the Stray Ferret that the group welcomes the news:

“We have been waiting for this investment for several years after our plans for doubling the actual track throughout were rejected, because there was not sufficient money in the budget to meet Network Rail’s estimate of the potential cost.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet will hold its first-ever virtual meeting next week on Wednesday, May 6.

All committee, council, and cabinet meetings had been suspended since the coronavirus lockdown in March.

This is because of laws which said meetings at which decisions are made, and votes taken, had to happen face to face with elected members all at the same location.

The government temporarily changed the rules to enable council meetings to take place from April 4 and other councils across the country have been taking advantage of that.

Now Harrogate’s councillors will use Microsoft Teams for the 5.30pm meeting, and it will be combined with a live stream so the meeting can be followed on the council’s YouTube channel.

Graham Swift, cabinet member with responsibility for democratic services, said:

“We have managed to conduct business continuously throughout the pandemic but larger decision making that engages council, cabinet or committee had to be postponed. However, now that the government has introduced new legislation to permit remote meetings, we can get back to conducting our committee decisions collectively, and in public.I am grateful to our democratic services and ICT teams for the work they’ve done to make this happen.”

Harrogate district gin distillery has opened a ‘Drive-in Market’, where people can either pull up and order or use the click and collect service.

Steven Green, co-founder of Harrogate Tipple has set the drive-in up at the distillery in Ripley. He told the Stray Ferret:

“People want to support local buisnesses… We have pulled together all these great companies in one place to offer a safe service for customers, and also support buisnesses during a crisis.”

You can pick up some Harrogate Tipple hand sanitizer, as well as supplies from local companies such as Baltzersens, Coldbath Brewery, The Little Ale House, Daleside Nursery and many more.

Last year’s UCI Road World Championships in Harrogate brought thousands of visitors onto the Stray. 

At the same time, heavy downpours arrived in Yorkshire. Anyone who knows Harrogate is familiar with the flooding along West Park which accompanies rainfall at least once a year. Add in heavy footfall and even heavier vehicles crossing the grass and the result was a quagmire, churning up the ground deep below the surface. 

For the event, the timing could not have been worse. The state of the ground forced the organisers to close the fan park several times during the week. On the final day, the weather was so bad that the route of the race had to be changed and the helicopters were grounded, leaving the only television footage beamed around the world to be some very soggy shots from a motorbike behind the participants. 

It was unsurprising, then, that the fan park was also closed a day ahead of schedule. Over the following days, the take-down of the event’s hub was much slower than planned because of the conditions – and the resulting damage to the Stray was gradually revealed. 

What has been less obvious is where responsibility lies for the repairs. The question of who pays for the Stray has remained unanswered, with HBC insisting it would be Yorkshire 2019 or its insurers.

Yet investigations by The Stray Ferret have today revealed a £150,000 expenditure proposed by the council – on top of the £51,000 already paid out since the event. It confirms, for now at least, the work will be paid for by the people of the Harrogate district.

The 200 acres dividing us

Both physically and metaphorically, the Stray represents Harrogate. It’s the stunning open space for which the town is known – and, at the same time, it divides us perhaps like nothing else. 

For many, it’s a valuable asset which must be protected at all costs. The damage done to it is unforgivable, not least because of the long-term impact it is having on our town – Harrogate in Bloom has declined to enter any competitions this year, young footballers and others can’t make use of the space, and the bright orange fencing is a constant reminder as people approach the town centre that this seven-month-old debate rumbles on. 

For others, it’s just a patch of grass. The argument at the time was that it would soon re-grow in the spring, and that those complaining about the damage done should find something more important to occupy their time. After all, Harrogate had been shown off around the world thanks to the huge international event it had just hosted.

Wide stretches of land remain grass-free

Fast-forward from September to April and it is evident that the grass is not going to re-grow on its own. Significant work is needed – to the tune of £200,000 as revealed today by The Stray Ferret, and perhaps even more than that, according to one groundworks expert. 

The question is not whether the event was worth the resulting damage – nor even whether it should have been foreseen. Rather, it’s whether sufficient provision was in place to protect taxpayers from having to fund the repairs. 

Today’s revelation about expenditure confirms that taxpayers’ money will be used to carry out the work. That means at least £150,000 will have to be found from elsewhere in the council budget – at a time when, as it admitted last week, it faces a shortfall of £10m because of coronavirus. 

