County council agrees creation of 30-year housing plan

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to create a county-wide local plan that will plot where housing and development can take place over the next 30 years.

Conservative councillors on the authority’s executive met today to approve the creation of the document, which must be finalised within five years of the new North Yorkshire Council forming on April 1.

It will replace the seven local plans that are currently used by the soon-to-be abolished district councils.

This also means the reviews that are under way on the plans for Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council will be halted. However, both documents will still guide planning decisions until the new local plan is created.

Harrogate Borough Council’s local plan says around 13,000 homes can be built across the district between 2014 and 2034.

Conservative Mid-Craven councillor Simon Myers, executive member for planning for growth, told the meeting that the local plan will be “hugely important to the economic vitality of the county”.

He said:

“It’s hugely important for the provision of housing and for many strategic matters. It is imperative we have an ambitious local plan for North Yorkshire and that planning committees abide by it.”

Cllr Myers confirmed that the new council will create six new planning committees to oversee decisions across parliamentary constituency areas, such as Harrogate and Knaresborough, and Skipton and Ripon.

Linda Marfitt, acting head of place-shaping and economic growth at the council, said the creation of a new local plan is a “great opportunity to deliver some of the ambitions the new council will have”.

She said:

“A plan-led approach will ensure the new council is in the best possible place to guide quality development and infrastructure.”

Maltkiln

While a review into Harrogate council’s local plan will now not take place, work on the Maltkiln development plan document will continue.

Maltkiln is the name of a new settlement proposed by the Oakgate Group around Cattal railway station.

It is set to have between 3,000 and 4,000 homes, as well as two primary schools, shops and a GP surgery.

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The development plan is in the latter stages of development, after being worked on for the last two years. It sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how Maltkiln is designed and developed.

However, Arnold Warneken, Green Party councillor for Ouseburn division, described the process of forming it as “rushed” and said residents have unanswered questions over the boundary of the settlement as well as the position of a new relief road.

He said:

“The whole process, from my perspective and the eight parish councils it will affect, has been rushed. I’m really, really keen that if this settlement goes ahead it becomes the exemplar it’s meant to be. 

“I don’t want it to be rushed, I want it to be right. I want to exercise caution before the inspector gets his hands on it”.

In response, Cllr Michael Harrison, Conservative councillor for Killinghall, Hampsthwaite & Saltergate as well as executive member for health and adult said: 

“We want the Maltkiln DPD to be right and planning in Harrogate could never be described as rushed.”

He added: 

“If we pause progression of DPD it ceases to be a plan-led approach in the local area. 

“The worst thing we could do is to stop the Maltkiln DPD because we’d still have to determine those planning applications.”

Transport chief still ‘committed’ to Harrogate Station Gateway, despite inflation fears

North Yorkshire County Council remains “committed to moving forward” with Harrogate’s £10.9m Station Gateway project — with work set to begin November 2023.

It follows mounting concerns over the increased cost of building materials and how inflation will impact delivery of the long-awaited scheme.

Conservative councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways at the council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the scheme will go ahead but “elements could change” due to inflationary pressures and feedback from the latest public consultation.

Last month, Cllr Duncan sent a letter to David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, that made 10 pledges to the Harrogate business community following feedback.

These included a commitment for the new council to hold a full parking review and for regular meetings to take place during construction between business owners and the building contractor Galliford Try.

Cllr Duncan added:

“I have also made clear that if we need to change elements of the scheme due to inflationary pressures, we will not compromise on quality.

“The third consultation attracted more than 5,000 individual comments. This is a significant response, and it has taken longer than expected to consider all these responses in detail. I feel it is right and proper, however, that they are given the due attention they deserve, and this process can only strengthen the final design.”

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The gateway project has been in development for three years and aims to make the town centre more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians.

But measures such as reducing Station Parade to one-lane traffic and a part-pedestrianisation of James Street have proved to be unpopular with some business leaders in Harrogate.

Inflationary pressures

Since the project won government funding through its Transforming Cities Fund with an expected budget of £7.9m, inflation and the cost of building materials have led councils across the country to revaluate major building projects.

Last week, West Yorkshire Combined Authority announced that projects including the Bradford to Shipley Corridor, South East Bradford Access Road, Halifax Station Gateway, Leeds Inland Port were due to be “paused” indefinitely for financial reasons.

Mr Simister told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was unsure if the scheme in Harrogate would be delivered.

