The vaccination centres at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and Ripon Races reopen today for the first time since Christmas.

The two sites are run by Yorkshire Health Network, which represents the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district.

The Yorkshire Event Centre at the showground will open for booked appointments from 11am until 8pm. Appointments are still available.

The site will also accept walk-ins from 11.30am today but people choosing this option may have to wait because bookings take priority.

The showground will be open at the weekend from 8.30am to 5pm for booked appointments and from 9am to 4pm for walk-ins.

All the clinics are for first, second or booster jabs for over-18s. Special clinics for 12 to 17-year-olds are put on separately.

Ripon Races will be open tomorrow and on Saturday at the usual times of 8:30am to 5pm for booked appointments and 9am to 4pm for walk-ins.

Read more:

• Huge surge in covid sees new daily record of 493 infections in Harrogate district
• Paddle to the stars at Nidderdale reservoir as part of Dark Skies Festival

Staff and volunteers at the Yorkshire Event Centre are due to relocate to another building at the showground on Thursday and Friday, ready for the Saturday clinic.

The new site is currently contracted for use until March. A decision on fourth vaccinations has yet to be taken.

The funeral of Harrogate singer-songwriter Aaron Bertenshaw will take place at St John’s Church in Bilton tomorrow.

Aaron, a former pupil at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died suddenly aged 26 last month. He had struggled with diabetes and mental health issues.

Everyone is welcome to attend the service, which begins at 11am. A wake will be held afterwards at The Empress on the Stray.

For those unable to attend, the service will be broadcast live on the church’s Facebook page.

Sammy Oates, Aaron’s mother, has said the service will be an upbeat celebration of Aaron’s life and asked people not to wear black suits.

Donations will go to Diabetes UK and CALM, the campaign against living miserably.

A fundraising page set up by Sammy to help people with diabetes overcome mental health problems has so far raised almost £6,000. You can donate here.

Sammy is campaigning to make it easier for people who suffer from mental health issues and diabetes to receive treatment that addresses the two issues together.

Read more:

• Fund set up in memory of Harrogate musician Aaron Bertenshaw
• Jam session at Blues Bar tonight in memory of Aaron Bertenshaw

The daily record for covid cases in the Harrogate district has been obliterated, with 493 new infections recorded today.

Yesterday’s decline from the previous record of 330 to 279 had suggested numbers could have peaked. But today’s surge has dashed hopes.

The seven-day rate has also set a new record, now standing at 1,139 per 100,000. The North Yorkshire average is 1,140 and the England rate is 1,456.

The growth rate has jumped to 2.2. Harrogate West and Pannal Ash remains the worst hit area, with 156 cases in the last seven days.

Covid has been recorded on the death certificates of 366 people in the district, including one in the last week.

A total of 101,823 booster or third jabs have now been administered in the district.

Read more:

• What stories to expect in the Harrogate district in 2022
• Can you get a lateral flow test kit in the Harrogate district?

The date of this year’s Yorkshire Warrior event at Ripley Castle has been brought forward to April 3.

The extreme obstacle challenge was due to take place on May 21 and 22.

But Ian and Danielle Bush, who founded the event in 2013, announced today they were expecting their third child in May and had therefore changed the date,

The couple posted on the Yorkshire Warrior Facebook page today.

“We are delighted to be welcoming our third child who is due in May.

“With this in mind we have had to make the hard decision to re schedule this year’s Yorkshire Warrior event to Sunday 3rd April 2022.

“We totally understand that this news may not work for some participants, please do let us know by emailing us.

“We really hope you understand why we have had to change the date, and apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to some.”

Teams, individuals and juniors travel from across the UK to take on the obstacles at Ripley Castle each year.

Read more:

• Yorkshire Warrior obstacle challenge to go ahead next month
• Strayside Sunday: 2022 will see a changing of the guard in Harrogate

A total of 279 infections have been recorded in the Harrogate district today — down on yesterday’s figure of 330.

The district’s seven-day average rate of infection has also fallen slightly from yesterday’s record high of 1,094 per 100,000 people to 1,130.

North Yorkshire rate is 1,071 and the England rate is 1,363.

Harrogate west and Pannal Ash is the current covid hotspot, with 149 cases in the last seven days.

The number of people who have received a third or booster vaccine in the district stands at 101.821. A total of 363,883 vaccines have been administered.

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• Harrogate drum teacher recognised in New Year Honours
• More than 1,500 attend New Year’s event in Ripon

A person was taken to hospital after a house caught fire in Little Ouseburn in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters from Boroughbridge, Knaresborough and Acomb were called to the incident at 1.15am this morning.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log says everyone was out of the house by the time the emergency services arrived.

The log adds:

“One occupier left with paramedics, treated on scene for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital via road ambulance.

