Police to challenge rule breakers on Harrogate district roads and beauty spots

North Yorkshire Police has said it will challenge lockdown rule breakers on the Harrogate district’s roads and beauty spots.

Superintendent Mike Walker, the force’s lead for coronavirus, today set out the countywide policing strategy for the third national lockdown.

He said police presence and visibility would increase to “reassure” people, and anyone caught breaking the rules would be challenged and possibly fined up to £200.

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Supt Walker said:

“Under these new regulations, if you are outside of your home without a reasonable excuse, or gathering indoors or outdoors with others, the police can take enforcement action against you and you can be fined up to £200.

“I would also stress that it is important to stay as close to home as possible. While exercise is permitted, this should be done in your local area, preferably from your doorstep.

“The new restrictions have been put in place to limit people’s movements in order to suppress the spread of a deadly virus. If you travel further than is essential, you are putting yourself and those communities you visit at risk of contracting this virus.

“Our health service is at a crucial point and as a nation we face a very serious situation, so it’s vital that we stick to the rules and stop the spread of the virus.”

 

Harrogate district to Clap for Heroes tonight

People in the Harrogate district will step onto their doorsteps tonight to bang pans and clap their hands to show support for the heroes of the pandemic.

The weekly Clap for Carers that took place during the first lockdown is being revived under the new name of Clap for Heroes at 8pm.

Annemarie Plas, who founded the initiative, said the new name not only celebrated the NHS, care workers and key workers but every hero who has played their part in tackling the pandemic.

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Clap for Carers started as a one-off on March 26 but proved so popular it continued for 10 weeks.

In the Harrogate district, people not only stepped onto their doorsteps but many also turned up at care homes and hospitals to show their support directly.

This time around, with coronavirus infection rates rising rapidly, the organisers have reiterated a call to wear masks and keep a safe distance while clapping.

Will you join in Clap for Heroes tonight at 8pm? Send your videos to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

700 Harrogate hospital staff to be vaccinated this week

Hundreds of hospital staff in Harrogate have had their first doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

On Monday, Harrogate District Hospital began offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to its staff after the first batch was delivered.

Seven hundred staff have been booked in this week to be vaccinated and 266 had received the jab after the first two days of the programme.

A total of 820 staff from high risk categories were invited to be inoculated first.

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Speaking after receiving her vaccine on Monday, Lorraine Robinson, assistant team leader of medical records, said:
“It was a necessity to have this vaccination because I have two auto-immune conditions and my husband is classed as vulnerable because he has an auto-immune condition.
“I’ve got elderly parents and a young grandson. I’ve had this to protect myself, my family and the patients we deal with.”

It comes as public health officials in North Yorkshire said they expected the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine to arrive in the county by the end of the week.

It means more care home residents will be able to access the vaccine as it is easier to transport.

The government has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, however just 530,000 were cleared for use earlier this week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday the NHS would begin to publish daily figures on the number of vaccinations from next week.

Scheme to donate laptops to Harrogate pupils

A community group in Harrogate is at the forefront of a drive to donate laptops and tablets to pupils studying from home.

Schools were preparing to reopen after the Christmas break for face-to-face learning until the third national lockdown caused a last minute U-turn this week.

This has left some students, especially from poorer backgrounds, in need of computers for home schooling.

There was a big drive during the first lockdown to hand out laptops and tablets and some schools did not receive what they requested from government.

Consequently some pupils are now without the means to access their education.

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Stuart Carlton, the corporate director of children and young people’s services at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“All the laptops we had in March have been distributed, that was the first part of the scheme.

“There was then a second part where the government provided laptops directly to schools.

“We know there were some problems with that scheme because of the volume of requests. Not all laptops that schools wanted were given to them.”

Julie Mills, head of the Supplies for Key Workers in and around Harrogate Facebook group, has partnered with Phase 4 Computers in Harrogate to supply devices.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“People have been really good, they have been fabulous. I put up a request just yesterday and we have had plenty of donations already.

“Phase 4 Computers has offered to clean the laptops and tablets up and get them ready for schools. We are all pulling together once again.”

