Campaign for streets in Knaresborough to be pedestrianised

Knaresborough Civic Society has launched a campaign to pedestrianise Castlegate and the Market Square.

The society feels that both areas are always busy with both cars and people and there isn’t enough space for adequate social distancing.

The Civic Society said its aim is to enhance the public space available and protect the town’s heritage. It also included plans to convert the area currently used by cars on Market Square into extra space for businesses or town events.

The Civic Society chairman James Monaghan said:

“Now is the ideal time to take bold steps to enhance Knaresborough’s public space, improve the pedestrian experience and make our streets safer.

“Castlegate is a popular shopping destination with narrow pavements. On busy days you already find shoppers walking down the middle of the street and maintaining social distancing on the pavements is impossible”.

Scenes such as these have encouraged the Civic Society launch their campaign for pedestrianisation.

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Castlegate business owner Andy Grinter supports the plans, he said:

“Its obvious that without action, we don’t stand a chance of social distancing. Without taking urgent, innovative measures we’re putting lives and livelihoods at risk. It’s clear that pedestrians need more space to walk and queue safely whilst maintaining social distancing.

“Giving customers room between premises and in public spaces will enable shops and businesses to bounce back and recover trade.”

The Society has written to North Yorkshire County Council and is now calling for other local groups to come forward and back their campaign.

Knaresborough’s only bank to remain open for time being

The last remaining bank in Knaresborough, Halifax, was expected to close on 13 May but will now stay open if it attracts enough customers.

The initial decision to close the Halifax was made due to a 10% reduction in customer counter transactions from 2019.  It sparked real concern in the town and a campaign was launched to stop the closure.

However following the pandemic the bank remained open to support local customers. Halifax has told The Stray Ferret that they plan to keep the branch open during the pandemic but will continue to review its position in the future.

A spokesperson for Halifax said:

“We do not intend to permanently close any branches in the midst of this challenging period. Our priority at this time is keeping as many branches as possible open, so that customers can continue to access cash, and ensuring that those who are vulnerable or in financial difficulty can speak to colleagues.

We continue to review our presence to ensure that our branches are located in the right places and any future closure decisions will be driven by customer behaviour.”

The future of this bank will be “driven by customer behaviour”.

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This decision will come as a relief to local residents as the closure of the Halifax bank would have left the town with no banks and only three cash machines within the town.

The Knaresborough Chamber of Trade were pleased to hear of this development. Its president Steve Teggin said:

“The towns people will be elated with the news as we’ve saved a bank and now we still have one in the town. It’s a triumph for us but we’ve also saved a cash machine too. Halifax have now got to give us some confidence that they will stay and I think that will encourage people in Knaresborough to open up accounts with them. But for residents and traders too this is great news.”

 

Many in district still fearful of shopping for clothes

Will shoppers return to the high street on Monday?

Since the lockdown easing was revealed by the Prime Minister, a number of major and independent outlets have already announced that their doors will be open on June 15.

But once shops are open and the store lights are on, the focus will shift to how customers react after 10 weeks of closure and increasingly more people shopping online.

The Stray Ferret went around the district and asked people in town centres whether they were uneasy about returning to shops.

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In our video above, people raised concerns over changing rooms in clothes stores and shops reopening too early.

Melanie Lancaster, from Ripon, said it was not necessary for the city’s high street to reopen yet.

“I’m not going to shop when the shops open.

“I know that they are saying that they are going to quarantine clothes, but I would still not feel comfortable doing that.”

Sandra Watkins, from Harrogate, said she was concerned with younger people and whether they would be mindful when shops reopen.

She said: “I’m more concerned perhaps with my teenage daughter still being quite young, are they going to be mindful going back into places like Primark?”

Some smaller traders do not expect customers to be stepping through their doors immediately, but bigger retailers have a challenge.

Shop space which once saw customers move freely around will be altered by one way systems, two metre distances and limited customers.

Esther Pugh, a retail expert at Leeds Beckett University, said the experience of shopping will be changed by social distancing, but added that she remained optimistic about customers returning to the high street.

She said: “Stores use their layout to help navigate the space and move around.

“But it will be a challenge because the guidelines will effect the experience.

“I am optimistic and I think people need to feel positive. I think the shops need to be innovative and turn this into something new for shoppers.”

Tomorrow, we will report on what is being done to entice shoppers back onto Harrogate’s high street and into retail stores.

Knaresborough businesses prepare measures to reopen shops

Businesses in Knaresborough are preparing social distancing measures as some shops in the town gear up to reopen next month.

A range of measures designed to help shops in Knaresborough reopen safely are set be introduced following a Knaresborough Chamber of Trade initiative.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that non-essential shops, including clothes stores and electronic outlets, will be able to reopen from June 15.

The chamber has led a campaign called Knaresborough Unlocked which aims to keep the town open for business.

As part of the initiative, Knaresborough is set to introduce measures such as limited customers in shops at one time, bookings for those offering personal care, and some temporary road closures proposed by the chamber. Business owners are also encouraged to practise good hygiene in their stores.

Road closures

The chamber is in discussions with North Yorkshire County Council to close roads including Market Place, Castlegate and parts of Jockey Lane in order to help create space for people to queue outside businesses.

Bill Taylor, treasurer at Knaresborough Chamber of Trade, said the measures are designed to keep people safe:

“These are temporary measures until social distancing becomes a thing of the past. We are just trying to keep everyone safe.”

Kelly Teggin Hair and Beauty in Knaresborough, which is preparing measures to keep customers safe when it reopens.

Among the businesses that has put preparations in place is Kelly Teggin’s Hair and Beauty salon on Castlegate.

While the government has said salons will not reopen until July at the earliest, owner Kelly Teggin has started to prepare to reopen safely.

She has put in place social distancing measures in the salon, including personal protective equipment, a one-way system and staggering working hours to fit appointments in.

Customers will be told to turn up at their exact booking time in order for people to keep their distance and people will not be able to wait in the waiting area.

Kelly said the lockdown has given her time to prepare the business should it reopen next month.

“I would not have felt prepared if it was a June reopening. But now that it is coming up to July, I do think that by then we will be ready.”