Omicron: Harrogate district covid rate up by a quarter in three days

Harrogate’s Covid infection rate has jumped by more than 25% in just three days amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The weekly rate per 100,000 people currently stands at 476 – up sharply from 376.

This equates to around 110 new cases per day and comes as people are being urged to think carefully about social events this Christmas as a further rise in infections is expected.

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said the area was now facing a “race against time” to prepare for a similar surge in cases seen in other areas of the country.

“If we follow previous patterns, and what’s happening in London, it won’t be long before we are seeing high numbers of Omicron cases here in North Yorkshire.

“Even the most optimistic Government modelling is now projecting many more cases in January and February and we face the possibility of many more hospital admissions and sadly many more deaths.

“Living with Covid means responding quickly to deal with a new variant. We need to act now to buy time”.

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Mr Webb also said people should take a lateral flow test before mixing socially and that getting a booster vaccine remained the best line of defence.

The vaccination programme has been rapidly accelerated in recent weeks with firefighters now being drafted in to deliver doses at sites across North Yorkshire.

James Manning, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue group manager, said:

“This is an urgent situation and the time involved is substantial in getting these vaccines where they need to be.

“For this reason the key agencies have come together to provide the best possible service to people”.

In Harrogate, vaccines are being made available by appointments and walk-ins at several pharmacy sites as well as Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Racecourse.

Harrogate adventurer completes dangerous mission to reach ‘African pole’

A Harrogate adventurer has claimed to be the first person ever to reach the African pole of inaccessibility, which is the continent’s furthest point from the ocean in any direction.

On December 6, Chris Brown and his team completed a dangerous mission through a politically unstable region to get there, which is in the middle of a dense jungle.

The pole is over 1,100 miles from the nearest coast and is near the town of Obo in the Central African Republic (CAR). It’s close to the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

Mr Brown said he faced threats from “poachers, rebels and mercenaries” to reach the point, which took years of planning.

He said:

“[I was] not put off too easily by the various warnings and danger signals, I spent nearly three years planning on how to get there.”

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Mr Brown’s team included two security advisors from the United States, four soldiers from the CAR army and a photographer.

Army protection: Arnoux, Eric, Gustav and Frederic

The journey began in London on a flight to reach Bangui, which is the capital of CAR, via Brussels, Kigali and Duala.

They then chartered a flight from Bangui to an airfield at Obo to then get on a helicopter, which took them to the jungle.

Mr Brown said:

“After that we had to resort to picking our way through fairly dense jungle with the heli hovering above our position, out of small arms fire range, in case of emergency.

“The helicopter hovered over our position in the jungle as a deterrent and in case of emergency evacuation – keeping an altitude above small arms fire!”

“I took a couple of minutes to look around and thought wow, I’m in the middle of Africa. I was looking around at the jungle, it’s very oppressive. I’m a ginger northerner and I was dripping in sweat, taking it all in. It was fairly surreal.”

There are seven different poles of inaccessibility in the various continents and Mr Brown hopes to visit them all. He’s heading to Antarctica later this month.

Most of his friends and family all say the same thing about his adventurous hobby.

“They all think I’m mad!”

Stray Views: Beech Grove LTN is ‘expensive folly’

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Low Traffic Neighbourhood is expensive folly

As someone who lives adjacent to the Beech Grove LTN, I must say I have rarely seen such expensive folly. The council seem intent on installing ever more restrictive road barriers simply to, as effectively as possible, funnel more and more traffic onto Lancaster and Queens Road. 

All of this to give around 60 cyclists a day the most cossetted and relaxing trip into town. Seemingly, by the council’s own admission, there is no evidence that cycling traffic will meaningfully replace motorists on local roads. Especially so, in the depths of winter, as they face icy cold, driven rain.

As a leisure cyclist I am inherently supportive, like most people I suspect, of reducing the use of cars where it makes sense to do so. As far as I can see though this is not that. This appears to be virtue signalling with no meaningful impact on future car use and with material detriment for residents.

The principal achievement of the LTN, as far as I can see, is to make it more hazardous for the large numbers of children walking to and from Western Primary and Harrogate Grammar School each day. They are put at risk as they try to cross tentatively between often inappropriately fast-moving cars, rat running from south of town to Otley or Leeds Road.

If we want to get people out of cars and using alternate forms of transport, we need to look more closely at who those car drivers are, why they are driving and how we make it easier for them to do otherwise. Shoehorning additional, random, road furniture onto small roads to deliver ineffective trophy projects is not the answer.

I would simply ask the council to stop, stand back, think and reflect, and then look for genuinely considered ways of improving all forms of transport around Harrogate. Until that happens all they are doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul. As a concerned parent I would be more than happy to contribute to the thinking on the best way forward into 2022.

Carl Howard, Queens Road

Harrogate apply for city status?

