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14
Feb 2021
Charity Corner: Pinewoods Conservation - more than just a pressure group
The much-loved Pinewoods in Harrogate is looked after by a group of dedicated volunteers wanting to preserve the area and make it accessible to all.
Set up in 2002 the Pinewoods Conservation Group group has around 100 volunteers working to keep the Pinewoods a place everyone can enjoy. That may be for their daily dog walk or as a meeting point for a flask of tea with a friend.
The group works to maintain and conserve the 96 acres of Harrogate woodland, that can be found between the Valley Gardens and Harlow Carr Gardens.
One of its founding members, Geoff Scurrah, visits the Pinewoods every morning to fill the bird feeders and walk his dog. He is a committed member of the group and a lover of the outdoors.
Mr Scurrah, along with other members, works hard to protect the natural habitats of wildlife in the Harrogate area. He said:
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Recently, it has taken a stand against proposed plans to build on an area of the woodland known as Rotary Wood.
It fought against Harrogate Spring Water's plans to expand its bottling plant from 0.77 hectares to 0.94 hectares this would have destroyed public woodland planted by local families in the area of Pinewoods.
The decision was rejected by Harrogate Borough Council last month.
The fight to stop the bottling plant's expansion might have given the group a higher public profile but beyond this is a great deal of daily work by a dedicated team who turn out not regardless of the weather.
Since setting up nearly 20 years ago the group has reinstated footpaths to make the woods accessible to those with wheelchairs and prams.
Mr Scurrah said the charity has raised and spent around £80,000 on the woodland.
The group has also erected fingerposts and information boards for visitors. A binocular was also installed to show the 'Pinewoods Panorama', the group spent around £4,000 on this to show off wood's views.
The group is continuously planting trees and bulbs around the site. It also encourages local wildlife to live in the woodland by fixing bird and bat boxes to the trees.
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