1,000 sign petition calling for Oatlands cycling plans to be scrapped

More than a thousand people have signed a petition in just four days calling for the cycling scheme for Oatlands Drive to be scrapped.

North Yorkshire County Council has proposed to make the road one-way southbound and 20mph to widen the footpath and create a segregated cycleway.

The public consultation for that £215,000 scheme closed at the end of February. But the petition organiser hopes that it will be considered if it gains more traction.

Anna McIntee started the petition.

Anna McIntee, who lives in the Saints area of Harrogate, started the online petition which has at the time of writing attracted 1,041 signatures.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“I started the petition on Monday and more than a thousand people have already signed it. That is amazing, I am so pleased with it.

“So many people have already signed it but I hope that we can reach 10,000 signatures by the end of the month, when I will send it to the county council.

“I do like cycling and I have my own bike which I use, I think we should encourage cycling but in a diffent way which does not have an adverse effect on the town.”

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The Harrogate and District Cycle Action (HDCA) which consults with local councils believes that it is time for cars to start sharing the road with cyclists more.

Chair of the group, Kevin Douglas, when asked about demand for all these new cycling routes, pointed to North Yorkshire County Council’s congestion survey in 2019.

That survey, answered by 14,000 people, found that 77% would use improved cycling and walking infrastructure if it was built.

Mental health a priority as Harrogate Grammar students return

Harrogate Grammar School‘s deputy headteacher has said he hopes his new masters degree in mental health and wellbeing can be used to support pupils when they return to school next week.

Recent data from NHS England shows one in six children aged 5 to 16 has a mental health disorder.

The school said data like this and the impact of the pandemic explained why it had made mental health and wellbeing a key focus.

The Leadership of School Mental Health and Wellbeing course at Leeds Beckett University, which deputy headteacher Tim Milburn has just completed, is the first of its kind in the country.

Mr Milburn hopes the skills he has acquired will help students after the latest lockdown ends. He said;

“This has been a great experience and it has given me the understanding and confidence to effectively lead whole mental health within school using the latest research.

“The content of the course has also enabled me to adopt best practice so that the mental health and wellbeing of both staff and students is supported and strengthened.”

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Mr Milburn was writing his dissertation last year when schools were closed when he changed his focus to look at how technology can be utilised to support young people with their mental health.

The school is part of the Red Kite Learning Trust, which serves over 8,000 students in Harrogate and Leeds, and Mr Milburn plans to share his knowledge with other schools in the trust to help support thousands of young people locally. He said:

“I have been very fortunate that Harrogate Grammar School and Red Kite Learning Trust have supported me to complete this course and I am really looking forward to paying back that investment by working with colleagues across the trust to continue the important work on mental health and wellbeing.”

Graveley’s fish and chip restaurant to be renamed Catch Harrogate

One of Harrogate’s most famous brands, Graveley’s, is to be renamed Catch Harrogate.

The fish and chips restaurant on Cheltenham Parade is currently being refurbished. It is still open for takeaways.

The restaurant is expected to reopen in May under its new name.

Graveley’s was sold to Catch, which is based in Harrogate and has four other seafood restaurants in Yorkshire, in 2019.

A spokeswoman for Catch confirmed it would reopen as Catch Harrogate, bringing it into line with the ‘Catch’ name used at the company’s other seafood restaurants in Leeds, Holmfirth and Halifax. She added:

“Graveley’s is an institution in Harrogate so we appreciate it is going to be a big thing to change the name.”

She added the new building will have more fresh seafood on the menu, an oyster bar, a licensed bar and more modern decor.

For decades, people have made the pilgrimage to Graveley’s to enjoy fish and chips.

Chat show host Michael Parkinson once said his favourite restaurant was a toss-up between Bettys and Graveley’s in Harrogate.

He described his perfect day as watching Joe Root score a century in an Ashes Test at Headingley followed by a big plate of fish and chips at Graveley’s.

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Sainsbury’s to open store in Harrogate town centre

Sainsbury’s is planning to open a new store in the centre of Harrogate by the end of the summer.

The Sainsbury’s Local store will open in the former Topshop unit at 33-37 Cambridge Street, which has been empty for more than two years.

Sainsbury’s expects to employ about 25 people in a mixture of full-time and part-time roles.

Sainsbury’s already has four stores in Harrogate: a large store on Wetherby Road and smaller Local stores on Leeds Road, King’s Road and Cold Bath Road.

