A community group in Harrogate is at the forefront of a drive to donate laptops and tablets to pupils studying from home.

Schools were preparing to reopen after the Christmas break for face-to-face learning until the third national lockdown caused a last minute U-turn this week.

This has left some students, especially from poorer backgrounds, in need of computers for home schooling.

There was a big drive during the first lockdown to hand out laptops and tablets and some schools did not receive what they requested from government.

Consequently some pupils are now without the means to access their education.

Read more:

• Rapidly growing covid infection rate in Harrogate district
• Online support group steps up for shielders in Harrogate district

Stuart Carlton, the corporate director of children and young people’s services at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“All the laptops we had in March have been distributed, that was the first part of the scheme.

“There was then a second part where the government provided laptops directly to schools.

“We know there were some problems with that scheme because of the volume of requests. Not all laptops that schools wanted were given to them.”

Julie Mills, head of the Supplies for Key Workers in and around Harrogate Facebook group, has partnered with Phase 4 Computers in Harrogate to supply devices.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“People have been really good, they have been fabulous. I put up a request just yesterday and we have had plenty of donations already.

“Phase 4 Computers has offered to clean the laptops and tablets up and get them ready for schools. We are all pulling together once again.”

Anyone wishing to donate can either drop it off at Phase 4 Computers on weekdays between 10am and 4pm or get in touch with the Supplies for Key Workers in and around Harrogate group.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said in the House of Commons today the government would deliver 750,000 laptops to pupils by the end of next week.

That pledge is part of a wider commitment to deliver one million devices to students in need.

Harrogate Business Improvement District is to give the Harrogate Homeless Project £15,000 a year for the next four years.

The funding will go towards converting the lower hall at the Wesley Centre into a day centre for homeless people.

The sum is in addition to the £37,500 the church received from the National Lottery’s coronavirus community support fund.

The Wesley Centre will use the awards to install new toilets and refurbish the kitchen ready for the day centre services.

Read more:

• Harrogate church opens doors to homeless people
• Harrogate council creates temporary homeless shelters

Liz Hancock, chief executive of Harrogate Homeless Project, said it was “hugely grateful” to the BID:

“We will now be fundraising hard to realise some of the ambitions we have to extend our operating hours and expand health, wellbeing, skills and rehabilitation services.

“This significant donation will be over four years, allowing us to plan with certainty to develop this fundamental service.”

Sara Ferguson, acting chair of Harrrogate BID said:

“One of our key objectives is to make Harrogate town centre ‘safe, clean and welcoming’, and we see our partnership with Harrogate Homeless Project as a key driver in this.

“When homeless people gather in the town it can be intimidating for some people, and Springboard will offer them a sanctuary where they can go and receive the support they need.”

German supermarket chain Lidl has submitted plans to open its first store in Harrogate.

If approved, the supermarket would create about 40 full and part-time jobs on the site of the former Lookers car dealership on Knaresborough Road.

The multi-million pound proposal includes a 1,263 square metre sales area, an in-store bakery, customer toilets and 94 parking spaces.

It would open from 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

Lidl GB said in a statement a public consultation in November revealed 87 per cent of more than 1,000 responses supported the scheme.

Harrogate Borough Council must now adjudicate on whether to accept plans to redevelop the site, which is surrounded by hoardings.

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Robert Beaumont, Lidl property director for the north of England, said:

“Following this extremely positive feedback, we have now submitted a planning application for the site to Harrogate Borough Council.

“We have been looking forward to bringing a new store to Harrogate for a while and we hope that the council agrees that this is a great location for a new supermarket to serve the local community.”

Lidl entered the UK market in 1994 and now has more than 800 stores across the country, including one in Knaresborough.

Harrogate businesses could be in line for further financial support as more grants have been announced by the government.

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, unveiled a one-off top up grant of up to £9,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses amid the national lockdown.

The funding comes as part of a £4.6 billion package and the grants will be based on the rateable value of each business.

The government expects the grants will help to support more than 600,000 businesses.

Read more:

• Growing concern in Harrogate district over lack of communication on covid vaccine
• Harrogate district daily coronavirus cases hit another record high
• Business owners share concerns as new lockdown begins

Mr Sunak also announced a further £594 million worth of discretionary funding for local authorities to target those who will not be eligible for the grant but might be affected by the lockdown.

