Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
18
May
30-home Kingsley development finally set to go ahead
Final approval to build 30 homes on the site of a former chicken farm in Harrogate is on the verge of being granted — despite concerns about the impact on traffic on Kingsley Road.
Quarters Kingsley received outline planning consent to build the homes at Kingsley Farm in July 2023.
But its subsequent attempts to rubber-stamp the details have struggled to gain approval.
North Yorkshire Council rejected the company’s reserved matters application in November 2024 on the grounds that it had not provided “sufficient information" on access and that the layout, scale and design were not considered to “reflect the principles of good design”.
Kingsley Farm is bordered by Kingsley Road to the right and Hawthorn Place to the left.
Quarters Kingsley appealed the verdict to the government’s Planning Inspectorate but withdrew the appeal in December 2025.
Now council case officer Emma Walsh has recommended the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee approves revised plans when it meets on May 26.
In a report to councillors, Ms Walsh said:
During the course of the application and following consultee comments, there have been alterations to; the site layout, landscaping, house design and mix, highways details, drainage information and arboricultural details. These matters are considered to sufficiently resolve the concerns raised.
The site is currently accessed via Hawthorn Place.
Kingsley Road fears
The site is currently accessed through Hawthorn Place. However, the primary site access would be from Kingsley Drive, with Hawthorn Place serving only five of the 30 homes.
Harrogate Town Council, which objected to the plans, said the arrangements would intensify the use of Kingsley Road as a cut-through and access from Hawthorn Place would be more appropriate. It also raised concerns about the loss of trees from a mature orchard.
But Ms Walsh has urged councillors to grant approval, subject to 19 conditions, which include starting work within two years.
The Liberal Democrat-controlled planning committee must now decide whether to accept her recommendation.
Under the Section 106 agreement, which states what community payments developers must pay, the applicant — now listed as Quarters Construction Ltd / Vico Homes — would pay £74,556 towards a play area and open spaces, £25,000 towards highways improvements and £35,862 towards healthcare, as well as provide a footway link over Kingsley Road.
0