Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.  

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This letter follows news of Knaresborough Lido – part of the River Nidd – being granted bathing water status this week. The status means the Environment Agency is now obliged to act if the water is found to be polluted. It has since faced backlash – with people even falling ill after swimming in the river.

So, Knaresborough Lido has now been granted bathing water status... but you can’t actually safely swim in it!

Clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey tells us that it is in fact unsafe to be used for bathing. Surely it should be fit to bathe in before anything else?

This is a typical Conservative PR stunt producing good press when nothing has actually been done.

The situation has not changed for the last 14 years and is unlikely to change before the election.

How people have been taken in by this nonsense is beyond me.

Eric Buckland, Knaresborough

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Blocked drains are to blame for Knaresborough flooding

This letter is in response to Keane Duncan’s recent comments at a North Yorkshire Council meeting. He denied the conditions of local drains were to blame for last week’s severe flooding in Knaresborough, which forced some people to evacuate their homes.

Regarding the article on the drains not being responsible for recent Knaresborough flooding, I believe the blocked drains did not help in anyway during the once-in-500-years event.

I have seen some drains entirely blocked – you wouldn't even see that they are drains.

We have two drains at the bottom of our close and they have NOT been cleaned out for some years. Cllr Duncan is wrong; they were to blame.

I don't suppose the drains would have totally coped if they were working properly, but things may not have been quite so bad.

I task Cllr Duncan to come and look for himself. He will see there is an inadequate supply of drains in some areas.

Pam Godsell, Knaresborough

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I must congratulate the council on the Stray’s re-wilding

This letter responds to strips of the Stray being re-wilded in Harrogate as part of a council policy. It means thousands of buttercups and wildflowers are on display to enjoy.

I haven't approved of much of what North Yorkshire Council has done for Harrogate since its inception. However, I must congratulate them on  the Stray's re-wilding scheme.

It has resulted in such wonderful displays of buttercups and wildflowers for us and the insects to enjoy.

Peter Lawley, Harrogate

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Harrogate Bus Company does, in fact, frequently cancel services

This letter comes after Harrogate Bus Company issued an apology this week following cancellations in Jennyfields and Bilton. 

Harrogate Bus Company seems to say that the cancellation of the number two bus is not a regular occurrence. In fact, it is very regular occurrence.

Every time I have tried to catch the bus it’s been a nightmare. I have stood at the bus stop for over half an hour – it would’ve been quicker for me to take my car into town – but trying to be eco-friendly I waited at the bus stop.

On one occasion there wasn’t a bus for an hour.

Please do not accept comment that it’s a rare occasion. It is a frequent occasion.

Keren Hamilton, Harrogate

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Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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Read more:

• Readers' Letters: Does North Yorkshire Council not know how a drain works?


• Readers' Letters: Harrogate's cycleway extension is an 'extraordinary waste of public funds'


• Readers' Letters: ''Harrogate's roads are deteriorating before our eyes'

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