The new store will be just a minute’s walk from the Tesco Express on Cambridge Road.

The investment comes at a difficult time for the town centre, with many businesses closed or struggling to survive as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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It comes at a time when Sainsbury’s is to cut 500 head office jobs. Another 650 jobs at the company are also said to be at risk.

An artist's impression of the new Sainsbury's Local in Harrogate.

An artist’s impression of the new Sainsbury’s Local in Harrogate.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s property director, said:

“We’re excited to open our doors to a new convenience store in Harrogate by late summer this year.

“Our investment in Harrogate will give the local community a new and modern store and support jobs during the fit out and beyond.

“This Local will offer everyday essentials and give residents, workers and tourists the chance to get what they need as they go about their busy daily lives.”

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning everyone and welcome to our live traffic and travel service for the Harrogate district, designed to keep you moving.

Whether you travel by car, bus or train we will keep an eye out for any possible disruption to your journey. All brought to you by The HACS Group.

It’s Connor again back on the travel desk from 6.30am. Spotted an accident or a road closure? Send your updates to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

If traffic is moving well or it’s at a standstill then we will let you know with our updates every 15 minutes.

Full update 9am

Thanks to everyone who has gotten involved in the traffic and travel today. I am heading over to the news desk now but will be back tomorrow from 6.30am to keep the Harrogate district moving.

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Cycling and crime concerns raised at Station Gateway consultation

The first consultation event into Harrogate’s Station Gateway project last night saw  concerns raised about the need for more cycling lanes as well as an increase in anti-social behaviour.

The online event enabled people to ask questions about the £7.8 million town centre project, which is being funded from the government’s £317 million Transforming Cities Fund.

Representatives from Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, as well as engineering consultants, discussed the plans and answered questions.

If the current proposals are approved, the area around the town’s bus and train stations on Station Parade will look vastly different.

Traffic would be reduced a single lane to create more space for cycling, walking and public transport.

How Station Parade might look under the new Station Gateway proposals.

One member of the public asked if the design and reduced amount of traffic would increase anti-social behaviour.

Aidan Rayner, Transforming Cities Fund delivery project manager at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“One of the main parts of this proposal is to improve public experience. We don’t believe that these plans would impact public safety”.

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Another member of the public asked what evidence there was to support the increased demand for cycling. In response, Matthew Roberts an economy and transport officer at Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“Increasing recognition of the climate emergency and the need to make healthier choices is generating more demand. Faster cycling routes, I think, will mean more will choose to cycle.

“We have 79,000 people living within a 20-minute cycle ride to the town centre.”

Mr Roberts said high streets were changing and Harrogate needed to adapt to continue attracting visitors.

Those behind the proposals said the suggestions at the event would be taken forward in further discussions.

A second public consultation is due to take place next week on March 10.

The plans will then be considered in detail before work begins. Mr Rayner said he hoped construction could begin in spring next year.

He added disruption would be limited as much as possible.

What’s your view of the Station Gateway proposal? Email letters@thestrayferret.co.uk with your thoughts and we may include it on our letters page, Stray Views, published each Sunday.

Can Great Yorkshire Show and vaccine site take place together?

Health leaders revealed today they are in discussions with the organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show about whether the event and the vaccination programme on the site can take place together.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society announced this week it planned to stage the three-day show from July 13 to 15, adding the decision would be ‘reviewed regularly’.

This raised questions about the impact on the mass vaccination programme that is being run at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

The showground, which can carry out up to 1,800 vaccinations a day, has been the Harrogate district’s main vaccine centre since December.

The NHS is due to be giving jabs to under-50s at the time of the show.

The vaccines are administered in the Yorkshire Event Centre building at the showground. The event centre is usually a key part of the Great Yorkshire Show, hosting many food stalls.

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Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told a coronavirus press briefing today:

“It’s great that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that venues which would have been standing empty have been serving such a great purpose.

“There are a number of sites we will be having conversations with over the next few weeks and there are also sites we are already in discussions with.

“We are talking about how we can run vaccination sites concurrently with public-facing events or whether we need to think about providing it in a different way.

“So we are working with individual sites to understand what the different options are for us.”

The Stray Ferret also asked the Yorkshire Agricultural Society about the situation.

Heather Parry, Managing Director of Yorkshire Event Centre said:

“We are discussing our plans with the NHS vaccination centre and together we expect to come up with workable solutions.”