He said:

“The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.

“Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the Spring.

“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”

It comes as businesses in the district reacted to the announcement of a further national lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday evening that a new lockdown would come into force, with a stay at home order.

Sandra Doherty, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, said the measures would be difficult but were necessary to reduce transmission until the vaccination took effect. She said:

“It’s going to be incredibly tough for all businesses over the coming months, and sadly not all will survive into the spring.

“Until we can resume life as we knew it in pre-covid days, the Government is going to have to continue its support to businesses, and extend it to those self-employed people who have so far not received any financial help at all.”

Harrogate Borough Council has confirmed it spent £57,360 on legal fees for the Flaxby judicial review, after initially refusing to reveal the figure.

The Stray Ferret sent the council a request under the Freedom of Information Act asking how much it had spent on the case, which was heard at the High Court in London in October.

But the council said the information was exempt from disclosure because its lawyers’ legal fees should remain private.

We requested an internal review of this decision. Joanne Barclay, acting chief solicitor for corporate services, has now overturned the council’s decision not to disclose and revealed the fee it paid.

I have reviewed this matter and I consider that the legal fees relating to the Flaxby Park Limited case should be disclosed.

“Harrogate Borough Council has spent £57,360 on legal fees regarding Flaxby Park Limited’s judicial review. At the time, the Council responded to your EIR request, it was considered to be reasonable not to release information relating to third parties.

“However, upon further consideration the Council has decided that this information should be disclosed.”

During October’s judicial review, the judge, Mr Justice Holgate, rejected a request by the council to be spared costs. He also ruled the council should pay 15% of Flaxby’s costs.

A spokesperson for Flaxby previously told the Stray Ferret 15% would amount to a “significant five-figure sum”.

The Harrogate district appeared to be much quieter today as people seemed to embrace the national lockdown rules.

With schools, shops and hospitality businesses closed, residents have been instructed only to leave home for a few essential reasons, including shopping for food and medicine, and to exercise outside.

The measures are designed to reduce the coronavirus case rates, which have spiked in North Yorkshire as well as elsewhere in the country, by significantly reducing contact between people.

It is unclear when the lockdown will end, but it will be reviewed again in mid-February.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new restrictions yesterday evening in response to an “alarming” rise in coronavirus cases.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine will arrive in North Yorkshire by the end of the week – but Harrogate’s vaccine centre remains closed today.

Health leaders in the county hailed the arrival of the new vaccine today in an emergency coronavirus press briefing to reflect the latest national lockdown.

More care home residents will be able to access the vaccine as it is easier to transport, they promised in the meeting.

With coronavirus cases rising rapidly and the test positivity rate more than three times what it was before Christmas, they think the new vaccine is a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Harrogate District Hospital also started vaccinating yesterday, with 700 staff understood to have booked for vaccine this week.

Good news about the new vaccine seems to be contrasted by an empty Yorkshire Event Centre, which has reportedly been closed for multiple days over Christmas and the new year.

Read more:

• Business owners share concerns as new lockdown begins
• Growing concern in Harrogate district over lack of vaccine communication

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)in North Yorkshire, did not say why Harrogate’s vaccine centre remains closed today. However, she said:

“I know quite rightly that there is an enormous amount of hope from the vaccine and the opportunity to roll that out as soon as possible.

“Deployment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine started yesterday and we anticipate delivery of that vaccine in North Yorkshire towards the end of the week.”

The Stray Ferret has pressed North Yorkshire CCG for further answers about the Harrogate vaccine centre, after being contacted by numerous concerned residents. We asked which days it had been open, how many vaccines had been delivered there and when it was likely to reopen.

In response, a spokesperson for the CCGs said today:

“Health professionals have been working tirelessly over the festive period to offer the coronavirus vaccine to priority groups where supplies have allowed.

“The showground has been taking deliveries of the vaccine and staff have vaccinated many vulnerable patients, including care home residents and staff over the festive period.

“Our message to everyone is to ask them to please be patient. You will be contacted when the time is right.

“Please do not ring your surgery to ask about the vaccine – there is lots of information on the NHS website.

