Harrogate woodland project hits £250,000 with just days until Long Lands Common shares deadline

With just more than a week left to buy shares in Harrogate’s first community-owned woodland, organisers are making one last push to hit  their £300,000 target to buy the land for Long Lands Common.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Thanks to the support of people not only in Harrogate and Knaresborough but also from across Yorkshire and wider afield, the appeal has now raised nearly £252,000.

But campaigners are urging anyone who pledged to buy shares - the missing pledgers - to do so before the deadline of Friday, November 20.

Long Lands Common campaigners in Harrogate are urging anyone who pledged to buy shares - the missing pledgers - to do so before the deadline of November 20.Long Lands Common campaigners in Harrogate are urging anyone who pledged to buy shares - the missing pledgers - to do so before the deadline of November 20.
Long Lands Common campaigners in Harrogate are urging anyone who pledged to buy shares - the missing pledgers - to do so before the deadline of November 20.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A spokeperson for Nidd Gorge Community Action, the volunteers group behind the Long Lands Common project, said: "The 20th November is fast approaching but we still have nearly £50k to raise to reach our £300k target but we can do it!

"It is absolutely achievable, if we work together and have one last push as a community to get there.

"If you're reading this and have kept meaning to purchase shares, now is the time.

"If you know of someone, or a group or an area who might be interested, spread the word.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"If you think your employers, or your kids schools might be interested in supporting us in the final push, then spread the word.

"We are confident that during the time left we can make really, really substantial change for our community and its future. Let's do this!"

The goal is to transform an available piece of Harrogate greenbelt farmland into a new 30-acre public woodland, accessible to all, with thousands of trees providing a rich habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.

The land is located on the border of the Nidderdale Greenway, close to its starting point at The Avenue in Starbeck and the Bilton Triangle.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The project will contribute to the new Northern Forest project which aims to plant 50 million trees across Northern England.

Coppice Valley Primary School, which supported last year’s successful Save Nidd Gorge Campaign, has come on board as a Long Lands Common School Partner and both staff and children are getting behind the project’s latest publicity campaign in a variety of ways including putting up posters, taking home leaflets and talking to friends and families about why they should buy shares.

As well as Coppice Valley Primary, Starbeck Primary Academy has also been behind the project since day one.

There is now less than £50,000 to raise to hit the target with just nine days remaining until the deadline.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

People can buy as many £50 shares as they like but each person will only have one vote in order to ensure that the community retains control of the woodland.

To buy shares in the project and to discover more about Long Lands Common and the people behind it, visit their website at: www.longlandscommon.org

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.