Harrogate man speeding at 126mph was also breaking lockdown rules

A Harrogate man broke lockdown and speeding rules when he was caught driving at 126 miles an hour on the way to Scarborough.

North Yorkshire Police said today the man had picked up a woman from York and they were on their way to Scarborough when they were caught near Stainton.

When questioned by officers they explained that they “just wanted to go for a drive”, which was not considered to be a reasonable excuse for being outside during lockdown.

Sergeant Daniel Thompson, of Scarborough’s neighbourhood policing team, said at a North Yorkshire coronavirus press briefing today:

“One of the safety cameras on the A64 sighted a vehicle travelling at 126mph. I managed to stop that vehicle as it approached Stainton.

“There were two people in the vehicle. A man who travelled from Harrogate who picked up the woman from York. They were travelling from York to Scarborough for a drive.

“That was the only purpose. They were from two different households and travelled significant distance. The speeding was putting themselves and others at risk.

“Just going for a drive was not a reasonable excuse. We tell these people to just do their bit and as the police we will continue to do our bit.”

Police and public health leaders are increasingly concerned about the number of people breaking lockdown rules as the weather improves.

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North Yorkshire Police said today it has handed out 255 lockdown fines in the last seven days, which is a 33% increase on last week.

Superintendent Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police’s lead on the coronavirus response, said:

“We are starting to see a concerning trend. Over the last few weeks we have reported increasing numbers of fines that the police are handing out.

“There has been a significant upturn in the numbers. We handed out 255 fines in the last week, with 169 in the last weekend alone.

“We believe the figures are influenced by the good weather but officers are reporting that there has been a change of behaviour since the government released its roadmap.”

Harrogate businesses welcome furlough extension

Business owners in the Harrogate district have welcomed an extension to the furlough scheme which they say will help to save jobs.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the scheme, which covers 80% of employee salaries, will be extended until September this year.

Mr Sunak also confirmed that a business rates holiday will be extended until June, as well as a 5% VAT reduction for the hospitality and tourism sectors for six months.

An extra £5 billion worth of grants for high street shops and hospitality have also been announced. It will see pubs and hotels able to bid for £18,000 worth of funding.

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park Hotel and Spa, said he was pleased with the extension to the furlough scheme.

He said:

“I’m delighted with that because it will be flexible furlough and it will mean that we do not have to carry that wage bill if we do not have customers.

“It means that my team will still be able to pay their mortgages. We are lucky that we as a business have more fat on our back, but there are lots who live hand to mouth.”

Elsewhere in his budget, Mr Sunak announced a further £400 million financial support for the arts.

The money will be added to the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, which has already awarded £800 million in grants to theatres, museums and music venues.

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Ripon Cathedral, Harrogate Theatre, the Deer Shed Festival, Ripon Museum Trust and Ripon Amateur Operatic Society are among the local beneficiaries of the fund so far.

David Bown, chief executive of the Harrogate Theatre, said he was pleased with the announcements on furlough and arts funding.

However, he added that more detail was required on the schemes.

He said:

“The furlough scheme will allow us to bring staff back in a measured way when we have got the details on when we can reopen.

“The funding for the arts is great news, but again we will have to find out the detail on the criteria and how we can access that.”

Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festival, agreed the “devil would be in the detail”.

She said:

“The items that would affect us are the fourth and fifth grants. It is great that people in the arts are being recognised, especially those who may have missed out previously because of the way their business is set up.

“The devil will be in the detail, particularly for our industry, given all the unknowns on the reopening.”

Harrogate town centre cleaned ready for return of retail

Harrogate Business Improvement District has called in its cleaning crew to sort out the town’s “grot spots” ready for the return of retail next month.

Teams have started weeding and washing footpaths on East Parade, Tower Street and Bower Road, including the pedestrian tunnel.

When they have finished there they will move onto other areas the Harrogate BID has identified as being in need of a clean.

Last year the BID awarded Yorkshire-based company UK Nationwide Cleaning Services a four-year cleaning contract.

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Between April and December, the company power-washed about 40,000 square metres in the town centre.

Sara Ferguson, chair of the Harrogate BID, said:

“One of our remits is to build on the day-to-day work undertaken by Harrogate Borough Council’s street cleansing department, and to ensure Harrogate town centre continues to look at its best all year round.

“With Easter a month away, and ‘non-essential’ shops to reopen on April 12, we want the town to look clean, welcoming and inviting for the long-awaited return of customers, hence this early spring clean.”