Extra financial help is available if you are on a low income, cannot work from home and are required to self-isolate after a positive coronavirus test result, or, because you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.
Help is also available if you are on a low income and are having to take time off work to care for a child or young person who has been told to self-isolate from school or nursery.
Applications for Harrogate district are to be made to Harrogate Borough Council – find more details and apply at https://www.harrogate.gov.uk/benefits-assistance
Nationally the scheme was to end on 30 June but is now to be extended to 30 September 2021.
Still not vaccinated against Covid-19?
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All adults can now book their Covid-19 jab. If you’re aged 18 or over, visit the NHS website to book yours.
Ferrensby Planning Application
We have been asked by the residents of Ferrensby to highlight this planning application as it is unlikely anyone will see the green notices erected by HBC.The site is the large wooded area surrounding the lake as you walk along part of the Knaresborough Round footpath linking Wath Lane (Stuart Bartons farm field track) towards Ferrensby and returning along Arkendale Road. A route very popular with residents and visitors, probably due to it being in open countryside with a vast array of wildlife to spot and currently without any roads or human intervention other than farming.
“Some 5 years ago, Ferrensby Parish Meeting voted to oppose Mr & Mrs CR Jackson’s application to build a large modern house at the site named above near the village. This vote followed a presentation by one of the applicants’ architects to the meeting. Subsequently a small team of villagers volunteered to lead the opposition. This included many meetings with local interests, councillors, countryside organisations and even included taking professional legal planning advice. Happily all the effort paid off and the application was comprehensively rejected by Harrogate Borough Council over a year ago.
The new application that has been lodged doesn’t alter anything at all from the original. The design remains exactly the same but the applicants’ experts go to very great lengths to try to overturn HBC’s reasons for the previous rejection.
Ferrensby Parish Meeting intends to object again to this application. As time is short for our responses, they are needed before 4th July, we ask that you help by objecting again as soon as possible.. Either send a letter to the planning department, email planningconsultation@harrogate.gov.uk or via the HBC planning site.
Thanking you for your support in hopefully objecting to these plans.
regards Kathy Parish Clerk”
Speakers/exhibitors wanted.
Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition is looking for local organisations and businesses to exhibit or speak at the first climate action festival in October.
The event is a great opportunity to share best practice, display your achievements in the green economy or showcase changes you are making to limit climate change.
Visit the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition website to find out more.
The coalition are also looking for young people to take part in their competition around being climate friendly. You can enter a poster, poem, podcast or video and entries must be submitted by 20 September. Visit the coalition website to find out more.
Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
The government is providing help for people experiencing slow broadband speeds in rural areas.
As part of the UK Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme, grants of up to £1,500 for households and up to £3,500 for businesses, are available for some of the hardest to reach rural areas to support the cost of installing a new gigabit-capable connection.
To qualify, you must be in a rural area, have available broadband speeds of less than 100Mbps and be part of a group project (two or more premises).
You can check whether you are eligible by visiting the gigabit voucher website.
A new fitness project in Harrogate.
Fit4Life is a free 12-week weight management programme run by the Harrogate Borough Council team of health and exercise experts.
The programme offesr support every step of the way with healthy eating advice and physical activity classes. You can also get access to the HBC swimming pools and Brimhams fitness centres.
There’s more information about the eligibility criteria on the HBC website but you need to be aged 18 or over and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above. If you are from an ethnic minority or you have hypertension, diabetes, cardiac or respiratory problems, your BMI can be 25 or above.
You’ll also need to live, work or be registered with a GP in the Harrogate district to join the programme and commit to all 12-weeks.
Find out more on the Fit4Life website page.
Bedding plants for sale.
You can still find summer plants for sale at the HBC horticultural nursery in Harrogate.
It is open Monday to Friday from 9am until 4pm and Saturday, Sunday and on bank holidays from 10am until 4pm.
Currently there are geraniums, French marigolds, begonias, fuchsias and strawberry hanging baskets, petunias and nicotiana available.
This year there are more plants for pollinators as these will help wild bees and other pollinators which are crucial for maintaining plant diversity.
Also on offer are a small selection of herbs and a variety of plant pots, gifts, compost, bark and manure.
You can shop online using the click and collect service which is available from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday or request a delivery* to your home in the district.
The nursery is situated at Nursery Lane East, off Harlow Moor Road (please use the postcode HG2 0FH on your sat nav).
*delivery is only available for orders over £5.
Local Markets are operating again in Ripon and Knaresborough.
Knaresborough market and Ripon market both closed during the last year. However they are both now open again for shopping.
Knaresborough market takes place every Wednesday between 7.30am and 3pm, while Ripon is every Thursday between the same times. Ripon also hosts a smaller Saturday morning market between 7.30am and 2pm.
Both markets are set within traditional market squares with nearby transport links.
You can find out more on the website here.
Knaresborough Swimming Pool is soon to reopen.
Knaresborough Swimming Pool is set to open in July just prior to the school summer holidays.
The pool has been closed during the last year due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, as well as an issue with the existing pool filters.
Harrogate Borough Council appointed a specialist contractor based in Spain to repair the filters but, due to the continued travel restrictions, they decided to replace the existing filters rather than face further delays.
Following an extensive amount of work to accommodate the new filters, these have now been installed and the pool is being prepared for opening.
Please refer to the Knaresborough Swimming Pool Facebook page for further information.
New bee friendly actions in Harrogate
You may have noticed that some areas of the Harrogate district are being left to grow and not mown.
This is part of an intentional plan to promote wildlife and support the bee population. The longer grass and wildflowers provide food and homes for pollinating insects, as well as supporting carbon reduction goals.
As well as leaving areas to grow and encourage biodiversity, Harrogate Borough Council have also planted – with the help of volunteers – more than 5,000 wildflower plugs on the Stray in Harrogate.
Collectively, these biodiversity areas will provide habitats and green corridors for pollinators that play a key role in sustaining the flora and fauna across the district.
