Just 14 coronavirus cases in Harrogate district today

Coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district have continued to fall as the end of the second lockdown approaches.

Public Health England reported just 14 additional cases in the district today, down from a peak of 95 on November 9.

The Harrogate district now has the lowest infection rate of the seven district and borough council regions in North Yorkshire.

Its seven-day average rate is 97 cases per 100,000 people, which is also well below the England average of 160 per 100,000.

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Selby has the highest rate in North Yorkshire at 155 cases per 100,000 people, which is still below the national average.

The R number in the district has also fallen to 0.6. Any number below one means the spread of the virus is declining.

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any additional coronavirus deaths.

The hospital has recorded 99 covid deaths since the start of the pandemic. The last death was recorded over the weekend but happened on Thursday last week,

Harrogate retailers wait for shopper numbers before opening late

Harrogate’s independent shops say they are hesitant to stay open late in case there isn’t the footfall to make it profitable.

The government is to relax rules on late night opening to help stores recover sales after lockdown.

Store owners are gearing up to reopen on Wednesday but some want to see how many people return to the high street before spending money on additional staff.

In previous years, Harrogate’s shops have opened late one night during the week but this year shops are being precautious.

What do the shop owners say?

Louise Chesters, owner of Dizzy Duck in Harrogate, said:

“We’ll have to see how we go, if we get busy I will extend them to accordingly. It’s hard to tell if we will be inundated so it’s just a case of embracing it all. It would also take extra organising to extend the hours so we will have to see how it goes on Wednesday but I’m excited.”

Georgie Roberts, owner of Georgie’s, said:

“If someone asked I would stay open of course or if someone asks for a private appointment later in the day to feel safe then of course I would accommodate it. I’ll be flexible and see what happens but because I am out of the centre late nights tend not to work for me.”

Bob Kennedy, owner of G23 and Porters, said:

“Late nights don’t always work for us. It could be different this year with people supporting the high street, but I don’t know if it would be worth it. We will have to see how shoppers react when we reopen. It has been a difficult year and we need people to support local retail.”

After another month of closure the shops were eager to reopen. They are hoping a festive boost in sales can begin to make up for lost time.

Sandra Doherty, Chief Executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, was sceptical of the impact of the new guidelines. She said:

“Permitting shops to open for extra hours will, in a few instances, allow the retailers to benefit from a potential increase in trade, however, in most cases the extra costs in staffing will actually cut into profits.

“The temptation to stay open when others are closed will be tremendous, but there is only so much money to go around, and opening more hours will just spread the ‘spend’ over a longer time frame.”

Six arrests after spate of burglaries in Harrogate

Police have made six arrests after a spate of overnight burglaries in Harrogate.

Thieves broke into four homes in the Rossett, Oatlands, High Harrogate and Pannal Ash areas in the last week alone.

Homeowners reported that jewellery, cash and electronic devices had all been stolen.

North Yorkshire Police arrested six men aged in their 20s to their 50s. The police released them all under investigation.

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As a result of the burglaries the police have warned residents to be vigilant in the run up to Christmas.

Detective Sergeant Tom Barker, from Harrogate’s proactive team, said:

“It’s a common trend that during the lead up to Christmas we have a spate in burglaries.

“As a result, we have a dedicated team of officers out in the areas we know that are being targeted.”

The force has put out advice asking people to lock doors and windows, leave a light on when heading out and never leave valuables on show.

All 285 year 11 pupils at Harrogate Grammar sent home due to covid

All 285 students in year 11 at Harrogate Grammar School have been told to stay at home to self-isolate for two weeks.

The school contacted families yesterday after the number of infections gradually increased between Thursday and Sunday to eight.

Only pupils in close proximity to those who test positive should isolate.

But the school decided to put the whole year group into isolation when the number of cases rose to eight.

It comes at a difficult time for the students, who were preparing to take mock GCSE exams this week.

A school spokeswoman acknowledged the outbreak had occurred at a bad time but added “the safety of pupils and staff must come first”.

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Pupils will now use school computers to complete some of their exams at home – at the same time as they would have done at school.

The students will upload their exam results into a secure folder.

A spokesperson for the school said:

“We know and respect that the students have worked hard to prepare for these exams so we wanted to give them the opportunity to complete them.

“We have made it achievable with the iPads, and so far we have had positive feedback.”

Harrogate company delivers Downing Street Christmas tree

Staff from a Harrogate construction company travelled to London yesterday to deliver this year’s Downing Street Christmas tree.

HACS Group employees took the tree, which was chosen at a competition in Harrogate, from York to the country’s most famous house.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the 20 ft tree was the “first step to bringing us some festive cheer”.

The tree was grown by York Christmas Trees, which won last month’s annual Champion Christmas Tree Grower of the Year competition at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

After the HACS Group erected the tree it was decorated by an Oxfordshire company.

Yorkshire shepherdess Amanda Owen, from Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, and Peter Wright from The Yorkshire Vet, were among the judges.