With the warm weather helping to dry out the worst of the surface-level mud, now is the perfect time to begin repairing the damage, especially with such low footfall. But whether scarifying and re-seeding over the coming six months will return the Stray to its former glory – and whether there is any possibility of, or even appetite for, further events to come to Harrogate – remains to be seen. 

This column is written for The Stray Ferret by Susie Little co-founder of Covid Co-Operation, Harrogate 

News of a new virus emerging in China started filtering through during January, just as snippets in amongst the Brexit furore.  I don’t think anyone, here in the UK, could possibly have envisaged then where we would find ourselves, just a few weeks later.

Fast forward to mid-March and rumours were swirling about an imminent “lockdown”. Loo roll was as rare as hens’ teeth and I started thinking; initially about over-70s I knew who would be facing the prospect of three months housebound and how I could help them.  The natural extension to that were others I didn’t know, and others like me, who would surely want to help them.

So Covid Co-Operation, Harrogate on Facebook was born. Within 72 hours we had over 4,000 members and, now six weeks later, over 10,500.  The response has been extraordinary and, as the fifth week of “lockdown” ends, people’s kindness, generosity and willingness to step up still astounds every day.  Need Calpol?  No problem.  Broken thermometer?  Amy will drive across town with a new one for you.  Lost your job and need to feed your children?  A week’s worth of food and treats gathered and delivered in a matter of hours.

It became obvious to me, early on, that this will be a life-changing event in so many ways – I think we will see lasting, positive societal and corporate change.  I sense a shift in people’s priorities and values.  Through “lockdown” we’re being forced to live a far more simple life and certainly for my generation and those younger than me, this is the first time we’ve experienced shortages and being unable to buy what we want, when we want it.

I’ll be honest; the non-stop activity of the Group means I rarely have time to dwell on the horror; the sheer enormity of what it is we’re all living through.  Mentally, this works for me; I can’t change what’s happening but I can, along with the best team of admins ever created and over 10,000 Harrogatonians, make things a little easier for people who need it.

I’d like to think, in years to come, when we look back on this period in our lives, we will remember how our town and its people came together to look after one another in a way never seen before.

It’s a privilege to be part of it.

Covid Co-operation has picked six small local charities who help vulnerable groups and launched a Crowdfund project to support Harrogate Foodbank, IDAS, Hear to Help, Supporting Older People, Canaan Warehouse and SparkSupport.  So far it has raised £6,000 – a £1,000 for each charity.  

To donate:  https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/covid-co-operation-harrogate

This column is written for The Stray Ferret by Fiona Movley, Chairman of the Harrogate International Festivals 

With the most difficult challenges come some of the greatest opportunities.

As a charitable arts organisation with little public funding (less than 1% of turnover), the current situation calls for robust business thinking and some tough decision making.

Historically we have kept our team small, enabling us to be agile and react to change.  The team’s quick thinking has led to some imaginative changes including ‘remote Festival experiences’ via our website.  But it has meant that we have furloughed half of our staff; the remaining team working from home as they not only deliver remotely, but plan for the future and dismantle the summer programmes.

We were well ahead with reaction to Covid19. We made the difficult decision to hold back the launch of our Summer Season as major arts events were only just beginning to close down around the world. We knew early on that it was the only decision to take to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our audience and team.

Economic times are very tough but after much deliberation we decided against launching a public appeal for funds.  We will lose £850k of our income this year through cancelled events, sponsorship and fundraising as much of our income is generated from March to July. However, it is not the right time when we all have so many personal worries about health and jobs.  The time will come when your help and support will be vital to us as we move forward.

Today I appeal to you in a different way.  The support of the arts in Harrogate is vital to the future of the town.  We may have lost many events, with a knock-on effect for everyone, not least of all our local economy.  When we come back after this dreadful time, we will need your help to bring back to life the rich vibrancy that is Harrogate International Festivals.

Lives are changed for the better through arts organisations. We need the arts to help us rebuild and enrich our lives once more. Some of our work may in the future be delivered in a different way, we are all learning a great deal during this exceptional time, but when we come back in our full glory, we will need your help to spread the word to bring our audience back again.

Let’s cherish our arts organisations, nurture them, and protect them.

