Council leader pledges “genuine consultation” on Green Hammerton development

Harrogate Borough Council will press ahead with a consultation on 3,000 new homes in Green Hammerton.

Last night the council’s cabinet approved the move, which will see the consultation take place over a six-week period this Autumn.

The council will now publish documents for the consultation, which includes a preferred option of land south of Cattal train station.

Richard Cooper, leader of the borough council, told the cabinet meeting it was “critically important” that the council get the consultation right.

He said:

“I am really keen that the planning team put their money where their mouth is and where our mouth is as councillors and really have a strong consultation process because at the end of it, even if we do not agree, there can be no doubt at all that the consultation process was inclusive, valuable and that all sides felt that it was an honest and genuine consultation.

“I’m relying on the planning team to take that forward and I am sure that is what is going to happen.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Rebecca Burnett, cabinet member for planning, said the options set out in the documents were “not fixed” and that putting forward a preferred option would help to “stimulate response”.

It comes as a campaign group in Green Hammerton raised “grave concerns” over the process.

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Chris Eaton, from Keep Green Hammerton Green, disputed the council’s claim it had engaged with stakeholders in drawing up its plans.

In a letter to Cllr Burnett, seen by the Stray Ferret, Mr Eaton said he was writing “to express our disappointment and grave concern about the process of creating the new settlement development plan document”.

He said the council’s preferred option had been chosen without input from local residents.

His letter said:

“For your officers to say in cabinet papers that there has been some engagement is highly misleading.

“We believe that you have a moral obligation, if not a legal one, to fulfil your promise and to urgently facilitate meaningful engagement with those communities most affected by the new settlement.”

Responding to campaigners’ concerns at the cabinet meeting, Natasha Durham, planning manager for policy at the authority, said the options are not “set in stone” and that the consultation was the “first step of wider discussions” on the development.

The site was chosen after planning consultants Gillespies produced a report for the council setting out three possible sites.

HBC’s decision to choose Green Hammerton over Flaxby for a new settlement will be examined at a judicial review, which will take place on October 27, 28, and 29 at the High Court in London.

If found to be unlawful, the decision on where to place the new settlement may have to made again.

HBC’s planning committee is expected to reject the 2,750-home Flaxby development on October 13.

The date has been pushed back a week after a “technical error” meant the developer Flaxby Park Ltd was not informed.

Residents can find out more on the settlement and fill out the consultation here from October 19.

12 Covid care home outbreaks in Harrogate since second wave

Twelve care homes in the Harrogate district have reported coronavirus outbreaks since the start of the second wave of the pandemic.

Across North Yorkshire as a whole, 33 homes have declared cases since the beginning of September when infection numbers began to rise.

An outbreak is defined as when two or more cases of covid have tested positive at a home.

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Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, revealed the figure at a briefing of North Yorkshire Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that manages emergencies.

North Yorkshire has 235 residential and nursing homes, plus extra care facilities. Homes in the Harrogate district make up a third of that figure.

Mr Webb said:

“We are working very closely with them and we have been doing a lot of drop-in visits to homes. I have to say we have found some really good practice around how residents are using their PPE, following the rules and supporting residents and families.

“Equally, where we have found poor practice we will act swiftly to address that and work with the Care Quality Commission as the care regulator to do so.”

Mr Webb added that a task group set up to look into how visits could be allowed in care homes in the county held its first meeting in the last seven days.

The group includes care providers, residents, relatives and a local charity that deals with support for people with dementia.

Visits have been restricted at homes throughout October in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

A further 24 positive cases of Covid have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours, according to Public Health England figures.

The number takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,254.

The weekly rate of cases in the district stands at 97.6 cases per 100,000 population. 

Harrogate to get permanent Covid testing site

A permanent coronavirus testing centre for winter is to be built in Harrogate in the next few weeks.

A mobile testing site at the Dragon Road car park near Asda currently operates in the town, usually for four hours twice a week,

But with the number of infections rising, the same site will be upgraded to host a permanent testing centre over winter.

Advance bookings will still be required.

Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of public agencies, confirmed at a briefing today construction will begin on Thursday next week. It is hoped the site will be open by October 22.

