North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to build homes on green belt land between Harrogate and Knaresborough

Harrogate land agents Yorkshire Land submitted proposals for four homes and garages on a field opposite Moorlands Nurseries on Forest Moor Road in Calcutt.

Yorkshire Land initially applied to develop self-build homes but revised this to two three-bed and two four-bed market homes during the application process.

There are 14 areas of green belt land in England that are protected from most forms of development. 

This one-acre development site is located in a corridor of the Leeds green belt that separates Harrogate and Knaresborough.

The council received 13 public objections, many of which expressed concerns about encroachment onto the green belt.

Yorkshire Land argued in a planning, design and access statement that the Forest Moor Road site met the new grey belt definition introduced by Labour in 2024 for green belt land that has been previously developed or does not strongly contribute to any of purposes.

The company said the site “makes only a low contribution to preventing the merger of Harrogate and Knaresborough” and added the decision to grant planning permission for four homes at White House Farm, 40 metres away, in September last year had set a precedent.

Council case officer Lisa Alder agreed the land could be considered grey belt and added the council’s lack of a five-year land supply also made the plans hard to reject.

The council is drawing up a new Local Plan outlining where development can take place but this process is expected to take years, and its absence makes it more difficult to reject applications.

Ms Alder's public report, which you can read here, concludes “there is no strong reason for refusal”. It adds: