Harrogate covid rate remains stable despite 428 daily infections

The Harrogate district’s covid rate remains stable despite 428 positive covid infections reported today.

Latest government figures show that the district’s seven-day covid average is 1,533 per 100,000 people, up on yesterday’s figure of 1,467.

It remains below both the county average, which is 1,618, and the England rate of 1,674.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England.

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According to government figures, 104,951 booster or third jabs have been given in the Harrogate district, as of today.

Latest figure show that the number of covid patients being treated at Harrogate District Hospital remains at 23.

Harrogate Town promotion hero Connor Hall joins Port Vale

Harrogate Town promotion winning defender Connor Hall has joined Port Vale on a permanent deal, the club confirmed today.

Hall made more than 100 appearances for the club and scored against Notts County in the National League play-off final at Wembley in 2020.

The 28-year-old centre half also won players’ player of the year in the promotion season and played the full 90 minutes in the FA Trophy final victory over Concord Rangers the following year.

He has joined fellow League Two outfit Port Vale for an undisclosed fee.

Manager Simon Weaver said Hall played a “big part” in Town’s recent success.

He said:

“I want to wish Connor the very best of luck.

“He’s played a big part in our progress over the last few years and in particular his goal at Wembley in the play-off final will always be remembered with great fondness.”

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Town also today signed 6ft 4ins defender Leon Legge, 36, from Port Vale.

Legge gas made over 100 appearances for the Valiants over the past three seasons. He has also played for Brentford, Gillingham and Cambridge United.

Town manager Simon Weaver said:

“We are really delighted to bring Leon in. We believe he will add aggression and leadership to our group. It remains so important to win the first ball in both boxes and we will be asking Leon to do that for us.

“Off the pitch, I know the lads will benefit from his professionalism, knowledge and dedication to the game.”

Plan submitted to refurbish Harrogate’s Coach and Horses pub

Plans have been lodged to refurbish the Coach and Horses pub in Harrogate.

Provenance Inns, which owns West Park Hotel on the same street, took over the pub in October last year.

The new owners have now submitted plans to revamp the bar and kitchen area and reinstate the corner entrance.

It would also see part of the first floor converted into a restaurant area along with staff accommodation and office space.

Anthony Blundell, commercial manager at Provenance Inns, told the Stray Ferret that the company wanted to maintain the Coach and Horses as a “traditional pub”.

He said:

“The idea is to refurbish what is already there.

“We see it as the last traditional pub in Harrogate. We know from our guests how well it was respected.”

Documents submitted to Harrogate Borough Council say the refurbishment will create up to 26 full time jobs across “a range of skilled and semi skilled occupations”.

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It is unclear when the pub will reopen, however Mr Blundell said the owners could get started on the work as soon as planning permission is granted.

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

The Coach and Horses has been closed for 20 months.

Previous landlord John Nelson lost the pub’s licence when police found customers drinking outside and not observing social distancing rules during the weekend of May 30, 2020.

Mr Nelson is well-known in the Harrogate area — he was landlord for 33 years and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities.

Harrogate council to continue to fund Welcome to Yorkshire

Harrogate Borough Council is set to continue paying its subscription to the troubled tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire, despite an increase in the cost.

Borough council officials confirmed to the Stray Ferret that the authority will honour its payment this year, which will be more than £14,000.

Councils across North Yorkshire are to consider whether to help keep Welcome to Yorkshire afloat after the tourism body upped its subscription fee for local authorities by some 45 per cent.

The proposal has been met with criticism from leading district councillors with some responding to the increase by calling for the stream of public money that has been handed to WtY to be permanently plugged or for a decision to be postponed.

However, a spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said it would continue to honour its subscription until there was any change in the regional approach to the tourism body.

They said:

“We recognise the need for an organisation that has a Yorkshire wide focus to help develop the Yorkshire brand in order to attract visitors to the region. 

“This enables us to build on the successes of Visit Harrogate, and the reputation we have as an events destination, to drive both leisure and business visitors to the Harrogate district. 

“Unless and until there is any change to the regional approach to tourism we confirm that subscriptions will continue to be paid in accordance with our existing agreement.”

The tourism body has admitted making “big mistakes” in the way it spent taxpayers’ money, including spending more than £430,000 removing and investigating its former chief executive, Sir Gary Verity, following concerns over his expenses claims.

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In recent years numerous local authorities have threatened to withhold funding from WtY, at a time that its finances have been hit hard by the pandemic.

An officers’ report to a meeting of Richmondshire District Council’s corporate board on Tuesday next week states the subscription fee for local authorities was initially “modest” at £1,300 a year until 2012, when the rate was raised to £10,000.

