150 have died from covid as Harrogate reaches sombre milestone

The Harrogate district has reached a sombre milestone today as 150 people have died in hospital after being diagnosed with covid.

To recognise this moment, the Stray Ferret is providing space for family and friends to pay tribute to loved ones who they have lost.

Each day since the first patient died on March 16 last year, we have reported the statistics, but behind the numbers are individuals with families and friends who loved them.

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On top of those who have died in hospital, 128 have died in care homes since the start of the pandemic.

Today 17 more cases of covid were recorded in the past 24 hours – the district in total has recorded 7,161 coronavirus cases.

To bring home the human cost of the pandemic in our district, the Stray Ferret will publish tributes from those who have been hit hardest by covid and help to tell their story.

If you have lost someone close to you due to the virus and want to pay tribute to them, get in touch on contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Harrogate hospital reports further coronavirus death

Harrogate District Hospital has reported a further death from a patient who tested positive for coronavirus.

The patient died on February 17, according to NHS England figures.

It takes the death toll at the hospital since March to 149.

Meanwhile, a further 32 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the Harrogate district.

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It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 7,144, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

The district’s seven-day covid rate currently stands at to 93 per 100,000 people.

Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire average is 87 and the national rate is 127.

James Street pedestrianisation back on the cards in major town centre scheme

Pedestrianisation of James Street, a single lane on Station Parade and more cycle facilities could be lined up for Harrogate town centre, under new council plans.

It comes as North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council are set to consult on proposals for the town’s “station gateway” project.

The county council secured £7.8 million in funding from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund last year to draw up plans to improve transport connections, encourage more people to walk and cycle and improve the image of the town centre.

A four-week public consultation on the project will start on Wednesday (February 24).

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Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, told a press briefing this morning that the scheme would also provide an “economic boost” for the area.

As part of the consultation, the public and businesses will be asked for their views on three options for James Street.

Other schemes which will be consulted on include one or two lanes on Station Parade and public event space at Station Square Gardens.

Cycle storage facilities, two new bus priority areas at lower Station Parade and Cheltenham Parade, and a water feature are also proposed.

Plans to temporarily pedestrianise James Street last year were criticised by local businesses and led to the county council postponing the measure until 2021.

Three options for James Street will be consulted on, under council plans.

Three options for James Street will be consulted on, under council plans.

Cllr Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability at Harrogate Borough Council, said the new schemes would be vital for the town.

He said:

“This is an extremely important scheme for the town, which we view as a solid foundation for change, particularly towards active travel.”

Cllr Ireland added that he hoped the plans would help people who come to the town to “feel more comfortable to get around safely”.

Plans for a ‘station gateway’ have been in the works for several years and fit into a wider strategy for Harrogate drawn up by the borough council in its 2016 Town Centre Strategy and Masterplan.

Cllr Mackenzie said the proposals were particularly important due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on town centres.

He said:

“It is extremely appropriate that we are looking to develop three schemes which will provide better facilities for pedestrians, for cyclists and better connections to bus and trains.

“But it will provide an enormous economic boost for our town centres, which frankly over the past 12 months have suffered a great deal.”

It comes as similar projects have been outlined for Selby and Skipton. Final designs and construction for the schemes are earmarked for spring next year.

People can give their views on the schemes in the online consultation from Wednesday here.

Harrogate District Hospital records another covid death

A further death from a patient who tested positive for covid has been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

The death was recorded yesterday according to NHS England figures.

It takes the death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic to 148.

Figures from the trust show that 67 patients are currently being treated in hospital for covid.

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Meanwhile, a further 21 people have been discharged in the past week.

The Harrogate district has also recorded a further 26 cases of coronavirus today.

According to today’s Public Health England statistics, it takes the total number of cases since March to 7,112.

The district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen to 92 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 85, while the national rate is 130.

Harrogate hospital still treating record number of covid patients

Harrogate District Hospital is still treating a record amount of covid patients.

Figures from North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group today revealed that 65 people are in hospital with covid.

The number is among the highest since the start of the pandemic.

Last month the hospital urged people to follow lockdown rules and stay at home as its covid wards were “exceptionally busy”. But numbers have remained stubbornly high since.

It comes as a further 27 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate District, according to today’s Public Health England statistics.

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It takes the total number of cases since March to 7,086.

The district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen to 95 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 90, while the England rate stands at 132.

Killinghall and Hampsthwaite remains the area in the district with the most covid cases in the last seven days, with 19.

No further covid-related deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

Harrogate butchers named best in the north

A Harrogate butchers shop at the Great Yorkshire Showground has scooped an award for being the best in the north of England.

Fodder was named North of England Butcher’s Shop of the Year at the Butcher’s Shop of the Year Awards 2020 on Monday.

The shop, which opened in 2009 and is run by the Yorkshire Agriculture Society, was described by judges as “an excellent business, showing innovation and community as well as charitable support”.

