Harrogate district restaurants tables filling up fast

Restaurants in the Harrogate district have seen their tables fill up fast as the national lockdown comes to an end.

Eateries will be able to open their doors for the first time tomorrow after a month under the new tier two rules.

With strict rules forbidding Christmas parties and household mixing they do not expect to see anywhere near the same takings as in the summer.

However, many are already seeing the results of pent up demand of a month.

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John Roberts, the owner of The Tannin Level in Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret that the phones started ringing as soon as the area made it into tier two:

“We are filling up fairly quickly now which is great. The weekends are looking very busy already over the next three weeks.

“It will be interesting to see how the weekdays in December, which are normally occupied by Christmas parties, will perform.”

Vivien Kovacs, one of the owners at Two Brothers Grill and Pizzeria in Knaresborough, added:

“The business has been fine over lockdown because we have done takeaways. We are now preparing to open tomorrow.

“We will not be able to serve the same numbers of people because of the stricter rules but we are hoping for a good December.”

Rick Jones, who is one of the owners of Valentino’s and the Water Rat, also told the Stray Ferret:

“It looks like this first week back will be a busy one, it’s already looking quite full. The restrictions will limit the number of people we can serve.

“We will not see similar takings over December compared to previous years but we are just happy to see people and to cook.”

North Yorkshire will come out of lockdown just after midnight tonight. Here is a breakdown of the new rules.

The new tier two restrictions gives hope for the restaurants and hotels but wet-led pubs that cannot serve a “substantial meal” will need to stay closed.

Tier two gives Harrogate district hotels hope for winter

Hotels in the Harrogate district breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday as the area was told it was moving into tier two.

Tier two restrictions, while closing wet-led pubs, paves the way for hotels to reopen at the end of the lockdown next week.

It may not be the same sort of takings that hotels would normally hope for over the festive period but it is a positive sign for the sector.

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The Majestic Hotel on Ripon Road will now be able to bring its team back from furlough and it putting reopening plans in place.

Andy Barnsdale, the general manager at the Majestic Hotel, said:

“We are now planning the process of reopening on Wednesday and bringing the team back, which is good news.

“We are looking closely at the guidelines and tailoring our food options for our indoor careering as well as for the outdoor Majestic Winter Teepee.”

Anthony Blundell, the assistant general manager at West Park Hotel, said:

“We will of course have all the safety measures in place but I think we might be in for a busy December when we re open next week with lots of bookings already and more coming in.

“I think the substantial meals rule will have an impact, we will just need to convert those people who are coming for a drink into having a meal.”

Council hopes that North Yorkshire will move into tier one

The Harrogate district could move out of tier two into tier one if coronavirus infection rates continue to fall.

Local public health officials struck an optimistic tone in light of today’s announcement but warned against complacency.

They said in an emergency press briefing that it was possible for North Yorkshire to change tiers when they are up for review in two weeks.

Richard Flinton, chair of the the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, said:

“We are pleased that we are not in tier three. But I think we can say that this is not the time for complacency.

“We have to get into tier one and we need to use this time to drive down the virus in the county, we cannot be content in tier two.

“The winter period is a significant and potentially dangerous time in terms of how the virus could move.”

Currently there are more than 340 coronavirus patients in the hospitals that serve North Yorkshire.

That is higher than the first coronavirus wave when the patient numbers peaked at 302.

While the requirements for tier one are not entirely clear, the local officials set out some areas to look out for.

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Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health in North Yorkshire, said:

“There are some indicators that we have from before this lockdown that we can aim for.

“We need to get the case rate, the positive case rate, the rates in the over 60s and the patients in hospitals down.

“I believe it is possible for us to have a safe Christmas and at the same time for the virus not to rebound in January.”

As North Yorkshire is surrounded by tier three areas there are concerns that visitors will try to take advantage of the lower restrictions.

Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police’s assistant chief constable and gold commander leading the force’s coronavirus response, said:

“It is not acceptable for someone to travel out of a tier three area without a suitable reason. We do have enforcement powers in place to stop people doing this.

“We are one of the forces that issued the highest amount of fixed penalty notices at the start of the lockdown.”

Harrogate district pubs were ‘praying for tier one’

Pubs in the Harrogate district have voiced their disappointment at being placed in tier two at the end of lockdown.

Rick Jones, who owns the Water Rat and Valentino’s, said: “We were all praying for tier one. But with a very limited number of areas going into tier one it is not a surprise.”

He expects the impact of tier two to mean that business at the Water Rat pub will be down by around 30% compared to the same time last year.

Mr Jones added: “Celebratory casual drinks in December won’t be happening. There’s only so many times you can go out with your own household. There’s a vaccine in sight. We just have to face this and ride it out.”

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While trade will be down for his pubs, wet-led pubs that cannot serve substantial meals with drinks have to close.

Richard Park, of the Little Ale House, also said: “It is something we were expecting but we are of course disappointed. It just makes no sense to close small, safe pubs like ours.

