Nearly 80% of Harrogate residents want the town centre to keep alfresco dining on a permanent basis.

The Stray Ferret worked with Your Poll by Judge Service to survey nearly 1,500 people in Harrogate.

All surveys with more than 1,000 respondents are statistically valid. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it out.

Should alfresco dining become permanent in Harrogate?

More than 1,100 of respondents (77%) said they want the relaxed rules around alfresco dining to be made permanent.

The other 300 votes were split between “not sure” at 13% and “no” at 9% – giving “yes” the clear majority.

“The pleasure of visiting the town comes from its small size, ease of access and facility for short trips. More alfresco dining gives the town a good atmosphere.” – anon.

“Alfresco dining is the way forward more outdoor spaces should be used. Take a look at the Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells a great example.” – anon.

North Yorkshire County Council has already said it would be “happy to review any requests for longer term use of the public highway” for alfresco dining.

Read more:

• Parking is ‘biggest frustration’ for 70% of residents

David Bowe, the corporate director for business and environmental services at the county council, previously said the authority has received “really positive feedback”.

Should alfresco dining become permanent?

“Create a park & ride facility to allow residents to park outside homes and encourage visitors to use buses into town and encourage alfresco dining and drinking.” – anon.

“I believe Harrogate should embrace the alfresco cafes and bars, also thinking about disabled access and access for people with prams.” – anon.

There seems to be a real strength of feeling from Harrogate residents about alfresco dining. That was clearly reflected when the Blues Bar and The Empress faced the threat of losing all their tables and chairs.

The Blues Bar eventually needed to remove their tables and chairs but not before it got 3000 people to back their fight in an online petition.

We will publish the full results of our survey on Wednesday. 

Harrogate’s full-time coronavirus testing site is due to open next week.

The Department of Health and Social Care site will be located in the Dragon Road car park, which has been home to the mobile testing centre over the past few months.

The mobile testing centre has generally been open for four hours a day, two days a week.

The new full-time centre is due to begin operating on Wednesday next week. After an initial pilot period, it will be open between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week.

People will be able to turn up on foot, unlike at the mobile testing centres. However, tests must still be booked in advance,

While the permanent site is being built, the mobile testing facility will move to Harrogate Hydro on Friday this week and then Harrogate High School on Sunday.

Read more:

• Will the Harrogate district face tougher restrictions today?
• Harrogate Nightingale hospital put on standby

North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, a partnership organisation that includes councils, emergency services and health bodies that tackle the pandemic, successfully made the case for permanent centres in Harrogate and Scarborough to the DHSC.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, the director of public health in North Yorkshire, said:

“We have worked hard to retain and increase the level of testing across the county, so we are pleased that our efforts have resulted in the creation of these two sites, which will be up and running shortly.

“We will continue to lobby for further expansion of testing facilities across the county.”

The Stray Ferret asked the DHSC the cost of building the permanent testing centre in Harrogate but had not received a response by the time of publication.

The Harrogate district recorded a further 24 positive coronavirus cases today, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,436.

Harrogate Theatre has today been awarded £249,820 from a government rescue fund for the arts.

Other local venues have also been successful, with £238,590 awarded to Deer Shed Festival near Topcliffe, £117,500 to Ripon Museum Trust and £54,339 to Ripon Amateur Operatic Society.

Harrogate Theatre, which will remain closed until next year, said the award would cover its losses from November 2020 to April 2021

This money is in addition to an Arts Council England grant of £395,000 in July and £100,000 raised from an emergency appeal.

It means the theatre has now received nearly £750,000 to help it survive the coronavirus-enforced closure.

David Bown, chief executive of the theatre, said:

“The funding provides an urgent lifeline to Harrogate Theatre and many other arts organisations across the country. We are thankful for this vital intervention, which demonstrates our value to our local area and the wider cultural sector.”

Mr Bown hopes that the money will help the theatre to “return stronger than ever” in 2021.

Read more:

• Harrogate theatre will remain closed until 2021
• Harrogate Theatre gets £395,000 to survive until September

The government handed out £257 million to nearly 1,400 cultural and creative organisations in today’s first round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, which is run by Arts Council England.

Deborah Larwood, the theatre chair,  said:

“This support will play a crucial role in enabling us to stabilise the theatre following the devastating impact of the covid pandemic. In these most challenging times we have had to make some very difficult decisions, but this funding gives us the opportunity to focus on planning for the future.”

Harrogate’s NHS Nightingale has been asked to “mobilise over the next few weeks” to be ready to accept patients.

