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11
Oct 2023
Homes England earmarks £10m for major Ripon housing site contributions
A total of £10 million has been budgeted to cover items in a Section 106 agreement being drawn up by Homes England for the 1,300-home Clotherholme development at the Ripon Barracks site.
The money will fund a number of areas, including off-site highway adjustments and contributions towards primary and secondary education provision and primary healthcare.
In addition, under the legally-binding agreement, the government's housing and regeneration agency, is required to put a strategy in place to "secure military heritage within the site".
On Monday, Homes England project manager Martin Wilks and senior planning and enabling manager David Rowlinson, met with city councillors to provide a progress report on the major scheme, that will eventually increase Ripon's population by 20%.
In February, Harrogate Borough Council planning committee said it was minded to grant planning consent for the Clotherholme scheme and Mr Wilks, pointed out:
He added:
The 21 Regiment of the Royal Engineers is scheduled to vacate the site by March 2026 and enabling works for the homes development will start in 2025.
In the meantime, Homes England is drawing up a sustainable drainage plan for the scheme with Yorkshire Water and working on a design guide for the development with Ripon Civic Society.
Meetings have been held with Ripon Military Heritage Trust regarding the protection and preservation of historically-important buildings and bridges on the site and a further meeting with them is planned for November 7.
Matters raised by councillors included the significance of the site's rich military Heritage, increased traffic generation and the impact it will have on the city's roads infrastructure and the additional strain that an increase in population will put on healthcare provision.
In view of the number of issues put forward, it was agreed that Mr Wilks and Mr Rowlinson will hold further meetings with councillors to focus on specific concerns that they have in relation to the development.
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