Fodder opened in response to the foot and mouth crisis that devastated farming. The shop now works with 430 local farmers and producers.

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Heather Parry, managing director of Fodder, said:

“We are thrilled that our butchery has been recognised as the North of England’s finest and one of the very best in the whole of the UK.

“This award is a great endorsement of the quality of our meat, which has been reared to perfection on the very best local farms, as well as the skills of our talented and knowledgeable butchery team who are able to advise customers on how best to cook our products when they get home. 

“Our team works incredibly hard to create a beautiful counter every day and offer outstanding service too.”

The Butcher’s Shop of the Year Awards, which is organised by Meat Trades Journal, includes 12 categories and is judged by a panel of butchery experts, including a “mystery shopper” visit to the 35 finalists.

Among the other awards include Butcher’s Shop of the Year, Online Butchery Business of the Year and Farm Shop of the Year.

The awards ceremony was held online amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Council tax increase ‘most difficult decision ever’, says council leader

The leader of North Yorkshire County Council has said increasing council tax during the covid pandemic is the “most difficult decision” the authority has made.

It was confirmed today that a band D property in the Harrogate district will see its bill increase to £2,007 from this April. It is currently £1,947.

County councillors voted for the 3.49% hike, which includes 1.5% for adult social care, in its share of council tax at a meeting today.

Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner also agreed increases in their rates earlier this month, which means the final sum is now known.

A breakdown of the potential council tax bill for Harrogate district in 2021/22.

A breakdown of the council tax bill for the Harrogate district in 2021/22.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of the county council, told councillors that it was a “difficult balance to strike” to ask people to pay more while the economy was struggling.

He said:

“I think this is the most difficult decision any of us have had to make at this council. 

“Never has the local economy been so hard hit by this dreadful pandemic, but equally never has our community been so tested, and our services so needed.

“We must strike that difficult balance between what we need to do the job, and what our residents can afford to pay.”

But Cllr Bryn Griffiths, speaking on behalf of the Liberal Democrat group, criticised the national government for failing to publish details of its reforms to adult social care, which has prompted councils to increase council tax to pay for it.

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He said the precept added onto the council tax bill to pay for the service may be “the final straw” for some people.

Cllr Griffiths said:

“Due to the covid pandemic, many of our residents are in dire financial straits and will find it difficult to pay the proposed increase in council tax.

“Increasing the social care precept to cover the government’s inadequacies in what is a national problem will be the final straw for many.”

Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the North Yorkshire Independents, said the government was “transferring the blame” on taxation instead of solving funding problems in areas such as social care.

Meanwhile, Cllr Eric Broadbent, leader of the Labour group, said he “reluctantly” supported the increase, but added that council tax was “regressive” and “penalised” those on low incomes.

The vote to increase council tax and pass the authority’s budget was passed with 59 votes in favour, two against and four abstentions.

Cost of covid

So far, the county council has spent £80 million responding to covid.

It has responded by hiking council tax and dipping into its reserves to balance the books.

The county council will use £8.2 million of its own funds to offset a projected shortfall next year, but officials have warned it cannot continue to use its reserves in the long run.

Harrogate district records 17 coronavirus cases today

The Harrogate district recorded another 17 coronavirus cases today.

There were 51 infections on 1 February but the daily total has not exceeded 36 since then and has been consistently lower still in the last week.

It takes the total number of cases since March to 7,059, according to Public Health England statistics.

The seven-day covid rate for the district stands at 98 cases per 100,000 people.

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The North Yorkshire average is 97 and the national rate is 137.

A further covid death has been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to today’s NHS England figures.

The death was recorded on Sunday. It takes the covid death toll at the hospital to 147.

‘There is a need’ for A1 service station near Kirby Hill, inquiry told

The company behind a proposed motorway service station on the A1 near Kirby Hill has told a public inquiry there is an “established need” for the facility.

Applegreen Plc, a Dublin-based company which runs filling stations in the USA, UK and Ireland, is appealing a decision by Harrogate Borough Council to reject its plan in 2019.

It is the fourth time the development, just north of Boroughbridge, has been brought before a planning inquiry in 25 years.

David Rose, the government’s planning inspector, opened the inquiry this morning.

The inquiry is also hearing an appeal from Moto Hospitality for a service station at junction 50 near Ripon. The borough council refused the plan in October last year.

The hearings are being held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Opening statements were heard from Applegreen, the borough council, Moto Hospitality and Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services today.

‘Urgent’ need for services

Rhodri Price Lewis, who is representing Applegreen, said there was an “established need” for a new motorway service area between Wetherby services and Leeming Bar.

He said the “primary function” of services is to support safety and welfare of drivers.

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Mr Price Lewis argued that government policy now required services to be located no more than 28 miles apart and that the distance between Wetherby and Leeming Bar exceeded this.

