People are being given the chance to get involved in a £2.5 million project to create a sustainable future for the Skell Valley.

The project focuses on improving a 12-mile stretch of the river from Dallowgill Moor to Ripon and includes the World Heritage Site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal.

High levels of silt deposits threaten the ecology and poor water quality has led to a decline in nature.

The project is being co-led by the National Trust and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

To mark the start of the project, a free celebratory event will take place between 1pm and 4pm on Saturday, September 11, at Ripon’s Hell Wath Nature Reserve.

Activities taking place will include stream dipping and guided nature walks, natural wool dyeing sessions and a display of historical archives.

Refreshments and ice cream will be available.

Children attending should be accompanied and supervised by an adult.

The event is designed to highlight the role that the community, alongside farmers and landowners, can play in the four-year Skell scheme.

Project manager Nabil Abbas said:

“The project is all about working with the local community to improve this rich and beautiful landscape’s resilience to climate change, boost the local economy and increase people’s access to green space following the coronavirus pandemic.

“I hope everyone will join us on September 11 as we celebrate the start of this innovative project.”

Volunteers wanted

Project partners and local community groups will be on hand to lead activities, talk about their organisations and answer questions.

There will also be opportunities for people of all backgrounds, abilities, and interests to get involved. Volunteer roles are currently being recruited in nature conservation and archive research.

Details of the project.

Mr Abbas said:

“Volunteering offers fantastic opportunities for those wanting to develop practical conservation skills, learn about wildlife management or who might even want to follow a career in habitat conservation. It’s also a great way to meet like-minded people, help safeguard our beautiful landscape, and try something new.”

Read more:

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For those interested in the history of the Skell Valley, volunteers are needed for the Digging Deep in the Archives project being run by the West Yorkshire Archives Service.

No prior booking is required for people planning to attend the event.

Harrogate Borough Council has submitted plans to install 1,077 solar panels on the roofs of several buildings at Harrogate Convention Centre.

The council, which owns the centre, applied for planning permission last week. It’s unclear when the application will be heard or when construction could start.

According to planning documents, the scheme will be fully funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy‘s public sector decarbonisation scheme.

The scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

The council has appointed French utility company Engie as contractor for the project.

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How the solar panels will look at the top of the Harrogate Convention Centre.

It follows a similar planning application by the council to install 420 solar panels at the Hydro in Harrogate, which was also funded by the public sector decarbonisation scheme.

At the time the council said that it had “ambitious plans” to make sure its operations and buildings were clean, efficient and had a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

A parish council has criticised proposals for a 200-acre solar farm near South Stainley, saying it will cause “long-term harm” to the agriculture industry and “sterilise” the rural landscape.

Elgin Energy EsCo Limited is behind plans to create Cayton Solar Farm near the village, which is between Harrogate and Ripon. The company says the site could generate 50 megawatts of electricity during peak operation and potentially power 15,000 homes in Harrogate with green energy.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will decide whether to approve the solar farm on Tuesday. A council report recommends it defers the application to the council’s executive officer for development management for approval subject to a biodiversity management plan.

The report says the farm, which would take up the equivalent size of 150 football pitches, would bring “significant renewable energy benefits” to the district and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Local opposition to the solar farm has been building since plans were submitted in 2019, with many residents upset over the loss of green fields and agricultural land.

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The council’s report categorises the agricultural land it would be built on as class 3b quality, which the government defines as “moderate quality” but still able to produce high yields of grass for grazing throughout the year.

Elgin Energy has said it will retain the agricultural use of the land in the form of sheep grazing.

There have been 85 comments in favour of the solar farm and 58 against it.

South Stainley Parish Council objected to the perceived negative impact on the environment. Its submission to the council says:

“The area would become sterilised from an agricultural, environmental and recreational point of view.

“While maintenance staff in white transit vans will prosper, what happens to the farm workers and rural lifestyles which depend on local agriculture?”.

Local environmental charity Zero Carbon Harrogate submitted its comments in support of the application.

“We believe that this application supports the objectives of the Harrogate Climate Coalition ‘to champion carbon reduction throughout the Harrogate district, helping the district achieve net-zero emissions’.”

The Hydro swimming pool in Harrogate is set to have 420 photovoltaic solar panels installed on its roof to produce renewable energy for Harrogate Borough Council.

The council, which owns the facility, this week submitted a planning application for the panels. It says they will help to improve energy efficiency and cut emissions at the ageing facility, which replaced the old Coppice Valley pool when it opened in 1999.

