Harrogate's treasured parkland protected - by a narrow margin

Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) had launched a consultation late last year over amending strict rules surrounding the use of the 200-acre Stray.

The debate sparked strong calls from business leaders, politicians and campaign groups vying for a consensus.

Now, after revealing the plans will be scrapped, it’s emerged that just over half - 53 per cent - of respondents were opposed to the plans.

“My message is clear,” said Coun Michael Harrison, cabinet member responsible for parks and gardens, confirming this had been the biggest consultation response in the authority’s history.

“We asked you what you thought. We have listened and acted accordingly. There will be no changes to the Stray Act.”

The famous parkland, owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, is protected by strict laws governing its use. The powers under the Harrogate Stray Act 1985 dictate the size and kind of events the land can be used for, limiting events to 35 days a year and a maximum of 3.5 hectares.

To enable the town to host major events such as the Grand Depart in 2014 and the Tour de Yorkshire in April, bids were submitted to lift these powers temporarily.

But this prompted a warning from Government that it cannot keep granting such “time consuming and costly” requests, and has led to the ensuing consultation.

HBC, backed by MP Andrew Jones, Sir Gary Verity and business leaders, said making it easier to host events on the Stray would boost the town’s economic prospects and visitor numbers, but campaigners argued against the move.

The Stray Defence Association (SDA) said would cause “untold damage”, while Harrogate Harrogate Civic Society said it fears the impact it would have.

Now, as HBC reveals the full results of the consultation - and how close it came - campaigners have spoken of their relief that the plans have been scrapped.

“We are delighted that common sense and the will of the people has prevailed,” said Judy d’Arcy Thompson, chairman of the SDA, although she says their own research drew a far wider disparity - with straw polls showing up to 81 per cent opposition.

“These unverified results do not reflect the response we have been receiving,” she said. “But we remain pleased the council have decided to abandon their proposal.”

The consultation drew the largest number of responses ever seen by the authority, nearly 4,000. It found that 47 per cent were agreed with the change, with a total of 2,073 disagreeing with the principles behind the proposals.

“It was a good response and this shows that we are getting it right in terms of how we publicise our consultations,” said Coun Harrison. “This is important as it enables us to plot a way forward with evidence from residents as to their priorities. There were 47 per cent who did not agree with the majority.

“That is quite a large figure so we do need to be aware that a substantial number of people – over 1,800 - took an alternative view.

“We will now spend some time examining the many thousands of comments received on all the surveys.

“These contained suggestions of how to better manage events on the Stray, comments on current events and potential future ones.”