Harrogate club temporarily closes after covid case

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.”
The club introduced several safety measures when it reopened following lockdown. Members were asked to wear face coverings until seated, hand sanitiser was provided and seating was distanced.
All surfaces will be cleaned before the club reopens.

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New Harrogate site will test 300 people a day

Harrogate’s new covid testing site will have the capacity to test up to 320 people a day, officials revealed today.

The full-time site in the Dragon Road car park is set to open next week and will operate seven days a week from 8am until 8pm.

Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum press briefing today the site will have the capacity to test eight people at once.

She added the site would be able to conduct between 280 and 320 tests per day.

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People will be able to turn up on foot, unlike at the mobile testing centres. However, tests must still be booked in advance.

The forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackle the pandemic, successfully made the case for permanent testing sites in Harrogate and Scarborough to the Department of Health and Social Care.

The Stray Ferret asked the DHSC how much the site cost to build but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Latest Public Health England figures show a further 27 cases were confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours. It takes the total amount of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,500.

A total of 137 cases were confirmed across North Yorkshire today.

The Harrogate district has the highest weekly case rate of the seven district councils in North Yorkshire, with 116 per 100,000 people up to October 10.

North Yorkshire was placed in the lowest category of the government’s new three tier local lockdown system this week.

Wedding venue transforms into ski lodge to save staff

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.

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Italian bar and restaurant closes in Harrogate

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:

“Due to the ever-changing current circumstances and the difficulty the hospitality industry is facing at the moment we have taken the difficult decision to close Porco Rosso and concentrate entirely on the Stuzzi brand.
“We would like to thank all of our loyal customers from over the years who have frequented the venue and helped make the place what is was. From hosting various wine producers from all over Italy for civilised, informative and often one-off wine tastings and events, to debaucherous bank holidays and New Year’s eves of dancing on the sofas and binge drinking.”
The site is set to reopen at an unconfirmed date as a new bar and pizzeria called Hidden Bar.

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North Yorkshire districts could be placed in different covid tiers

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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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.

Harrogate survey: a third of Christmas shopping in town

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.

Sneak peek: Colourful charity crafts store opens in Harrogate

With a story behind each and every product on the shelves, a colourful new charity shop is preparing to open its doors in Harrogate tomorrow.

Artizan International’s debut store on Oxford Street will sell crafts made by disabled people from the UK, Peru and Ecuador.

The charity, which was previously known as Craft Aid International, was founded by Susie Hart when she returned to Harrogate from Tanzania 10 years ago.

The shop sells bright cushions, lampshades, jewellery, headbands and more made by disabled people. The charity trains them in crafts and gives them a living through the sales.

A new shop in Harrogate on Oxford Street in the former Harrogate Hub.

Picking up a pair of pink earrings off the shelf, Ms Hart explained to the Stray Ferret how the charity changes lives:

“They were made by a young man in Peru called Steven who uses a wheelchair. He had never had a job before and had never been able to support his girlfriend. Things were really desperate for him before he joined us.”

The pink earrings made by Steven.

The new shop on Oxford Street is the former home of Harrogate Hub, which no longer needed the space so offered it to Artizan at half the price.

When an anonymous donor heard about this, they stepped in with £200,000 to help Artizan buy the building.

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Juggling the new shop with the charity’s existing work has been a huge challenge over the last few months.

The coronavirus lockdown meant all of the craft sessions and tutorials abroad and at home needed to stop or move online.

Bright and colourful headbands on the shelves.

It also meant all of the Artizan teams in Peru and Ecuador had to stop production. They still have some stock leftover from before the pandemic but Harrogate Scrubbers also stepped in to help fill the shelves.

Artizan plans to open a cafe in the building at the start of next year staffed solely by people with hearing disabilities.

Would you like to spread the word about your shop opening? No matter how small the shop get in touch with the Stray Ferret.

Harlow Carr set to open new Friendship Bridge

A new bridge will be unveiled at RHS Garden Harlow Carr on Monday.