In a government coronavirus news conference today, NHS England medical director Professor Stephen Powis said the Nightingale hospitals in Harrogate, Manchester and Sunderland were preparing for the next phase.

Prof Powis said: “We are asking them to mobilise to be ready to accept patients if necessary.

“We are asking those in the high risk areas to go into a high state of alert and readiness. We will do that with other Nightingales if necessary.”

Prof Powis also said that there would be regular testing for NHS staff in high-risk areas “even when they don’t have symptoms”.

It comes after rising coronavirus infections levels and ahead of the government’s new three tier lockdown system to be announced later today.

This is a breaking news story. We will update this page when we get more information.

Harrogate District Hospital has unveiled rainbow crossings to welcome LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff.

The hospital has painted three crossings so far and plans to add a further two crossings.

It hopes the crossings “act as a visual symbol of inclusion” and “enhances the work we’ve been doing” to better support LGBTQ+ people.

During the last year Harrogate hospital has launched three staff networks for LGBTQ+, BAME and disabled staff.

We’re delighted with our freshly painted rainbow Pride crossings (the first three of five) at Harrogate District Hospital.
They send a message that the hospital – and the Trust as a whole – is an open, inclusive and non-judgemental place for LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff. pic.twitter.com/z69vEUTmQo

— Harrogate NHS FT (@HarrogateNHSFT) October 11, 2020

Stonewall, which campaigns for LGBTQ+ rights, found that LGBTQ+ people face widespread discrimination in healthcare settings.

Some NHS trusts and national NHS bodies have made it onto Stonewall’s top 100 employers over the past decade.

Harrogate and District NHS Trust hope its launch of rainbow badges and the appointment of its first equality and diversity lead will help it make it on the list.

A Care Quality Commission inspection in 2019, which rated HDFT as good overall, found a lack of diversity at senior level and said senior leaders “were aware that they need to undertake more work”.

A spokesperson for HDFT said:

“We’re delighted with our freshly painted rainbow Pride crossings at Harrogate District Hospital. They send a message that the hospital – and the trust as a whole – is an open, inclusive and non-judgemental place for LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff.”

Parking in the town centre is the “biggest frustration” for 69% of Harrogate residents.

The Stray Ferret worked with Your Poll by Judge Service to survey nearly 1,500 people in Harrogate.

All surveys with more than 1,000 respondents are statistically valid. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it out.

What are your biggest frustrations with Harrogate’s town centre?

By far and away, parking came out on top for frustrating residents.

48% (678) of respondents said that parking was too expensive and a further 21% (295) said there are not enough spaces.

“Get rid of the stupidity of parking charges or we will have a ghost town that nobody will visit and it will bring no money in to the town.” – anon.

“Horrified how the smartest town in Yorkshire is now full of empty shops with very few iconic shops left to attract visitors. Free parking is a necessity.” – anon.

Next on the list came the growing frustration with the town’s choice of shops. 51% (734) said there wasn’t a good enough range.

What is your biggest frustration?

17% said the town’s environment is poor, 11% said their favourite shop or restaurant had closed, 5% said public transport is an issue and 3% said there are not enough bars or restaurants.

“Free parking will simply be used by employees of shops. Or it will be used by people like me, who will simply park my car up by the station and go into Leeds.” – anon.

“I would probably visit the town more if it were cheaper to park. Parking cost makes us rush and less likely to stop and eat.” – anon.

The survey also asked where people park. Despite complaints about parking charges, 361 of respondents pay to park on street or in multi-storey car parks.

Disc parking was the next most popular option at 317 respondents and then came parking outside the centre at 101 respondents.

Pedestrianisation still divides the town

As social distancing came into place local councils accelerated pedestrianisation but it’s an idea that still divides in Harrogate.

The clearest divide is by age. 40% of those over 66-years-old said they disagreed or completely disagreed with pedestrianisation. None above the age of 86-years-old agreed with pedestrianisation.

In contrast, nearly 50% of those in the 36 to 45 age bracket agreed with pedestrianisation. Those younger than 36-years-old also answered in a similar fashion.

Another clear divide was between business owners in Harrogate, of which just under 30% agreed with pedestrianisation, and restaurant and pub owners, of which close to 80% agreed with pedestrianisation.

There was little difference between answers on pedestrianisation of James Street, Princes Square and Albert Street.

We will publish the full results to our survey and send them to the council and the MP on Wednesday

The West Park area of the Stray was flooded this morning after the first night of heavy rain since Harrogate Borough Council spent £20,000 improving drainage.

Several large puddles covered the Stray this morning, the largest of which is at the corner of West Park and Otley Road.

