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    04

    Jan 2024

    Last Updated: 03/01/2024
    Environment
    Environment

    Grantley Hall near Ripon wins helipad appeal

    by Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter

    | 04 Jan, 2024
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    grantley_hall_exterior_twilight_jack_hardy_2019straight-1
    (Image: Jack Hardy)

    Grantley Hall has won an appeal against a council order preventing it from using a helipad after an alleged planning breach.

    The former Harrogate Borough Council issued an enforcement notice in September 2022 against the hotel for using the helipad for take off and landings without planning permission.

    However, the luxury hotel, which is located five miles west of Ripon, challenged the order and appealed to the government’s Planning Inspectorate.

    In documents submitted to a planning inspector, the hotel argued that there was “clear evidence for the demand for this facility”.

    But, the council argued that the helipad location caused damage to the area and the significance of a heritage asset in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

    Now, a planning inspector has sided with the hotel over the matter and quashed the enforcement order.



    B S Rogers, the inspector who oversaw the appeal, said in a report that he recognised that the hotel had already offered conditions for the proposal in a report know as the “Grantley Hall Hotel Helipad Aviation Summary Report”.

    These included restricting flights to 72 visits a year, restricting arrival and departures between 9am and 7pm and that the hotel retain flight data and provide this to the council upon request.

    Mr Rogers said it was common ground between the two parties that uncontrolled use of the site would "not be acceptable in this highly sensitive location".

    However, he added that compliance with the conditions would mean the helipad would not “unduly harm the historic environment, the natural environment or the living conditions of local residents”.

    Mr Rogers said:

    “It would provide a small but significant additional benefit to the local economy. As such, the development would not unduly conflict with the provisions of the development plan or of national policy.”


    In response to the appeal outcome, Nuno César de Sá, general manager at Grantley Hall, said:

    “Grantley Hall is delighted with the outcome of the appeal and the positive impact this will bring to our business.
    “As the hotel enters its’ fifth year of operation and with trading going from strength to strength this decision will allow us to continue to attract key clients to the hotel who wish to arrive by helicopter.
    “We will work closely with the local authority to fulfil the operational obligations set in place and remain open to constructive feedback and communication with relevant parties to ensure that minimum disruption is caused within our local environment.”






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    Three planning withdrawals


    The hotel withdrew plans for the helicopter landing pad for a third time in June 2021 after council officers recommended rejecting the proposal.

    Nidderdale AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), Grantley and Sawley Parish Council and several residents objected to the plans, with one local describing the application as “totally unnecessary” and “self-fulfilling”.

    The hotel has withdrawn three applications and had another rejected since first asking for permission to use an existing helipad in 2018.

    Grantley Hall opened as a hotel after a £70 million refurbishment in 2019.

    It was once used by West Riding County Council between 1947 and 1974 as an adult education residential college, as well as a training and conference centre by North Yorkshire County Council.