A further obstacle was placed in front of the council this year when the property firm Hornbeam Park Developments threatened a judicial review after claiming a council-run consultation on the proposals was “unlawful” — which the council rejects.

Mr Simister said:

“We first discussed the gateway proposals in February 2020, that’s coming up to three years. It’s an awfully long time.

“With inflation rising you wonder about costs. The economy is conspiring against them and there’s also the threat of judicial review.

“I do want to see investment in Harrogate town centre but costs are going up. The council has guaranteed it will be a quality project. They are going to have to do more for less.”

“We are continuing the dialogue with Keane Duncan. I value the relationship we have with him but he does have to listen. Our door is open for him, but we’ll see what happens.”

Key Harrogate infrastructure document will not be scrapped, says council

Work on a key infrastructure document to support a wave of housebuilding in the west of Harrogate will not be scrapped, according to Harrogate Borough Council.

The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy is being drawn up by the council and North Yorkshire County Council to shape how infrastructure in west Harrogate will cope with up to 4,000 new homes.

It will supplement the West Harrogate Paramaters Plan, which was approved in February.

The borough council has paid £25,000 to consultancy Hyas to produce the document. It was expected in May but is still yet to be published.

The area features heavily in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place. For example, the area from Otley Road towards Beckwithshaw is set to be transformed with over 1,000 new homes.

Other major development sites in the area include Persimmon Homes’ under-construction 600-home King Edwin Park scheme on Pennypot Lane.

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But with shovels yet to be put in the ground for many of the proposed sites, Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association, hopes the infrastructure strategy will ensure investment takes place into roads, schools and healthcare before homes are built.

As part of the delivery strategy, a review of existing infrastructure is being carried out ahead of the document being published in draft form during a public consultation.

With less than four months until the borough council is abolished, HAPARA is questioning if the document will now ever see the light of day.

Last week, the county council announced the new North Yorkshire Council will develop its own Local Plan to replace the one drawn up by Harrogate.

A borough council spokesperson said the parameters plan, which was approved by the authority’s cabinet in February, would still be used as a material planning consideration until the sites covered in the plan are developed.

However, David Siddans, a spokesperson for HAPARA, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the infrastructure strategy has “practically receded from my memory” due to a paucity of meetings with the council.

Mr Siddans said:

“It is now so long since we had an engagement session with Harrogate Borough Council on the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy that it has practically receded from my memory.

“The last engagement session with Harrogate Borough Council was on July 19 following which we were promised a further session in October when it was expected that further analysis work by the consultants had been carried out.  It is now December and there has been no further contact.”

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said:

“Work on the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy continues.

“It is an important piece of work to ensure the effective delivery of infrastructure to support the West Harrogate sites. We will hold further stakeholder engagement in due course.”

Harrogate council approves £650,000 refurbishment of ‘eyesore’ Ripon flats

Harrogate Borough Council will spend £650,000 on long-awaited plans to bring 11 one-bedroom flats in Ripon back into use.

Plans to refurbish the council homes at Allhallowgate date back seven years but have been delayed due to sinkhole concerns in the area.

In 2015, planning permission was granted to demolish a block of flats at 4-14a Allhallowgate and replace them with nine townhouses. The plan also included a major refurbishment of an existing block of flats.

The flats were demolished but the rest of the scheme was halted in 2019 after an engineering firm found ground instability “could be foreseen” on or near the site. They warned that measures to reduce the risk of the townhouses collapsing were not cost-effective.

Ripon sits above a layer of gypsum, which is a water-soluble rock that leads to the formation of large underground caves that can collapse.

The council pledged to continue with the refurbishment of the existing flats that weren’t demolished. However, its plans were paused again during covid as they were used as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

In May, the council was quoted £1.1m for the project by a contractor — almost double its budget of £650,000. It has since removed plans to build an extension to the building to reduce costs.

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The council’s cabinet met on Wednesday night to approve spending money on the refurbishment.

Conservative cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Mike Chambers, who is also councillor for Ripon Spa, said he was happy the project was finally moving forward.
He said:

“This is a project that for a number of years has hit the buffers for various reasons. It is now appropriate we start moving it forward again. It is somewhat of an eyesore so I’m delighted we’re moving forward.

“It will improve the streetscene and a number of residents are concerned about the state of the block following the demolition. It’s high time we moved on.”
Subject to planning permission, HBC hopes to complete the refurbishment by May 2023.