Find out more via HIF Player and HIF at Home, it is all free to access – www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com

There has been praise for Harrogate Borough Council over its handling of emergency business grants to keep firms afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

A few weeks after the Government told Harrogate’s council to distribute £50 million to its 4,200 eligible businesses it has handed out £40 million, or 80%.

So far, the council has sent cash payments of £10,000 or £25,000 to 3,000 businesses.

The government released figures on Sunday to show councils across the country have been handling the business grants, with Harrogate Borough Council rated quite highly.

Of the 314 councils named in the document, Harrogate was in 88th place for the percentage of eligible businesses it had sent loans.

At that time, it had sent out £32,820,000 to 2697 businesses, which works out at 64%. That has now risen to £40 million and 80%.

Some councils had already handed out 100% of their business grants by that point but well over a hundred had only handed out 50%, which has attracted some criticism.

One of those businesses is run by photographer Paula Beaumont, who applied for a £10,000 grant after the coronavirus lockdown meant her work dried up:

“My last wedding was on the March 20. There was meant to be 100 people there and there ended up being six. The process of applying for a grant was absolutely fantastic. I applied on March 27, I had an email on April 3 to say my application had been accepted and the money was in my bank by the April 8. You have no idea how helpful this is, I can now breathe a bit.”

Photographer Paula Beaumont.

Stuart Wright, Business Growth Specialist, who has been working with a number of Harrogate businesses during the crisis said:

“I think they have done a fantastic job. My Harrogate based clients would all agree, I’m sure. Very efficient and prompt which has been brilliant for helping to create a really positive mood amongst folk who were quite panicked. Business was stressful enough with the uncertainty without the added pressure of having to jump through hoops and red tape to access the grant, so dealing with this in the way that they have has given my clients the headspace to steady their ships and create plans to come out of lockdown even stronger than they were before.”

Business Growth Specialist Stuart Wright.

Harrogate Borough Council’s leader Richard Cooper said they’re now focusing on the complex cases:

 We suspect there may be one or two companies or organisations who are eligible for the support but that haven’t come forward.  If you are a business owner in the retail, leisure or hospitality trade, please make sure you have a look at our grants information page. Our focus now is on the more complicated claims which we are working through.”

North Yorkshire Police has reported an increase in the number of day-trippers making unnecessary journeys into and around the region. As the good weather is expected to continue this weekend, the force is stressing the importance of staying home.

Over 350 fixed penalty notices have been issued since the lockdown rules came into action in March. Nearly half of these have been issued to non-residents who are coming to North Yorkshire to visit a beauty spot.

” We’ve seen a massive increase in cyclists on the road and also recently a definite increase in the number of cars on the road passing through. I don’t believe they are all locals”.

Speaking about the recent influx of day-trippers to North Yorkshire, Assistant Chief Constable Mike Walker said:

I do not believe a group of friends travelling from West Yorkshire to climb the Yorkshire Three Peaks is essential nor do I believe a group of people travelling into the Yorkshire Dales from Bradford for a day out is essential. Exercise can be and should be taken locally following the Government guidelines, which have not changed since the day they were issued.”

North Yorkshire Police will be increasing their patrols and key routes will be monitored for signs of increased traffic and visitors to the area.

Chair of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, Richard Flinton, said:

“Because the sun is up it doesn’t mean the virus is not every bit as deadly.  Anyone can carry it, anyone can spread it and it is indiscriminate in who it hits hardest. Please stay at home and exercise if possible from your doorsteps, because a fine is not the only thing you risk if you don’t follow the guidance.”

Armed forces brought senior NHS to Harrogate’s Nightingale Hospital after landing a Chinook helicopter on the Stray this afternoon.

It landed at around 1pm between Wetherby Road and Knaresborough Road, drawing onlookers as the occupants disembarked.

The Stray Ferret understands the helicopter was used to transport senior NHS staff to the temporary Nightingale hospital, which was officially opened on Tuesday via video link. At present, it is not being used to treat patients, but will remain available until needed.

Eyewitnesses reported that the visitors were taken by van towards Harrogate Convention Centre, before returning two hours later. After a number of people gathered to watch proceedings, officers from North Yorkshire Police arrived to ask them to move back and disperse.

The chinook helicopter left the Stray at around 3.30pm. The NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and the Humber had not responded to our request for more information about the visit at the time of publication.