“Our surgeries need to keep their phone lines free for patients requiring urgent care.”

A Harrogate woman whose sense of taste and smell has not recovered since she caught covid in March has said the creation of a long covid clinic in Harrogate offers “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Daniela Stockmann believes she caught covid the week before lockdown in March. Ms Stockmann is a young and active woman but says covid left her breathless.

At first, it felt like flu but then she lost her sense of taste and smell and began to struggle breathing.

In March she experienced severe pain, which she says “felt like my senses burnt away”.

Almost nine months on, Miss Stockmann still hasn’t fully regained her senses or energy. She can’t smell candles and a variety of foods are either tasteless or have a “rotten and chemical” taste. She added:

“It can be really frustrating. I start to smell and taste some things again then I discover I can’t with some things anymore.

“This week, for example, I had a hot chocolate with a piece of dark chocolate on top and it tasted vile. Anything burnt, even slightly, as well is really difficult for me to eat.”

Simple ingredients, such as garlic, onions and peppers have been removed from Ms Stockmann’s diet as she tries to learn more about her long-lasting symptoms.

Miss Stockmann also suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and says coronavirus has added to the list of foods she cannot eat, which has caused her to lose weight.

She said:

“I have tried to speak to my doctor but they couldn’t do anything. They didn’t know how to help because no one has been through it properly. It left me quite isolated.”

Read more:

• Today, the Harrogate district has recorded its highest number of covid cases since the start of the pandemic.
• Another Harrogate woman said her covid symptoms lasted months.

Ms Stockmann says she can still be left out of breath after a dog walk and can’t do as much at the gym anymore.

The news of a long covid clinic coming to Harrogate came as a relief to Ms Stockmann, who is hopeful it will help her understand why she has yet to fully regain her senses.

“I’m hesitant to keep ringing my doctors because I feel like I am wasting their time. I just suffer in silence.”

She is a member of several online forums and has discovered other long covid sufferers with similar symptoms. She hopes her story will encourage others to speak out and understand how serious coronavirus can be for all ages.

Ms Stockmann doesn’t know how long her symptoms will last but hopes if she is referred to the clinic by her GP she will find answers.

Arthurs Avenue has more potholes reported than any other road in Harrogate, according to statistics from North Yorkshire County Council.

The avenue, which Harrogate Grammar School is situated on, had 17 potholes reported In the year April 1 2019 to March 31 2020.

Roads in the west of Harrogate appear to attract the most complaints.

Arthurs Avenue displays some of the scars from work on its surface.

The second most reported road for potholes was nearby Rossett Drive, with 12.

Another street in the vicinity, Pannal Ash Road, was joint third, along with Oakdale and Wayside Avenue, with 11.

The council, which is the highways authority for the county, supplied the figures after the Stray Ferret submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

Walks around Pateley Bridge, Ripon, Boroughbridge and Harrogate are among those included in a new campaign to promote Yorkshire as the walking capital of the world.

The year-long initiative, known as Walkshire, began yesterday. It includes 365 walks in God’s own county — one for every day of the year.

Tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire, which is behind the campaign, hopes it will encourage more people to discover Yorkshire’s spectacular scenery and history on foot.

Routes in the Harrogate district include:

53 miles of the Nidderdale Way

14 miles Bramhope to Harrogate via Arthington viaduct

9 miles Ripon to Fountains Abbey

8 miles Hackfall woods near Masham

5 miles Thruscross reservoir

6.5 miles Burton Leonard, Copgrove and South Stainley

2 miles Ripon canal

The routes can be viewed here:

Arthington viaduct. Credit: Welcome to Yorkshire

James Mason, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said:

“2020 has been a tricky year for all and certainly a time to reflect on the importance of health and well-being so what better way to start the new year and continue through 2021 than promoting walking in Yorkshire to the world and welcoming visitors to the most diverse of counties.”

The campaign features a daily walk and businesses can sponsor and nominate routes.

There are four big seasonal walks and special plans for Yorkshire Day on August 1, as well as a Tour de Walkshire to replace the postponed Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.

People are invited to participate in Walkshire by sharing their own favourite walks using the hashtag #Walkshire.

Harrogate-based Yorkshire Cancer Research is the official charity partner of Walkshire.