Outdoor sports in Harrogate are gearing up for a return today as the government eases lockdown restrictions.

As part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “roadmap” out of lockdown, people can now meet up with six other people outside and play organised sport.

Sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, and open-air swimming pools, are allowed to reopen.

It comes as the “stay at home” rule in place for most of the national lockdown has also been lifted.

However, North Yorkshire Police has urged people to minimise travel and said the county should expect an “increased police presence” in the coming weeks.

Read more:

• Football club’s fury at plans to axe Harrogate sports pitch for housing

• North Yorkshire police prepare for ‘influx of visitors’ as lockdown eases

Among the sports that will be permitted as of today are cricket, football and rugby.

Steve Clark (left), chairman of Harrogate Cricket Club.

Steve Clark, chair of Harrogate Cricket Club, said the move was “good news” for the club ahead of the season starting in April.

He said:

“This is really good news for us.

“We can start to play cricket, but we are waiting for guidance from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“There is a pent up demand for mums and dads to come down and watch some cricket.”

The season is expected to start on April 16 for juniors.

However, the club is still awaiting guidance on how they can hold coaching sessions and whether games need to be stopped to sanitise the ball every six overs.

Police urge people to minimise travel

Police and public health officials have urged people to minimise travel and work from home where they can, despite restrictions being lifted.

Ahead of the Easter weekend, officers have also said there will be an increased police presence across the county.

Superintendent Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police lead for the force’s covid response, said: 

“We will continue to play our part in tackling the public health crisis through the Easter holidays and beyond.

“Each district has patrol plans in place to ensure there are sufficient resources to provide reassurance and continue our ‘4 Es’ approach – to engage with the public, explain the regulations, encourage compliance, and enforce if there is no other way of dealing with breaches.

“The patrol plans will reflect any changes in legislation post March 29 as part of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown. We will be able to communicate these changes and our approach once the new health protection regulations have been confirmed.

“When it is safe to do so, we will welcome visitors to the county again. However, everyone can expect to see an increased policing presence as we work alongside our partners to help keep the virus at bay in the weeks and months ahead.”

Do the planners ever cycle the routes they propose?

Why do North Yorkshire County Council feel it necessary to have a cycle lane to Knaresborough on the A59 when there is one already from Bilton Lane to Mother Shipton’s? It would be better if it was upgraded instead.

There is also an off road cycle path towards Harrogate from Knaresborough adjacent to the A59 but not as long as the one proposed. Interestingly the gradient from Mother Shipton’s to the junction of Bilton is around 3.13%.

They also give priority to traffic from the golf club. Further down there is an entrance to a farm field that also has priority over the cycle track.

It would be interesting to know how much cycling the people who plan these routes actually do. Or if they actually visit the sites rather than just viewing them on a two-dimensional drawing?

Catherine Alderson, Harrogate

Let’s have “wider thinking” on town planning

Members have contacted us with concerns about the proposed Station Gateway development and the potential negative impact in businesses.

Creating a better link between the train station (and bus station) and Harrogate town centre makes sense. Yet there has to be some doubt that these plans will really deliver those objectives.

We also have to consider the impact on businesses in Harrogate and the fact that Harrogate is a visitor destination, with many more people arriving by car than by bus or train.

My main concern is that this proposal is an example of “pocket thinking” in terms of planning. It feels opportunistic to do something because the money is coming from elsewhere. It is right to access funds, and yet in re-purposing a town such as Harrogate, there has to be a whole town approach as opposed to this pocket thinking of convenience.

By restricting traffic in one place, it is likely that congestion will move elsewhere and so there is no reduced traffic and no reduced carbon emission.

By improving the look and facilities in one part of town, does another part suffer from a lack of investment? In many ways the visual impression of James Street is an improvement. Interestingly it contains images of shops, and unless the footfall can be improved (footfall and accessibility go hand in hand), these shops will simply not exist. Furthermore, Harrogate has examples of pedestrianised areas that have not added to the image of the town, so the same mistakes should not be repeated.

Finally, will it be good for business?  These proposals remove parking spaces, forcing people to walk in, cycle in or take the bus. I suspect that the development of electric cars will move quicker than improvements in public transport, and yet more and more local authorities want to remove cars and accessibility.

Harrogate deserves wider thinking and ownership of a vision for the whole town rather than development in bite size chunks

Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association (former Harrogate resident)

Don’t give up Paul! 

To Paul Baverstock (Strayside Sunday)

Your Sunday messages are absolutely brilliant. I love ’em. I sincerely hope you don’t get assassinated by our Binary Democracy. Per Ardua Ad Astra.

Peter Bell

Read More:

• Is there any consensus on Harrogate’s Station Gateway project? 
• Andrew Jones MP criticised for his “news” website

“Please be considerate of others who are desperately trying to get appointments in the area.”

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Twelve more cases of covid have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,575.

Meanwhile, the seven-day covid rate for the district stands at 48 per 100,000 people.

