The new manager of the council-controlled company that has taken over leisure centres in the Harrogate district says staffing is a challenge.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mark Tweedie, the company’s new managing director, said although a number of these vacant roles would be filled in the coming weeks, staffing was still one of the most immediate challenges it faced.
He said:
“We have got a recruitment issue and that is something which is consistent right across the country.
“In leisure and hospitality, where people have been hit hard by lockdown closures and uncertainties around jobs, many people have got off and tried new jobs.
“We have got to convince people there are still strong careers in the leisure industry and attract people to come back.”
The company also faces a longer term challenge. Under local government reorganisation, all council services will come under the control of a new unitary authority serving the whole of North Yorkshire by April 2023 when the current two-tier system will be scrapped.
Like Harrogate, some other councils including Selby and Scarborough already have a system of leisure services being run by external companies.
But ultimately it will be for the new North Yorkshire council to decide whether these arrangements should continue beyond 2023 or if a county-wide approach is to be taken.
If all leisure services are brought in-house under the new authority, the road ahead for Brimhams Active will be an uncertain one. it could mean Brimhams Active is scrapped just a few years after launching.
Mr Tweedie said:
“With all these uncertainties on the horizon, all I can do and all I am doing as managing director is thinking how can I make Brimhams the best it can be so whenever any decisions are made we are in the mix.
“We are already collaborating with all of the other leisure operators around the region to look where we can form partnerships and work together.
“All we want to do is make sure we are best placed and the council has done that with the local authority controlled company (LACC).
“They have really done what is in the best interests of Harrogate.”
The council has spent less than £300,000 on setting up Brimhams Active which is now running 12 leisure venues in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Pateley Bridge.
Some decisions over how services are run will be made exclusively by a board of seven directors made up of councillors and council staff.
This includes councillor Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats, who said she was pleased that the launch of the company showed a commitment to keeping services running.
She said:
“Because leisure is not a statutory service and is expensive to deliver, the council could close all facilities or some of them to save money, in these difficult times, as some councils have done.
“At least having a LACC in place means there is commitment to deliver leisure facilities to the people of the district.
“Covid is and has been an issue for everyone. Hopefully now we are able to start to open everything up and with the launch of the LACC we will see a new future for the delivery of leisure service.”
Mr Tweedie added:
Vandals seriously damage Stray cherry trees again“Although we have launched the company, it will not be an instant change which people are going to see within 24 hours. This is a new strategy and website to make a commitment to where we are going.
“There is going to progressive change in the next one to three years to make the service a high performing offering.”
Eight cherry trees on the Stray has been vandalised over the weekend.
Some of the trees line the footpath known as Cherry Tree Walk, opposite the Kwik Fit garage, where branches have been deliberately broken or snapped off.
Vandalism to the trees has become a persistent problem with regular incidents over the past year.
In October last year, local police officer, Sgt Paul Cording tweeted about a number of trees “destroyed and killed” on York Place Stray.
Last summer there were reports of vandalism affecting young trees when local police officers were attempting to crack down on large groups congregating illegally on the Stray.
“What a sad and sorry sight to see these beautiful trees subjected to mindless vandalism once again.
Many have been planted in memory of loved ones and many for victims of the thalidomide tragedy. In every case love and consideration has gone into the planting of these trees which bring so much pleasure to so many In Harrogate and beyond.
As I said only recently when another tree was vandalised, this is utterly appalling and disgraceful behaviour. There is no polite way of describing the perpetrators of these abysmal acts. Devastating in every way and for everyone. Despicable behaviour, just despicable.”
A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said its parks team would assess the damage to the trees and remove broken branches.
Liberal Democrats win Knaresborough ward by-election
The Liberal Democrats have won the Knaresborough Scriven Park by-election.
Just before midnight the results of the count at the Knaresborough Community Centre were announced with Hannah Gostlow taking the ward from the Conservatives in a decisive victory:
Hannah Gostlow, Liberal Democrats – 635
Jaqui Renton, Conservative – 384
Sharon-Theresa Calvert, Labour Party – 91
Harvey Alexander, UKIP – 11
Hannah Gostlow’s victory means there are now 30 Conservatives, 8 Liberal Democrats, and 2 independent councillors on Harrogate Borough Council.
The election was held following the resignation of Conservative councillor Samantha Mearns, who last month announced she had stepped down due to family reasons.
Mrs Mearns won the ward in 2018 with 457 votes with the Liberal Democrats polling 441 votes.
Forty seven new covid cases in the districtThere have been forty seven new covid cases in the Harrogate district, according to statistics from Public Health England.
