North Yorkshire County Council’s housing company has been granted planning permission to build 20 homes in Pateley Bridge.
The council-owned former Highways Depot on Millfield Street will be demolished to make way for the development, which will be called Millwright Park.
It will include six two-bedroom, two three-bedroom and 12 four-bedroom properties.
The homes will all have an electric vehicle charging point and will include 37 car parking spaces in total.
Four of the homes will be classed as affordable, which has received criticism.
Because the depot was derelict, Brierley Homes was able to use a Vacant Building Credit (VBC) to reduce the number of affordable homes in the development from five to four.
The VBC is a planning mechanism to encourage developers to bring vacant properties back into use and can be used to reduce the number of affordable homes.
Pateley Bridge Town Council submitted an objection to the plans, saying the homes will be out of reach for young people.
“The council considers that this is a one-off opportunity for NYCC to provide accommodation for local people, particularly the young who often cannot afford to live where they have been brought up, and have to move away, which inevitably changes the demographics of the town.
“On what is in effect public land, NYCC are selling it to their own development company at the expense of providing badly needed affordable and social housing for local people.”
Karl Battersby, chairman of Brierley Homes, said:
“We are delighted that Harrogate Borough Council has approved our scheme for 20 new Brierley Homes at Millfield Street in the heart of Pateley Bridge. The development on the former highways depot will bring back into use this important brownfield site.
“The scheme includes four affordable homes, which complies with Harrogate Local Plan policy. On completion, these homes will be transferred to a local housing association.
“The homes will be energy efficient thanks to a timber frame, electric car charging point and low-energy appliances. They will be built in stone with quality finishes and come with a ten-year NHBC Buildmark warranty.”
Construction on the homes will begin early next year.
The site in Pateley Bridge was originally a railway depot for the defunct Nidderdale Valley Light Railway, before being used by the council from the mid-1950s.
Read more:
- Bilton housing scheme criticised for lack of affordable homes
- Harrogate care home to be demolished and replaced with 19 homes
The former depot is highlighted in red.
Brierley Homes was established in 2017 by North Yorkshire County Council. All profits are used to support frontline council services in the county.
Last month, Brierley Homes was granted planning permission to demolish its Woodfield House care home in Harrogate to build 20 new homes.
The council received criticism from Harrogate Civic Society because none of the homes will be classed as affordable, after Brierley applied for a Vacant Building Credit.