Instead of complaining about the previous Housing Minister’s decision, why don’t the Harrogate councillors get a grip and apply for city status in view of the massive expansion of our “town”?

John Holder, Harrogate

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Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Handling Christmas after divorce: A Harrogate dad’s story

This article is sponsored by Berwins

Family breakdown is never easy, but Christmas can be a particularly distressing time for separated parents and their children.

There is an unrealistic expectation that the festive period should be be perfect, not helped by increasing pressure caused by social media.

This often leads to feelings of anger, frustration and upset when that “perfect” family Christmas can’t be made into a reality.

Arguments can start over where the children will be on Christmas Day. There can also be disagreements about whether new partners should be spending time with the children at Christmas, as well as issues with money.

But it doesn’t always have to be difficult.

Harrogate dad Alex separated from his wife in 2010, when his daughter was three-years-old.

Tough

He described how the first two Christmases apart were a struggle, but then gradually improved in future years thanks to good communication.

He said:

“In that first year it was all quite recent and a little raw. Christmas morning was spent separately at our respective parents, and my daughter was with her mum.

“We then met in a neutral venue, a pub in a rural village, and had a drink and I got to spend some time with my daughter.

“That first year was incredibly tough and getting in the car and driving away from her later in the afternoon was particularly hard.

“The following year my daughter spent the morning with my ex-wife, and then came to my house. It was a little too upsetting for all parties, particularly for my daughter as she just wanted to play with her new things.”

However, as a result, they both agreed that they would then take it in turns each year, which he says has worked out better for everyone ever since.

He said:

“When she is not with us, we have a separate faux Christmas Day and meal on another day as near to the big day as we can, but there is no substitute to having her with you on the day itself.”

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Alex continues to have a good relationship with his ex-wife and says this makes it easier when it comes to Christmas festivities.

He said:

“I think when you have children, the focus of the day itself changes anyway, and you realise that the enjoyment comes from experiencing it through their eyes.

“Once both parties accept that, it’s easy to keep it amicable as you will do everything you can to make it special for the children involved.

“As with every aspect of co-parenting, communication is the key, and if you can keep in touch and keep it friendly (sometimes through gritted teeth), then it makes everything so much better for you and your children.

“I genuinely think my daughter has a wonderful time at Christmas. She gets spoiled by both sides of her family and gets to have two Christmas Days every year.”

Advice

Stephen Root, director of Berwins Solicitors, based in Harrogate, has shared his advice on arrangements for children over the Christmas period.

He said:

Property Gold: Del Boy Trotter and PLC New Homes

Property Gold is a monthly column written by independent property consultant, Alex Goldstein. With more than 17 years’ experience, Alex helps his clients to buy and sell residential property in some of the most desirable locations in Yorkshire and beyond.

Only Fools and Horses – the ultimate British sitcom following the trials and tribulations of Del Boy and his brother Rodney on their mission to get rich. However, when it comes to PLC new homes, it would seem that the large-scale developers are the ones beating the Trotters at the sales game.

I am continually staggered by the number of people who are queuing up to buy one of these homes, in a case of Boycie one-upmanship. Yet are the buying public’s memories so short like Trigger’s, that they forget the dreadful events in 2017 at Grenfell Tower where 72 people died?

What then unfolded was the cladding scandal, which has entrapped thousands of people and is still ongoing with no clear end in sight. It has also just come to light, that successive governments concealed the extent of fire safety risks to buildings going back to 1997. So why would a buyer think it a sensible choice of home or investment, if governments are also hiding information from you?

One then overlays countless misdemeanours which have been picked up in the press about the PLC developers, ranging from the controversial sale of freeholds to equity funds, escalating ground rents, to lack of insulation and pressurised selling tactics. Only the other day did London Fire Brigade warn an inquiry that developers were ‘gaming the system’ by deliberately designing blocks to be just shy of the threshold where more intensive fire safety systems were required.

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On the ground, these developments are often edge of town schemes with negligible associated infrastructure. When was the last time you saw a new GP surgery or school being built, or upgraded roads get underway? More interestingly, these schemes are actually making central town living even more expensive. Afterall, who wishes to use their car to get into a town they already live in? They therefore help underpin more centrally located homes, making it more difficult for younger generations to move up the ladder and are eroding the very integrity of our towns.

If you wish to buy a new build home, purchase from a small to mid-sized developer who has their name above the door and who acknowledges that building regulation standards are the basic requirement and not the pinnacle.

Our new homes system is broken and in light of recent news, arguably rotten to the core. My concern is that we have had decades of going down the wrong path, that we are never going to be able to find our way back out again.

The bottom line is, if you are thinking of buying a PLC new build – Only Fools would do so, you plonker Rodney!