It brings the total number of people in the district who have had covid since testing started to 10, 851.
Harrogate’s seven day average case rate (per 100,000 population) is 440.8 – the England average is 445.8.
Craven has the highest rate in North Yorkshire at 565.3 — latest data up to July 22.
Figures on the number of covid deaths at Harrogate District Hospital will be reported on Monday. Data is no longer published on a weekend.
But, the hospital has so far gone more than three months without reporting a death from a patient who tested positive for covid.
Stray Foodie Review: General Tarleton
Stray Foodie reviews are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.
Frances independently chooses which restaurants she will visit. This week, Frances reviews the newly refurbished General Tarleton in Ferrensby.
Visiting the GT on a hot sunny day produced memories of Provence, on arrival to a quiet car park with hayfields and a gentle breeze. The GT looked well curated. Wafts of lavender and a glass of chilled Rose came to mind. This was everything it was supposed to replicate when Denis Watkins transformed it from an ordinary pub in the mid 90’s.
After much love and dedication given by John and Claire Topham, the GT has always had a great reputation for its food and hospitality. It’s now in the hands of a new father and daughter team, and no expense has been spared on the venue.
As I walked through the door I felt a spacious sense of calm and creativity, everything was aimed at perfection.
Sitting outside on the Terrace on very comfortable rattan furniture, I waited for my young man. Smart waiting staff offered me the Bar and Terrace menu which consisted of a choice of Small Plates, Brunch Plates, Large Plates and Sides.
Mushroom and truffle arancini (top) and smoked mackerel pate croustini (bottom)
All small plates are £5.00, brunch plates £12.00 and large plates £14.00 – £17.00. What an extensive menu. An example of the small plates on offer were mushroom and truffle aranchini with spring onion dip, smoked mackerel pate croustini, herb aioli and basil, confit duck leg Kievs, brown butter hollandaise.
An example of the Brunch Plates were avocado on griddled rosemary toast, poached eggs, pumpkin seed dressing, spinach, cherry tomatoes and garden leaf, eggs benedict with warm crumpets, poached eggs, sliced ham, curried hollandaise sauce and chives.
The Large Plates included market fish of the day served with crushed ratte potatoes, herbs and lemon, seasonal greens and tartare sauce hollandaise or a summer salad of vegetables, feta, nasturtium pesto, pine nuts and mint. Oh what choice! All things to all men.
The Bar and Terrace puddings consisted of brownies, sticky toffee pudding, posset, cheesecake and cheeses. All puddings are between £8.00 and £10.00. What more could you want?!
If you have a penchant for hollandaise sauce and a love of decadent food, this is your place!
The market fish of the day: sea bream
The market fish of the day turned out to be sea bream, a deliciously oily fish usually served with fresh crispy greens. This was slightly different but cooked with care and knowledge. The crushed ratte potato looked like a roast potato, and the seasonal greens as one would have expected to be fresh and light was piece of vintage blanched Broccoli. Once again the hollandaise sauce made its popular appearance here.
The summer salad of vegetables turned out to be red chicory and mature heritage tomatoes with cress. It was beautifully presented, but somewhat lacking was the nasturtium flavour and other vegetables.
Summer vegetable salad
This menu on a busy day is ambitous but I am sure exceedingly popular.
I was told that the beer was superb, Landlords Special, by my young man and there was a comprehensive and good wine list.
Ralph’s Tasting Menu is on offer for 7 Courses at £55.00 which seems to be exceedingly good value. It includes smoked salmon, chicken liver mousse, coronation crab, beef, brioche, strawberries and chocolate. Once again an exciting and complex menu with a lot of work.
Given the shortage of chefs in hospitality at the moment, to produce such a choice of food will require a brigade of many hard working chefs to keep freshness and consistency at the level expected of the atmospheric General Tarleton.
Harrogate Council warns of disruption to services due to staff self-isolation alerts
There are fresh warnings that council services could face disruptions due to staff self-isolating as covid infections in Harrogate reach record levels.
Some services including swimming pools and tourist information centres have yet to return to normal since lockdown and there are now concerns that they could be hit by more staff being alerted by the NHS covid-19 app.
Councillor Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said people should not expect that public services, also including bin collections, will be “immune” to the same disruptions seen in the private sector at retail and hospitality businesses.
He told a meeting on Wednesday:
“Many of the services that have reopened such as pools, gyms and the whole of the leisure sector employ people who are predominately young – and these people are those who have either had one or jab or no jabs yet.
“With infection levels rising, it may be that the pressure seen in other industries – retail, hospitality and what have you – may affect us.
