Council moves to allays fears over Stray trees being chopped down in Harrogate

Harrogate Borough Council has moved quickly to try to dispel fears after the sight of trees being chopped down on the Stray at West Park sparked some concern.
Trees being chopped down on the Stray at West Park in Harrogate have sparked some concern.Trees being chopped down on the Stray at West Park in Harrogate have sparked some concern.
Trees being chopped down on the Stray at West Park in Harrogate have sparked some concern.

A spokesperson for the council said the trees being removed were young and unhealthy and new trees would be planted to compensate for this later in the process of restoring that part of the Stray to good health after the damage caused by last year's UCI cycling championships.

A spokesperson said: "We are in the process of removing some juvenile trees which are of low vitality and this was the opportunity to do the work prior to reseeding.

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"A total of 12 trees have been identified by our arboricultural team as needing removal."

More trees will be planted than removed on the Stray at West Park as part of restoration work, says Harrogate Borough Council.More trees will be planted than removed on the Stray at West Park as part of restoration work, says Harrogate Borough Council.
More trees will be planted than removed on the Stray at West Park as part of restoration work, says Harrogate Borough Council.

The Stray Defence Association confirmed they had been in touch with an arboriculturist involved with the project.

A spokesperson for the SDA said: "The arboriculturist said they were only removing trees which were ailing.

"I told hm that our pictures showed trees that were in leaf and that, although we were aware of about five newish saplings that did not look too healthy, we were greatly surprised at the trees being removed.

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"But he insisted, that the only trees being cut down were sick trees."

Some readers raised the spectre of paths being widened as part of a general plan to boost the use of bicycles in Harrogate.

But not only is there no evidence to support such speculation, the council says the overall number of trees on West Park Stray will actually increase thanks to the restoration project.

A council spokesperson said: "A total of 26 new trees will be re-planted in the autumn. "We have expedited the works to allow them to take place before the reseeding work on the Stray so things are aligned rather than disturbing the site again in the future."

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