The bridge, which was built by Harrogate dry stone waller Neil Beasley in four months over lockdown, has been named the Friendship Bridge.

The name is in recognition of a £10,000 donation from the Friends of Harlow Carr, which paid for half of the £20,000 costs.

The Royal Horticultural Society, which is the gardening charity that owns RHS Garden Harlow Carr, paid for the other half.

The centerpiece of the design, which was drawn up by Leeds master craftsman David Griffiths, represents the head of a flower, with stone petals surrounding a central stonework arch,

The Geoffrey Smith memorial stone is positioned at one end of the bridge wall as a lasting testament to the former garden curator, who died in 2009.

Paul Cook, curator at RHS Garden Harlow Carr, said: 

“We now have a beautiful new piece of artwork, which has been handcrafted in Yorkshire stone using traditional dry stone walling techniques.

“As well as being a thing of beauty in itself, the work will help to alleviate surface flooding problems.”

The new bridge was built with freshly quarried Yorkshire stone along with stone from the structure that it replaced.

Mr Beasley previously created Harlow Carr’s garden entrance feature and monoliths on the corner of Crag Lane and Otley Road, which were also designed by David Griffiths. 

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Unemployment claims fall slightly in Harrogate district

There was a slight fall in the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district in September.

A total of 3,875 people claimed out-of-work benefits during the month, down slightly from 3,970 in August. Of those, 2,210 were men and 1,665 were women.

The figures, which were published today by the Office for National Statistics, revealed 4.1% of the district’s population claimed out-of-work benefits — down from 4.2% in the previous month.

Harrogate is below the UK-wide figure of 6.5% for people claiming the benefits, which include Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit.

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The number of benefit claims in the district has remained stable since May, with the government’s furlough scheme used to protect more than 15,000 jobs in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

The scheme ends this month and will be replaced by the Job Support Scheme, which is designed to protect viable jobs.

Under the new scheme, an employee who works a minimum of 33% of their normal hours a week will be guaranteed 77% of their weekly wage.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said financial support on offer to employees must “adapt and evolve”.

Only 17% of Harrogate hate crime reports lead to charges

A total of 264 hate crimes were reported in the Harrogate district in the last three years — but fewer than two in 10 led to a charge.

One hundred and sixty seven of the reports were for racial hate crimes, 32 were for homophobia and 20 related to disabled people. There were also 13 reports relating to Muslims and eight relating to trans people.

In total, 46 charges were brought, which represents 17 per cent of the number of complaints made.

The Stray Ferret obtained the figures, which cover 2017, 2018, and 2019, from North Yorkshire Police through the Freedom of Information Act.

The number of reported hate crimes was stable in each of the three years but the number of reports that led to a charge decreased from 21 in 2017 to nine in 2019.

The police cited a variety of reasons for not bringing charges, including being unable to identify the suspect, the victim deciding not to support police action, and community resolutions.

Crown Prosecution Service figures show that the national conviction rate for hate crimes in 2018/19 was 84.3%.

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Hate crime often involves verbal or physical abuse but can also cover vandalism, criminal damage, graffiti, arson, cyberbullying, offensive communications, threats of attack, or financial exploitation.

This week is National Hate Crime Awareness Week and superintendent Mark Khan, North Yorkshire Police’s lead for hate crime, said he wanted the public to feel confident reporting hate crime.

He said:

“Hate crime has a devastating impact on its victims, their families and their communities.

“It’s so important that we do not let this type of behaviour go unnoticed or unchallenged. Reporting hate crime is everyone’s business. We want people in Harrogate, and across North Yorkshire, to report it – and to feel confident reporting it.

“So whether you are a victim of any kind of hate crime, or have witnessed a hate crime incident, no matter how insignificant it may seem, we would urge you to call the police, via 101 or 999 in an emergency.

“If you do not wish to speak to the police, contact Supporting Victims in North Yorkshire or visit True Vision, who can both be contacted confidentially and can offer support and advice.”