“I want to get that level of expectation out there now. While we are not having difficulties with service delivery at the moment, it may come to a time when we do.”
On Monday, 20 out of around 1,000 council staff were self-isolating.
Nationally, more than 600,000 people in England and Wales were sent self-isolation alerts by the NHS Covid-19 app in the week between 8 and 15 July.
That was a 17% rise from the previous week – and there are complaints that the alerts are causing serious staff shortages.
Self-isolation for all fully-vaccinated people ‘pinged’ by the app is due to be scrapped by 16 August, although there are calls for this to be brought forward.
The app alert is only advisory and not enforceable by law, unlike a phone call from the Test and Trace team.
In June, an outbreak among council staff caused delays to waste and recycling collections in the Harrogate district.
Before Starbeck Baths reopened this week, Trevor Watson, the council’s director for economy, environment and housing, warned that the need for leisure staff to self-isolate would have an “unavoidable impact” on services.
He said:
“We continue to face the challenge that, if any staff get a notification from the NHS Test and Trace app to self-isolate, then they must do so.
“For many of us, this doesn’t present a problem as we can work at home. But for our leisure centre staff this isn’t possible and sadly has an unavoidable impact on the services we provide.”
The warnings come as Harrogate’s weekly infection rate has passed its previous record of 497 cases per 100,000 people in January to 532 on Sunday.
However, hospital admissions remain low with just three patients at the district hospital on Wednesday – and there has not been a Covid-related death there in more than three months thanks to high levels of vaccine uptake.
Daily covid cases rise by 123 in the Harrogate districtThe daily number of covid cases rose by 123 in the district according to statistics published by Public Health England this afternoon.
There have been 10,231 positive covid cases in the district since testing started in the pandemic.
There have been no new reported deaths at Harrogate District Hospital.
Harrogate’s 7-day average case rate (per 100,000 population, latest data up to July 14) is 435.2.
This is below the North Yorkshire average of 462.7 but higher than the overall England average of 422.1.
Covid cases rise by 170 in the Harrogate district
The latest data from Public Health England shows there have been 170 new positive covid cases in the Harrogate district in the past 24 hours.
The total number of people who have tested positive in the district since the start of the pandemic has now passed the 10,000 mark – with current figures standing at 10,108.
There have been no deaths of any patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital -the hospital has said it is treating five people with the virus.
Harrogate currently has a 7-day average case rate (per 100,000 population) of 435.2 which is higher than the England average of 422.1. Richmondshire has the highest rate of all the North Yorkshire districts -its 7-day average is 573.2.
IMAGE GALLERY: It’s a scorcher at the final day of the Great Yorkshire Show
The organisers couldn’t have wished for better weather — on the final day of the Great Yorkshire Show it’s been 26 celsius. The cows needed hosing down and the crowds needed ice cream.. here’s a flavour of the day..
Harry Gration, Yorkshire legend, former presenter of BBC Look North and now Vice President of the Yorkshire Society writes for the Stray Ferret about Harrogate’s Gareth Southgate and his historic England team.
Make no mistake, this guy’s a special manager.
In my 42 years of broadcasting, many of them involving sporting events, I have met so many football managers who are nonentities. You know the cliched kind: taking each game as they come; it was a game of two halves… so how refreshing it is to hear the England manager, Gareth Southgate, setting new standards in every way.
We’ve seen a man of morals, decency, with community values and nurturing ethics. Can this exist in a world of top flight football? He has collected and moulded this side into what some say is the perfect squad.
They all work together and protect the Southgate brand. What I like about what I see is in the pursuit of eloquence in this team when they are interviewed.
There is a pride in playing for their country which happily shines through. Just watch the way they sing the national anthem. Many a year, you got the impression that some either didn’t know the words nor cared.
Gareth is a family man. His son, a chip off the old block, plays cricket alongside my son at their school in York.
He’s proud of his dad, of course, but prefers to talk quietly about it all and concentrate on his game, cricket. He’s a fast bowler, by the way, and pretty good! He also chose to play for his school the day after that epic semi final. How’s that for loyalty!
Gareth loves living in North Yorkshire, away from the madding crowd. His wife and daughter add to the bond that Gareth has created with his England family. So I’d say that no England manager has established a brand like Gareth.
They are his boys, picked with great thought and consideration, and put together with real care. Yes, he’s taken some stick on social media at times. But his devotion and total belief in his team is unwavering .
I have never felt so proud of an England team since 1966. Whatever happens on Sunday Gareth Southgate is a winner. Who says the good guys can’t win?
For me ‘arise Sir Gareth’ has a nice ring to it.