Harrogate council pledges to plant thousands of trees covering more than 40 acres

The council will plant trees at three locations between Harrogate and Knaresborough - Bilton Beck Wood, Willow Wood and Upper Horse Shoe Fields.

It is part of the White Rose Forest project launched by councils across Yorkshire which are aiming to increase tree cover by a third with help from private landowners, community groups and businesses.

Councillor Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, said: “We are keen to support a number of measures to address the climate situation and deliver carbon reduction initiatives.

“And as chair of the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition I wholeheartedly support this project and look forward to the benefits these additional trees will have to help meet our carbon reduction targets.”

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Volunteers and local councillors planted the first trees in Harrogate under the project in April last year.

Just 10.5 per cent of land in the district is covered by trees and the aim is to increase this by 20 per cent by 2048.

Councillor Andrew Paraskos, cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said: “A large proportion of the Harrogate district is occupied by agricultural land and would therefore be unsuitable or challenging for tree planting.

"That’s why we’ve identified two areas, managed by the council, which would benefit from this project.

“We are very much in the early stages but I’m delighted to support this project as well as getting the community involved.

"We’ll have more news in the coming months."

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter