Councils could pave the way for pop up beer gardens in Harrogate

Councils in the Harrogate district could soon pave the way for pop up beer gardens and outdoor cafes to help boost hospitality businesses.

There are plans to allow pubs, restaurants, and cafes with space outdoors to reopen on July 4 with special safety measures in place.

Many in Harrogate’s hospitality sector do not have those spaces and would, under the current rules, need to stay closed or continue with takeaways.

Harrogate BID has urged both local authorities to help speed up the application process for businesses to open up on pavements.

Richard Cooper, the leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said at the cabinet:

“Even if it’s at a one metre distance but, as it stands, it’s a two-metre distance it is going to be very difficult for those businesses to survive. I believe we should give businesses space where there is currently tarmac. I think that is something absolutely mission critical.”

What Mr Cooper means exactly by “space where there is currently tarmac” will be closely scrutinised – any proposal that would cut on street car parking spaces or lead to permanent changes such as pedestrianisation will be fiercely opposed by retail group Independent Harrogate.

Read more:

Harrogate Borough Council is responsible for granting the premises licence and North Yorkshire County Council licenses the use of pavements, so they will need to work together.

The BID board is concerned that if the hospitality industry isn’t supported, Harrogate’s economy could be irreparably damaged.

Harrogate Borough Council is now in talks with North Yorkshire County Council.

David Bowe, Corporate Director for Business and Environmental Services, said:

“We are working with the Harrogate BID, Harrogate Borough Council and retailers at a local level to create as much space within the public highway as is practicable to support safe social distancing, café culture and safe access. It is important to understand that there are inevitably differing demands on the public highway and these have to be safely balanced.”

Robert Ogden, on behalf of Independent Harrogate, said:

“It is extremely important that Harrogate’s businesses are able to thrive in the current crisis, and Independent Harrogate supports measures that will enable smaller cafés or restaurants to open while respecting social distancing guidelines. We know the councils will do their best to balance the commercial imperative with reserving sufficient space for the public to walk on, without resorting to road closures.”

Sharow Parish Council leads fight to save village pub

Villagers in Sharow have joined the parish council in voicing opposition to plans that would see The Half Moon Inn become a single private dwelling.

The closing date for views on the planning application to be submitted to Harrogate Borough Council is next week. Twenty-five letters of objection from the public have been lodged – and there have been no letters of public support at the time of writing.

The Half Moon, located on Sharow Lane, opened in 1822 and closed four years ago, but Sharow Parish Council wants the building to be registered as an asset of community value (ACV) in the hope that it could re-open as a pub.

Sharow parish clerk Nick Reed told The Stray Ferret:

“There is a strength of opposition to the proposed change of use and a growing wish in the village to see it registered as an ACV. We would seek outside help with this.”

In a letter to the council’s planning department, Mr Reed said: “Our main objection is that converting a historic village pub into a private residence would be of enormous detriment to life within the parish.”

He added:

“The conversion of this building into a private residential house would result in the loss of the pub as a community facility.”

Read more:

The premises have been marketed for let under their existing usage – as ‘restaurant and bar with accommodation’ – but the parish council argues that all options for continuance as a pub have not been fully explored.

Should villagers be successful in having The Half Moon registered as an ACV, they will be following in the footsteps of Kirkby Malzeard, where members of the local community have raised more than £200,000 in a bid to prevent residential redevelopment of a site occupied by The Henry Jenkins Inn.

 

Charity distances from Harrogate pub caught breaking rules

A disability charity has distanced itself from a Harrogate pub which repeatedly broke the lockdown rules.

Horticap had agreed to work with The Coach and Horses and supply it with plants just before it opened.

The pub dubbed itself ‘The Hanging Gardens of Harrogate’ and planned to open as a “garden centre” serving refreshments when it opened.

Read more on this story:

John Nelson, the pub’s landlord, said that he would give all of the proceeds to Horticap. However, the charity said the pub did not tell them about his change of plans to sell alcohol.

The pub has been served a prohibition notice.

Steve Scarre, chair of Trustees at Horticap, told The Stray Ferret:

“John from the Coach and Horses has been a great supporter of Horticap over many years. He said he would be serving tea and coffee over the weekend. That changed on Friday night when unbeknown to us he decided to serve alcohol because the weather forecast looked good. He did not inform us of this and the first I knew was the social media reports on Sunday morning at 7.00am.”

As a result, the charity took out all of its plants and refused to take any money from the pub’s sales. Steve added: “We are not happy about what transpired and have told him so.”

Some of the plants inside The Coach and Horses.

The Stray Ferret approached the Coach and Horses for a comment but the pub refused the opportunity.

Harrogate Borough Council officers served the pub with a prohibition notice because it had repeatedly breached the lockdown rules.

The Coach and Horses has opened again today to sell alcohol but crowds have not gathered in the same way as last weekend.

Harrogate pub owners say they followed rules after crowds gathered outside

The owners of Three’s a Crowd and the Coach and Horses on West Park Stray said they followed government guidelines when they opened over the weekend to sell take-out beer.

On Saturday afternoon crowds outside the two pubs led Harrogate police to urge the public to stick to social distancing as people blocked the pavements and were not keeping 2 metres apart.  It led to a large amount of concern on social media that people are giving up on the rules.

John Quinlan of Three’s a Crowd told The Stray Ferret that safety was their priority:

We worked with the North Yorkshire police to monitor social distancing and they were supportive and helpful throughout. Helping us maintain the safety of our guests within the boundaries of our pub.
The majority of our guests were sensible and followed the social distancing measures set out with only a few that decided to ignore these. With the Stray being closed directly opposite and people beginning to congregate we decided to close early and stop serving, asking people to disband.
Mr Quinlan said his staff had cleaned up the street and public bins of any litter afterwards. Three’s a Crowd did not open on Sunday.

Tables and chairs put on the grass verge of the Stray for drinkers at The Coach and Horses on Sunday

At the Coach and Horses, owner John Nelson, said the pub had opened up as a garden centre selling plants and refreshments with all proceeds going to local charity, Horticap. Mr Nelson opened the pub again on Sunday. Inside dozens of plants lined the one-way system that snaked through to the bar where staff served behind a plastic shield. Mr Nelson said:
“You can go to Waitrose and buy a can and sit on the Stray and drink it or you can come here and buy a drink and do the same thing. The only difference is that every penny we take is going to Horticap. Saturday was the first day and a one point it did get crowded outside. You learn – today we’ve put chairs up on the other side of the road so that the pavement outside is free and we’ve put an extra barrier outside.
I have a licence to sell beer either on and off the property- what rules am I breaking?”

Whether Mr Nelson will be allowed to keep his chairs and tables on the other side of the road though, remains to be seen.