Residents in Kirby Hill have objected to latest plans for a motorway service station near to the village.

Applegreen Ltd has submitted amended plans for the scheme between junctions 48 and 49 of the A1(M) northbound, between Boroughbridge and Ripon.

It would see a Welcome Break built at the site, as well a filling station and 364 car parking spaces created.

The proposal already has outline permission after the government’s Planning Inspectorate approved the plan on appeal in April 2021.

However, the Dublin-based company has applied for amendments to the plan, including an extension to the length of the slip roads and increasing the permissible height of the eastern dumbbell roundabout by up to 1.25 metres.

In documents submitted to the council, Applegreen said the changes were “limited design amendments”.

It said:

“These minor changes to the access / junction linking the motorway service area to the A1(M) are needed in order that this access is in full compliance with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (as required by National Highways).

“There are no other material amendments proposed whatsoever to the scheme approved under the 2021 permission.”

The site plan for the service station at Kirby Hill.

However, residents in Kirby Hill have argued that the changes are not minor and called on North Yorkshire Council to refuse the application.

Gareth Owens, of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said:

“Applegreen’s failure to implement the scheme approved by the Inspector proves the case that we have been making for 27 years – a motorway service area cannot be assimilated into the large-scale, open, rural landscape at this location.

“We urge the members of the new North Yorkshire Council planning committee to refuse these two applications, as their predecessors on Harrogate Borough Council have always done, and ensure that there will be no services here.”

Read more:

• Government approves A1 service station after fourth appeal in 25 years

• Harrogate council paid £45,000 in Kirby Hill and Ripon service station legal fees

The Stray Ferret approached Applegreen for a response to residents’ concerns, but had not received a reply by the time of publication.

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

The move comes as the government approved plans for the service station after a series of public inquiries and planning battles.

In a saga which has spanned a quarter of a century, Applegreen’s application has been before multiple council planning committees, faced four public inquiries and been turned down twice by the Secretary of State and the High Court.

The inquiry, which was held by planning inspector David Rose and streamed onto YouTube, lasted two weeks and included multiple testimonies from residents, campaigners and developer Applegreen.

In a decision notice, Mr Rose said after considering the evidence that the benefits of a service station would outweigh the harm.

Ofsted has given Kirby Hill Church of England Primary School a ‘good’ rating for the first time since March 2011.

Inspectors published the report yesterday after a visit to the school last month. They rated the 120-pupil school ‘good’ in all areas. ‘Good’ is the second highest of four possible ratings, with ‘outstanding’ the best.

It follows two previous ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted ratings in 2016 and 2018.

Leaders at the school, the report says, have “galvanised the staff team and secured improvements to the quality of education and pupils’ behaviour.”

The report said:

“Pupils enjoy attending Kirby Hill Primary School. The school’s embedded Christian values help to foster pupils’ positive attitudes to learning and to caring relationships.

“Pupils have a strong understanding of diversity and celebrate other people’s differences.

“Pupils behave well in lessons and enjoy playing together at break times. They understand what bullying is but say that it does not happen in their school.

“The school is a caring and friendly place.”

Staff have won praise for the improvement.

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The report also praises the new curriculum at the school, which it describes as ambitious. It added that teachers explain new learning clearly and address misconceptions effectively.

Kirby Hill Church of England Primary School is about a mile from Boroughbridge.

Emma Lowe, headteacher, said:

“We are all delighted here at Kirby Hill that our hard work and dedication to improve standards has now formally been recognised by Ofsted.

“I am incredibly proud of the whole school community as everyone has played their part – but I am especially proud of our children.

“As always, our children were excellent ambassadors for our school during the inspection.

“They were able to talk confidently and passionately about their love of learning, their desire to challenge themselves and their ambitions for the future.

“I feel very lucky to be part of the Kirby Hill family and I look forward to continuing on our journey. Onwards and upwards – if you can believe it, you can achieve it!”

Campaigners who spent 25 years fighting plans for a motorway service station have accused Harrogate Borough Council of a “whitewash” after it published its findings into an investigation.

The council launched the probe after it emerged a planning officer sent emails saying he “massaged” a key report on the A1(M) service station near Kirby Hill which was approved at appeal in April despite seven previous refusals since 1997.

A council statement previously said the investigation concluded “no irregularities” took place – and the findings have now been revealed in full to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The findings say the reference to “massaging” was “simply a poor choice of wording” and was in the context that the officer had amended the landscaping report to ensure it was “acceptable”.

However, the two planning officers involved in the emails were not interviewed as they had left the council and their previous messages were also deleted as “standard practice” to manage storage limits.

