This week, a judge at the High Court in London will decide whether Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to choose Green Hammerton and Cattal ahead of Flaxby for a major expansion of housing in the district was unlawful.
If the ruling goes against the council, it could mean the decision has to be made again.
It is a saga that has rumbled on for years with many twists and turns. Below is a timeline of events so far.
August 2003: North Yorkshire County Council sells land at Green Hammerton to farmer Derek Pickles. When the council sold the land, there was a covenant attached that said if planning permission were granted within 30 years for any other use of the site, a “clawback” would apply. This would result in NYCC receiving 70% of the uplift in the land’s open market value.
2008: Farming family the Armstrongs sells Flaxby golf course to the Skelwith Group for £7m, which then publishes plans for a 300-bedroom five-star hotel on the site. The golf course and hotel would be called Flaxby Country Resort and is touted as the “jewel in Yorkshire’s tourism crown” and even a future host of the Ryder Cup.
March 2010: Harrogate Borough Council grants planning permission for the hotel but building work never begins. Despite this, 158 buy-to-let rooms in the hotel are sold to investors.
An artist’s impression of the doomed Flaxby hotel.
May 2014: The government rejects Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan for the district, after years of preparation. The council begins the process of identifying more sites for housing.
November 2014: Skelwith Group abandons plans to build a hotel and draws up new proposals to develop Flaxby into a new town of up to 2,500 homes.
March 2015: The golf course closes.
January 2016: Skelwith goes into liquidation. A report from administrators RSM Restructuring says the company owed almost £70m, including £51m to HMRC and £7m to former owners the Armstrong family.
April 2016: Flaxby Park Ltd, a company made up of businesswoman Ann Gloag and regeneration specialists Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner, purchases the 260-acre golf course site from administrators. Their new proposals include 2,750 homes and a rail link at Goldsborough.
Summer 2016: HBC launches a “call for sites” where landowners can put forward sites that could potentially fit a new settlement. Both Flaxby Park Ltd and CEG Group propose separate developments at Flaxby and Green Hammerton.
November 2016: HBC’s draft Local Plan identifies two locations for a new settlement: Flaxby and Green Hammerton/Cattal.
April 2017: CEG Group publishes a “vision document” for 3,000 homes at Green Hammerton.
A CGI image from the CEG proposal at Green Hammerton.
July, August, September 2017: A consultation is held where CEG’s Great Hammerton plans are presented as the preferred option over Flaxby Park.
November 2017: Flaxby Park Ltd submits a planning application for the 2,750-home development to HBC.
December 2017: At a full council meeting, councillors agree to submit the Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate, including Green Hammerton as the area for the new settlement.
January and February 2018: HBC holds a public consultation on this decision. Campaigners in Green Hammerton deliver more than 600 objections against it.
Campaigners deliver Green Hammerton objections to HBC.
June 2018: CEG Group formally submits its plans to HBC for Green Hammerton.
August 2018: Harrogate Council submits its Local Plan for independent examination.
February 2019: Oakgate Group, part of Wetherby-based property developers Caddick, submits plans for a rival proposal called “Maltkiln Village” at Cattal.
The “Maltkiln Village” proposal around Cattal railway station.
March 2020: HBC adopts its new Local Plan with Green Hammerton/Cattal identified as the location for a new settlement.
October 7, 2020: HBC agrees to press ahead with a consultation on 3,000 new homes at Green Hammerton/Cattal. Its “preferred option” is land around Cattal rail station.
October 13, 2020: HBC’s planning committee rejects the 2,750-home Flaxby development. The other two applications – by CEG and Oakgate Group – are yet to be decided by the committee.
October 27, 28 and 29, 2020: The High Court judicial review will take place on the Flaxby decision.
The Stray Ferret will be covering the Judicial Review this week at the High Court. Check our website for the latest updates, or subscribe to our newsletter to get a daily round-up direct to your inbox.
