District to take part in Yorkshire’s first Rewilding Festival

The Harrogate district is to take part in Yorkshire’s first Rewilding Festival to encourage debate about the value of allowing green spaces to grow naturally.

The festival has been organised by the Yorkshire Rewilding Network, a charity that aims to ‘connect, inspire and enable rewilding across Yorkshire’.

Beginning on June 13 there will be a variety of events across the summer which include a day of learning and connection for rewilders, well-being walks and workshops in some of Yorkshire’s most inspiring rewilding sites.  

In the Harrogate district there are activities in High Birstwith, Kirk Hammerton and Summerbridge.

The charity said the idea of a festival was born out of a belief that more is achieved with a message of hope and that bringing people together creates a ‘buzz’ that builds positive momentum.

Samantha Mennell, Yorkshire Rewilding Festival director, said:

“We’re so excited to be launching our first festival, and for us, it’s all about connection.

“Rewilding is always at it strongest when links are being made, whether that’s within landscapes or between people.

“This festival is only possible because of the  new partnerships we’ve made around the region and we’re excited about the amazing chance it gives us to reach out to more diverse audiences and get more people rewilding.”

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‘Rewilding’ The Stray 

In 2021, Harrogate Borough Council sparked a local debate about rewilding when it allowed parts of the Stray to grow naturally.

The council’s parks team left grass verges close to the roadside uncut until late autumn. Some residents welcomed the move, others thought it made the Stray look untidy.

The council then worked with local conservation groups to plant thousands of wildflower plugs between the Empress Roundabout and the Prince of Wales roundabout and down by the railway line.

We are currently in #NoMowMay – a movement started by the charity Plantlife  which calls on all garden owners and green space managers not to mow during May – ‘liberating your lawns and providing a space for nature’.

North Yorkshire Council, which now has responsibility for the Stray’s maintenance, has not gone as far as to stop mowing all public green spaces for a month.

Samatha Mennell said NYC could do more:

“We whole-heartedly agree that the North Yorkshire council should allow public areas to grow wilder as it has a myriad of benefits for biodiversity, carbon draw down and creates cleaner air and water
systems.
“In a setting like Harrogate it can be done in a way that is sensitive to the formal nature of the city centre by mowing borders and paths that complement the aesthetic of the town whilst still increasing the flowers, pollinators and birds that bring so much pleasure to its residents.”
For full information on the Rewilding Festival click here. 

Have you tried to rewild your garden? Or taken part in #NoMowMay? Send us your images and tell us how you’ve found the experience. contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

Council could sell Harrogate district grass verge cuttings

North Yorkshire County Council will trial collecting the grass it cuts from verges, saying cuttings that have for years been left to rot away are “a potential revenue-earner”.

The council will examine the commercial demand for harnessing energy from the cuttings to boost the country’s electricity supply while also improving the biodiversity and appearance of its road network.

The authority has approved investigating the benefits of taking grass cuttings to one or more anaerobic digesters as it continues trials of alternate rural grass cutting regimes to identify ways it can help to enhance flora, while ensuring changes grass cutting regimes do not impact on highway safety.

It comes days after Harrogate Borough Council said it intended to repeat last year’s experiment of leaving parts of the Stray to grow wild to encourage biodiversity.

Three-year trial

The trials at about 20 locations across the county are set to last three years.

Following the authority significantly reducing the amount of verge mowing in 2015 to save an annual £500,000 as part of austerity cutbacks, grass cutting and verge management has continued to be one of the leading issues raised by residents.

With county council-funded cuts in urban and rural areas reduced to five and two per season respectively, the authority has been approached by several town councils seeking to enhance biodiversity in their communities.

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An officer’s report states while cut grass is currently left on the verges to decompose, the authority is preparing a proposal for funding from its Beyond Carbon programme to allow for a commercial cut and collect operation to be assessed, alongside identifying the “wider appetite for verge cutting material” from anaerobic digestion firms.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, the authority’s executive member for access, said although collecting the cuttings would cost more, the grass could be used at the Allerton Waste Recovery Plant near Knaresborough to generate electricity and make money for the authority.

He said:

“If you remove the grass cuttings, the advantage to the environment is it makes the soil much less fertile which would encourage the growth of the sorts of wildflowers, such as buttercups, poppies and cornflowers that people would like to see on their verges.

“Leaving the grass cuttings on the verges tends to encourage only the growth of nettles and course grass.”

The authority’s leadership believes that with the relatively simple change of collecting the cuttings they could see what was a lose-lose situation transform into a win-win one.

Cllr Mackenzie said:

“You get criticism from both sides of the spectrum. Certain people say because some verges have been left uncut they look untidy while others question why the verges are being cut as it doesn’t encourage biodiversity. While we get criticism from both sides, if we are in the middle we are just about getting it right.”

Harrogate council to repeat Stray rewilding experiment

Harrogate Borough Council will again leave sections of the Stray uncut this year to improve biodiversity.

In 2021, the council’s parks team left grass verges close to the roadside on West Park Stray uncut until late autumn.

The new look was welcomed by many who saw it as a sign that the council, which manages parks and green spaces, is serious about improving biodiversity and attracting bees, birds and insects.

But those who cherish Harrogate’s long reputation for organised and elegant planting said it made the town look untidy.

Others suggested the move was down to cost-saving reasons, which the council denied.

A council spokeswoman said this morning:

“We will be repeating what we did last year and will leave the bulb areas on the Stray uncut until September/October time.”

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Decision to let Walkers Passage grow wild divides opinion

Harrogate Borough Council has stopped mowing the grass around Walkers Passage to reduce anti-social behaviour and improve biodiversity.

Walkers Passage is a popular cut through between the Stray and Harcourt Drive.

Geoff Davy, a local resident, told the Stray Ferret the grass was previously mown “about a dozen times a year.”

But this year only narrow strips near the path have been mown. The rest of the small park is being allowed to grow long, a decision that Mr Davy criticised:

“It’s unpleasant to look at and it’s unpleasant to be in. Families and people with small children won’t come here to play.”

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A council spokesperson told the Stray Ferret the decision to stop mowing the grass had been taken for two reasons: to reduce anti-social behaviour, and to increase biodiversity.

Mr Davy said:

“It’s not working, letting that place go derelict. It’s not stopping anti-social behaviour and drug-dealing.”

 

‘We got it wrong’: Harrogate council agrees to remove plastic grass

Harrogate Borough Council has made a dramatic U-turn this evening and agreed to remove plastic grass from planters in the town centre.

The council’s decision to install the artificial grass sparked a fierce backlash, which saw protesters from Extinction Rebellion replace the turf with plants.

The council initially defended the £800 scheme, claiming it had received “lots of positive feedback” despite complaints it looked “cheap and tacky” and was damaging to the environment.

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It then said it had failed to communicate the move properly but now, after 400 people signed a petition in the last 24 hours calling for the fake grass to be removed, the council has issued a mea culpa.

It said in a statement posted on social media:

“We got things wrong with the artificial grass in the planters on Cambridge Street.

“The artificial grass was a last resort, and the decision to use it was made with the best intentions, but on reflection it was the wrong one.

“We will be removing the ‘grass’ and keeping the planters while we continue to find a better solution.

“We hope to have something installed by the end of June that provides a vibrant display of colour all year round.”

The statement added it considered using stone or bark instead of the plastic grass but ruled it out because “we felt it will most likely end up being used as an ashtray or thrown around”.

It added the saga had detracted from other initiatives, such as planting 5,500 wildflowers on the Stray and the upcoming white rose project, that will see thousands of trees planted.