A local man has accused Harrogate Borough Council of “behaving like a secret state” after winning a six-month Freedom of Information battle.

Jerry Diccox submitted a FoI request in March after council leader Cllr Richard Cooper rejected calls to stream meetings live online.

Mr Cooper said he could not justify spending tens of thousands of pounds on streaming meetings that would be watched by two or three people.

Mr Diccox asked the council to provide evidence substantiating Mr Cooper’s claims. The council said the information was exempt from disclosure because it was commercially sensitive.

Mr Diccox requested an internal review, saying the issue related to public money and therefore the information should be in the public domain. But the council’s chief solicitor upheld the original decision.

‘Nothing short of shameful’

However, the Information Commissioner’s Office ruled in Mr Diccox’s favour when he appealed and, six months after his original request, the information was released.

Writing back to the council, Mr Diccox said the process had been a “huge waste of time”. He added:

“That it took pressure from the ICO and over six months of waiting for Harrogate Borough Council to provide this information, during which time it attempted to hide it behind the “public interest” exemption, is nothing short of shameful.

“It demonstrates either a wilful determination within the council to avoid public accountability, democracy and openness

“In future, the council should try to follow its own aims of being more open and democratic, and stop trying to behave like a secret state.”

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Harrogate Borough Council denied there was any attempt to avoid accountability:

“The quotes were provided by external suppliers as part of the process to investigate the cost of equipping the council chamber with the hardware necessary to live-stream meetings and software for proceedings to be ‘broadcast’.

“We believed this information to be commercially sensitive and therefore exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) of the FOI Act. The Information Commissioner disagreed with our judgement, so we have released the information.”

Mr Diccox’s efforts revealed the council received three quotes for streaming its meetings, ranging from just over £5,000 to nearly £48,000:

• Option 1: £5,377 one-off cost for installation and training to enable YouTube hosting. The council would be responsible for managing videos.
• Option 2: £25,185 for one year or £40,623 for three years. Full webcasting solution offer to install and service the streaming of meetings.
• Option 3: £19,168 for one year or £47,468 for three years. Full webcasting solution offer will be the same as option 2 but also include website hosting fees.

HBC did not take up any of the options to stream meetings from the council chambers.

Since covid it has, however, held meetings on Microsoft Teams and broadcast them on YouTube. They are then removed after two weeks.

Harrogate Borough Council is to publish a 10-year vision for horticulture in the district — but it’s unclear if it will include plans to grow wildflowers on the Stray.

The Harrogate and District Green Party has called for wildflowers to be planted to attract more wildlife, such as bees, and to act as a focal point for visitors.

It recently launched a petition, which has almost 600 signatures, urging the council to support this.

At last night’s full council meeting, Rebecca Maunder, chair of the Harrogate and District Green Party, asked Cllr Andy Paraskos, cabinet member for the environment, if HBC would commit to planting more bulb species as well as sowing wildflower seeds on the Stray.

Cllr Paraskos said he “absolutely” agreed with the Green Party’s sentiments on biodiversity but did not commit to any specific changes on the Stray.

He said:

“Biodiversity is not just about the Stray but across the whole district so hopefully we will see some exciting projects over the coming years.

“The Stray does not belong to us, so everything we do on the Stray is by negotiations with the Duchy, but we will continue to look at biodiversity”.

Read more:

• Hundreds sign petition to make the Stray bee-friendly

• Plant wildflowers on the Stray, says Green Party

The council held a consultation on the future of horticulture in the district this year.

Its horticulture strategy, which is yet to be approved, will detail the authority’s planting plans.

Cllr Paraskos said biodiversity “is a strong theme” of the upcoming strategy.

The council has already committed to planting 60,000 crocuses on the the Stray at West Park in the coming months.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret after the meeting, Ms Maunder said “now is the perfect” time to add a greater mix of bulbs when the Stray is replanted.

She said:

“Why not grasp this opportunity and make a significant impact?”

Bars and cafes in Harrogate are increasingly opening their doors to people forced to work from home due to covid.

The shops typically rent out a table and plug socket, hook you up to the WiFi and keep the coffee or tea running for a set fee over a set period of time.

North Bar Harrogate and the Harrogate Tea Rooms are two of a growing number of venues enticing workers away from their home offices with the promise of endless coffee and other perks.

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Since the offers began, people have turned up in numbers at both venues. Indeed coffee shop working has become so popular the venues are considering carrying on with it beyond coronavirus.

Deborah Przychodna, the manager at North Bar Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret:

“This is the third day of Work From North and it has been great. The response from people has been amazing. I think a lot of people are tired of working from home, they want to see other people and they feel safe here.”

