Harrogate district on track to achieve February 15 vaccine deadline

Health leaders in North Yorkshire said today they were confident of having enough covid vaccine to inoculate all four top priority groups by February 15.

Concerns have been raised about the supply of vaccine to the region, with some reports saying it may be reduced to let other parts of the country catch up.

But officials at North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group said they have been assured by government supply will be in place to meet next month’s target for the most vulnerable groups.

The four priority groups include residents and staff in care homes, over 80s and frontline health workers, over 75s, over 70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire CCG, told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum press briefing that supply does vary from week to week but officials were confident of meeting government targets.

She said:

“The government has assured us that there is supply in place. We have plans in place across North Yorkshire and York to meet those targets by February 15.

“The amount we get from week-to-week does vary. But what I would say is that this is not just a North Yorkshire vaccination campaign, this is a national campaign to target the most vulnerable.”

Health bosses confirmed the vaccine has been offered to all care home workers and residents in the region.

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However, some homes have had to defer inoculations due to outbreaks of covid among residents and staff.

Ms Bloor said:

“We cannot vaccinate people who are currently poorly with covid or the period immediately after they have had covid.

“Where these is an outbreak, the vaccination will be deferred in that home.”

Officials confirmed today that 126,163 vaccinations have been carried out across North Yorkshire and York.

Of that number, 107,752 have received a vaccine at a local vaccination site, such as the Great Yorkshire Showground. A further 18,411 have been vaccinated in hospital.

Meanwhile, a new vaccination site will be opened at Ripon racecourse next week.

The site will be the latest centre to serve the Harrogate district, alongside the Great Yorkshire Showground, Elland Road in Leeds and Askham Bar in York.

Vaccination site to be opened at Ripon racecourse

A vaccination site will be set up at Ripon racecourse, health bosses revealed this morning.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for NHS North Yorkshire CCG, told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum press briefing the site will open next week.

No further details are available yet.

Jonathan Mullin, marketing manager at Ripon Races, told the Stray Ferret vaccinations would take place on separate days to race days and the course’s fixtures were unaffected by the news.

Ripon Races has 15 fixtures scheduled this year, starting on April 15.

Meetings took place behind closed doors last year and there is still no news on when people may be allowed to attend.

Last week Ripon City Council called for the city to get its own vaccination site and suggested the Hugh Ripley Hall would be a suitable location.

Days later, the Local Resilience Forum confirmed it intended to open a site in Ripon but hadn’t identified a location. Today it confirmed the racecourse had been chosen.

Health bosses also revealed at the meeting that 107,752 vaccinations have been carried out across North Yorkshire and York since the programme started in December.

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Harrogate hospital records further covid death

Another patient who tested positive for coronavirus has died at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England figures today.

The death, which was reported on Sunday, takes the covid death toll at the hospital to 123.

It comes as more than 100,000 people have died nationally after a further 1,631 were recorded across the UK in today’s daily figures.

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Today also saw a further 29 cases of covid confirmed in the Harrogate district by Public Health England.

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 6,421

The district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen again to 228 people per 100,000.

The county-wide average stands at 208, while the England rate is 369.

Harrogate Town submits plan for new ticket office and turnstiles

Harrogate Town have submitted plans for a new ticket office and turnstiles at the club’s ground on Wetherby Road.

A planning application sent to Harrogate Borough Council outlines proposals to demolish the current ticket office and replace it with a new two-storey facility.

New turnstiles would also be in place at the eastern and western end of Wetherby Road.

The club, which plays Tranmere Rovers tonight, was promoted to the English Football League for the first time in its history last year. 

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As a result, Town have had to put measures in place to abide by the EFL admission criteria. They include a new pitch and increased capacity at the ground.

In documents submitted to the council, the club said the new planning application was necessary because of an increase in office staff and the need for a better flow of supporters on match days.

The application says:

“The proposals will improve the club’s match day offer, the experience for both home and away fans and the playing facilities.

“They will assist in the club’s continued success and growth. Works are programmed to start at the end of the current football season from May 1, 2021.”

The club has also submitted plans for a new two-storey club house and corporate suite.

RECAP: Harrogate council rejects Pinewoods bottling plant expansion

Harrogate Borough Council is voting this afternoon on controversial plans by Harrogate Spring Water to expand its bottling plant in the Pinewoods.