“Crews extinguished the fire using hose reels. Incident will be revisited by crews for checks this morning.”

Read more:

• Man denies firearm charge at Harrogate gastro pub
• Work starts on Great Ouseburn housing development
• Quick-thinking Little Ouseburn farmer averts field fire

People are being urged to act now in low lying areas near Boroughbridge, where flooding is expected today.

Although the Harrogate district is ending the year with unseasonably mild temperatures of 12 degrees centigrade expected at midnight, recent wet weather is having an impact.

The government’s flood warning website has flagged up land near the caravan park at Roecliffe, near Boroughbridge, as the local area in most imminent danger due to rising levels on the River Ure.

The warning says:

“River levels are rising on the River Ure due to rainfall. Flooding is forecast to affect locations near the River Ure, with low lying land expected to be most affected, particularly around Roecliffe Caravan Park.

“Flooding is affecting Roecliffe Caravan Park from 03:30 PM on 31/12/2021. The forecast is dry for throughout the afternoon and this evening, with some showers expected tomorrow. River levels will start to fall overnight.”

Read more:

• Boroughbridge streets flooded as storms hit Harrogate district
• Boroughbridge flood defences get £50,000 government boost
• Eyecatching sculpture at Fountains Abbey highlights flood fears

It is one of only two flood warnings currently in place in England. The other is in Carlisle.

People are being advised to move vehicles to higher ground, move family and pets to safety, move important items upstairs and turn off gas, electricity and water supplies.

A less severe flood alert has been issued for the Lower River Ure, near Ripon.

It said prolonged overnight rainfall caused rising river levels this morning.

“Levels are now peaking in the upper reaches of the catchment, but levels in the lower reaches of the catchment are still rising and will continue to do so through today, Friday 31st December.

“Some further showers are expected at times today, with weather conditions remaining unsettled for the coming days.”

Nothing generated more debate on the Stray Ferret’s social media this year than schemes to promote cycling in and around Harrogate.

There was the Otley Road cycle path, Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood, plans to make Oatlands Drive one-way to vehicles and funding for cycle schemes on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate and Harrogate Road in Knaresborough.

But the £10.9 million Station Gateway scheme proved the most controversial of all.

Gateway: petitions and legal threats 

The scheme aims to transform the gateway to the town near the bus and train stations by reducing traffic on part of Station Parade to single lane and part pedestrianising James Street while encouraging cycling and walking.

How James Street would look.

With funding for the initiative secured from national government, North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council, which both support the scheme, ran two public consultations this year.

Both revealed a deeply divided town: some welcomed the opportunity to create a greener town by encouraging cycling and reducing car use; others felt the scheme would merely move traffic off the A61 Cheltenham Crescent and onto nearby residential streets, cause delays on Station Parade and damage town centre businesses.

Matters came to a head at a feisty Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting in February when pro-gateway representatives, led by Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, gave a presentation to a sceptical audience.

Don Mackenzie speaking at the chamber meeting.

It ended with businesses threatening to mount a judicial review to halt the process.

The results of the second consultation, published this month, revealed that of 1,320 replies to an online survey, 55% felt negatively, 39% positively and five per cent neutral towards the scheme. One per cent said they didn’t know.

A consultation event in Victoria Shopping Centre.

The chamber has called for the scheme to be halted and two residents groups have filed petitions opposing the project in its current form.

The county council is expected to decide next month whether to proceed with the scheme but the early indications are it will press ahead with final designs in the hope that work will start in spring.

Read more:

• New data reveals dramatic impact of Beech Grove closure on nearby roads
• Majority are negative towards Harrogate Station Gateway, consultation reveals
• ‘Severe weather’ delays Otley Road cycle path in Harrogate
• Victoria Road one-way scheme will stop ‘rat run’, says cycle group

Beech Grove: barriers and cuts across the Stray

North Yorkshire County Council’s decision to ban through traffic on Beech Grove caught many people by surprise in February.

The move aimed to link Beech Grove with the forthcoming Otley Road cycle path and the proposed Victoria Avenue cycling improvements, creating a more connected cycling route around Harrogate.

Tyre tracks on the Stray next to the planters on Beech Grove.

Planters blocking traffic were initially introduced on a six-month trial basis in February but this was extended to 18 months, meaning a decision on whether to extend the scheme will be due after August 2022.

Some vehicles on Beech Grove initially flouted the law by driving on Stray land to bypass the planters.

Data obtained by the Stray Ferret this month following a freedom of information request to the council revealed the move has so far had little impact on cycling journeys on Beech Grove.

It has, however, had a considerable impact on traffic on nearby streets Victoria Road and Queens Road. But the council claims the data reveals there is “no evidence” to support claims that traffic has increased on Cold Bath Road.