The council successfully bid this year for funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy‘s public sector decarbonisation scheme, which will help fund the panels.

A total of £1.8m will be spent at The Hydro to install the solar panels as well as replace gas boilers with air source heat pumps and put in place new energy monitoring and control systems.

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An council spokesperson said the council didn’t anticipate it would have to close the pool whilst installing the solar panels.

Kathryn Daly, head of place-shaping and economic growth at the council, previously said:

“We have ambitious plans to ensure our own operations and buildings will be clean, efficient and have a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

“This government funding provides a significant step to allow us to achieve this.”

A home in Harrogate has got creative to deliver a unique warning about climate change.

Whoever lives in the house has hung eco-bunting across a hedge for all to see on Oatlands Drive, opposite St Aidan’s Church of England High School.

It includes messages such as “if the climate were a bank it would already have been saved” and “you know it’s bad when introverts are doing this”.

Caroline Linford who runs the Sustainably Harrogate blog and website, noticed the bunting.

Ms Linford praised it and said “activism comes in all shapes and forms”.

She added:

A survey by the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition has revealed that over 80 percent of residents believe we need to take immediate action to tackle climate change.

The survey was opened to the public in February and had more than 800 responses from residents and local businesses.

Over half of respondents said that they are more concerned about climate change now than they were a year ago.

The coalition is made up of local environmental groups, businesses and Harrogate Borough councillors and said it was already acting on the survey’s findings.

Councillor Phil Ireland, cabinet member for Carbon Reduction and Sustainability within the Harrogate Borough Council, said;

“Even before the survey results came out, Harrogate Borough Council was committed to reviewing our current Carbon Reduction Plan and ensuring it will put council operations and the district on track to reach net zero emissions by 2038. This cross-cutting data-driven approach is currently being updated by officers and will be published later in the year.”

The survey comes after the coalition was criticised in the past year for not doing enough.  There were several high profile resignations including Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrat Leader Pat Marsh who said the coalition had been “plagued by inaction”.

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The survey asked what would encourage people to reduce their own carbon footprint, the most popular answers were cheaper rail fares and more regular public transport. Over 80 percent also believed that the UK government has had the most influence for limiting action on climate change, more so than individuals or other factors.

The survey was entirely anonymous. One resident wrote;

“Every year I see more extremes in weather and I live in the countryside so understand how this is impacting wildlife and the ability of the farming community to carry out its work.”

When asked what the main benefits of tackling climate change would be, the most popular answers were better air quality and preservation of the natural landscape.

Since the survey, the coalition has announced it will be running a Climate Action Festival in October of this year aimed at giving residents and businesses tips towards reducing carbon emissions. It is encouraging people who have views on the issue to sign up to speak at the event.

Ripon Grammar students are planning a massive hedge planting scheme on the school’s 23-acre site.

The young environmentalists are highlighting the huge contribution hedges make in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.

The national event, will be shining a light on these unsung heroes of the natural world and raising awareness of the threats they face.

Year 8 student Edward Cassell, pointed out:

“Natural hedgerows are the most effective and safe home for baby chicks and fledgling, who often fall from their high treetop nests.

“It is also a brilliant way to combat climate change, as each square foot of hedge will house multiple plants which all act as carbon sinks.”

Sixth former Funmi Sowole added:

“The hedges planted at RGS will also help bring back biodiversity in coming years, which is a really exciting prospect.”

A well-kept hedge will provide a habitat for many different species

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Following a challenging year of lockdowns and restrictions, pupils are enjoying reconnecting with nature while spending time outdoors together working on the project.

They will plant six wildlife-friendly hedges, made up of 3,000 hedgerow trees and shrubs, on the school’s 23-acre site, which includes several small, wooded areas and a dedicated wildlife plot

As well as creating a damson hedge and wildlife harvest border, they will plant hawthorn, beech, hazel, crab apple, dogwood and buckthorn and bird cherry.

History teacher David Bruce, who supports the school’s student-led Wild RGS eco-committee, said:

“Our goals are environmental and educational: to promote the bio-diversity of the school site through the provision of much-needed wildlife habitat and corridors

“But also to use the hedges to educate our young people and the wider Ripon community about the ecological and cultural value of hedgerows.”

In addition to campaigning for more recycling and less energy waste in school, the RGS Wild group has been busy planting fruit trees on the school site as part of the Tree Council’s Orchards for Schools programme.

