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04
Jul 2022
133 Harrogate homes set for approval after badger concerns
Plans to build 133 homes on Kingsley Road in Harrogate look set to be approved after being delayed due to badger surveys.
Redrow Homes won outline planning permission to build the development on appeal in August 2020 after it was initially refused by Harrogate Borough Council.
The company's reserved matters application, which considers issues such as access and appearance, came before the council’s planning committee last month.
But the council delayed a decision after residents claimed there were more badger setts in the area than developers had surveyed.
As part of the application, the developer submitted two ecology studies that found there were four badger setts in the area but only one or two were still actively used.
A previous ecological study undertaken in 2019 by a different developer found no evidence of badgers.
Members of Kingsley Ward Action Group (KWAG) bought a trail cam, which is a camera that is left outside to capture the movement of animals.
Read more:
- Harrogate residents hope badgers will thwart housing scheme
Badgers delay approval of 133 homes at Kingsley Road
They claimed their investigation found evidence of 11 badger setts, six of which were still active.
A report due before councillors at a meeting next week refers to a study on badger setts undertaken by Dan McAndrew, the council's principal ecologist. It says:
It added that mitigation measures were already in place as part of the outline approval.
Council officials have recommended that the committee approve the application at a meeting on July 12.
The proposal will see 133 homes built on the site, of which 53 would be allocated as affordable.
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