Malcolm Margolis on Beech Grove

Harrogate cycling campaigner Malcolm Margolis conducted his own survey, which produced higher figures for cyclists. He claimed it proved the initiative was working well.

The issue looks set to rumble on throughout the year until a decision is made on whether to continue the experiment after August.

Otley Road: work finally begins

Work finally began on the much-delayed cycle path in winter when phase one of the project, from Harlow Moor Road to Arthur’s Avenue, got underway.

North Yorkshire County Council hopes the path will improve safety and alleviate congestion along the Otley Road corridor.

Phase one work gets underway.

Phase one was due to finish before Christmas but the council blamed ‘severe weather’ for another delay and said work should now finish in January.

Phase two, from Harlow Moor Road to Beech Grove, is due to start in March.

It is unclear when phase three, from Harlow Moor Road to Cardale Park, will start. That stretch of the cycle lane relies on developer funding from housing built in the west of Harrogate.

The county council is currently working on various plans, including a feasibility study, for phase three.

Oatlands Drive plans scrapped

North Yorkshire County Council announced in February it had received £1m from the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund for four schemes to improve the infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

Three of the schemes were for the Harrogate district. They were: the A59 Harrogate Road, Knaresborough, between Badger Mount and Maple Close; Oatlands Drive, Harrogate between Hookstone Road and Knaresborough Road and Victoria Avenue, between the A61 and Station Parade.

The projects for Knaresborough and Victoria Avenue are still due to proceed.

But plans to make Oatlands one-way to traffic and improve the narrow cycle lanes were shelved after 57% of consultation respondents opposed the proposal. They cited the impact on school buses and the creation of a ‘rat run’ on surrounding residential streets at peak times.

Oatlands Drive, Harrogate.

Subsequent traffic proposals for the saints area were also dropped after opposition.

The council said it would commission an Oatlands constituency feasibility study’ to “re-assess opportunities” for infrastructure improvements but so far nothing has been forthcoming.

Traffic continues to park in the cycle lanes on Oatlands Drive. Harrogate Borough Council introduced signs urging motorists not to do it but they appear to have had little impact.

One of the signs on the Stray alongside Oatlands Drive.

Leeds has been chosen ahead of Harrogate to provide a Nightingale surge hub for Yorkshire and the north-east of England.

NHS England announced today it was on a “war footing” and had chosen eight hospitals in different English regions to deal with a potential wave of Omicron patients.

St James’ University Hospital in Leeds has been selected in our region to provide a temporary structure capable of housing about 100 patients.

Harrogate Convention Centre was one of eight Nightingale hospitals set up in spring last year in England to treat covid patients.

It had 500 beds but closed this year without treating a single patient.

However, the huge increase in infections caused by Omicron has prompted health managers to devise plans for extra capacity. All eight regional sites chosen this time to be Nightingale surge hubs are within existing hospitals.

Read more:

• Harrogate council billed NHS £3 million for Nightingale costs
• Harrogate and Ripon hospitals restrict visitors due to Omicron

An NHS press release said placing the new Nightingale facilities in hospital grounds would make it easier to flex staff and equipment if there is a surge in admissions.

Other hospital sites could follow — NHS trusts have been asked to identify areas such as gyms and education centres that can be converted to accommodate patients.

4,000 beds

The plan is to create up to 4,000 ‘super surge’ beds across the country.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said:

“Given the high level of covid infections and increasing hospital admissions, the NHS is now on a war footing.

“We do not yet know exactly how many of those who catch the virus will need hospital treatment, but given the number of infections we cannot wait to find out before we act and so work is beginning from today to ensure these facilities are in place.”

Professor Powis urged the public to “play their part” by getting booster jabs. He said:

“The science is clear. Two doses of vaccine do not provide enough protection against Omicron so if you have not yet had a life-saving booster do not delay any longer.”

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said:

“We hope the Nightingale surge hubs at hospitals will not have to be used but it is absolutely right that we prepare for all scenarios and increase capacity.”

The first eight of the Nightingale surge hubs will be at the following hospitals:

North East and Yorkshire – St James’ University Hospital, Leeds
North West – Royal Preston Hospital
Midlands – Solihull Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham and University Hospitals Leicester
East of England – Lister Hospital, Stevenage
London – St George’s Hospital
South East – William Harvey Hospital, Ashford
South West – North Bristol Hospital

A main road in Ripon has been blocked this afternoon due to a fallen tree.

Strong winds have caused minor disruption across the Harrogate district this afternoon.

But Ripon appears to have born the brunt, with trees down on Kirkby Road and also Lark Lane, according to North Yorkshire Police.

Police are urging drivers to take extra care.

Strong winds were forecast today but the Met Office did not issue any weather warnings for the district.

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