Hundreds call on Harrogate council to remove plastic grass

Nearly 400 people have signed a petition calling on Harrogate Borough Council to remove plastic grass from planters in the town centre.

Sarah Gibbs, an environmental campaigner, set up the petition yesterday. It had 365 signatures at the time of publication.

The petition demands the council “prioritise biodiversity and remove the plastic grass”.

It also “requests that local businesses, schools and residents be invited for a community scheme to manage the planters”. It adds:

“Artificial grass holds no biodiversity net gains. Burrowing insects, such as solitary bees can’t get past the membrane, and worms beneath the soil are compromised and unreachable by consumers within each habitat community.

“This is likely to have a negative impact on local bird populations.

“We need more habitats, not more plastic.”

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The plastic grass has been widely condemned on aesthetic and environmental grounds.

In a statement today, the council said the planters that have been installed on top of the fame grass were temporary measures while it looked at a permanent solution.

It did not comment on the petition by the time of publication.

Last week it released a statement apologising for the lack of communication with residents.

It said:

“We haven’t explained this well and we are sorry about that. We concentrated too much on getting the trial in place and not enough time explaining the totality of what we were doing.”

Extinction Rebellion Harrogate removed the fake grass from one of the raised beds on Cambridge Street and replaced it with plants, which still remain.

The environmental group later handed the fake grass back to the council, which spent £800 on the scheme.

Harrogate turf war: residents offer to swap fake grass for flowers

Harrogate Borough Council has rejected an offer from a residents group to remove the fake grass in town and plant flowers instead.

Lucy Gardiner, co-founder of the original Harrogate Residents Association group, wrote to council leader Richard Cooper offering to carry out the work with local schoolchildren.

Her offer follows yesterday’s direct action by Extinction Rebellion Harrogate in which. the plastic grass in one of the raised beds was removed and replaced by shrubs.

Yesterday’s direct action by Extinction Rebellion Harrogate.

Harrogate Residents Association’s offer is the latest twist in the turf war saga that has provoked a fierce backlash by residents concerned about the environmental impact as well as the damage to Harrogate’s reputation as an upmarket, floral town.

Ms Gardiner’s letter, seen by the Stray Ferret, said:

“We have quite a few volunteers who would like to remove the Astro turf in the centre of town and plant up the beds with flowers/shrubs that survive in shaded conditions.

“Do we have the permission from you as the head of the Harrogate Borough council to do this please?

“We thought we could also engage with some of the primary schools to encourage the children to help plant them up, supporting a greener future and community spirit for their future town.”

Cllr Cooper declined her offer and in his reply copied yesterday’s council statement, which apologised for not explaining its actions better.

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The statement, which can be read in full in this article, said the artificial grass would serve as a base for planters that will sit on top of the beds, resulting in “a vibrant display of colour all year round”.

It added the scheme was a trial and if it didn’t make the town look better “we will remove them and try something else”.

Ms Gardiner said the group would pursue the matter with Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones.