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01
Oct 2020
Flaxby development set for High Court battle
A developer who wants to build 2,750 homes at Flaxby Park near Knaresborough has urged Harrogate Borough Council to delay making a decision until a judicial review takes place in the High Court next month.
Flaxby Park Ltd has been granted a judicial review that will examine HBC's decision to choose Green Hammerton ahead of Flaxby for a new settlement in its Local Plan, which was adopted in March this year.
The Flaxby settlement would be on a former golf course four miles from Knaresborough and include a retirement village and two primary schools, as well as retail and office space.
The proposal is due to go before HBC's planning committee on Tuesday, almost three years after it was first submitted.
A report prepared by HBC officers recommends committee members refuse the development because the Local Plan now allocates Green Hammerton for the new settlement.
But the developer says the council's decision to choose Green Hammerton was based on "flawed information of a scant, conflicting and contradictory nature".
The judicial review will take place on October 27, 28, and 29 at the High Court in London.
A judge will decide whether the decision was lawful and followed the correct procedure.
If found to be unlawful, the decision on where to place the new settlement may have to made again. Flaxby Park Ltd told the Stray Ferret this would be a "game-changer" for the Harrogate district.
'Defer a decision'
In a statement released to the Stray Ferret, Chris Musgrave, chief executive at Flaxby Park Ltd, questioned the timing of the decision to bring the plans before councillors now, just weeks before the High Court date.
He said:
Mr Musgrave also said Flaxby Park Ltd was not told of the council's decision to bring the plans before the planning committee until the company was contacted by the Stray Ferret this week. He said this gave them less than a week to prepare, puttng them at a disadvantage.
'Separate processes'
A HBC spokesperson said Flaxby Park Ltd was not informed about next week's planning committee meeting due to a "technical error". The spokesperson said:
But the spokesperson said the council would not defer the planning committee meeting until after the judicial review:
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