Mr Bruce, added:

“If you care about nature, you should care for hedges.

“They are fascinating but easily overlooked features of our countryside with a deep and complex history.

“Yet they could play a vital contemporary role in combatting climate change and countering the dramatic loss in biodiversity that characterised too much of the 20th century.

“We have lost up to half of our hedgerows since Second World War, largely due to changes in farming practice.

“Such habitat loss goes a long way to explain why 41 per cent of UK species studied by the RSPB have declined since recording began in 1970, with creatures like the hedgehog becoming an increasingly rare.”

For more information on National Hedgerow Week, visit www.treecouncil.org.uk

Local environmental group Zero Carbon Harrogate is encouraging children in the Harrogate district to walk to school on Friday June 18.

Road transport is the largest contributor to carbon emissions in the district, and the group hopes the day will help improve the environment whilst boosting children’s physical and mental health.

Children that use public transport or car for part of the journey can ‘park and stride’ the last mile of their trip to school.

ZCH said it will be a regular event taking place once every half term:

“We need to build better transport habits within our community and help combat the effects of climate change and protect our planet! That is why we are launching this regular, half-termly event.”

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ZCH wants to add some healthy competition to the day and will be logging the miles walked, or cycled, and carbon saved by schools across our district and putting them on a leaderboard.

​For more information and an event pack contact schools.zch@gmail.com

Harrogate Borough Council has removed the plastic grass from planters on Cambridge Street after a huge backlash.

Workers have already taken out the fake turf as the council considers what to do next to brighten up the town centre. It said yesterday it hoped to have something vibrant in place by June.

Last night’s council apology prompted a big reaction on social media. Many praised the council for holding its hand up and admitting it had made a mistake while others called for it to collaborate more with people and groups to prevent a repeat.

Sarah Gibbs, an environmental campaigner who set up a petition calling for the removal of the fake grass, told the Stray Ferret:

“It’s a victory for the people. This change shows that people power really does work.

“I was really pleased when I saw the council’s second apology. This is a real one this this time because they are actually doing something about it.

“The petition still stands though. It also called for the council to work with schools, businesses and others to manage the planters.”

So far, in just under two days, her petition has attracted about 500 signatures.

Read more:

• Harrogate council agrees to remove plastic grass
• Extinction Rebellion replaces fake grass with flowers in Harrogate

Shan Oakes, a spokesperson for the Green Party in Harrogate, said:

“It’s good that the council have apologised and accepted that they had done something wrong.

“I just hope the council will review its policy on biodiversity going forward, it needs to change its whole outlook.

“There should be a people’s assembly. If the council collaborated with people then this would have been avoided.”

How it looked before the plastic grass was removed.

While many called over the last two weeks for the council to remove the astro turf, Extinction Rebellion Harrogate took direct action last week when it replaced the plastic grass with plants in one of the raised beds.

Jess Thompson, who took part in the protest, told the Stray Ferret;

“We are pleased with the council’s apology. It is a positive step but there is still a way to go.

“Biodiversity needs to be the priority, not aesthetics. I do not know how much would have been done if we did not take action.

“Hopefully the council will use this as an opportunity. Hopefully the people will also continue to hold those in power accountable.”

Extinction Rebellion has handed back to the council the plastic grass they took from a raised bed on Cambridge Street.

The controversial plastic grass was removed on Tuesday as a protest and replaced by shade-loving plants taken from activists’ gardens.

Today Extinction Rebellion met at the council offices on King’s Road to return the grass and nails that had held it down. They also had a letter which explained their reasoning to the council, along with annotated extracts from the council’s own environmental policies.

The group asked to hand the grass and their letter over to councillor Andrew Paraskos, the cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling.

However, they were informed that he was not in the building. A council employee took the letter and assured the group he would pass it on to Cllr Paraskos. He also took the grass and a black bag full of assorted material into the council offices.

Read more:

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Extinction Rebellion activist Sarah Gibbs criticised the council’s handling of the saga, saying:

“The general public feel cautious about taking action. Everyone should feel empowered to take community action, and the council should facilitate that.”

She suggested that given the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the plastic grass, the council should have asked the public what they wanted beforehand:

“If they had done that in the first place, they would have saved a lot of time and money. There’s such a disconnect from nature and community.”

Harrogate Borough Council has faced widespread criticism on social media for installing the plastic grass. On Tuesday it released a statement apologising for the lack of communication with the public.