“Just because we don’t have the capacity to cook substantial meals, whatever that means, we are forced to keep our doors shut.”

Megan Fairweather, the social media secretary at Harrogate and Ripon CAMRA, added:

“After an agonising wait, licensees across the country have had their worst fears confirmed – in all but three council areas in the country, pubs will either be closed or only able to open if they are serving substantial meals.”

Harrogate district to enter tier two restrictions

The Harrogate district will enter tier two restrictions at the end of the national lockdown.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, will set out the rules each area will be under in the House of Commons today.

However, a government website that has since crashed pre-empted the announcement. Here’s the full list.

When you put in a local postcode it says that the Harrogate district and North Yorkshire is under tier two.

The district is in tier two.

The new rules will come into force next Wednesday, December 2. It is unclear when the restrictions will come to an end.

North Yorkshire had been in tier one restrictions before the second national lockdown.

Local public health officials said in a press briefing yesterday that the coronavirus rates are an indicator of the different tiers.

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Most of North Yorkshire is below the England average seven-day rate of 201 cases per 100,000.

Scarborough and Selby are the only local areas above the national average. They have rates of 280 and 232 respectively.

While Harrogate and Ryedale have the lowest case rates in the area with 147 and 132.

The local officials also said that they would favour a system where North Yorkshire is split into different districts.

What are the rules in tier two?

Tier two:

What about Christmas?

Coronavirus restrictions will be eased across the UK between December 23 and December 27 to allow for a Christmas closer to normal.

It will mean that three households will be able to form a temporary bubble. It must be fixed but there will be no limit on numbers joining bubble.

Those who are self-isolating should not join one of these so-called Christmas bubbles.

If someone is in an at-risk group the government has said they must their their own judgement and consider the risks of mixing over Christmas.

Tier one hopes for Harrogate district fade away

The Harrogate district’s hopes of remaining in tier one at the end of the national lockdown seem to be fading away.

Local public health officials, who manage the coronavirus response in North Yorkshire, have been speculating ahead of an announcement tomorrow.

In a weekly coronavirus press briefing this morning, those officials said coronavirus rates can give you a feel for what tiers different areas will be in.

The average case rates in North Yorkshire is 195 per 100,000. England’s average case rates are currently 207 per 100,000.

Areas like Scarborough and Selby are the only areas above the national average at 296 and 240 per 100,000 respectively.

The Harrogate district has seen a drop in case rates in recent weeks. It now has the second lowest rates in North Yorkshire at 157 just above Ryedale at 131.

What tier restrictions will we be under?

The national lockdown ends next week on Wednesday, December 2. When the lockdown ends we will return to restrictions based on three tiers.

North Yorkshire was in tier one before the national lockdown. The government will confirm tomorrow which tiers each area will be under.

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However, local public health officials also said today that they would favour a system where North Yorkshire is split into different districts.

Richard Webb, the corporate director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“We don’t have those details on tier restrictions yet. All we have at the moment are the speculation and the drafts we had before lockdown.

“If we look to the criteria that will potentially be in place we hope that most of the county would be in tier two. But we know that some areas could be in tier three.”

What are the three different tiers?

The government has strengthened the tiers. They still range from tier one at medium through tier two at high and tier three at very high.

Tier one:
Tier two:
Tier three:

What about Christmas?

Coronavirus restrictions will be eased across the UK between December 23 and December 27 to allow for a Christmas closer to normal.

It will mean that three households will be able to form a temporary bubble. It must be fixed but there will be no limit on numbers joining bubble.

Those who are self-isolating should not join one of these so-called Christmas bubbles.

If someone is in an at-risk group the government has said they must their their own judgement and consider the risks of mixing over Christmas.

Harrogate district set to border tier three Leeds

The Harrogate district faces bordering a tier three area with the highest covid restrictions from next week.

Leeds, along with the rest of West Yorkshire, will enter the highest tier on Monday after cases in areas such as Bradford stand at 485 per 100,000 people.

It means that in Leeds betting shops, casinos and pubs which do not serve meals will close. Mixing of households will also be banned both indoors and outdoors.

But, across the border, pubs will remain open until 10am and people will be able to continue to meet indoors and outdoors while abiding by the rule of six.

North Yorkshire has avoided being moved into a tier two lockdown, despite only having a marginally lower infection rate than some areas which face tougher restrictions.

The county has a case rate of 174 per 100,000 population, according to latest Public Health England data. But North Lincolnshire has a rate of 194 and will enter tier two from Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate district currently has a seven-day case rate of 242, which is higher than the national average.

East Riding of Yorkshire and Hull will also enter “high risk” restrictions, leaving North Yorkshire surrounded by higher tier areas.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at the county council, said last week that the county was in discussions with the wider county over what tier it should be in.

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He said there was a desire to “simplify” and although the county’s infection rate was low compared with its neighbours, it was still influenced by what goes on in surrounding areas.