The 12-person planning committee is meeting virtually from 2pm to debate the proposals, which could see trees felled. A report to councillors recommends deferring and approving the application.

The issue has received 372 objections and 29 in support. Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury has been vociferous in her opposition.

The Stray Ferret will be posting live updates from the meeting so keep refreshing this page.

3.49pm – Councillors vote to refuse Harrogate Spring Water’s bottling plant extension

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee votes to refuse Harrogate Spring Water’s proposal to extend its bottling plant further in the Pinewoods.

3.26pm – Application is “on the front line to save the planet”

Cllr Jim Clark says the planning application is on “the front line” to save the planet.

He said:

“This is a dreadful proposal.

“This is the front line in the fight to save the planet. I know it may not seem like it from where we sit in our studies.”

3.20pm – Plan is contrary to policy to “enhance the natural environment”

Cllr Pat Marsh says the application is contrary to planning policy to “enhance the natural environment”.

Councillors will shortly vote on the officer’s recommendation.

3pm – “We do everything we can to be part of the community,” says Harrogate Spring Water

Cllr Jim Clark, committee member, asks the company if it will commit to “being a good neighbour” after concerns from residents.

Robert Pickering, of Harrogate Spring Water, says “we do everything we can to be part of the community”.

2.45pm – Harrogate Spring Water agent says “it’s not as simple as plastics versus trees”

Stuart Natkus, agent for Harrogate Spring Water, tells the committee that councillors need to remember that the application already has planning permission.

He adds that the application is “not as simple as plastics versus trees” and says the company has done “way more” ecology than any other application he has worked on.

2.36pm – Pandemic shows importance of green spaces, says Pinewoods Conservation Group chair

Neil Hind, chair of the Pinewoods Conservation Group, tells the committee that the reasons to approve the bottling plant extension “just don’t stack up”.

He adds that the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have shown the need for open spaces.

Mr Hind said:

“The pandemic has shown the importance of our green spaces. There are many reasons why this should be rejected.

“The reasons given to approve this just don’t stack up.”

2.31pm – Ward member speaks against the proposal

Cllr Sam Gibbs, ward member, says residents in his area would be affected by the application.

He says:

“I struggle to see how approval of this proposal can in any way be in the best interests of the people we represent.”

Cllr Gibbs adds that he told residents he would do “everything he could” to protect the greenspace that the land represents.

2.22pm – Councillors begin to discuss bottling plant extension

Mark Williams, case officer for the application, explains the application to committee members.

He says outline permission has already been granted. Councillors are told the application is to vary a condition for the further extension. A final application for reserved matters would have to come back to the committee.

2.05pm – Council benefit from land “not a declarable interest”

The council’s legal officer explains that the fact that the council benefits from the land the plant is on is not a declarable interest for councillors.

Peter Atkinson, legal officer at the meeting, said it was not a declarable interest “as far as members are concerned”.

2pm – Meeting starts

Cllr John Mann, chair of the planning committee, opens the meeting which is being streamed live onto YouTube.

1.50pm – Planning committee prepares to hear Pinewoods plan

Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee are preparing to make a decision on the controversial plans to expand a bottling plant in the Pinewoods.

The Stray Ferret has published a series of reports this past week on the issue, including an intervention by TV presenter Julia Bradbury and how the borough council benefits from the plant.

Meanwhile, Harrogate Spring Water has said it welcomes the planning officers recommendations to approve the plan today.

Two Harrogate district villages show big covid spike

The number of new covid cases in Killinghall and Hampsthwaite is more than double that of anywhere else in the Harrogate district.

North Yorkshire County Council statistics today revealed a total of 62 cases have been recorded in the two villages in the last seven days.

The next highest sub-districts locally are Ripon South and East and Starbeck, which both have had 28 cases.

The figure for Killinghall and Hampsthwaite is second in all of North Yorkshire only to Malton and Norton, which has registered 63 infections.

It comes as a further 39 infections were recorded in the district, according to today’s Public Health England data.

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It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 6,392.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen to 245 people per 100,000.

The county-wide rate is 222 and the national average stands at 382.

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

Sky lantern and balloon ban moves closer despite enforcement power fears

North Yorkshire County Council is proceeding with a move to forbid the release of sky lanterns and helium balloons on its land, despite admitting it has little power of enforcement.

Councillors proposed banning the items from being released on council-owned land amid fears they posed a “significant risk of harm to animals and the environment”.