The cost of the subscription for next year has risen to £14,515, which WtY has justified on the basis that there had been no increase in the six previous years.

Criticism from leading councillors

Stuart Parsons, leader of the Independents group on North Yorkshire County Council, said WtY’s page views for Richmondshire were far inferior to the privately-run Richmond Online tourism website, which was receiving one million hits a month.

He said:

“What have we been getting out of Welcome to Yorkshire? Nothing but scandal. Originally it was supposed to be immediately self-funding, but it has always relied on massive public contributions.

“Councils should not be giving any more money to an organisation that has not demonstrated it is making an effective difference to our lives and our economy.”

Lord Scriven, the former leader of Sheffield City Council, has said WtY needs to adopt a self-funded model.

However, Cllr Gareth Dadd, executive councillor for finance at North Yorkshire County Council, said the authority would examine any request for funding from WtY “in the light of its performance and our ability to pay”.

No agreement over Harrogate Starbucks appeal costs six months on

Harrogate council bosses have yet to reach an agreement with developers over appeal costs for a new Starbucks on Wetherby Road, despite the proposal being approved six months ago.

Euro Garages, the developer behind the coffee shop, took Harrogate Borough Council to appeal over its decision to refuse the proposal.

In July 2021, a government planning inspector granted permission for the new drive-thru to go ahead.

Euro Garages said the authority “demonstrated unreasonable behaviour” when refusing the application. It was granted costs for the appeal.

However, a spokesperson for the council said an agreement had yet to be reached over appeal costs.

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In May last year, council bosses decided not to challenge the appeal over concerns that losing risked legal costs of over £50,000.

The site of the former dental surgery site, which was earmarked for the coffee shop, has since been demolished.

Residents criticised the proposal for the Starbucks ahead of its approval.

Mark Hinchliffe, who has lived in Harrogate for 20 years, told the appeal hearing in June 2021 that the road was already dangerous without the development.

Pannal garages to be demolished for housing despite parking complaints

A block of garages in Pannal are set to be demolished and replaced with council housing, despite concerns it will only worsen parking problems in the area.

Harrogate Borough Council has approved its own plans to build two new homes at Pannal Green where it says eight garages are underused and new parking spaces will be provided nearby.

But many locals say the site is well used for parking and that if removed more cars will be forced onto the already busy surrounding streets.

A total of 45 residents have lodged objections including Louisa Humpage who lives next to the site and has raised a separate complaint of losing access to a side gate at her home.

She said she had begun legal talks over the issue, but the council has argued there is no right of access over its land.

Speaking at a council meeting on Thursday, Mrs Humpage said: 

“The behaviour of the council does not feel representative of its constituents, but actually working against us in their own interests.”

There are around 1,800 households currently waiting for social housing in the Harrogate district – around 75% of which have requested to live in suburbs such as Pannal.

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Using garage sites to bring forward new housing has been a tactic used by the council to make some progress on the problem, with similar plans recently approved in Ripon.

Yet several residents living on Pannal Green believe it is not the right area for new housing and that the parking problems need addressing as a priority.

Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council said in a letter of objection that the additional six parking spaces proposed “does not even pay lip service” in recognition of the problem.

Conservative Cllr John Mann, who represents the Pannal ward on Harrogate Borough Council, also said it is already “extremely difficult to park in or around Pannal Green without the addition of new houses”.

He told Thursday’s meeting: 

“If there are fewer parking spaces, the number of residents looking for parking spaces is going to increase significantly.”

Calls for safety action on ‘rat run’ in one of Harrogate’s fastest-growing areas

Councillors and residents frustrated with delays on a new footpath for a “dangerous” road in one of Harrogate’s fastest-growing areas are stepping up their calls for action.

The Kingsley Road area is facing the construction of around 600 new homes and a new footpath and street lighting providing a link with Bogs Lane was promised as part of a deal with housebuilders, but detailed plans have yet to come forward.

Cllr Philip Broadbank, who represents the Starbeck area, said safety had become a serious concern for residents and that “urgent action is now needed”.

He told a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee:

“I really do worry about what could happen if we don’t get this issue resolved soon.

“I’m raising this because it’s a dangerous situation and needs to be resolved.

“Over the last three years major developments have started around the railway bridge and many of the new homes are now occupied.

“Over 600 homes are in the progress of being developed and there is now an urgent need to get a footpath and lighting in this area.

“We can’t delay action for much longer – we need to make sure this area is safe for people to walk and cycle.”

Cllr Broadbank also said the “rat run” road was only getting busier with traffic due to the growing population and cars using it to avoid queues at Starbeck level crossing.