Anyone wishing to donate can either drop it off at Phase 4 Computers on weekdays between 10am and 4pm or get in touch with the Supplies for Key Workers in and around Harrogate group.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said in the House of Commons today the government would deliver 750,000 laptops to pupils by the end of next week.

That pledge is part of a wider commitment to deliver one million devices to students in need.

Harrogate BID pledges £60,000 to tackle homelessness

Harrogate Business Improvement District is to give the Harrogate Homeless Project £15,000 a year for the next four years.

The funding will go towards converting the lower hall at the Wesley Centre into a day centre for homeless people.

The sum is in addition to the £37,500 the church received from the National Lottery’s coronavirus community support fund.

The Wesley Centre will use the awards to install new toilets and refurbish the kitchen ready for the day centre services.

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Liz Hancock, chief executive of Harrogate Homeless Project, said it was “hugely grateful” to the BID:

“We will now be fundraising hard to realise some of the ambitions we have to extend our operating hours and expand health, wellbeing, skills and rehabilitation services.

“This significant donation will be over four years, allowing us to plan with certainty to develop this fundamental service.”

Sara Ferguson, acting chair of Harrrogate BID said:

“One of our key objectives is to make Harrogate town centre ‘safe, clean and welcoming’, and we see our partnership with Harrogate Homeless Project as a key driver in this.

“When homeless people gather in the town it can be intimidating for some people, and Springboard will offer them a sanctuary where they can go and receive the support they need.”

Lidl submits plans for first Harrogate store

German supermarket chain Lidl has submitted plans to open its first store in Harrogate.

If approved, the supermarket would create about 40 full and part-time jobs on the site of the former Lookers car dealership on Knaresborough Road.

The multi-million pound proposal includes a 1,263 square metre sales area, an in-store bakery, customer toilets and 94 parking spaces.

It would open from 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

Lidl GB said in a statement a public consultation in November revealed 87 per cent of more than 1,000 responses supported the scheme.

Harrogate Borough Council must now adjudicate on whether to accept plans to redevelop the site, which is surrounded by hoardings.

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Robert Beaumont, Lidl property director for the north of England, said:

“Following this extremely positive feedback, we have now submitted a planning application for the site to Harrogate Borough Council.

“We have been looking forward to bringing a new store to Harrogate for a while and we hope that the council agrees that this is a great location for a new supermarket to serve the local community.”

Lidl entered the UK market in 1994 and now has more than 800 stores across the country, including one in Knaresborough.

Harrogate businesses could get grants of up to £9,000

Harrogate businesses could be in line for further financial support as more grants have been announced by the government.

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, unveiled a one-off top up grant of up to £9,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses amid the national lockdown.

The funding comes as part of a £4.6 billion package and the grants will be based on the rateable value of each business.

The government expects the grants will help to support more than 600,000 businesses.

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Mr Sunak also announced a further £594 million worth of discretionary funding for local authorities to target those who will not be eligible for the grant but might be affected by the lockdown.

He said:

“The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.

“Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the Spring.

“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”

It comes as businesses in the district reacted to the announcement of a further national lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday evening that a new lockdown would come into force, with a stay at home order.

Sandra Doherty, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, said the measures would be difficult but were necessary to reduce transmission until the vaccination took effect. She said:

“It’s going to be incredibly tough for all businesses over the coming months, and sadly not all will survive into the spring.

“Until we can resume life as we knew it in pre-covid days, the Government is going to have to continue its support to businesses, and extend it to those self-employed people who have so far not received any financial help at all.”

St Aidan’s floodlit pitch plans approved

Councillors have approved St Aidan’s secondary school’s plans to build a floodlit artificial sports pitch, subject to conditions on lighting and flooding.

A report from HBC officer Jeremy Constable had recommended the proposals for refusal due to its impact on the surrounding area.

However, councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee voted by a near unanimous decision this afternoon (nine in favour with one abstention) to defer to the chief planner for approval once new reports on drainage and light pollution are drawn up.

Nearby residents in Harrogate had complained the 15-metre high floodlights would cause light pollution to their homes and the Stray. However, Jeremy Constable, who wrote the council report, conceded at the meeting that light pollution would be minimal.

