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14
May
Harrogate Town says it withdrew £2.75 million training ground plans due to flood risk
Harrogate Town withdrew its application for a £2.75 million training facility at Wetherby Racecourse because the site was in a flood zone, the club said in a statement this evening (May 14).
Town and racecourse operator Wetherby Steeplechase Committee Ltd submitted plans in December 2025 to build a clubhouse and pitches.
But the application has been withdrawn on Leeds City Council’s website in another blow to the club, which was relegated from the English Football League this month.
In a statement this afternoon, a club spokesperson said it was advised to withdraw the application after an objection from the Environment Agency.
It said its planning consultants also advised to “re-submit a new application once revised plans have been considered that will meet the new requirements”.
The club statement said:
During the planning application process, we were recently notified that the Environment Agency would have to object to the application on the basis that more up to date flood mapping for the site has been released since the original planning application was submitted.
This new data now places the proposed Clubhouse within a Flood Zone where such a development is considered incompatible. This was not identified previously during the two pre-application periods and has only come to light in the last few weeks which coincided with the end of the football season.
The Stray Ferret reported this afternoon that the application received multiple objections.
The Environment Agency recommended the scheme be refused because it contravened national planning rules. It explained:
We object to the proposed development as it falls within a flood risk vulnerability category that is inappropriate to the flood zone in which the application site is located.
But our article reveals numeroous other concerns were flagged up during the planning process.
The application was for a clubhouse, artificial and grass pitches, fencing, floodlighting, access arrangements including formation of new access, parking, landscaping and associated works and ancillary structures
A design and access statement prepared in support of the application last year by architects Bowman Riley, said the site had been “carefully selected” over a six-year period.
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