‘Deeply suspicious and disturbing’

Gareth Owens, chairman of campaign group Kirby Hill RAMS (Residents Against Motorway Services), said: 

“This so-called investigation and report amounts to a council whitewash of a deeply suspicious and disturbing episode in the planning department.

“This was not an independent investigation therefore – it was the planning department investigating itself.

“Little wonder, then, that the report concludes there were ‘no irregularities’.

“We now need a thorough, independent investigation of this matter and I call on the council to instigate one.”

The landscape report presented to councillors is significant because it said the impact of the service station on the area was “not substantive”.

This assessment was described by campaigners as a “complete U-turn” from a previous council report which warned the plans would cause “significant harm”.

Read more:

• Inquiry launched after council officer ‘massaged’ A1 service station report

• Government approves A1 service station after fourth appeal in 25 years
• ‘No irregularities’ found after Harrogate council officer ‘massaged’ key planning report

Despite a recommendation of approval from officers, members of the council’s planning committee still rejected the service station in November 2019.

However, campaigners believe the officer’s recommendation and “massaged” landscaping report still had a major impact on the outcome of the appeal which followed.

Mr Owens said:

“Members of the planning committee should remain very concerned about officers’ behaviour in this matter, particularly since the inspector at the public inquiry went along with the ‘massaged’ recommendation.”

Mr Ownes also raised questions over a verbal statement made by the planning officer to councillors.

The investigation findings state it was “unclear” whether the officer said “two landscape officers have judged the proposal and the proposal did not consider it caused significant harm” as this was not recorded in a transcript.

Gareth Owens, chair of the Kirby Hill RAMS, speaking against the application at Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee in 2019. Picture: Kirby Hill RAMS

However, an audio recording of the meeting shared by Mr Owens reveals the officer did say those words.

Mr Owens said: 

“The evidence of this recording shows that the planning committee was misled.

“We feel that the investigator owes Kirby Hill RAMS an apology for trying to cover this up by stating as fact in their report that ‘the transcript has not accurately recorded the statement’ when they had not even listened to the recording.

“This concern could of course have been discussed with us during the investigation. It was not.”

‘Poor choice of wording’

The investigation was headed by Kathryn Daly, head of place shaping and economic growth at the council, who concluded:

“The use of the word ‘massaged’ in the email sent by the principal landscape officer to the planning officer is far from ideal, but my conclusion is that this was simply a poor choice of wording.

“For completeness, it would have been helpful to see whether there were additional emails between the two officers. However, corporate restrictions on Outlook storage mean that it is standard practice to delete historic emails.

“If this deletion is not done, the email account quickly goes above the storage limit and cannot be used.”

A council statement also previously said: 

“We can confirm that, following allegations that a report was ‘massaged’, an investigation was carried out.

“This investigation found no irregularities in the preparation of the officer report for the planning committee.

“As was stated at the time, officer recommendations are fair and impartial, and carefully considered against local and national planning policy, case law, consultation and anything else considered to be ‘material’ to the decision.”

An investigation has concluded that “no irregularities” took place when a Harrogate Borough Council planning officer sent emails saying he “massaged” a key report on plans for the controversial Kirby Hill A1(M) service station.

The council launched the probe after emails revealed Barrie Gannon, a former principal landscape architect, made changes to a report in 2019 when the council went against three previous refusals of the plans to recommend approval in what campaigners described as a “complete U-turn”.

Seventeen months later, the service station was approved at a fourth appeal by the developers despite 25 years of objections.

It is not known what changes were made to the landscape report, but Gareth Owens, chairman of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said he believes the council’s actions were “highly suspicious”.

Mr Owens also said he has “no confidence” that the matter has been “properly investigated” and added it “leaves more questions than answers”.

He said: 

“We think the council’s U-turn on the decision, after 25 years of objections on landscape grounds, is highly suspicious.

“The landscape position remained one of refusal until shortly before the planning committee meeting. It was altered only when a different landscape officer, by his own admission, ‘massaged’ the report.

“The council has not provided any evidence that this change of heart was above-board and followed due planning process.

“The absence of such evidence suggests that it was not.”

Change of stance

The emails, which have been seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, show Mr Gannon said to a colleague: 

“I’ve massaged the landscape section 9.56 -9.69 which hopefully reads better.”

Read more:

• Inquiry launched after council officer ‘massaged’ A1 service station report

• ‘There is a need’ for A1 service station near Kirby Hill, inquiry told
• Government approves A1 service station after fourth appeal in 25 years

The landscape report itself said the impact of the service station was “not substantive” in what campaigners described as the “complete U-turn” from a previous council assessment which warned the plans would cause “significant harm”.