What are the offers?

There may be other bars and cafes with similar offers – If your favourite bar or cafe has a similar offer then lets us know by email – but here is what we found:

North Bar Harrogate (five hours): For £15 customers get a refillable tea or coffee, a focaccia sandwich or similar and a pint of beer to end the day. Available from 12pm to 5pm.

Harrogate Tea Rooms (three hours): For £10 customers get unlimited tea or coffee and brunch. Available from 10am to 3.30pm.

How practical is it?

As one of those people working from home and tiring of the same four walls, I thought I would try the concept.

So I packed up my laptop, chargers, camera and notepad and headed to North Bar Harrogate at 12pm.

With a coffee boost I interviewed the manager Deborah, took a couple of pictures and connected my laptop to the WiFi to write this article.

It may not work for those who prefer privacy but for many it can be a welcome change of scene.

Personally, I enjoyed the coffee and the bright space at North Bar. The staff were welcoming and helpful.

At £15, I wouldn’t rush back straight away but I definitely plan to head back sometime soon or try out the Harrogate Tea Rooms.

Sixteen historic sites in the Harrogate district have been included on Historic England’s at risk register, which was published today.

The register identifies sites most at risk of “being lost as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development”.

Historic England, a non-departmental public body, uses the register to work with owners to understand repairs and find funding.

The register downgrades the condition of the Church of St Mary on Harlow Terrace, which is disused, from ‘poor’ to ‘very bad’.

The grade II* listed building dates back to 1916 but has structural problems and needs lots of work. Mineral felt in the roof is leaking and the stone is deteriorating.

The register says proposals to convert St Mary’s into new use are not progressing.

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Other Harrogate district heritage sites ‘at risk’

The Heritage at Risk register highlights the plight of a further 15 historic buildings or places in the district:

• Temple of Victory in Flaxby – fair
• Orangery at Ripley Castle – poor
• Butterton Bridge in Warsill – poor
• Dob Park Lodge in Weston – poor
• Church of St James in Baldersby – fair
• Carved rocks on edge of Snowden Carr, Askwith – generally satisfactory
• Henge monument at Hutton Conyers – extensive significant problems
• Hutton Hall at Hutton Conyers – generally satisfactory
• Round barrow at Hutton Conyers – generally satisfactory
• Medieval fishponds in Markington and Wallerthwaite – generally unsatisfactory
• Howe Hill motte and Bailey Castle at North Deighton – generally unsatisfactory
• Allerton Park at Allerton Castle – generally satisfactory
• Plumpton Rocks at Plompton – generally satisfactory
• Swinton Castle at Swinton – generally satisfactory
• Site of Battle of Boroughbridge – generally satisfactory

The competition to find Britain’s best Christmas tree, which will then stand outside Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street home, is to be held in Harrogate this month.

It is the first time the town has been chosen to stage the event, which also includes a category to find a champion wreath to hang on the PM’s door at number 10.

The competition will take place at the Great Yorkshire Showground on October 28.

It is run by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, which is now managed by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

The association, which is a trade group for people who grow specialist Christmas trees, has 320 members nationally.

Yorkshire TV stars Amanda Owen, shepherdess on Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, and Peter Wright, from Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet, will join the judging panel.

Because of covid, growers will send their tress to the ground but will be unable to attend in person.

Heather Parry, managing agent for the BCTGA, who is also the managing director of Yorkshire Event Centre, said:

“We are very much looking forward to seeing the best in the business being crowned, right here on the Great Yorkshire Showground. The champion tree winner will head to 10 Downing Street to provide that iconic Christmas tree for this year.”

Peter Wright said:

“There’s nothing like the scent of a real Christmas tree to really launch you into the festive spirit and I am really looking forward to seeing some of the best in Britain at the Showground.”

Read more:

• From Santa’s grottos to winter wonderland walks, events across the Harrogate district are seeing record levels of demand for the festive season. 
• Our survey revealed a third of Harrogate residents will do their Christmas shopping in the town. 

Many growers in the competition have changed their business to suit covid measures by, for instance, introducing online sales and allowing customers to pick their own tree with social distancing measures.

Christmas tree orders are reported to have already exceeded early orders from 2019.

A private members’ club in Harrogate closed this week due to a positive case of coronavirus and will reopen on Wednesday next week.

Oatlands Mount Social Club, which was established in 1918, informed members on Facebook.

Its post said:

“Unfortunately we have had a positive covid test result for a prominent member of the club. Although we have been advised not to close our doors by Public Health England, we have decided to close the club to protect our members and employees.