The council announced in April it had awarded £130,000 to Glendale Services to restore the Stray after last year’s UCI Road World Championships caused widespread damage.

More than £20,000 of this was set aside to improve poor drainage, which caused regular flooding.

More puddles on the corner of Beech Grove and West Park.

Council leader Richard Cooper said the investment would “address the historic drainage issues at the corner of Otley Road and West Park” that had been “an issue and frustration to local residents for a number of years”.

But today’s evidence suggests the problem of flooding remains.

Read more:

• West Park Stray — 12 months of mud, repair and debate
• Harrogate council: Dangerous West Park Stray claims ‘simply ridiculous’
• West Park Stray opening is ‘frankly dangerous,’ says SDA

A council spokesman said:

“Overnight, there was a significant amount of rainfall that has resulted in numerous areas in Harrogate and across the district experiencing standing water. West Park Stray being one of them. This standing water will filter through to the drainage channels in due course.”

Harrogate Borough Council reopened West Park Stray in August, more than 11 months after the UCI championships ended.

The council promised to fix the problem.

The Stray Defence Association said it believes the work did not fully repair the damage and said it remains “dangerous” – something the council disputes as “frankly ridiculous.”

West Park Stray: A year at a glance

• UCI World Championships – September 2019
• West Park Stray pictured as a quagmire – October 2019
• Partial recovery but problems remain – March 2020
• Heavy machinery moves in to work – May 2020
• Green shoots of hope – July 2020
• West Park Stray opens to public after 316 days – August 2020
• Debate rumbles on about West Park Stray – September 2020
• West Park Stray floods – October 2020

There appear to be no plans to reopen Las Iguanas in Harrogate, six months after the restaurant said it would close temporarily.

Las Iguanas, on John Street, remains closed with chairs stacked on tables. A notice in the window from staff still reads “we can’t wait to see you very soon”.

Big Table Group acquired Casual Dining Group in August and took on 150 of its restaurants trading as Las Iguanas, Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge.

But Las Iguanas in Harrogate was not included in the deal, which has left its future uncertain.

Read more:

• Questions surround future of Harrogate’s Jaeger store
• Harrogate family pet shop to close after more than 50 years

The Stray Ferret asked Big Table Group whether the restaurant will reopen but a spokesperson said it would not comment on individual sites.

James Spragg, chief executive of The Big Table, said of the takeover in August:

“We inevitably emerge from this process as a leaner business, and one that is now equipped to navigate the challenges the industry faces, safeguarding thousands of jobs.”

The Coach and Horses could soon get a new landlord after Harrogate Borough Council set a date to decide on a new licence.

Samantha Nelson, the daughter of previous landlord John Nelson, applied to take over the pub at the start of last month.

Her application will be heard on October 29.

Harrogate Borough Council revoked the pub’s licence in July after council officers claimed Mr Nelson showed a “blatant disregard” for coronavirus social distancing rules.

The officers also said Mr Nelson was “aggressive and abusive” towards council officials and the police when they served him a prohibition notice on May 31.

Read more:

• Coach and Horses alcohol licence revoked
• Coach and Horses could be in limbo for months

A total of 449 people signed a petition calling on the council to grant Samantha Nelson the licence to run the pub.

When the council’s licensing sub-committee revoked the licence, Mr Nelson’s lawyer Paddy Whur said his client “accepted he made a chronic error of judgement”.

The Stray Ferret has approached the Coach and Horses several times to inquire about its future. We had still not received a reply by the time of publication.

More than 300 people have signed a petition calling on Harrogate Borough Council to make the Stray more bee-friendly.

Harrogate and District Green Party wrote to the council last month urging it to plant native wildflowers rather than its stick to its current plan to plant 60,000 crocuses on West Park Stray.

Rebecca Maunder, chair of the Harrogate and District Green Party, has now set up a petition after the council wrote back to say it did not intend to change its plans.

A week later the online petition, which is on the 38 Degrees website, has reached 327 signatures.

Read more:

• Plant wildflowers on the Stray, says Green Party
• Call for volunteers to plant 60,000 crocuses on Harrogate Stray

Ms Maunder hopes that, with enough support, the petition will sway the council’s decision and lead to a more bee-friendly Stray,

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said it had nothing to add to its previous statement on the matter, which said:

“We are also looking at biodiversity as part of our wider horticultural plan for the future. We understand the need to encourage biodiversity and already manage a number of native wildflower meadows across the district. The thousands of plants and flowers in our numerous parks and gardens also support this.”

The council called for volunteers last month to dig 60,000 holes in the hope that the crocuses will bloom better than ever next spring.