‘Bumper-to-bumper’ traffic in Kingsley area

This comes after residents previously warned the Kingsley area was already struggling with “bumper-to-bumper” traffic – even before the hundreds of new homes were built.

And ever since construction works began there have been complaints over heavy lorries using the narrow streets, mud on the roads and temporary closures. This has led to several enforcement orders against housebuilders being drawn up by Harrogate Borough Council.

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Councillors, residents and Harrogate MP Andrew Jones have all written to the North Yorkshire County Council on the promise of a new footpath, and there is now a request for the authority to come up with a “speedy plan of action”.

Melissa Burnham, highways area manager at the county council, told Thursday’s meeting the issue was being treated as a priority and that the delays have been partly due to drawn-out talks with landowners.

She said: 

“There was a planning obligation on one of the developers to design and deliver a footway link between the Barratts development site and railway bridge.

“Unfortunately, a review of the footway design revealed the proposal put forward was not deliverable due to site constraints.

“North Yorkshire County Council’s highways teams have reviewed alternative designs, but unfortunately the solution requires third-party land which has and still continues to be a lengthy process in terms of negotiations.”

She added: 

“North Yorkshire County Council highways can certainly offer reassurances that progress is being made to bring about a satisfactory solution, but the process is very much time-constrained by processes which are not directly in our control.

“Because of this I’m not able to give a commencement date yet, but I can assure you those conversations are taking place.”

Harrogate district reports another 308 covid infections

The Harrogate district’s covid rate continues to climb after another 308 infections were reported today.

Latest figures show that the district’s seven-day covid average stands at 1,544 per 100,000 people.

But it remains below both the county average, which stands at 1,680, and the England rate of 1,853.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England.

Latest available hospital figures show a total of 23 patients who tested positive for covid are currently being treated at Harrogate District Hospital.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire County Council has stepped up emergency planning to mitigate for what it calls a “significant reduction” in staff across critical care services and the wider care sector amid rising covid rates.

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Plans for 256 homes in Boroughbridge approved at second attempt

Final plans for a major housing development in Boroughbridge have been approved at a second attempt after being refused over concerns that the homes had been “crammed in” together.

Barratt and David Wilson Homes has had outline approval for the Stump Cross site since 2017 but was refused final permission for 260 homes last year when the proposals were described as looking “like a sink development from Lancashire”.

The comments were made by Conservative Cllr Nigel Simms who said the scheme was “not something that we should be having in North Yorkshire”.

He later apologised for his remarks after negative media coverage across the county’s border.

Speaking at a meeting of Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee on Thursday, Cllr Simms, who represents Masham and Kirkby Malzeard, said he was now happy with the latest plans but questioned the number of homes for the site which is part of a larger 450-home development

He said: 

“I’m perfectly satisfied with what we have been asked for today – I have no problem with it whatsoever.

“But the overall outline consent is for 450 dwellings and when you add the two sites together it is now at 470.

“It’s not an argument for today, but I would like that sorted before the other plans come to this committee.”

Barratt and David Wilson Homes had lodged an appeal against the council after its previous plans were refused last year, but an agent for the developers said this would now be withdrawn.

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Liam Tate, planning manager at the company, also said several changes had been made to the latest plans including a slight reduction in the number of homes from 260 to 256 and less terraced properties in the centre of the site.

Speaking at Thursday’s meeting, he said: 

“This application follows a previous proposal presented to this committee in June last year.

“Since then we have held meetings with officers and also taken the opportunity to meet with members of this committee.

“These meetings were extremely helpful and gave us a better understanding of the concerns expressed last time round.

“A series of changes have been made across the site, most notably in the central section of the layout where large areas of terraced properties have been replaced with more traditional detached and semi-detached properties.

“The number of dwellings has been reduced… and further highway internal improvements have also been made.”

The plans include a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom properties, with access from Chapel Hill.

Approval was granted with a unanimous vote from councillors.

Harrogate hospital reports another covid death

Harrogate District Hospital has recorded another death from a patient who tested positive for covid.

According to NHS England data, the death was reported on January 5.

It means the death toll at the hospital from covid since March 2020 stands at 204.

Latest available figures show a total of 23 patients who tested positive for covid are currently being treated at Harrogate District Hospital.

The figure is almost three times as high it was mid-December when the Omicron variant was first detected in the district.

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Meanwhile, the Harrogate district’s covid rate continues to climb after another 347 infections were reported today.

Latest figures show that the district’s seven-day covid average stands at 1,507 per 100,000 people — a record high.

But it remains below both the county average, which stands at 1,623, and the England rate of 1,799.