This led to questions over why a change of stance was taken, but the council has repeatedly defended its position.

A council spokesperson said: 

“We can confirm that, following allegations that a report was ‘massaged’, an investigation was carried out.

“This investigation found no irregularities in the preparation of the officer report for the planning committee.

“As was stated at the time, officer recommendations are fair and impartial, and carefully considered against local and national planning policy, case law, consultation and anything else considered to be ‘material’ to the decision.”

Background: Villagers’ 25-year fight against the Kirby Hill service station

For over a quarter century, villagers living in Kirby Hill had been fighting – and winning – a battle against the plans from Irish-firm Applegreen.

The service station was refused four times by councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee and three times by a government inspector in 1997, 2003 and 2010.

However, their luck ran out in 2019 when a fourth government inspector gave the go-ahead.

Planning inspector David Rose said in his ruling that the proposals were “materially different” to past plans.

However, his decision was met with anger from villagers whose objections had not altered since the first application was submitted back in 1996.

Harrogate Borough Council paid more than £45,000 in legal fees to defend a decision to refuse a controversial service station near Kirby Hill.

According to the council’s own public record of expenses, the authority paid Stephen Whale QC £45,491 in counsel fees for the inquiry.

The figures show the council made three payments of £43,000, £750 and £1,741 between January and March this year.

Harrogate Borough Council said the fees also included a successful defence of a decision to refuse a proposal for a service station on the A1(M) near Ripon at the same hearing.

The Stray Ferret asked the council whether the sum was the total paid to Mr Whale and if it wished to comment on the fees.

A council spokesman said:

“The legal fees for Stephen Whale QC were for two appeals; Kirby Hill and Melmerby. The latter was successfully defended by the council following its decision to refuse.

“When an appeal is to be heard at a public inquiry, it is appropriate and expected for a local authority to make use of highly rated and specialist legal counsel to run its case.”

Read more:

• A1 service station decision ‘flies in the face of localism’, say campaigners

• ‘There is a need’ for A1 service station near Kirby Hill, inquiry told

• Kirby Hill campaigners call for review of service station decision

Mr Whale, of London-based Landmark Chambers, appeared at the hearing in February.

The hearing lasted two weeks and included multiple testimonies to defend the council’s refusal of the proposal. 

But it resulted in the service station between junction 48 and 49 on the A1(M) northbound being approved after 25 years of public inquiries and planning battles.

However, a separate appeal from Moto Hospitality Ltd for a motorway service station on the A1 near Ripon at junction 50 was rejected.

David Rose, the government’s planning inspector who oversaw the inquiry, said the benefits of the service station near Kirby Hill would outweigh the harm.

Campaigners call for review

Since the approval, campaigners in Kirby Hill have called on the government to review the inspector’s decision.

They have questioned one of the policies used in the inspector’s report to approve the site, which says that the distance between motorway service areas should be “no more than 28 miles, but it can be shorter”.

Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said the decision made in April “does not make sense”.

Mr Owens said the policy “appears to have been plucked out of thin air” and called for a review of the decision.

He told the Stray Ferret earlier this week:

“The government should admit that it made a mistake in approving the Vale of York motorway services and should announce a review of this controversial decision.”

Campaigners against a planned motorway service station in Kirby Hill have called on the government to review a decision to approve the development.

Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said the decision made back in April “does not make sense”.

It follows a 25 years of public inquiries and planning battles over the service station which is earmarked for a site between junctions 48 and 49 of the A1(M) northbound, between Boroughbridge and Ripon.

David Rose, the planning inspector who oversaw the latest inquiry, gave approval for the plan submitted by Dublin-based company Applegreen.

Read more:

• A1 service station decision ‘flies in the face of localism’, say campaigners

• ‘There is a need’ for A1 service station near Kirby Hill, inquiry told

Campaigners have called into question one of the policies used in the inspector’s report to approve the site, which says that the distance between motorway service areas (MSA) should be “no more than 28 miles, but it can be shorter”.

Mr Owens said the policy “appears to have been plucked out of thin air” and called for a review of the decision.

He said:

“The government should admit that it made a mistake in approving the Vale of York motorway services and should announce a review of this controversial decision.”

Mr Owens added that the service station was an example of developers pushing through applications and that proposed planning reforms had “gone too far”.

He added:

“Boris Johnson and his Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick, need to realise that their reforms of the planning system to make approval easier have already gone too far.

“People are outraged that controversial major developments, such as the proposed Vale of York motorway services, are being imposed on them.”

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, wrote to the government on behalf of residents to raise concern over the inquiry process.