Losing horticultural nursery will be ‘big, sad loss’ for Harlow Hill, says councillor

A councillor has said Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to relocate its horticultural nursery from Harlow Hill will mean a “big, sad loss” for the area.

The authority’s cabinet met yesterday to rubber stamp buying land for a larger nursery elsewhere in the district.

The move paves the way for a sale of the current facility at Harlow Hill to a housing developer, with 62 homes mooted.

The council grows flowers for its displays across the district at the site on Nursery Lane. It also sells plants to members of the public to bring in revenue.

Officers prepared a report that does not disclose the specific location of the land the council wants to buy, citing a confidentiality exemption, only that it’s in the Killinghall and Hampsthwaite ward and is valued above £250,000.

Liberal Democrat member for Harlow & St Georges Division on North Yorkshire County Council, Michael Schofield, told the Local Democracy Service the move away from Harlow Hill will be keenly felt by residents as many have walked there to buy plants for decades. 

He said:

“You’re forcing people who live here to drive their car elsewhere. That could be detrimental and it’s not very eco-friendly.”

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Cllr Schofield is also landlord of the nearby Shepherd’s Dog pub and he decorates the pub with plants bought from the nursery.

He said many people enjoy buying plants there and walking through the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens afterwards.

He added the nursery also serves as part of a horticultural trail as it connects with RHS Harlow Carr and the charity-run nursery Horticap. He said:

“I understand what people may call progress but we have three fantastic horticultural sites all within walking distance of each other. That inspires people. Residents living here will be very sad to see it go.”

‘Need to move on’

Harlow Hill is not represented on Harrogate Borough Council after Conservative Jim Clark resigned in October. There will not be a by-election as the council will be abolished on March 31.

The council argues in the report discussed last night that a move to a larger site will enable greater commercial opportunities.

The Harlow Hill nursery is a significant earner for the council with its 2020/21 annual report stating it brought in income of £153,477.

Conservative cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, Cllr Sam Gibbs, told cabinet that the move away from Harlow Hill is “the right next step”. He said:

“We will be aware of all the good that the Harlow Hill nursery does but also its shortcomings, particularly around size and commercial opportunities going forward. Therefore, there’s a real need to move on from Harlow Hill as we look to the future.

“The land identified seems to tick all the boxes and I’m fully supportive if all other members are.”

Councillors give backing to Harrogate council chief executive’s £101,000 redundancy pay-out

Councillors have backed a package worth £101,274 for outgoing Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson.

The five councillors on the authority’s chief officer’s employment committee, which includes four Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat, met yesterday to discuss a report written by HBC’s head of legal & governance Jennifer Norton.

The report recommends Mr Sampson is paid a settlement due to the impending abolition of HBC.

HBC will cease to exist along with six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council from April 1, 2023. A new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council will replace them to run services across the county.

Mr Sampson’s settlement is made up of a contractual £71,633 redundancy payment and £29,641 for a 12 week notice period that he will not have to work as his job will end on March 31. 

He is paid a salary of £118,447.

After HBC is abolished, his employment would automatically transfer to North Yorkshire Council. 

However, the report says because the new council is “likely to refuse to recognise” Mr Sampson as an employee he would be “effectively stranded” and it could lead to an unfair dismissal claim.

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A redundancy package offered now would therefore reduce the “risk of the risk of costly legal proceedings that will be picked up by the public purse”.

Ms Norton summarised the report and described the settlement as a “practical and pragmatic” solution.

Conservative deputy council leader Graham Swift chaired the meeting in place of council leader Richard Cooper, who was absent.

Cllr Swift said HBC had been “disciplined” in preparing the settlement for Mr Sampson.

Hambleton District Council has faced criticism after offering a £225,000 pay-off for outgoing chief executive Justin Ives.

Cllr Swift praised Mr Sampson for his commitment to the role as staff prepare to move to the new council.

He said:

“We’re fortunate that we have a chief executive that is not just hanging around but ensuring employees are protected into the new organisation, that’s very important for staff to see leadership taking place.

“My experience is the chief executive role is one that nobody wants to do but everyone thinks they can do it better. As Wallace steps down we’re in great shape. At full council we’ll express our sincere thanks for his commitment.”

A full meeting of the council will take next Wednesday where councillors will have a final vote on Mr Sampson’s redundancy package.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Pat Marsh, said she will be asking her colleagues to approve the package next week.

Cllr Marsh said:

“Looking at what some other district and borough councils are proposing for their chief executives, I welcome what is being recommended.