Read more:

• Nidderdale minibus helps rural people get vaccines
• Coronavirus vaccine centre to open in Pateley Bridge
• Great Yorkshire Showground can give 1,800 vaccines in a day

The North Yorkshire rate is 46 and the England average stands at 57.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital.

The last death reported at the hospital was on March 16.

More than half of the Harrogate district’s population has received the first dose of a covid vaccine.

NHS England figures show 82,118 people have been vaccinated in the district so far.

The number represents 51% of the district population, which is 160,533 according to latest Office for National Statistics data.

It comes as more than half of the UK adult population have received a first dose of a vaccine.

Read more:

• Nidderdale minibus helps rural people get vaccines
• Coronavirus vaccine centre to open in Pateley Bridge
• Great Yorkshire Showground can give 1,800 vaccines in a day

Earlier this week, Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire CCG, said health bosses had been assured by government that there would be enough supply to vaccinate all over-50s by April 15.

A letter from NHS England to hospital bosses across the country warned of a shortage of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine from next month.

Those over-50 and people with underlying health conditions are currently being invited to book a vaccine appointment.

The Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site has enough capacity to vaccinate 1,800 people per day.

The district also has vaccination centres in Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge.

Meanwhile, 14 further cases of covid have been recorded in the Harrogate district.

According to Public Health England figures, it takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,563.

Professional cricketer Phoebe Graham has agreed to become Harrogate Cricket Club’s ambassador for women and girls’ cricket.

Graham, who is contracted to Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Northern Diamonds, will provide regular girls coaching.

She will also act as a consultant to the club on how to expand its number of female players and grow the game in the Harrogate district.

Graham, who is a fast bowler and qualified coach, will advise the club on formulating a schools’ programme to encourage more girls to take up cricket and help it work with other clubs in the area to promote women and girls’ cricket.

The club currently includes about 25 girls, whose season is due to start next month.

For the first time ever, Harrogate’s girls’ section has entered a team in to the Nidderdale under-13 boys league this summer.

Graham, who also runs a gender equality consultancy, will now build on work done by head junior coach Andy Hawkswell, along with Nat Crossland and Tim Robinson to further develop the girls’ section.

Club chairman Steve Clark said:

“This new partnership is an incredibly exciting one. We hope it will be a long-lasting relationship that ensures that women and girls’ cricket continues to grow and thrive in Harrogate.”

Graham said:

“Providing women and girls with opportunities to play sport is something that I am extremely passionate about and I love Harrogate’s commitment and long-term ambitions to grow the female section.”

Read more:

• Fire, bankruptcy and coronavirus: Harrogate Cricket Club adapts to survive
• Cricket club to benefit from major Bilton Hall refurbishment

Ten more covid cases have been recorded in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of infections since last March to 7,542.

Meanwhile, the district’s covid seven-day rate remains at 48 infections per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 47 and the England rate is 55.

Read more:

• A year of ‘outstanding care’ under immense pressure at Harrogate hospital
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It was revealed today that the number of covid patients being treated at Harrogate District Hospital has fallen to six.

Last week, there were 13 patients at the hospital.

No covid-related deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital today.

A further 14 cases of covid have been confirmed in the Harrogate district today.

The figure, by Public Health England, takes the total number of cases to 7,532.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 48 infections per 100,000 people.

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The North Yorkshire average is 44, while the England rate is 55.

In the Harrogate district, Killinghall and Hampsthwaite is again the local area with the most covid cases in the last seven-days, with eight infections.

Harrogate East and Harrogate West and Pannal have recorded seven cases each, according to North Yorkshire County Council figures.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

The Harrogate district has recorded a further 10 coronavirus cases.

It takes the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 7,507, according to Public Health England statistics.

The district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 44 per 100,000 people. Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire average is 46 and the England rate is 55.

Meanwhile, NHS England figures show a death from a patient who tested positive for covid was reported on March 16 at Harrogate District Hospital.

Read more:

• Mobile covid tests launched in rural North Yorkshire
• North Yorkshire health chief: Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe
• Covid vaccine tally in Harrogate district hits 70,000

It takes the total deaths at the hospital since March last year to 177.

Today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that more than half of adults across the UK have had a first dose of a covid vaccine.

In the Harrogate district, 70,138 people have been vaccinated according to NHS England figures.

A total of 70,138 people in the Harrogate district have received their first coronavirus vaccine, according to NHS England figures today.

The data, which covers the period until today, reveals almost 6,000 vaccines have been given in the last week.

North Yorkshire’s health officials insisted yesterday the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and urged people to continue to come forward for their jabs when invited.

However, under-50s will now not be offered a vaccine during April due to supply problems.

Read more:

• Mobile covid tests launched in rural North Yorkshire
• North Yorkshire health chief: Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe

Meanwhile, another 12 covid infections have been confirmed in the Harrogate district today by Public Health England.

The district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 39 cases per 100,000 people. The national average is 58, while the North Yorkshire rate is 48.