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14
Apr 2023
Knaresborough Forest and Long Lands Common campaigns to join forces
Two schemes to protect land between Harrogate and Knaresborough from development are to form a partnership.
The Knaresborough Forest Park campaign enabled 61 acres of farmland to be bought last month and turned into a green space and nature reserve.
It followed the Long Lands Common campaign in which 3,000 people bought shares to raise £375,000 to purchase 30 acres of land near Nidderdale Greenway.
Land involved in the two projects meets at Bilton Hall Drive and the those involved now plan to work together on developing a wider vision for how it can best be managed for nature and the community.
Shan Oakes, from the Knaresborough Forest Park group, told a Knaresborough & District Chamber meeting last week it made sense for the initiatives to join forces as they had similar aims.
Ms Oakes added that because Long Lands had already been through the share buying process, it could take ownership of the legal process to buy and restore land in the ancient Knaresborough Forest, just outside the town.
George Eglese, who is also part of the Knaresborough Forest project, told the meeting the Long Lands initiative had inspired the "rebirth of Knaresborough Forest" and together the schemes would "create a barrier against development across the greenbelt".
Celebratory walk
To celebrate the partnership, a walk and picnic will take place on April 29 from Nidd viaduct through Long Lands Common and Knaresborough Forest Park.
The walk will end at The Mitre pub in Knaresborough, where George Moore was born in 1928.
The Mitre
Mr Moore, who died in 2016, was a philanthropist and the George A Moore Foundation set up in his memory donated £410,000 to the Knaresborough Forest Campaign.
Mr Eglese said the community initiatives could, in the future, look at bringing together the greenbelt under a "unifying vision" that could encompass areas such as Nidd Gorge and Horseshoe Fields, all of which either adjoin the land being bought or are close to it.
Update: the walk on April 29 has been postponed until a later date
Read more:
- Knaresborough forest campaign secures 61 acres from development
- Long Lands Common organisers aim to create food forest on Harrogate green belt
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