Turf war as conservation groups clash over Harrogate’s green space

Locals have strolled on The Stray for centuries but now two bodies have very different ideas on how to preserve it

Usually disputes about land are between developers building the future and campaigners preserving our heritage. But the Harrogate Stray has always been unusual.

Instead, it is the focus of a conflict between two organisations that both have the greening of the country at their heart. In one corner is the Stray Defence Association (SDA), set up in 1933 to ensure that these 80 hectares (200 acres) of green space in the heart of Harrogate remain untouched, and in the other is the Open Spaces Society (OSS), which has been campaigning to defend footpaths, village greens and commons since 1865.