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Currently, the Department of Health and Social Care runs mobile testing units in different areas of the county every week.

The new Harrogate site is expected to be similar to the one at the University of York, which opened last week and operates seven days a week.

What will happen to the facility beyond winter remains unclear,

Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, said the authority had worked hard to retain the testing capacity it has and to lobby the government for further sites.

He told the resilience forum briefing:

“We have been fortunate to retain our testing capacity when other parts of Yorkshire have seen it stretched.”

Use Harrogate’s Nightingale for other services, says councillor

Harrogate’s Nightingale hospital could be used for routine operations, flu jabs and patient recuperation, a local councillor has suggested.

Cllr Jim Clark, who represents North Yorkshire on the West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview Scrutiny Panel, suggested the 500-bed hospital could be used to relieve pressure on other health services.

The contract for the Nightingale was extended in August until March 2021.

A report to the panel said the hospital is currently on stand-by for any patients that need to be admitted amid the second wave of coronavirus infections.

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The hospital has been used for outpatient CT scans since June but Cllr Clark suggested it could be used for wider purposes.

Cllr Jim Clark, North Yorkshire county councillor and Harrogate borough councillor.

The Conservative, who represents Harrogate Harlow on North Yorkshire County Council, told the Stray Ferret it was a pity the hospital could not be used for other medical purposes besides coronavirus:

“It could be used for other things, such as flu vaccinations, routine operations or to give opportunities for people to recuperate.”

Cllr Clark added he had been assured the Nightingale would be ready for any patients that needed care during the second wave of the pandemic.

A report before scrutiny councillors last week said the hospital “could be reactivated at short notice” if critical care was needed.

NHS England took over Harrogate’s Convention Centre in April but so far the hospital has not been used to treat coronavirus patients.

Government figures last month showed the Nightingale cost £27 million to set up, the third highest of the seven hospitals set up during the pandemic.

The total cost of the seven hospitals stands at £220 million.

Harrogate Borough Council has not charged the NHS any rent for the town’s Nightingale.

But, figures published in August showed the authority had billed £126,000 a month for gas, electric and water.

34 new coronavirus cases in Harrogate district

The number of coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district since the started of the pandemic passed 1,200 today.

Pubic Health England figures from today show a daily increase of 34 cases in the district.

It takes the total number to 1,230.

Daily figures from across North Yorkshire show an increase of 137. NHS data shows the weekly case rate county-wide stands at 97 per 100,000 population.

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However, no deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital since September 29.

Hospital bosses have prepared for a second wave of coronavirus this winter by setting aside up to 100 beds for infected patients.

County council bosses have also restricted visits to care homes throughout October in an effort to protect residents.

However, officials have now set up a working group to come up with solutions to allow visitors into care homes to see loved ones.

Call for citizens’ assembly to tackle climate change

Local Liberal Democrats have proposed setting up a citizens’ assembly to tackle climate change.

A motion before Harrogate Borough Council’s full council next week will propose it declares a climate emergency and sets up an assembly within three months to look into the issue.

It follows the creation of the first UK-wide citizens’ assembly to discuss measures to tackle climate change. 

The national citizens’ assembly last month submitted its views to six House of Commons select committees, including the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and Environmental Audit Committee.

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The motion submitted by Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, which will go before the borough council, says:

“That this council declares a climate emergency not a climate change. To make sure this is dealt with as an emergency the council agrees to setting up a local, ‘citizens climate assembly’, within the next three months to discuss the issue, just as the government has done.”

Councillors will vote on the motion at a full council meeting on October 14.

Last year, the council rejected declaring a climate emergency and instead set out a plan to cut carbon emissions over the next two decades.

The local authority has also created a dedicated cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, which is currently Cllr Phil Ireland.

What does a climate emergency mean?

“Climate emergency” was the Oxford English Dictionary word of last year and over two-thirds of all UK councils have now made the declaration.

It derives from the green movement created by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and the Extinction Rebellion group.

Although largely symbolic, councils have used declarations of climate emergency to drive environmental policy and give some green momentum to issues such as housing, energy and education.

