Two covid deaths reported at Harrogate hospital

Two deaths from patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

According to latest NHS England figures, the deaths were reported on Friday and Monday.

It takes the death toll from covid at the hospital since March last year to 191.

Meanwhile, a further 107 cases of covid have been recorded in the district according to latest Public Health England figures.

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The district’s seven-day rate currently stands at 646 per 100,000 people — the highest in Yorkshire.

The North Yorkshire average is 481 and the England rate stands at 375.

As of Thursday, there were 14 covid patients at Harrogate District Hospital.

A total of 129,466 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 121,080 have had a second dose.

Future of Kirkby Malzeard pub to be made in weeks

A decision on whether a Harrogate district pub under threat from demolition will regain its protected status will be made by next month.

The Henry Jenkins Inn at Kirkby Malzeard has been at the centre of a long-fought battle between villagers and a developer since it closed in 2011 and was later removed as an asset of community value by Harrogate Borough Council.

In a latest attempt to secure its future, a petition from the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group was delivered to a council meeting last Wednesday. The petition urged the authority to “do the right thing” and reinstate the 18th century pub’s protected status.

The council has now issued a statement saying it will make a decision “no later than 10 November”.

A council spokesperson said:

“The council received an asset of community value nomination for the ‘eastern part’ of the Henry Jenkins public house on 16 September from Henry Jenkins Community Pub.

“It is currently being assessed against the criteria in the Localism Act and a decision will be made no later than 10 November as required by the legislation.”

The status of an asset of community value means buildings must be used by the community and are protected from a change of use or demolition.

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If approved, the campaign group hopes to buy and take over the running of the pub for which it says it has the backing of £237,000 in share pledges.

One of the Harrogate district’s oldest pubs

The Henry Jenkins is named after the Yorkshire super-centenarian that legend states lived to be 169 years old.

It is one of the oldest inns in the Harrogate district and is the last of several pubs in the area named after Mr Jenkins, who is reputed to have lived from 1500 to 1670.

The Henry Jenkins pictured when it closed in 2011. Photo: Google.

The Henry Jenkins pictured when it closed in 2011. Photo: Google.

Despite its rich history, members of the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group say it has now fallen into a state of disrepair and is in need of a change of ownership in order to bring it back to its former glory.

Speaking at last week’s meeting, group member Richard Sadler said the pub was an “intrinsic part of the history, culture and identity” of Kirkby Malzeard, but had recently become a “blight” on the village.

He said: 

“We have now put together a business plan and have community share pledges for £237,000 to buy the pub.

“But there is a problem. The council has delisted part of it simply because that part was sold off.

“That is why we are asking the council to do the right thing and put the whole pub back as an asset of community value so we have a chance of bringing it back as a thriving pub for future generations.

“This could be a huge boost to our village and the whole region.”

‘Lack of engagement’ saw Knaresborough BID fail, say businesses

A “lack of engagement” and “vague plans” led to a proposed Knaresborough Business Improvement District being rejected, say businesses.

Local traders voted down the plan this week by 80 votes to 73, with 153 votes cast overall.

BIDs, which already exist in many towns and cities, including Harrogate and Ripon, aim to improve footfall in towns and cities.

Businesses in areas that vote for creating them have to pay a levy to fund their activities.

But traders in Knaresborough said they felt the plans for the town were unclear.

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Annie Wilkinson-Gill, who owns The Crystal Buddha, said the organisation could have been good for the town had the BID task group engaged more.

She said:

“The BID could have been a good thing for the town, 

“But the lack of engagement from the BID team and directors with the town’s businesses and lack of transparency is why it wasn’t successful, 

“The plan was completely vague and had very little information within for us to want to invest in it.”

‘The town will continue to flourish’

Ashleigh Lambert, who owns Cenheard at Conyngham Hall in the town, said:

“I feel the plan from the BID lacked direction and failed to engage local businesses with the impacts, positive or negative.

“Knaresborough businesses have come together against the odds of votes stacked against them to vote for what they wanted for the town. I’m confident the town with continue to flourish with the support of groups and the council.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Bill Taylor, secretary and treasurer of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce and a member of the BID task group for a response to the ballot but he declined to comment.

More than 300 firms were eligible to take part in the vote, which started in September and ran until October 8.

For the BID to succeed, a simple majority of those who vote, representing more than half the total rateable value of all properties, must be in favour.

