Dear Reader on why the Stray is special and whether video decisions are a good idea

A personal column by the Harrogate Advertiser's Graham Chalmers
The Stray in Harrogate in blossom season.The Stray in Harrogate in blossom season.
The Stray in Harrogate in blossom season.

The Stray has been in the news again, this time over piles of litter left lying around on parts of the glorious, green grass during the national holiday that has been lockdown... well, for some.

This precious Harrogate asset is possibly the only issue able to retain its fascination for the bulk of people whatever rival matters zoom into focus in the public eye, coronavirus included.

There is a simple reason why this is so.

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The 200 acres of open land is a place where nothing is supposed to happen.

Yes, I know some people do walk across it or run or cycle.

Once or twice a year events such as Harrogate Round Table’s Bonfire or Fake Festival’s extravaganza of live music do take place.

But, if someone was to train a camera on every square inch of the Stray every day for an entire year, I’d wager, 95 per cent of it its expanse would prove to be unsoiled by human hand or feet or bicycle.

Even on a sunny day, the number of picnickers is relatively small.

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Which is not to say we should permit piles of litter to be left lying around or the mass gatherings of youngsters which created the rubbish, including beer bottles, takeaway boxes and drug paraphernalia.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s a situation which has developed not simply because of the laws set up by Parliament to ensure the good health of the Stray.

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I’m sure even the people who do walk across it or run or cycle would be utterly aghast if this public parkland became crowded on a regular basis or turned into some sort of unofficial tip.

The Stray is so cherished by residents partly because it’s an oasis of natural beauty and calm in the very heart of Harrogate.

But there’s more to it than that.

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Consciously or not, everyone knows the Stray says something important about Harrogate.

And what it says is that Harrogate is the sort of town so civilised and with such high standards that it can afford to have a vast tract of land sitting there doing nothing.

That, I think, is still something to be proud of in the modern era.

Local democracy by video...

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Residents living in what has become urban Harrogate’s biggest building site for fully 18 months have been complaining to this newspaper again - and to Harrogate Borough Council.

No not about plans for more new houses in the Kingsley/Bogs Lane area.

Well, actually, partly about plans for more new houses in the Kingsley/Bogs Lane area.

What has been exercising their ire is more the way planning meetings during lockdown are being held online rather in a meeting room.

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Not only is the council legally entitled do so at the moment and, therefore, has done nothing wrong, technically, but to have done otherwise would have risked looking careless with people’s lives.

Still, maybe the Kingsley residents have a point about planning decisions made by Zoom or FaceTime.

Who would choose to, say, get married on the phone or attend a funeral by laptop or buy a new pair of shoes by iPad?

Actually, when it comes to the latter, quite a lot of people these days.

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But I’d like to think democracy was more important than what you wear on your feet.

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