Fresh plans have been submitted for housing at the former Police training centre on Yew Tree Lane.
The site is now owned by the government’s housing agency, Homes England, who wants to build 164 new build homes on the land whilst converting North Lodge, Headmasters House, Kensington House and Library into an additional 16 homes.
In 2018, Harrogate Borough Council granted planning permission for 161 homes to be built on the site. However, since then, the land has been transferred from the Home Office to Homes England who now wants to add an extra 19 homes to the development, which is also above the 160 allocated for the site in HBC’s Local Plan.
The development would keep some playing fields which Homes England says could be used by local football teams and potentially adopted and managed by HBC.
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Homes England said the extra homes would “better suit the profile of local housing needs emerging from the recently adopted Local Plan evidence base.”
A consultation of residents found that 73% of respondents either strongly disagreed or disagreed that an increase of 19 homes with a broader mix of house sizes will help to meet local housing needs, with just 13% agreeing and 13% neutral.
Homes England is now inviting expressions of interest from developers.
For decades police recruits from all over the UK came to Harrogate to train, however the site was closed in 2011 due to cost-cutting. In 2006, HBC gave the green light for the site to be turned into housing but these plans never materialised.