If you have any comments or questions for Alex, please feel free to contact him at alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk

Sainsbury’s sets opening date for Harrogate town centre store

Sainsbury’s has confirmed that its new store in Harrogate town centre will finally open next month.

The Sainsbury’s Local on Cambridge Street will welcome customers on January 13. The supermarket chain had hoped to open in the summer but only received planning permission in July.

The store will create about 25 jobs and some roles are still available.

Surplus food from the store will go to Harrogate District Foodbank, which has partnered with Sainsbury’s to help those who need it most.

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New store manager Simon Wilton said:

“I’m delighted to confirm the opening date for our new store and we’re really looking forward to welcoming customers from next month. My colleagues and I are working hard to get everything ready for opening.

“It’s been a fantastic team effort so far and we can’t wait to bring our passion for food and brilliant customer service to Cambridge Street.”

The development will bring the former Topshop unit at 33-37 Cambridge Street back into use after four years.

The developer plans to split the building into three separate units. Sainsbury’s occupies the largest on the left side.

Skipton Building Society is also planning to move in but it is unclear at this stage which business will take on the third unit.

The new sport taking the Harrogate district by storm

A relatively new sport that is a cross between tennis and squash is taking the Harrogate district by storm.

Padel is played between four players on reduced sized tennis courts. Competitors use paddle racquets and can bounce the ball off walls.

Nicky Horn, a Harrogate coach who has played the sport for 10 years, said she has seen a remarkable amount of interest in the sport in recent months.

She pointed to courts being built at Hornbeam Park in Harrogate, which is expected to see six new dedicated courts, and planned new courts at Ripon Tennis Club as an example of its booming demand.

Since the first covid lockdown, Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre has also seen high demand for its padel courts on Hookstone Wood Road.

A game of padel tennis in Harrogate.

A game of padel tennis in Harrogate.

Nicky said she expects to see padel’s popularity increase further over the next five years now that the Lawn Tennis Association oversees the sport.

She said:

“It’s really taking off.

“It’s a reasonably accessible sport because the players can hit the ball easier.”

‘Largest female padel tennis match’

Nicky played padel in Spain before returning to Harrogate to take up two teams. She currently coaches Harrogate and Rawdon on a Monday and Saturday.

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Last weekend, the two teams got together to play a game which Nicky believes was the largest female padel match in the UK.

Despite the cold conditions, 32 players, who ranged from eight-years-old to 80, turned up to take part as Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre.

Nicky said:

“Everyone had lots of fun.

“Some of our players were squash players and some were tennis players, but everybody loved it.”

6,000 players in the UK

The local boom has been reflected across the country.

With more than 6.000 padel players in the UK, according to the LTA, the sport is one of the fastest growing in the country.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Ballon D’or winning footballer, Lionel Messi, are also reported to be players of the sport.

Here are 10 facts you might not know about padel, from the LTA:

Harrogate’s home for witches, spells and crystal balls

Mystical Ways in Westminster Arcade is not your typical high street shop.

This month it moved to a bigger location in the arcade on Parliament Street to accommodate Harrogate’s first tarot card reading room.

It’s owned by Jay Clarke and Joanne Mayben, self-declared witches who say they can summon energy and communicate with spirits.

Believers can buy dreamcatchers to ward off nightmares, crystals to summon good energy and incense, which can help cast spells that attract money, love, protection or light.

Ms Mayben said she gave up a potential job with the police to follow her dream of being a spiritual medium and tarot card reader full time, but some people in her home of Pateley Bridge were critical of her choice.

“Someone said ‘oh my god, you shouldn’t be practicing the arts of the devil!’

“Movies have made witches evil. I’m an electric witch. I’m drawn to fire, crystals and candles.”

The two are dressed head to toe in black, but Mr Clarke insists it’s nothing to fear:

“We wear black not because we’re gothy or scary. People are scared of black, but it’s the best colour for repelling negative energy.

“In life, there is no light without dark, you have to have that balance.”

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Mr Clarke said Harrogate has an undercover community of people into spiritualism and mediumship.

“Some people are ‘in the closet’ and they might sneak in to buy a crystal.”

They say there is a big demand for tarot readings, which are available Monday to Saturday from 10am until 4pm, costing £25 for 30 minutes.

Practitioners such as Ms Mayben use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into someone’s past, present or future.

Mr Clarke said:

“We don’t bullshit. The cards don’t lie and we don’t either, if something negative appears in the cards we’d work you through that.”

Ms Mayben saw the Stray Ferret reporter’s white dog in her crystal ball

Skeptics say tarot readings are fake, and some people are put off by negative experiences with mediums on Scarborough seafront, but Ms Mayben encourages anyone visiting the shop to have an open mind.

She says she can also communicate with spirits — just don’t call them dead people.

“I have been poked and pushed in the face by a spirit, sometimes I get clear words”.

Ms Mayben says one of her gifts is summoning and understanding energy, so what sort of energy does Harrogate have?