“I will be urging my group to support the package being offered to Wallace Sampson.”

Current North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton has already been announced as the chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.

He will earn a salary of up to £197,000 a year with responsibility for an annual budget of £1.4 billion and a workforce of 10,500 staff.

Retrospective plans refused after Harrogate district firm builds larger warehouse than agreed

Councillors have refused a retrospective planning application after a bathroom manufacturer in the Harrogate district built a warehouse larger than originally agreed.

Abacus Ltd was formed in 1989 and is a manufacturer and distributor of bathroom products to companies including Villeroy & Boch and Wickes.

It employs 85 people and is based at Jubilee Court on the outskirts of Copgrove, near Boroughbridge, alongside 10 other businesses.

In 2019, Abacus won permission from Harrogate Borough Council to build an extension that would see a steel warehouse erected to support the growing business.

However, the company ended up building a bigger structure than what was approved after securing two large commercial deals.

Abacus extension in Copgrove

Abacus’ extension in Copgrove

The council’s planning committee met yesterday to consider a retrospective application for the larger extension as well as for a pallet store that had to be relocated elsewhere on the premises.

The application was recommended for approval by officers.

Speaking to councillors, Ian Patterson from Abacus conceded the company should have submitted new plans before starting construction but said the early months of the covid pandemic made this difficult. He said:

“We accept as bathroom manufacturers we are definitely not planning experts. We acknowledge that a material change should have been sought prior to works commencing, but timings due to the lockdown and the pressures of business didn’t enable this.”

High Court quashing

The application to retrospectively build the larger extension was originally approved by the council in October 2021 before being overturned in the High Court in February 2022 after Copgrove resident Justin Appleyard requested a judicial review of the decision.

The High Court overturned the decision because it found the council did not take into account the relocation of the pallet store in its approval.

A different retrospective permission had previously been sought for the pallet store, however, it was refused in January 2021 by the council because it said it was not adequately screened by trees.

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Abacus’ plans received 51 objections with no submissions of support.

Nick Stringer, from Staveley & Copgrove Parish Council, told councillors that the company had on more than one occasion sought planning permission retrospectively after building work had already been done. He added:

“The site is in open countryside close to a beautiful medieval church and overlooks Staveley Nature Reserve which has an abundance of floral and fauna. I suggest the impact on the countryside is severe and unacceptable.”

‘Pimple on a pig’s backside’

Councillors were unconvinced by the application, in part, due to the relocation of the pallet store and its visual impact. Conservative member for Masham and Kirkby Malzeard, Nigel Simms, described it as standing out like a “pimple on a pig’s backside.” He added:

“I have no objection to the storage building being built, what I’m objecting to is the pallet store being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. The screening is not sufficient.”

The committee voted to refuse the application by 9 votes to 3. Abacus Ltd can appeal the decision.

Plans submitted for South Stainley solar farm that could power 3,000 homes

Plans have been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council to build a major solar farm in South Stainley that could power 3,000 homes.

The site north of Burton Top Farm covers 19 hectares of land and is also close to the village of Wormald Green.

If approved, it would be the second solar farm in the area, following the approval of Elgin Energy’s nearby Caton Solar Farm by HBC’s planning committee in August 2021. That site is larger and can power up to 15,000 homes.

Applicants Infraland and Boultbee Brooks say the reneweable energy facility would operate at a peak capacity of 10MW a year to help the UK meet its legal target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Solar panels would be built on three grade 3 agricultural fields, which are currently used for arable farming and for pasture.

Construction would take around 12 weeks with planning permission sought for the farm to operate for 40 years.

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In a planning statement, the applicants said the farm would support HBC’s economic policies by encouraging the diversification of use for rural and agricultural areas.

The applicants set up an online consultation about the plans for residents living in South Stainley, Bishop Monkton, Burton Leanard and Markington with Wallterthwaite and sent out more than 1,000 leaflets to homes.

The web consultation garnered just nine responses, with four offering support or no objection and five against.

Caton Solar Farm

Irish renewable energy firm Elgin Energy was granted permission to build Caton Solar Farm on land the size of 70 football pitches last year. It will generate up to 48MW a year and power 15,000 homes.

The UK government sees solar as an important part of the energy mix as it attempts to reduce the country’s dependancy on foreign imports and fossil fuels.

However, applications to build solar farms on agricultural land have not always been popular with residents who might live near them.

South Stainley Parish Council is yet to issue its formal response to the Infraland and Boultree Brooks application, but last year it strongly objected to the Caton Solar Farm plans.

 It said:

“The area would become sterilised from an agricultural, environmental and recreational point of view.”

New Tesco supermarket would threaten future of Jennyfields Co-op, warns report

Two of the largest retailers in the country are locked in a battle over the location of a potential new Tesco supermarket in Harrogate.

Last December, Tesco submitted plans to Harrogate Borough Council for its first major supermarket in the town.

The store, off Skipton Road on the site of an old gasworks, would be 38,795 square feet and include a petrol station, 200 car parking spaces and electric vehicle charging points. Tesco says 100 jobs would be created.

Tesco argues the supermarket is needed due to the proliferation of new housing around Skipton Road and towards Killinghall.

However, less than a mile away is the Co-op, which has been attached to Jennyfield Local Centre since 1980. The Co-op claims a new Tesco would lure shoppers and damage takings.

Harrogate Borough Council commissioned consultants Nexus Planning to examine how the new Tesco would impact on the local centre.

This is because key to the Co-op’s argument is a policy in Harrogate Borough Council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which says development must not “lead to a significant adverse impact” of local centres, such as the one in Jennyfields.

Artist impression of how the Tesco will look on Skipton Road.

If it can be successfully argued Tesco would harm the centre it could give the council grounds to refuse the application.

Jennyfield Local Centre was built in the late 1970s to support the growing community on the estate and it includes a small shopping precinct and the Stone Beck pub.

The Nexus report said the new Tesco, and to a much lesser extent the new Lidl on Knaresborough Road, could divert as much as 38% of trade away from the Co-op.

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The report adds that such an impact on the centre’s anchor tenant would, in turn, threaten the future of the whole local centre.

It said:

“In light of [The Co-op’s] well-below benchmark average turnover, its importance in anchoring the local centre and the potential future loss in turnover should the Tesco food store proceed, we have significant concerns in respect of the future vitality and viability of Jennyfield Local Centre as a result of the proposal.”

Tesco’s response

Tesco consultants, MRRP strongly disputed the claim the Co-op would be at risk of closure from the new supermarket, arguing that it is likely to lose just 5% of its regular trade after residents from new housing developments are taken into account.

It said the Co-op and local facilities in Jennyfields would be boosted by the hundreds of new homes that are set to be built in the area. It added:

“In these circumstances, there is not considered to be any threat of closure in relation to the Co-op, none has been asserted by its consultants, or that there is a real risk of other shop units falling vacant.”

MRRP also disputed Nexus’s claim that the Co-op acts as an anchor tenant for the local centre. It said most people visit only to shop and do not use its other units. Two are currently empty and the other is a charity shop.

On November 22, a letter sent by Louise Ford, Tesco’s town planning manager, to the council said it was “disappointed” the two consultants could not agree on the potential impact of the new store.

Ms Ford pledged that Tesco would open a mini supermarket in Jennyfield Local Centre if the Co-op closed within five years of the new Skipton Road supermarket opening.

She said:

“If the Co-op does close within five years of the Tesco store opening and remains vacant for more than six months, then Tesco would use reasonable endeavours to open a convenience format store within Jennyfield Local Centre.”

Harrogate hospital chief will not return from NHS secondment

Steve Russell will not return to his role as Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) chief executive after accepting a national director position with NHS England.

In February, Mr Russell left his role in Harrogate to take up a secondment as national director for covid and flu vaccinations at NHS England.

The secondment was due to last up to a year but he has now been offered a permanent role as director of vaccination and screening.

HDFT chair Sarah Armstrong thanked Mr Russell for his efforts at a HDFT board of directors meeting in Harrogate on Wednesday.

A HDFT spokesperson added:

“We would like to warmly congratulate Steve and wish him every success in the future.

“In the meantime, the current executive team arrangements will continue to operate whilst we consider what the permanent arrangement will be.”

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Mr Russell was appointed chief executive in April 2019 and was in charge of the trust during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also led the organisation during the creation of an NHS Nightingale hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre. The hospital closed last year without treating any Covid-19 patients.

Jonathan Coulter has been working as HDFT chief executive since February and will continue in the role until a permanent appointment is made. He is paid a salary of £181,000.

Mr Coulter is a qualified accountant and has taken on a number of roles at various hospital trusts.

He joined HDFT as finance director in March 2006 and has also worked as deputy chief executive.