All areas involved in those discussions are now either in or due to go into a higher tier, apart from North Yorkshire.

But, Richard Webb, director of adult care at the county council, yesterday warned that the county could be in tier two before the end of the week.

He told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of emergency agencies, briefing:

“The situation in North Yorkshire is now hanging by a thread. We are currently in tier one but that is really on a knife edge.

“We may even be in a situation at the end of this week where we move into tier two restrictions. But we are hoping that we can prevent that.

“We want to stay in tier one. It is better for livelihoods and for economic wellbeing. Today we are asking people to act now to save lives more than ever.”

The discussions over what tier the county should be in has also raised concern from local MPs.

Kevin Hollinrake, Thirsk and Malton MP, has previously urged the government to look at a district approach to local restrictions.

He told the Stray Ferret it was only fair on businesses to impose tighter measures when there was an “absolute need”.

Harrogate venues warn of dire consequences of tier two

Some of Harrogate’s most popular venues have spoken of their concerns for the future of their staff and businesses if North Yorkshire moves to tier two.

North Yorkshire County Council warned yesterday the county could move from tier one to tier two by the end of the week amid rising covid infection rates.

Martin Greenhow, managing director of the Mojo group, said covid restrictions had already been “catastrophic” for the hospitality sector. He added:

“Moving through the tiers is like squeezing hard on the trigger of the executioner’s gun.

“We’ve already seen a reduction in trade of about 70% between pre-covid levels and the introduction of the curfew. Moving into tier two we’re expecting an 80% drop-off in trade, going by other sites’ progress.” 

North Bar in Harrogate is also concerned about the likely impact. Assistant manager Jessica Parkinson said:

“We’re worried for the staff, what it means for them, as we’ve already had to cut hours and seen less footfall, which is very sad.” 

However, Simon Cotton, managing director of the HRH Group, whose properties include the Fat Badger, the White Hart Hotel and the Yorkshire Hotel, said the main difference between tier one and tier two for venues was policing. He added:

“Do you look at groups of people and assume that they’re not a family or one household when they actually might be? There are lots of exceptions to the rule, such as meetings. For work reasons you’re exempt, so the rules are open to abuse so easily.

“Staff can politely ask the question but can’t be expected to strictly enforce this as we’re not the police.

“It does rely on the public doing what they should in terms of the government guidelines. It is not up to hospitality to police this.”

North Yorkshire could enter tier two this week

North Yorkshire could move into tier two coronavirus restrictions by the end of the week, according to the county council’s director of health and adult services.

Richard Webb said this morning the situation in the county was “hanging by a thread” due to rising infection rates.

The Selby and Harrogate districts are particular problem areas, with seven-day infection rates of 230 cases and 203 cases per 100,000 people respectively.

Average infection rates in the county remain below the England average of 220 cases per 100,000.

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But they are rising, which prompted Mr Webb to issue the warning at today’s weekly press briefing of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackles emergencies. He said:

“The situation in North Yorkshire is now hanging by a thread. We are currently in tier one but that is really on a knife edge.

“We may even be in a situation at the end of this week where we move into tier two restrictions. But we are hoping that we can prevent that.

“We want to stay in tier one. It is better for livelihoods and for economic wellbeing. Today we are asking people to act now to save lives more than ever.”

Mr Webb said it would be up to the government to decide North Yorkshire’s fate.

People in tier two areas are prohibited from socialising with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting.

People in pubs and restaurants can only consume food and drink while seated. Takeaway food can only be bought after 10pm if ordered online or by phone.

The press briefing also revealed that Harrogate District Hospital has 12 coronavirus patients – three of whom are in intensive care.

North Yorkshire MP: Don’t send county into tier two

A North Yorkshire MP has urged the government to “scotch rumours” that North Yorkshire is heading for tier two restrictions.

Kevin Hollinrake told the Stray Ferret it was only fair on businesses to impose tighter measures when there was an “absolute need”.

The MP, whose Thirsk and Malton constituency has relatively low infection rates, said district-wide rather than county-wide measures could be introduced if necessary to reflect the variable rates in North Yorkshire. He said:

“I have made the case for a more localised, evidenced-based approach regularly to the Prime Minister and Health Secretary, including twice last week on the floor of the House and will continue to do so.”

Public health officials earlier this week said there were “ongoing discussions” about moving the county and the wider Yorkshire region up a tier.

Dr Lincoln Sargaent, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, said there was a national desire to “simplify” the system.

But in a Commons debate last night, Mr Hollinrake asked Edward Argar, minister of state for health, to “scotch rumours” about North Yorkshire moving to tier two.

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He said:

“If there is any need to put us in a higher tier, will he look to do that on a district-wide level, where there is significant variation across North Yorkshire, rather than purely at county-wide level?”

Mr Argar said the position remained that same as last week when Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government was considering that option.

North Yorkshire is in tier one but is surrounded by tier two areas, including York and West Yorkshire.