She says:

“Harrogate could be so much more. Everything is asleep and it’s laying dormant, but we are here to wake it up.”

Harrogate train line boost with extra service every hour

Northern has introduced an additional service on the Leeds, Harrogate and York line, meaning there will now be two trains every hour.

The train provider held a launch event yesterday at Knaresborough station, which is one of the stations to benefit from the extra capacity.

Representatives from North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council, York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones attended.

Network Rail carried out a £9.8 million upgrade of the signalling system and track layout to facilitate extra trains this time last year.

York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership secured £9.6m for the work from the government’s Local Growth Fund.

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Mr Jones said:

“This investment in local rail is much-needed and welcomed.

“The signalling upgrade and the improvement project will see more and faster services operating between Leeds, Harrogate and York.

“This is one more in a long list of improvements in our rail services which have seen more direct services to and from London and improved rolling stock on the local line.

“It is fantastic news that we have been able to double the capacity on this section of the line.”

North Yorkshire County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

“This timetable improvement, which owes much to the county council’s £10m track and signals upgrade scheme of last year, complements our transport priority of improving east-west connectivity across the county and region.

“The enhanced timetable is another step towards encouraging people to use public transport rather than their cars. It also supports the visitor economy and anticipates growth in residential and commercial development along the A59 corridor.”

Pictured are: (left to right) Andrew Jones MP, David Dickson (chair of York and North Yorkshire LEP), Cllr Don Mackenzie (North Yorkshire County Council), Tony Baxter (Northern regional director) and Wallace Sampson (Chief Exec at Harrogate Borough Council).

Harrogate hotel suffers £100,000 cancellations due to Omicron

A Harrogate hospitality business has claimed the government has thrown the industry “under the bus” since the Omicron variant hit the country.

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park Hotel and Spa, said his business had seen £100,000 worth of cancellations due to covid recently.

He blamed mixed messaging from government and called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to offer more support to hospitality businesses.

Mr Banks told the Stray Ferret:

“The government’s lack of clarity has thrown the hospitality industry under the bus.

“They need to make a decision. They either come out with a clear message, go out or do not go out.

“I’m lucky that I have a wide enough base of business to draw upon, but there will be businesses that will struggle.”

Mr Banks added that most of his cancellations were corporate clients worried about the possibility of spreading covid among their employees.

He echoed calls from other hospitality firms across the country, which have urged Mr Sunak to offer more support, such as an extension to the VAT cut and business rates relief, to help the industry.

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Mr Banks said hospitality firms, especially those in city and town centres, “could do with some assistance”.

Sara Ferguson, chair of Harrogate Business Improvement District and owner of two local restaurants, said cancellation of Christmas parties was having a financial impact on Harrogate’s key hospitality sector.

She said:

“As soon the Prime Minister announced wearing masks in shops and on public transport was mandatory, hospitality industry trade began dropping away. And this was made worse with the work from home message.

“Christmas parties being cancelled at short notice is proving a financial nightmare, particularly as venues will have already ordered in the food and drink, and there’s no one taking these places.

“December is usually boom time for the hospitality trade, and many businesses rely on the takings from this month to see them through the quieter months of January and February.

“Sadly, for many this won’t be the case this year, and I fear that a number of businesses will be forced to close their doors come the new year.”

Ms Ferguson, who owns Sasso and Caffe Marconi, agreed that the industry needed support from Mr Sunak. She said:

“While there is no official lockdown yet, the message from politicians has resulted in the public shutting themselves away, and as a result there definitely needs to be some sort of financial support offered to the hospitality industry.”

David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, said:

“Walking through town this lunchtime there were plenty of empty tables in pubs, bard and restaurants.

“Within hours of the Prime Minister announcing we all had to wear facemasks in shops and on buses and trains, businesses started cancelling their staff Christmas parties at hotels. And that is continuing at a pace.

“However, it’s not just the venues themselves who have lost vital revenue from food and drink sales, it’s the suppliers and staff who are out of pocket too.

“And come January, when ‘bounce back’ loans start to be repaid, I think we could see a lot of businesses in real trouble.

“The health of the economy is in a critical condition, and there needs to be some form of emergency financial aid for these businesses who are suffering through to no fault of their own.”

Chancellor urged to support hospitality

Yesterday, the chancellor cut short a trip to California after holding talks with hospitality firms via video link.

Mr Sunak has been under growing pressure to come up with support for hospitality as record covid numbers hammer takings.

Previous support offered to businesses, such as furlough, has already ended, while a 12.5% VAT cut is set to finish in March.

UK Hospitality, which represents firms across the country, has also called for business rates in the first quarter of 2022 to be deferred.

The government has not placed any restrictions on hospitality firms amid rising covid cases. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people on Wednesday to “think carefully” before socialising.