In response, Eddie Hughes, minister for rough sleeping and housing, said while he understood the  “disappointment felt” by residents, the inspector took “full account” of representations made by them.

He said in a letter to Mr Smith:

“I understand the disappointment felt by Mr Owens and the other constituents you mention, that the outcome of these appeals was not what they were hoping. 

“However, it is clear from the decision that the Inspector took full account of representations received from interested local residents and, in particular, the evidence submitted by Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services group. 

“Their representations are referred to and assessed by the Inspector throughout the decision.”

The Harrogate and Knaresborough parliamentary constituency could be reduced in size, under proposals outlined today by the Boundary Commission for England.

Under the plans, Harrogate and Knaresborough’s electorate would be shrunk and areas, including Boroughbridge, would fall under a new constituency.

Harrogate and Knaresborough’s constituency would see its electorate fall from 74,319 to 72,850. The Conservative Andrew Jones currently holds the seat.

The commission has carried out a review of parliamentary seat boundaries and opened a public consultation.

Following further consultation next year, it will publish a final report on boundary changes in 2023.

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Under the current proposals, the number of constituencies in Yorkshire and Humber would remain at 54.

But Conservative Nigel Adams’ seat of Selby and Ainsty, which includes the south of Harrogate, would be scrapped.

The current constituency boundaries in and around the Harrogate district.

Instead, Selby would have its own seat and the north of the district would fall under a new constituency called Wetherby and Easingwold, which would take in areas including Wetherby, Boroughbridge and Green Hammerton.

A map of the new constituency and reduced Harrogate and Knaresborough seat under the Boundary Commission plans. Picture: Boundary Commission.

Kirby Hill and Bishop Monkton would become part of the new Wetherby and Easingwold seat.

The Skipton and Ripon constituency, which is currently represented by Conservative Julian Smith, would include Ripley, which is currently part of Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Tim Bowden, secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said:

“Today’s proposals mark the first time people get to see what the new map of parliamentary constituencies might look like. But they are just the commission’s initial thoughts.

“Help us draw the line to make the number of electors in each parliamentary constituency more equal.

“Each constituency we recommend is required by law to contain between 69,724 and 77,062 electors, meaning there will be significant change to current boundaries.

“We want to hear the views of the public to ensure that we get the new boundaries for parliamentary constituencies right.”

The review will increase the number of constituencies in England from 533 to 543.

Just under 10% of existing seats remain unchanged as part of the proposals.

Members of the public can have their say on the proposals as part of an eight-week public consultation on the Boundary Commission for England website.

The consultation will close on August 2.

An inquiry has been launched after emails revealed a Harrogate council officer “massaged” a key report on now-approved plans for a controversial motorway service station on the A1(M) near Kirby Hill.

Emails seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show that Barrie Gannon, former principal landscape architect at Harrogate Borough Council, made changes to a landscape report in 2019 when the council’s planning department went against three previous refusals to recommend approval.

Mr Gannon said he hoped the changes would make the report “read better” – although it is not yet known what was amended.

What is clear though are the report’s conclusions. It said the landscape impact of the service station was “not substantive” in what campaigners have described as a “complete U-turn” from a previous council assessment, which warned it would cause “significant harm”.

The revelations have sparked questions over why a change of stance was taken, as well as concerns over impartiality within the planning department.

Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said:

“It is a mystery to us how officers made a complete U-turn on the landscape assessment. Landscape harm has been the main reason for refusal of a motorway service area at this site for 25 years.

“We do not understand how or why this position changed.”

The proposals put forward by Applegreen were most recently rejected by councillors in 2019.

However, that decision was overturned at an appeal this month as the developers won approval at the fourth time of asking.

Read more:

• Villagers battle weary as fourth inquiry into A1 service station starts

• ‘There is a need’ for A1 service station near Kirby Hill, inquiry told
• Government approves A1 service station after fourth appeal in 25 years

Mr Owens, who gave evidence during the appeal, said the landscape report played a key part in the planning inspector’s decision to grant approval, which made it even more important to understand why the council had changed its conclusions.

He said:

“The officer’s report was not only presented to the planning committee. It was relied on by Applegreen at the public inquiry, who told the inspector that he should accept the view of the council’s professional planning officers, which he duly did.

“The planning inspector went along with the planning officer’s conclusions on landscape, so we think it is important to understand how they were arrived at.”

In the email dated November 2019, Mr Gannon said to a colleague: “I’ve massaged the landscape section 9.56 – 9.69 which hopefully reads better.”

