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20
Apr 2021
Last Updated: 20/04/2021
What has Harrogate council spent its High Street grants on?
Harrogate Borough Council has had £144,000 in grants from government to reopen the high street and is set to receive more. The Stray Ferret asked the authority what that money has been spent on to help businesses.
Cambridge Street in Harrogate town centre.
Harrogate Borough Council has so far spent £90,000 of government grants which aimed to support businesses on the high street to reopen.
Last June, the authority was given £144,714 as part of the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund to help support businesses to open up after the first lockdown.
Ministers have also allocated further funding, which will also be £144,714, as part of the Welcome Back Fund to help the council support the town centre after the third shutdown.
Both grants have been funded from the European Regional Development Fund.
Read more:
- Plans to revive Harrogate district economy after April 12 revealed
- Questions over Starbeck Baths as council fails to give opening date
The Stray Ferret asked the borough council how much of the first grant has been spent and what it had been used to fund.
A spokesperson for the council said £90,000 of the funding has been spent so far on:
- Business support service for high street and town centre businesses, (supporting them to adapt and become more resilient during covid recovery)
- Social distancing measures on James Street and Albert Street
- The #ShopSafeShopLocal campaign
- The digital tube style cycle map
- Footfall monitoring data
They added that plans for the new funding, which was announced last month, have yet to be confirmed.
Government guidance published as part of the grant scheme says councils should "engage with stakeholders including local businesses, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Destination Management Organisations (DMO), town and parish councils".
When asked who it consulted with on the measures, the authority said its business development team had a "distribution list for businesses” which it said it would use for plans for the next grant.
Sara Ferguson, chair of Harrogate BID, said she hoped the authority would listen to ideas from the businesses:
Ms Ferguson said:
“It is great news that Harrogate Borough Council has been awarded this money on top of the funds it received last year.
“In terms of the £144,000 Welcome Back Fund, we look forward to working with HBC and other business organisations, such as the Chamber and Independent Harrogate, to make Harrogate more welcoming to visitors and residents alike.
“Whilst we recognise the pot of money it has been awarded is to help the District’s ‘high streets’, we have a number of proposals which we believe will help our town centre retail and hospitality businesses get back on their feet and bring in customers.
“These include discounted parking and public transport to encourage residents to shop, eat and drink local.”
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