Harrogate council dips into reserves to pay for Stray lighting

For many years a popular feature of Harrogate are the illuminated lights in trees on the Stray, which are enjoyed by residents and tourists alike.

The trees line the Stray at edge of West Park, Otley Road, Leeds Road, York Place and Montpellier Hill.

The original tree lights were sodium bulbs held in place by fixings nailed or screwed in trees.

Harrogate council’s biggest moments: A shopping revolution, Royal Hall rebirth and controversial new offices

However, the council said each year there were complaints that lights were hanging out of the trees or that strings of lights had broken which left some trees unlit.

Last year, the council upgraded the Stray lights with energy-efficient LED bulbs and wrapped them around the trunk and branches of the trees.

More than 40 trees now have around 100m of white and coloured lights during the autumn and winter months. Since the change, a council report said only one complaint has been received.

This week, Cllr Mike Chambers, Conservative cabinet member for housing and safer communities, retrospectively approved spending reserves already earmarked for street lighting maintenance on the Stray lights.

TAKE PART IN OUR NEW COUNCIL SURVEY NOW AND HAVE YOUR SAY ON HARROGATE’S POLITICAL POWER SHIFT

The Housing and Property Reserve includes £84,680 which has built up over the years for street lighting works but have not been carried out.

The report says: “It is recommended that £29,190 of this should be utilised to fund the cost of Stray lights. The Stray lights are a reasonable use of the Street Lighting Cyclical budget being works of a similar nature.”