But although Harrogate Borough Council threw its 28-strong block vote behind the scheme, it was unable to muster enough support.

Knaresborough businesses vote against setting up a BID

Knaresborough businesses have voted narrowly against setting up a business improvement district.

More than 300 firms were eligible to take part in the vote, which started in September and ran until October 8.

BIDs, which already exist in many towns and cities, including Harrogate and Ripon, aim to create safer, cleaner and better promoted city and town centres to improve footfall.

Businesses in areas that vote for creating them have to pay a levy to fund their activities.

Results published by Harrogate Borough Council show that 153 votes were cast in the ballot but just 73 voted for the Knaresborough BID. Eighty voted against.

For the BID to succeed, a simple majority of those who vote, representing more than half the total rateable value of all properties, must be in favour.

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In September, the borough council lent its support to the BID and cast 28 votes in the ballot as it has that many rate paying properties in the town.

Authority officials also previously agreed to lend £27,000 for start-up costs and would have contributed around the same amount in levy charges had the BID been given the go-ahead.

Spofforth council appeals to Prime Minister over controversial housing proposal

Spofforth parish council has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging the government to investigate a controversial housing development in the village.

Yorkshire Housing Ltd has challenged Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to refuse its proposal for 72 homes on Massey Fold.

The developer already has outline permission to build on the site, but councillors turned down an application for appearance and landscaping in November last year.

Ahead of a decision from the government’s planning inspector, the parish council has written to Boris Johnson calling on him to “throw the weight of government” against the scheme.

The letter from Shirley Fawcett, chairman of Spofforth with Stockeld Parish Council, says the village is “a very blue village but which is seeing red thanks to the government’s planning policies”.

It adds that it “will never be the same” if the appeal is allowed and that the “Sword of Damocles” hangs over villagers.

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It added that a recent Chesham and Amersham by-election defeat for the Conservative party was because the “government have more on their minds than planning issues”, but pleaded for Mr Johnson to listen to the village’s concern.

It said:

“We ask from the bottom of our hearts on behalf of the whole village that you investigate this situation and throw the weight of government against this scheme and of course hundreds of other schemes proposed for villages throughout the country.

“We would fully support the need for the development on ‘brown field’ sites but definitely not on this countryside site.”

Developer seeks costs

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Housing Ltd has submitted an application for costs against Harrogate Borough Council should the appeal be given the go-ahead.

The developer said the borough council had “unreasonably delayed development” at the site and that its case “does not contain any objective analysis that justifies the reason for refusal”.

In response to the costs application, the council said:

“In making the determination to refuse the application, the local planning authority have had regards to the development plan and supporting material consideration. 

“The local planning authority respectfully requests that the inspector dismisses the applicant for an award of costs.”

The Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning appeals, will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Harrogate town council: could it run Harrogate Convention Centre?

From the running of Harrogate Convention Centre to bin collections, the district’s public services will change in 18 months when devolution kicks in.

One of the major questions confronting Harrogate in 2023 will be what assets it wants to retain control of.

North Yorkshire County Council, which successfully bid for the new unitary council model, has promised “double devolution”.

That means a town council will be able to bid for assets — even though this may see council tax precepts hike up.

One of the Harrogate district’s biggest assets is its convention centre. Harrogate Borough Council has long sold it as an economic benefit to the town.

But it soon could become an economic vehicle which is no longer controlled locally.

HCC as an economic asset

In April 2023, a process known as “vesting day” will be held. This will see assets of all seven district councils moved to the control of North Yorkshire Council, the proposed name of the new unitary authority.

Among those which will be transferred is Harrogate Convention Centre.

The HCC has for a decade been sold as a £60 million benefit to the district – though this dropped to £35 million according to minutes from a council meeting held in December 2019.

An economic impact summary used to assess the value of the HCC in 2016/17.

With the HCC no longer in the district’s control, the question becomes what will its future be and what role will it play under the unitary council?

North Yorkshire Council officials will have to decide whether it is a strategic asset to them or not.

The new authority will have its own tourism and economic agenda, which the HCC may be included in.

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However, the council will also have to factor in assets in other districts, including Scarborough, Richmondshire and Craven, and have to decide whether to retain control of the HCC after 2023.

Harrogate Borough Council, which will no longer exist in 2023, has long felt that an arms length approach to running the centre is the best approach. It has put public money into the HCC and has since planned a £47 million renovation of the site.

