Formal consultation is set to begin on a proposed new 3,000-house settlement in the Harrogate district.
The settlement, which will be larger than the town of Boroughbridge, will be built in the Hammerton and Cattal area of the district, close to York.
Harrogate Borough Council said in a news release today it was “finalising its policies and proposals for the new settlement” following earlier stages of consultation.
Its executive will consider a development plan document, which will set out the boundary for the settlement and other details, on Wednesday next week before it goes out for formal consultation.
It added:
“The development of a new settlement is a key part of the district’s growth strategy providing much needed homes and jobs in a sustainable location along the York-Harrogate-Leeds railway line.”
Wetherby real estate developer Oakgate Group earmarked the area to be known as Maltkiln for 3,000 homes in 2017.
It submitted a screening application to assess whether it needed to conduct an environmental impact assessment before submitting a formal planning application.
Cllr Tim Myatt, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for planning, said today:
“The development plan document sets a clear and ambitious 30-year vision for Maltkiln and provides a policy framework that will enable the planning authority to lead, guide and manage how it is developed.”
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As part of the plan, the council also commissioned consultants at a cost of £20,000 to produce a “comprehensive climate strategy” for the settlement.
The council said that Maltkiln would be planned in a way which would help to to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2038.
It said this would mean reducing the need to travel, providing walking and cycling infrastructure and improvements to public transport as well as supporting the transition to low emission private cars.
Cllr Myatt added:
“Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing us today and one that the council takes seriously which is why we have commissioned a climate change strategy to ensure Maltkiln will be a climate resilient place, fit for the 21st Century.”
If councillors agree the plan next week, a consultation on the development plan will be held in the autumn. It would then be submitted to the secretary of state for examination.
The move to create a settlement in the Hammerton/Cattal area comes after a long running saga between Flaxby Park Ltd and the borough council.
The battle led to a High Court hearing over whether the homes should be built in Flaxby or Green Hammerton before it was finally settled in late 2020.
