Advertiser calls on Harrogate Borough Council to ditch Stray plans

now the council will evaluate all the comments. In one of the biggest responses to a consultation the council has ever had, feelings are running high.

Although residents accept occasional large events like the Tour De France and the Tour de Yorkshire are good for the town, there is alarm that opening up the Stray to more commercial events on a regular basis will completely spoil its unique beauty.

Like many people in Harrogate, we are still not convinced by the council’s arguments that there will be sufficient safeguards in place to provide protection for the Stray, both now and in the future.

For those reasons therefore, and now that the formal consultation has ended, the Harrogate Advertiser will join the opposition to any amendments to the Stray Act.

Changes to the Stray Act have been proposed and thwarted by public opinion many times before, and that is exactly why the Stray has survived intact for the last 250 years, at the heart of Harrogate.

The Stray is unique and must remain so, as the fabulous jewel in the centre of our town.

The Council says it may be able to release more details on the Stray Act consultation next week, after it has had time to assess the responses.