In its annual report in 2019, the council said:

“We are responding to the challenges of the changing nature of the conference industry by redeveloping the Harrogate Convention Centre site.

“The facility contributes around £55 million a year to the local economy and has an important role to play in the district.”

However, the HCC is one of only two conference centres to be run by a local council. The other is Brighton Centre.

The unitary council may feel that the operating model of the HCC needs to change.

Town council control?

Given the scale of the asset and the uncertainty over how a unitary authority based elsewhere in the county will treat it, the question then becomes whether the HCC can be controlled locally?

Should the county council’s “double devolution” agenda come to fruition, a Harrogate authority could bid for control the HCC.

But, given that town councils elsewhere have had to significantly hike up their council tax precepts to pay for modest assets, it may be a tall order for an authority with fewer resources to handle.

Jonathan Webb, senior research fellow at the think tank IPPR North, told the Stray Ferret that any council-run public assets needed to benefit the wider area.

He was critical of the government’s “patchwork” devolution agenda, but added that some services are better run by larger authorities.

Mr Webb said:

“Different authorities will have different systems and I think part of the problem is that the public is not aware of how it works.

“The challenge of creating this new council is it is an extremely large area. The largest at the moment is Cornwall.”

Mr Webb added that the question for the unitary council is whether it can run services in Harrogate better or not.

“Does the unitary deliver anything better. Does it give them more resources or does it affect it?”

Harrogate district reports record 191 daily covid cases

The Harrogate district has reported another record high for daily covid cases as the infection rate continues to soar.

A further 191 cases were confirmed today by Public Health England. The figure surpasses the previous high of 177 on October 6.

The district’s seven-day covid rate now stands at 631 per 100,000 people after passing the 600 mark for the first time yesterday.

The North Yorkshire average is 463 and the England rate stands at 366.

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No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest NHS England figures.

A total of 129,455 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 121,051 have had a second dose.

Stump Cross Caverns owners live underground for 105 hours

The owners of Stump Cross Caverns are taking on a mammoth 105-hour stay underground to raise money.

Lisa Bowerman and Nicholas Markham, who own the limestone caves near Pateley Bridge, are staying in one of the caverns as part of a crowdfunding campaign for new cave lighting.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Ms Bowerman said the move was inspired by Geoff Workman, who in 1963 spent 105 days in one of the caverns and broke the previous world record for time spent continuously underground by 40 days.

The pair have set a crowdfunding target of £200,000 and will remain in the cave until 8pm on Friday.

Ms Bowerman told the Stray Ferret:

“We decided that we needed to do something crazy. It’s a massive undertaking and we need this crowdfunder to work.

“I said to Nick that if we do nothing then we will get nothing.”

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The couple, who are dressed as a caveman and cavewoman, are live streaming their stay in the cavern every day on their Facebook page.

As part of the fundraising campaign, the pair have also decided to raffle off their £130,000 flat in Pateley Bridge.

They hope to sell 20,000 tickets for £10 each to generate funds to maintain the ancient limestone caves.

In March, the couple raffled their VW Campervan, which raised £72,5000 in 40 days — enough money to keep the caverns open.

You can find out more on how to support the Stump Cross Caverns campaign here.

Harrogate town council: will it be created and what would it cost?

In the first of our series on devolution and the prospect of a Harrogate town council, we look at how parish councils taking on more assets has been done in Cornwall.

Devolution has detonated a bomb under local government in North Yorkshire and thrown into doubt who will control Harrogate’s assets.

Harrogate Borough Council will no longer exist in 18 months time and any power it had will be given to one council in North Yorkshire, in what is the biggest shake-up to local authorities since the 1970s.

What remains to be decided is whether any control will be taken locally over the town’s assets. This has led to the suggestion that a Harrogate town council will be created to oversee this.

Since the devolution agenda was launched, county council officials have pointed to Cornwall Council as an example of what could be done in North Yorkshire.

If this model is followed, a Harrogate town council would be created and take on a range of assets – but it would also see local council taxpayers foot the bill.

A Cornwall model

Back in 2009, Cornwall scrapped its six districts and county council and set up a single unitary authority — just as North Yorkshire is doing now.

In an effort to reach out to local areas, it started a process of “double devolution” to its 197 parish and town councils.

This saw town and parish councils take on more assets and, in theory, given more control.

As a result, town councils launched bids for more power. Truro City Council took over the city’s library, youth centre, sports hall and open spaces, such as Lemon Quay.