“Public Health England feel that all covid safety procedures have been put in place by the club so they are not going to track and trace members at this moment in time.”

Read more:

• Hampsthwaite coffee Shop will close for a week to throughly clean following a covid scare.
• Porco Rosso Italian restaurant in Harrogate has closed after three years in the town. 

A luxury Harrogate wedding venue is transforming into a ski lodge restaurant to keep staff in work this winter.

Current covid restrictions limit weddings to a maximum of 15 guests.

This has had a huge impact on venues like Wharfedale Grange, near Harewood, which is able to seat 270 wedding guests and can cater for 165 people in its restaurant.

It hopes that by adapting the use of its barn it will be able to retain staff, especially with the furlough scheme ending this month.

Claire Thomas, managing director of Wharfedale Grange, said:

“We’ve got 18 full-time staff and 12 part-time staff so we’re effectively keeping 30 people in work by converting to a restaurant and not making them redundant.”

Described as ‘La Folie Douce meets Yorkshire’, the restaurant — called Apres Bar & Grill — will incorporate elements of ski lodge resorts.

It is due to open from November 1 to the end of March.

Read more: 

• Covid restrictions won’t stop ‘beautiful’ weddings, says Harrogate celebrant
• Harrogate couple cancel wedding for third time

The Italian bar and restaurant Porco Rosso on The Ginnel in Harrogate has permanently closed.

The restaurant was owned by the people behind another Italian restaurant, Stuzzi, on King’s Road, and opened in summer 2017.

It reopened after the coronavirus lockdown in July but a post on the Porco Rosso Facebook page earlier announced its demise.

The post said:

Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the government is prepared to consider district rather than county-wide covid tiers in North Yorkshire in response to variable transmission rates.

This would mean some parts of the county could be placed in a higher category — and be subject to greater restrictions — than others.

The Harrogate district currently has the highest infection rate of the seven district council areas in North Yorkshire.

York, which is a unitary authority, does however have a higher rate than Harrogate.

In the House of Commons yesterday, Thirsk and Malton Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake asked Mr Hancock:

“The rate of transmission varies significantly within the eight different districts of North Yorkshire.

“When we are looking at putting different areas into different tiers, can we look at that by district rather than at county level?”

Mr Hancock replied:

“Yes, absolutely, and I will go further than that: we look at this at sub-district level, if that is appropriate.”

He said this had already happened in High Peak, Derbyshire, where some areas are in level 2 and others are in level 1.

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• Community spirit thrives despite covid crisis

Mr Hancock added, however, that it was not purely down to transmission rates:

“Some districts within North Yorkshire have individual outbreaks in individual institutions that we are managing, and we should not mistake that for general community transmission and therefore put those areas into a higher level than is necessary.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new tier system on Monday, which placed all of North Yorkshire in tier 1, which is the lowest category.

People in Harrogate plan to do a third of their Christmas shopping in the town centre, as more people flock online.

The Stray Ferret worked with Your Poll by Judge Service to survey nearly 1,500 people in Harrogate.  The survey is statistically robust.

All surveys with more than 1,000 respondents are statistically valid. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it out.

Where do you plan to do your Christmas shopping this year?

The survey found residents plan to do 30% of their Christmas shopping in Harrogate, 48% online and 16% elsewhere.

It will be important reading for the town’s businesses which hope, after a rough year, to have a bumper Christmas.

“Disappointed to lose the Christmas Market this year – I do a lot of my Christmas shopping there. Flower beds are gorgeous and love the lights in the trees.” – anon.

“The Christmas market is too early, not in long enough and is far too cramped. More seasonal markets would be good.” – anon.

Where do you plan to do your Christmas shopping?

The results from the survey also indicate, even though the majority head into town during the day, that residents only spend an hour to two hours there.

“Harrogate council needs to develop plans to respond to increasing online shopping by re-shaping the town centre over a period of time.” – anon.

“Harrogate is a great place to live, but work needs to be done to ensure it remains so. I hope that the town centre can endure.” – anon.

In the evening people are much more likely to spend two to three hours or even three to four hours in town.

Are you not entertained?

An improvement in the range of shopping and entertainment could bring more people into the town centre and for more time.

“A farmer style market regularly should be encouraged. A more diverse mix of shops should be encouraged.” – anon.

“A bowling alley would be ideal and would bring not just locals but people from outside the area into Harrogate” – anon.

More than 80% said there is “not enough” entertainment for young children and almost 90% said there is “not enough” entertainment for teenagers.

It contrasts quite strongly with the responses which said there are “too many” empty shops (97%) and charity shops (57%) in town.

Find the full survey results here.