Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

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I recently walked through the above with my friend (a local resident) and her two small dogs to discover this delightful nature reserve had been cut back in a most unsympathetic manner, in fact for the most part it had been “slashed/hacked”.

I understand that the fellow residents are disgusted with the way in which the reserve has been treated. We realise the newts need to be protected but certainly not by using a bulldozer and other mechanical methods to cut back the foliage.

Patricia Perry, Harrogate

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Read more:

• Harrogate cycling group: ‘We need delivery, not just bids’


• Council bids for £3m for cycling projects in Harrogate and Knaresborough

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Victoria Avenue plan ‘solves problem that doesn’t exist’

I have read your article about Victoria Avenue. This is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist from a cyclist perspective.  

There isn’t much traffic down this road, it’s slow moving and there is enough space for cars to pass. Why are they spending all this money to solve a problem that doesn’t exist?  

Let me tell you. Victoria Avenue’s road surface is shocking. It has pot holes galore and probably needs ripping up and relaying. So, the council have decided we can access money for cycling improvements and use it to relay the road surface and put in a couple of lanes on each side to justify the spend.  

Again, people will be left wondering where £1.5m has been spent. Some of us will know – on road improvements that will benefit cars (and cyclists).

Please don’t make the same mistake and report this as an improvement for cyclists, like you have with the Otley Road cycleway.  

We all know it’s the council using cycling money to improvement road infrastructure. Not to improve the safety of cyclists.

Scott Mordue, Harrogate

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Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.