Thank you for your interest in this story

To continue reading this article, subscribe to the Stray Ferret for as little as £1 a week

Already a subscriber? Log in here.

Oct 2020

Last Updated: 07/10/2020

Environment

Hundreds sign petition to make the Stray bee-friendly

by Connor Creaghan

| 07 Oct, 2020

The local Green Party set up the petition after the council rejected its call to plant for wildflowers on the Stray to encourage bees and other wildlife.

Here's what the Stray could look like with wildflowers.

More than 300 people have signed a petition calling on Harrogate Borough Council to make the Stray more bee-friendly.

Harrogate and District Green Party wrote to the council last month urging it to plant native wildflowers rather than its stick to its current plan to plant 60,000 crocuses on West Park Stray.

Rebecca Maunder, chair of the Harrogate and District Green Party, has now set up a petition after the council wrote back to say it did not intend to change its plans.

A week later the online petition, which is on the 38 Degrees website, has reached 327 signatures.

Plant wildflowers on the Stray, says Green Party

Call for volunteers to plant 60,000 crocuses on Harrogate Stray

Ms Maunder hopes that, with enough support, the petition will sway the council's decision and lead to a more bee-friendly Stray,

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said it had nothing to add to its previous statement on the matter, which said:

“We are also looking at biodiversity as part of our wider horticultural plan for the future. We understand the need to encourage biodiversity and already manage a number of native wildflower meadows across the district. The thousands of plants and flowers in our numerous parks and gardens also support this."

The council called for volunteers last month to dig 60,000 holes in the hope that the crocuses will bloom better than ever next spring.

Thank you for your interest in this story

Hundreds sign petition to make the Stray bee-friendly

Read more: