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28
Jul 2021
Controversial plan for 217 homes on Harrogate's Kingsley Drive set for refusal
A controversial plan to build 217 homes on Kingsley Drive in Harrogate has been recommended for refusal.
Harrogate Borough Council's planning committee will make a decision on Tuesday next week. But council officers have recommended the scheme be rejected.
The council received 388 objections to the scheme and no responses in favour.
The current application, submitted by Persimmon Homes, has seen the number of properties planned on the site reduced from 244 to 217.
The Kingsley ward area will eventually see more than 600 homes built, including developments at Granby Farm and 149 homes on Kingsley Road.
However, residents have raised a number of concerns over Persimmon’s plan, including overdevelopment and traffic congestion.
Officer concerns
Council officers have recommended that councillors on the committee reject the application next week.
Although the site is allocated for housing under the council's Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines development in the district until 2035, officers have concerns about overdevelopment and inadequate information on surface water drainage and noise.
Read more:
- New housing contributing to ‘nightmare’ traffic on Knaresborough Road
- Government overturns council decision to refuse 149 homes in Harrogate
- Harrogate residents: ‘Act before someone is killed’
Under the plans, a total of 86 homes would be allocated as affordable housing with the rest being market value homes.
It would see a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes built.
But an officer report due before councillors says:
The council added that the planned number of homes for the site was 173. The current application, when combined with the nearby Stonebridge Homes development, would see a total of 313 houses built if it was approved.
In a planning statement submitted to the council last month, Persimmon Homes said it had sought to address the authority's concerns and had completed a "comprehensive re-assessment of the scheme".
It said of the reduction to 217 homes:
“Nightmare” development
One of the residents who objected to the development was John Hansard, of the Kingsley Ward Action Group.
In a letter to the borough council, Mr Hansard said the area would not be able to cope with another development.
He said:
Another resident, Anthony Buck, told the council that the development would “take away our last remaining open space”.
Sarah Knapper, a resident of Kingsley Park, said:
Traffic congestion
Hundreds of residents raised concerns that traffic caused by the development would lead to problems.
They said that the Kingsley area does not have the infrastructure to cope with more cars and that another development would cause congestion issues on nearby Knaresborough Road.
In May, residents called for urgent road safety action after a lorry hit a car in the area.
In an email to the county council, residents said they had “repeatedly” said Kingsley Road was not suitable for construction traffic.
They also objected to a one-way system proposed by developers Persimmon, which would stop traffic entering Kingsley Drive or Wreaks Road from Kingsley Road.
Mr Hansard added in his letter of objection:
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