He told the inquiry:

“There is a need for a motorway service area and the Applegreen site is well placed to meet that need.”

He added the £40 million Applegreen site would create a “substantial amount” of new jobs.

Addressing concerns the site would encroach into the open countryside, Mr Price Lewis said it was “inevitable” and “inescapable” that agricultural land would have to be used “if the need is to be met”.

The site off the A1 northbound between junctions 48 and 49, where multiple plans for a motorway service station have been submitted.

The site off the A1 northbound between junctions 48 and 49, where multiple plans for a motorway service station have been submitted.

Meanwhile, Peter Dixon, speaking on behalf of Moto Hospitality, said the proposed services near Ripon would better serve the A1.

He told the inquiry that a delay in the upgrade at Leeming Bar, which was given permission in 2012, demonstrated an “urgent” need for a new service station.

Developers “will not take no for an answer”

Stephen Wale, representing Harrogate Borough Council, told the inquiry there was no need for the services.

He added the Applegreen site would encroach into open countryside and harm the landscape.

Mr Wale said drivers already had the benefit of two services within a short distance of each other and that the proposed site was not allocated in the council’s Local Plan, which is the blueprint for future planning in the district.

The motorway service station site, as proposed by Applegreen, on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

The motorway service station site, as proposed by Applegreen, on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

He said:

“In short, there is no need for either of the appeal schemes.

“There is an existing motorway service area at Wetherby. There is a motorway rest area at Leeming Bar, controlled by Moto, and development has begun there with respect to a planning permission granted for a motorway service area.”

The inquiry also heard from Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill RAMS, who spoke on behalf of residents.

He said the Applegreen site had already been rejected by councillors, inspectors and the High Court multiple times over the last 25 years.

Mr Owens said: 

“The question that local people are asking, sir, is ‘why are we even here again’? 

“The answer, sadly, is that this site has a recalcitrant promoter who, despite 25 years of refusal, will not take ‘no’ for an answer, because they have no respect for the properly-taken decisions of the planning system.”

He added that the residents’ group disagreed with claims from the developer that the distance between the two current services was 28 miles.

Mr Owens said the service station was not needed and would be an “unnecessary development”.

The inquiry is expected to continue for 11 days.

A1 service station plan to enter fourth inquiry

After 25 years of multiple inquiries and court hearings, another inquiry into building a motorway service station A1 near Kirby Hill is set to open today.

It will be the fourth time the proposal has gone before a planning inspector since 1996.

The ongoing saga has left residents feeling battle weary. They have described it as “a burden on the village”.

Quarter of a century of hearings

In October 1996, Heaver Ive Associates, a property developer, submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council for a 24/7 service station between junctions 48 and 49 on the A1 northbound.

It would become the first in a long running saga pitting residents against developers that would eventually reach London’s High Court and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

After initially seeing permission granted after a public inquiry in 1999, a High Court judge quashed the decision just 12 months later.

From there, the plans failed to convince both Harrogate Borough Councillors and planning inspectors in 2005 and 2012.

The motorway service station site, as proposed by Applegreen, on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

The motorway service station site, as proposed by Applegreen, on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

On both occasions, the Secretary of State opted to approve a different service station to serve the A1.

In 2005, Wetherby services were given the green light to be built. Approval to upgrade Leeming Bar followed seven years later.

After successive refusals by Harrogate Borough Council, Dublin-based Applegreen Plc, which runs petrol stations in the UK, United States and Ireland, submitted a fresh proposal.

The company’s plans in 2018 promised creating a spot to “refresh in a comfortable and welcoming environment”.

But, a year later, councillors denied permission again on the grounds that the site was not suitable for a service station and was not included in the district Local Plan.

The authority said in a decision notice that the development was “unsustainable” and would encroach into the open countryside resulting in “harm to the landscape and irreversible damage to agricultural land”.

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Applegreen appealed the decision in January last year, but the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic delayed the subsequent inquiry until this year.

What is the latest proposal?

The latest plans would see a service station built on the west side of the A1(M) north of the B6265 between Boroughbridge and Ripon.

A bridge would connect the site on the northbound carriageway with the southbound, while roundabouts with slip roads would connect the site with the A1.

Included in the application is a filling station, hot and cold food outlets and a drive-through coffee shop.

It also includes parking spaces for 364 cars, 90 heavy goods vehicles, 20 motorcycles, 18 coaches and 13 caravans.

What happens now?

The government’s Planning Inspectorate will open a public inquiry today.

The inspector will hear both the Applegreen and an application from Moto Hospitality for a service station near Ripon at junction 50, which was also refused.

A spokesperson for the Planning Inspectorate said that both would be considered by one inspector “in the interests of efficiency” because they have common issues and are within the same local authority area.

An inspector will hear the case and publish a judgement at a later date.