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Other town councils opted for more modest bids and took control of art galleries and CCTV services.

But the drive to give local areas more say over how their assets are run has come with a cost to taxpayers.

In order to run museums and youth centres, town councils in Cornwall have increased local precepts – which goes on top of Cornwall Council’s tax bill.

Some of the increases have been dramatic, with sums rising into the hundreds. The hikes in council tax precepts are also not capped, unlike at unitary authority level.

Truro currently charges £267.56 for a Band D property and has an annual income from its precept of £1.8 million.

This goes on top of a general council tax bill of £1,903.82 – meaning the overall bill in Truro for a Band D property stands at £2,171.38.

But the revenue from ratepayers has not been enough for some parishes, which have had to look for additional income in order to meet the upkeep on assets.

Many of the town and parishes have also taken control of the car parks in order to raise money.

Should a Harrogate town council want to replicate the model in Cornwall, it could see mean similar actions being taken.

A town council for Harrogate

In the coming years, Harrogate will have to ask itself what powers and assets it wants to take back from North Yorkshire Council

Once that is answered, it will also have to ask how will it pay for those facilities.

Currently, ratepayers in Harrogate do not pay a precept as it does not have a town council.

For those in Ripon, Knaresborough and other parishes though, there is already a precept to be paid to fund town council services.

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This could be about to change for Harrogate.

Some in the district feel it’s long overdue that Harrogate ratepayers start funding their own services, such as the clean-up of the Stray and community centres.

Gareth Owens, who used to sit on Kirby Hill Parish Council, said he would welcome Harrogate getting its own town council.

Residents in Kirby Hill currently pay a £30 precept on top of their council tax bills in order to fund the parish council for services such as cutting the village green.

But Mr Owens feels that residents also end up paying for services in Harrogate through general taxation.

He said:

“My personal opinion is ‘why should a village fund services in Harrogate that we do not use?’.”

This sentiment has also been echoed in Ripon, where ratepayers have previously criticised council investments such as the £47 million in Harrogate Convention Centre as they feel it only benefits Harrogate.

However a Harrogate town council decides to fund itself will be down to local people and elected councillors.

But what is the case is that for every asset that Harrogate wants, there will be a price to pay and that may hit the pockets of local taxpayers.

Tomorrow, we look at the the future of Harrogate’s major assets and how they will be affected by devolution.

Former Harrogate editor given freedom of the borough

The former editor of the Harrogate Advertiser has been made an honorary freeman of the borough after 41 years in local journalism.

Harrogate Borough Council bestowed the honour on Jean MacQuarrie, who stepped down from her role this year, at an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday.

Ms MacQuarrie was editor for 33 years and also served as editor-in-chief of JPIMedia’s Yorkshire weeklies.

She was also involved in many local organisations including Saint Michael’s Hospice, the Army Foundation College independent advisory board, Harrogate Business Luncheon Club, Harrogate BID and the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

Ms MacQuarrie said: 

“For my work in Harrogate and the wider district to be recognised in this way is amazing, and I am very grateful to all the councillors for granting me this, their highest honour.

“I supported many organisations throughout the district, whether that was to help them raise funds, or raise the profile of their work by shining a light on what they were trying to achieve.

“But to be honest, it was easy, because the Harrogate district is full of inspiring, enthusiastic and generous people who are committed to supporting others.”

She added: 

“Local newspapers are all about being a champion for your town and district, highlighting the positives and also challenging and campaigning when you and your readers see something that is wrong.

“I have worked with some great people over the years, and always been lucky to have a good team around me. I had some exceptional editorial leaders too, who gave me free rein to edit the newspapers in the way I wanted to.

“I particularly enjoyed mentoring and encouraging talented young journalists and watching their careers flourish.”

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The title of honorary freeman is the highest honour the borough can bestow and was last awarded in 2012 to Jonathan Wild, former chairman and chief executive of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said: 

“Jean has been an unstinting champion for all things in the Harrogate district for decades.

“She ensured that our area’s song was sung, that local events were supported week in, week out, that campaigns to make our area better enjoyed a high profile and that our businesses were enthusiastically promoted.

“Jean has also made an outstanding contribution to the development of young and upcoming journalists.

“Over the decades I have been involved in local politics, I have seen many young journalists working on the local paper. I have seen them grow and move on to bigger things.

“This doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because there is an exceptional person nurturing them. And that person is Jean MacQuarrie.”