Heather Parry, managing agent of event organisers the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, which is based at the Great Yorkshire Showground, said:

“Today is a symbolic moment which shows the start of a Christmas which we have all been so focussed on.

“It was a significant boost that the government supported our members, recognising that Christmas trees are essential at this time of year and that the selling season is short; whilst understanding consumers are particularly keen to get their decorations up this year.”

HACS, which is based in Ripley, is an independent building and construction services contractor.

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Harrogate post box with a direct line to Santa opens

A new post box with a direct line to the North Pole has opened in Harrogate offering children the chance to write to Father Christmas.

Harrogate International Festivals has turned its Cheltenham Parade office a magical makeover.

As well as the post office, the site has snow flurries and Christmas music, and Father Christmas also makes appearances in the window.

The North Pole Post Office, which will be open right up to Christmas eve, aims to bring some festive cheer to children denied the chance to visit Santa due to covid.

Children posting letters should include their name, age, what they would like for Christmas and something they like doing. Those who would like Santa Claus to write back should also include their address.

 

 

 

 

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Lizzie Brewster, Harrogate International Festivals’ head of development and communications, said:

“Because Santa’s grottos will be few and far between, we are inviting the town’s children to write a letter to Father Christmas and then pop it into our post box.

“And naturally we would also ask that social distancing is adhered to at all times. The last thing we want is Father Christmas and his elves coming down with covid!”

Harrogate Business Improvement District has sponsored the North Pole Post Office as part of its Harrogate at Christmas campaign.

Sara Ferguson, acting chair of Harrogate BID, said:

“Harrogate International Festivals are known for their creativity. The North Pole Post is simply genius. We are delighted to partner with them for this end of year treat.

“It is a feature of our Harrogate at Christmas campaign, designed to bring residents into town all through the week, not just at the weekend when it’s at its busiest.”

Civic Society opposes bid to convert Harrogate’s former post office

Harrogate Civic Society is to oppose plans to convert the town’s former post office into offices and 25 flats.

Post Office Ltd wants to add a fourth floor on to the three-storey sandstone terraced building, which closed last year after more than 100 years as a post office.

The society, which is a charity that aims to keep Harrogate beautiful, said in a statement it welcomed the principle of redeveloping the site into a mixed-use facility but added:

“We are, however, concerned about the impact of an additional floor to this building in the conservation area, as the proposal does not address the whole of the building as originally designed.

“The appearance of the new floor results in a design solution which is not fully considered or refined and therefore does not enhance the existing roofscape in its present form.”

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Property development company One Acre Group has submitted plans on behalf of Post Office Ltd to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the building. If approved, work could start in the summer.

The post office controversially relocated to WH Smith last year amid claims by Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones the service was being “downgraded”.

The society said the application would encourage retail and make the area more vibrant. It added:

“We support the principle of re-use of vacant upper floors in the town centre for residential purposes.

“We believe this concept should be encouraged and developed in all areas of the town centre so that buildings and streets as a whole appear to have life at all times.”

But the organisation said it was “concerned about the relationship of the proposed extension to the existing buildings along Cambridge Terrace”, adding:

“The society is of the opinion that the developer’s proposal as it stands should be resisted.”

 

 

Police investigating Killinghall burglary appeal for jogger

Police are appealing for a jogger to come forward to help with an investigation into a burglary.

At about 7.30pm on Friday night, police were called to a house in Killinghall. The burglars had threatened the people living in the home and had then made off with cash and other items.

A  jogger who was out running the following morning found a mobile phone and handed it in to Harrogate Police Station.

However, they did not leave their contact details.

Officers are appealing for them to come forward as a witness as they may have information that could assist the investigation.

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North Yorkshire Police have arrested two men in connection with the incident. They remain in custody at this time.

If you have an information please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference number 12200211798.

Harrogate independents band together to beat coronavirus

A Harrogate street full with independent retailers has banded together to beat coronavirus.

Commercial Street has a new retailers group designed at promoting all of the shops online.

Shops pay £52 a year to join and all of that money goes into a pot to pay for the website and any future campaigns.

More than 70% of the street is already signed up. They all hope that it can help them get a bumper Christmas after a difficult year.

Commercial Street

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Sue Kramer, of Crown Jewellers and head of the Commercial Street Retailers Group, said:

“It’s been a tough time for shops. But we hope that we can come out of coronavirus in a strong position.

“Christmas is such an important time so we are very happy to be in tier two. The new group has come at a great time.’

She hopes that the new group can encourage customers to keep coming back and exploring Commercial Street.

Despite the difficult year Sue believes that independent shops like the ones on Commercial Street will be the heart of town centres in years to come.

More cases and one more coronavirus death in Harrogate

There are 22 new cases in the Harrogate district today as the hospital reports another coronavirus death.

Public Health England figures for the district, which have been dropping steadily since the start of November, are now at 3,536 cases overall.

Harrogate District Hospital is now at 99 coronavirus deaths in total after it reported one more death today.

The death, while reported today, happened on Thursday. November 26.

It also comes as the Harrogate district prepares to move into tier two restrictions on Wednesday as the national lockdown ends.

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