However, council legal officers told a meeting of the corporate and partnerships overview and scrutiny committee last week the authority had limited enforcement powers.

Officers said such a ban could be written into lease renewals on land and property it owns but it was “highly unlikely” there would be anything to prohibit the activity in existing contracts.

They added that it would be better to use the motion as an engagement opportunity with the public.

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Councillors agreed to “proactively engage” with schools and businesses over the release of balloons and sky lanterns.

The motion will now go before a full council meeting to be voted on at a later date.

Hundreds of other local authorities have already introduced bans.

In January last year, South Kesteven District Council prohibited the release of lanterns and balloons in council-owned parks and open spaces.

Nottinghamshire County Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Lancashire County Council are among others that have adopted bans.

Although the move has not given authorities the power to enforce the ban, some use it to “educate the public” on alternative ways to mark special occasions.

Council to recommend Wetherby Road land for Stray swap

A plot of land at Wetherby Road has been recommended to be exchanged for grass verges on Otley Road and designated as Stray land.

Harrogate Borough Council carried out a 12-week consultation over three plots of land to replace the verges, which will be removed for a new cycle route.

A majority of those who responded backed the council’s preferred option to designate land on Wetherby Road next to the war memorial as Stray land in exchange.

As part of the Stray Act, a suitable plot of land must be offered in exchange. It follows lengthy discussions between the council and the Duchy of Lancaster over land to designate to the Stray.

The responses to the consultation are due to go before the General Purposes Committee this week. Councillors will be asked to recommend that the authority’s cabinet approves the land proposals.

In total, the authority received 443 responses to its consultation.

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Of that number, 214 respondents (49%) strongly agreed with the proposal to exchange the Otley Road verges to one of the three options outlined by the council.

However, 161 (36%) strongly disagreed with the plan.

Some agreed with the options, but felt the proposal “should be put back to residents once a decision has been made”. Others said they supported the move “as long as there is still enough pavement to walk down with a pushchair”.

As part of the exchange, the council outlined three plots of land for the exchange:

The area of land outlined in Harrogate Borough Council documents earmarked to be exchanged as part of the Otley Road cycle route.

In the responses, 246 (81%) agreed with the council’s preferred option of land at Wetherby Road next to the war memorial.

Those who agreed with the Wetherby Road plot felt it was “the most logical reason to form a continuous community resources” and “seems already part of the Stray”.

However, 14 agreed with the second option of verges at St James Drive and 45 supported the verges at Arthurs Avenue.

Some disagreed with the options outlined and said they did not want the Otley Road verges removed. Others said “the Stray should not be disrupted for cyclists” and questioned the need for a cycle route.

Residents were also asked whether they agreed with the council’s plan to amend the Stray bylaws to permit cycling on the Otley Road route.

A total of 235 strongly agreed (54%), while 162 (36%) strongly disagreed.

Councillors on the committee have been recommended to submit the proposed bylaw change to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

It comes as North Yorkshire County Council looks to press ahead with the cycle route on the stretch of road between Harlow Moor Road and Beech Grove.

The project has already been delayed and the negotiations over the Stray land have been a further stumbling block for the second phase of the scheme.

A further 45 covid cases in Harrogate district

A further 45 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

It takes the number of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 6,268.

One more death from a patient who tested positive for coronavirus has been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

The death was recorded on January 20, according to NHS England figures, and takes the total number since March up to 122.

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Meanwhile, the seven-day covid rate in the district has fallen to 284 cases per 100,000 people.

The county-wide rate is 257 and the national average 434.

Harrogate bus company to offer free shuttle bus to vaccine appointments

Harrogate Bus Company is to offer free shuttle buses to the Great Yorkshire Showground for people who have covid vaccine appointments.

The bus will match the opening hours of the centre and will run from Tuesday, January 26.

The company will use one of its zero-emission electric buses to shuttle patients to and from the site.

It said on its website:

“Buses will run every 30 minutes between Harrogate bus station and the vaccination centre on Wetherby Road, so you’ll never have long to wait to get to your appointment or back again.”

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It comes as the majority of vaccines for people in the district are being offered at the showground.

Health bosses announced earlier this week that all care home residents and staff in North Yorkshire will be vaccinated before the end of this week.

52,500 people in the highest priority groups have received a covid vaccine in York and North Yorkshire, according to Harrogate and Knaresborough’s MP, Andrew Jones.