Robert Windass, the Conservative councillor for Boroughbridge and one of the planning committee members who previously rejected the service station, said he had “serious concerns” about the email after he made calls for the inquiry last week.

Speaking at a full council meeting, he asked the council’s cabinet member for planning councillor Tim Myatt:

“Will you undertake a full inquiry into this matter to ensure that all reports presented to the planning committee in future are factual, truthful and unbiased?”

In a statement, councillor Myatt later said he was “confident” that officers always made “fair and impartial” assessments of planning applications.

He said:

“Officer recommendations are formed based on their assessment of information available about the application, including information submitted by the applicant, internal and statutory consultees, and the public.

“I am confident that officer recommendations are based on a fair and impartial assessment of that information.

“Together with officers, I have met with councillor Windass to discuss his concerns regarding the landscape assessment included in the officer’s report to committee.

“I agree with councillor Windass that there is a need to provide residents with reassurance that our planning processes were followed correctly, and I have agreed with councillor Windass that we will look into the specific concerns he has raised before providing a report to councillors.”

The government has approved a motorway service station on the A1 near Kirby Hill after 25 years of public inquiries and planning battles.

The proposal from Dublin-based company Applegreen will see the service station built between junctions 48 and 49 of the A1(M) northbound, between Boroughbridge and Ripon.

A filling station, hot and cold food outlets, a drive-through coffee shop will be built and 364 car parking spaces created.

However, a separate appeal from Moto Hospitality Ltd for a motorway service station on the A1 near Ripon has been rejected.

In a saga which has spanned a quarter of a century, Applegreen’s application has been before multiple council planning committees, faced four public inquiries and been turned down twice by the Secretary of State and the High Court.

Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council initially rejected the latest plan in 2019, but Applegreen took the decision to an appeal hearing, which was held in February.

Read more:

• Villagers battle weary as fourth inquiry into A1 service station starts

• ‘There is a need’ for A1 service station near Kirby Hill, inquiry told

The inquiry, which was held by planning inspector David Rose and streamed onto YouTube, lasted two weeks and included multiple testimonies from residents, campaigners and developer Applegreen.

The proposed motorway service station site on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

In a decision notice today, Mr Rose said after considering the evidence that the benefits of a service station would outweigh the harm.

He said:

“In summary, considerable weight attaches to the less than substantial harm relative to the identified designated heritage assets. 

“Loss of best and most versatile agricultural land is also a further negative factor of moderate weight. 

“However, individually, and cumulatively, the wider public benefit in meeting the demonstrable need for a motorway service area, for the safety and welfare of motorists, would outweigh that harm.”

Speaking to the Stray Ferret earlier this month, Gareth Owens, chair of the Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services, said the group was prepared to continue to oppose the plan whatever the outcome of the appeal.

Residents in Kirby Hill have pledged that they “will not stop” opposing a motorway service station on the A1 following the closure of a fourth public inquiry into the plans.

Gareth Owens, chair of the Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Service Station (RAMS), said the group was prepared to continue “robust opposition” to the proposals.

It follows the closure of a fourth inquiry in 25 years into the plan to build a service station off the A1(M) northbound near the village.

The hearings lasted two weeks and included multiple testimonies from residents, councillors and representatives from Applegreen, the developer.

Read more:

• Villagers battle weary as fourth inquiry into A1 service station starts

• ‘There is a need’ for A1 service station near Kirby Hill, inquiry told

Mr Owens said the inquiry was like a “soap opera” for the village, with local people tuning into the hearings which were streamed live on YouTube.

He added that residents felt the service station was a threat to their community and came together to oppose the plan.

Mr Owens said:

“The people who live here are the people who want to live an open life in the countryside.

“If you put a motorway service station there, we will feel like we are a different community. There are an awful lot of people who feel that way.

“Our experience of living here will be changed.”

David Rose (top right), the government’s planning inspector, opened the public inquiry into the A1 service station in February.

Mr Owens gave evidence at the inquiry, which was scheduled for 11 days but ended up lasting for two weeks. Some of the hearings ran for as long as eight hours.

The government’s Planning Inspectorate, which handles planning appeals, told the Stray Ferret that a decision on the service station was expected “in the coming weeks”.

Mr Owens said he felt residents gave a good account of themselves at the inquiry.

However, he added that the group would continue to oppose the application whatever the outcome.

“We’re not going to stop.”

The Stray Ferret approached Applegreen for comment, but did not receive a response.

Rhodri Price Lewis, who represented Applegreen at the public inquiry, told the inquiry there was an “established need” for a new motorway service area between Wetherby services and Leeming Bar.

Kirby Hill RAMS have maintained there is no need for the service station on the A1(M).