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26
Oct 2024
Owner of burnt-out Starbeck building gives update
The owner of a derelict building on Starbeck High Street has broken his silence and says a way forward to its redevelopment is “probably very close”.
The Harper’s building has been empty for eight years and an arson attack six years ago left it a burnt-out shell. It is now surrounded by building-site boarding painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
The site’s owner, Otley-based entrepreneur Graham Bates, has well-developed plans to rebuild it as rental apartments with ground-floor retail space, but the project has been delayed because he has been locked in dispute with the council.
North Yorkshire Council's Local Plan stipulates that all qualifying brownfield developments should have 30% affordable housing, subject to viability, but Mr Bates says that an affordable housing element would render his scheme unviable.
He must now demonstrate this in order for the council – as the planning authority – to approve the scheme.
The Otley-based entrepreneur has never before publicly revealed himself as the building’s owner, but he agreed to speak to the Stray Ferret.
He said:
The idea that this is a project with oodles of profit is a fallacy. If there was, there wouldn’t be an argument – of course we’d include affordable housing.
But construction costs and the cost of debt have gone through the roof, and we’re dealing with a much more challenging economy than we were when this all started.
As it is, we’ll barely be making any money, but if we included affordable housing, we’d actually be making a loss. It’s just not viable.
Mr Bates, who has developed his plans with business partner Mel Hemingbrough, said their priority was to build a high-quality development in keeping with the Victorian structure it would replace, and that would be an asset for many years to come.
A CGI of Mr Bates' proposed development
They already have planning permission to demolish the building, but that runs out in January. They have not yet applied for planning permission for their retail and residential scheme because of the disagreement with the council.
Mr Bates said:
The council’s planning consultants came up with a figure for how much it would cost to build, which was wholly unrealistic. The bottom line is that it cannot be built for what they’ve said.
So we’ve had to employ another consultant to look at it again. They’ve now completed their assessment and their conclusion completely supports our argument that the actual construction costs will be way above what the council has said.
I am very confident that planners will accept our argument that the project is unviable with affordable housing. If that happens, we’ll put in a planning application.
I remain wholly committed to the project, but it’s proving to be a very long and frustrating process.
We’re probably very close, maybe a month or so off. I’d be extremely disappointed if we weren’t in a position to put in a planning application by the end of January.
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Council told the Stray Ferret that one a planning application had been submitted, it would aim to approve or deny it within 13 weeks.
Asked if the council had had the chance to view the report from Mr Bates' consultants, the council spokesperson said:
There is an on-going discussion taking place in relation to viability, with a Viability Appraisal submitted.
The historic building in the centre of Starbeck was originally a Harper's grocery store and still bears the name carved in stone. It continued to function as a McColl’s supermarket but was vacant when youths set fire to it in July 2018.
Mr Bates said:
That arson attack has cost us hundreds of thousands of pounds. We are absolutely the victims in this. We’re not professional developers.
It’s so frustrating, and it’s costing us a lot of money. It’s of absolutely no benefit to us to leave it as it is. I’m not sitting in Spain drinking gin and tonics and not caring what happens. I’m here, and I just want to bring it forward and make it work.
When it’s done, I want to stand back from that site and be proud of it, and I want to the people of Starbeck to be proud of it too.
He added that he would be "more than happy" to exhibit his plans at St Andrew's church next door, so that local people could see how the development would look and ask questions.
The Stray Ferret has asked North Yorkshire Council for comment.
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