Another 35 coronavirus cases in Harrogate district

A further 35 coronavirus cases have been reported in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

Latest Public Health England figures released today show the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic has increased to 1,196.

Across North Yorkshire as a whole, 115 daily cases were also confirmed today.

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The weekly case rate county-wide stands at 88.7 per 100,000 people, according to the public body NHS Digital.

It comes as an IT error left 15,841 cases between September 25 and October 2 unreported across the UK.

The technical issue meant daily figures were higher than first reported. In Harrogate, 67 cases were confirmed on Sunday after the error was fixed.

Public Health England said those who tested positive had been informed. But those who had come into close contact with them were not.

A notice on the PHE coronavirus statistics page added:

“This means the total reported over the coming days will include some additional cases from the period between September 24 and October 1.”

Have you had experience of track and trace? Have you been contacted through the app or experienced delays related to the computer errors this weekend? We would like to hear from you. Contact us on Facebook or e-mail contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Harrogate district records 67 coronavirus cases after IT error

The Harrogate district recorded 67 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday after a Public Health England technical issue saw nearly 16,000 cases go unreported.

The number is considerably higher than any reported daily figure for the district since the pandemic began.

However, it is difficult to read too much into the number considering the technical error meant many cases were not reported for a week.

It takes the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic up to 1,161.

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Over the weekend, Public Health England said an IT issue meant 15,841 cases nationally between September 25 and October 2 went unreported.

The organisation said those who tested positive had been informed informed. But those who came into close contact with them were not.

A notice on the PHE coronavirus statistics page added:

“This means the total reported over the coming days will include some additional cases from the period between September 24 and October 1.”

Plea for people in North Yorkshire to return home after curfew

People across North Yorkshire have been called upon to return home safely after pubs and restaurants close this weekend in an effort to avoid crowds.

North Yorkshire’s Resilience Forum, a partnership between public agencies including police and NHS, have made the plea following crowds on the streets in York last weekend.

Officials said they want to avoid further incidents of people gathering on the streets after the 10pm curfew.

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Superintendent Mike Walker, gold commander for North Yorkshire Police’s response to covid 19, and the chair of the North Yorkshire strategic coordination group, said:

“I am sure that people enjoying the freedom to go out and about in North Yorkshire this weekend do not want to see the enforced interventions being seen in many other northern areas being imposed on the county.

“We must all do what we can to stem the tide of infection and this means that people wanting to enjoy a night out in the pub or restaurant take all the necessary steps to make sure they can get home safely and quickly.”

Supt Walker said police were working with other organisations, including councils, to do all they could to help slow the spread of the virus.

He added:

“However, it’s not just down to police, partners, business owners and licensees to stop the spread of this deadly virus, it’s also down to the public to make the right decisions and abide by the regulations.

“We have been living with covid-19 for some time now and we all know the devastating impact it could have on our loved-ones, families, businesses and our NHS. We also know what we have to do to halt the spread – think hands, face, space, wear a face covering and try to limit contact as much as possible.

“North Yorkshire Police will continue to do everything within our power to keep the people of North Yorkshire safe. We know the majority of the public will join us and follow the rules. Those who do not, and who put the vulnerable among us at risk, should fully expect police to take action against them.

“So my advice to anyone who is thinking of enjoying a night out this weekend is to follow the regulations, otherwise your night could suddenly become a very expensive one.”

Meanwhile, Richard Flinton, chair of the resilience forum, said the county was at “tipping point” and urged people to follow social distancing guidelines.

Mr Flinton added that most infections are linked to households and social interaction.

He said: 

“Rather than wait for government intervention and the imposition of more serious lockdown measures being faced by people in many parts of the north of England, we are appealing to people to take the necessary precautions now.”

Fifteen more coronavirus cases in Harrogate district

A further 15 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

Latest Public Health England figures take the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,071.

Meanwhile, 49 more cases have been confirmed county-wide today.

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It comes as North Yorkshire’s Local Resilience Forum, a partnership between public agencies, has called for people to go home safely this weekend following the 10pm curfew at pubs and restaurants.

The forum made the call in an effort to avoid crowds in towns across the county.

Pictures from York last weekend showed crowds gathered in the city centre streets following the 10pm closures.