He said:

“There’s not going to be a great deal of light pollution. It can be mitigated with shields so that shouldn’t be a large issue.”

St Aidan’s chair of governers Jo Wicks spoke and said the pitch is “first and foremost” for the school but will also be used by the community in the evenings because of a “desperate shortage” of 3G pitches in the town.

Its hours of use will be 9am-8pm, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm on Saturdays and 10am-2pm on Sundays.

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Last week on HBC’s planning portal, the application had 40 objections and three in support. However, since the Stray Ferret story about the plans was published on Tuesday, there has been a surge of comments in favour, with 123 comments in support and 41 objections.

Several councillors spoke up in favour of the plans at the meeting, including Cllr Pat Marsh ,who said the council “would be letting our young people down” if they refused the plans.

She added:

“The weather at this time of year means the current pitches are unplayable. This is a way of providing to our young people. We owe it to them to provide this, not just for the school but for the wider community.”

Oxford vaccine ‘arriving this week’ – but Harrogate centre closed again today

The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine will arrive in North Yorkshire by the end of the week – but Harrogate’s vaccine centre remains closed today.

Health leaders in the county hailed the arrival of the new vaccine today in an emergency coronavirus press briefing to reflect the latest national lockdown.

More care home residents will be able to access the vaccine as it is easier to transport, they promised in the meeting.

With coronavirus cases rising rapidly and the test positivity rate more than three times what it was before Christmas, they think the new vaccine is a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Harrogate District Hospital also started vaccinating yesterday, with 700 staff understood to have booked for vaccine this week.

Good news about the new vaccine seems to be contrasted by an empty Yorkshire Event Centre, which has reportedly been closed for multiple days over Christmas and the new year.

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Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)in North Yorkshire, did not say why Harrogate’s vaccine centre remains closed today. However, she said:

“I know quite rightly that there is an enormous amount of hope from the vaccine and the opportunity to roll that out as soon as possible.

“Deployment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine started yesterday and we anticipate delivery of that vaccine in North Yorkshire towards the end of the week.”

The Stray Ferret has pressed North Yorkshire CCG for further answers about the Harrogate vaccine centre, after being contacted by numerous concerned residents. We asked which days it had been open, how many vaccines had been delivered there and when it was likely to reopen.

In response, a spokesperson for the CCGs said today:

“Health professionals have been working tirelessly over the festive period to offer the coronavirus vaccine to priority groups where supplies have allowed.

“The showground has been taking deliveries of the vaccine and staff have vaccinated many vulnerable patients, including care home residents and staff over the festive period.

“Our message to everyone is to ask them to please be patient. You will be contacted when the time is right.

“Please do not ring your surgery to ask about the vaccine – there is lots of information on the NHS website.

“Our surgeries need to keep their phone lines free for patients requiring urgent care.”

Former Harrogate soldier’s football ground run delayed by lockdown

A former Harrogate soldier is raising money for a children’s brain tumour charity by running to all 92 Premier League and EFL stadiums in England and Wales.

Nathan Richardson had planned to run from Leeds United’s Elland Road to Harrogate Town’s Wetherby Road ground today, until his plans were curtailed by the new national lockdown.

Nathan began his epic adventure in March 2020 and, once it is completed, he will have run between 2,000 to 2,500 miles on the tarmac, the equivalent of 95 marathons.

He remains optimistic that he’ll be able to complete his challenge once restrictions are eased:

“I’m disappointed but I know it’s the right thing to do. I will get going again.”

Born in Bury, Nathan began his army training at the Army Foundation College as a 16-year-old in 2007. He said he is looking forward to returning to a town he knows well:

“But we didn’t get let out much back then! It’s obviously a nice town and I spent quite a bit of time there. It will be good to go back.”

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He started the challenge before Town’s historic promotion to the EFL last summer, so he had to add a stop on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road into his itinerary, making it the 80th ground he’s visited so far.

He’s raising money for the mental health charity Mind, as well as The Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity, which supports children who have or have had a brain tumour.

When he finally makes it to Harrogate he will then run north east to Middlesborough’s Riverside Stadium, which he said will take him a few days.

To donate to Nathan’s fundraising, click here.