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27
Oct
47 council-owned sites to be submitted for 20-year housing plan
North Yorkshire Council is set to put forward 47 plots of its own land as part of a 20-year plan for housing in the region.
The authority is compiling its local plan, which will set out how much land should be provided – and where it should be – to accommodate new homes, jobs and associated infrastructure.
Called the North Yorkshire Local Plan, it will supersede plans created by now defunct authorities, such as Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished in April 2023.
The move comes as the Labour government increased North Yorkshire’s housing targets to 4,156 a year — it had previously been 1,361 — which has increased pressure on the council to identify land for new homes.
Council officials are currently calling for sites to be put forward to be considered for the local plan from landowners, developers and site promoters. This is due to close at the end of November.
The two sites in Ripon. (Left) Gallows Hill and Kirkby Road.
Now, senior councillors will be recommended to submit 47 plots of authority-owned land to the process — which includes 15 in the Harrogate district.
These include:
- Rudfarlington Farm, Harrogate
- Land near Gallows Hill, Ripon
- Land off Kirkby Road, Ripon
- Land near Wetherby Railway path, Spofforth
- Land off Station Road, Whixley
- Land off High Street, Whixley
- Land off Thorndikes Lane, Minskip
- Land off Thorndikes Lane and Harrogate Road, Minskip
- Land off Back Lane, Marton-cum-Grafton
- Land at Cardale Park, Harrogate
- Land at Heath Lodge, Harrogate
- Beech Hill Farm, Ouseburn
- Land off Prince Royal Way, Pannal
- Land off Leeds Road, Pannal
- Land near Allerton Waste Recovery Park
A full list of council-owned sites to be put forward, including images, can be found here.
In report due before the council’s executive next week, Stewart Brown, strategic land manager at the council, said around 1,800 sites have so far been submitted for consideration for the local plan.
He added that the 47 sites being put forward by the council would help to meet housing demand.
Mr Brown said:
If all, or some, of the 47 identified North Yorkshire Council-owned sites are allocated for development, they could significantly support the council’s housing, employment and financial objectives. An initial high-level desktop assessment by Property Services suggests a combined, long-term potential capacity of up to 10,000 dwellings, including a substantial proportion of affordable homes and capital receipts.
The council has stressed that no assessment of sites have been completed at this stage and land submitted may not necessarily be taken forward as part of the local plan process.
Councillors on the authority’s executive will consider the proposal at a meeting on November 4.
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