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11

Jul

Last Updated: 11/07/2025
Community
Community

Long Lands tree-watering to go ahead despite hosepipe ban

by John Grainger

| 11 Jul, 2025
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longlandscommon-treewatering-2
Volunteers watered the saplings during May's dry spell.

A tree-watering initiative at Long Lands Common between Knaresborough and Harrogate will go ahead as planned despite the hosepipe ban, the organisers have confirmed.

As our district bakes in the country’s third heat wave of the year, young saplings at the community-owned site have been in danger of drying out.

To head off the possibility of a wood made up of dead trees, the Long Lands Community put out a call for volunteers to join a watering party this Saturday. But the hosepipe ban imposed by Yorkshire Water from today had raised the question of whether it would still go ahead.

But Chris Kitson, secretary of the Long Lands Community, told the Stray Ferret:

Fortunately, we aren't impacted by the hosepipe ban due to having a natural spring feed on the Common that is still trickling steadily, despite the prolonged lack of rainfall.

We are storing this spring water in IBC [intermediate bulk container] tanks in preparation for the tree watering this weekend.

longlandscommon-ibcs

The containers full of spring water ready to water the saplings.

So, the community’s invitation still stands. Anyone wishing to help water the saplings is asked to turn up armed with a bucket or watering-can any time from 8.30 on Saturday morning, before it gets too warm. The work should be finished by lunchtime.

A similar initiative in May saw 51 volunteers water each tree in Forster Wood twice, using more than 6,000 litres of water.

The hosepipe ban – the first in the UK this year – comes after the Environment Agency declared a drought across Yorkshire last month.

It prohibits the use of a hosepipe to water the garden, wash the car or fill a paddling pool. Anyone caught flouting the restriction could be fined up to £1,000.

According to Yorkshire Water, our region experienced its driest and warmest spring on record, with only 15cm of rainfall between February and June – less than half of what would be normally expected.

The region’s reservoir levels currently stand at a record low for this time of year of just over 50% – well below the average for early July, which is around 80%. 

StarYorkshire Water announces hosepipe banStarDon't call us about hosepipe breaches, says North Yorkshire PoliceStarHosepipe ban: no 'immediate impact' on council's horticultural services