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14
Sept 2021
Bid for 780 homes and new school on Harrogate's Otley Road
A major 780-home development and new primary school could be built on Otley Road near Beckwithshaw.
The Windmill Farm development would be the largest housing scheme to be built in Harrogate for many years. It would dwarf the nearby village of Beckwithshaw, which has a population of 400.
The housing would be built on green fields on the opposite side of the road from the charity-run nursery Horticap and behind RHS Harlow Carr. Part of the land is currently used by Beaver Horse Shop.
Planning consultants Johnson Mowat has released aerial computer generated images of the proposed development, which also includes a new primary school, community hub and shop. It would have three access points on Otley Road.
Four hundred of the homes would be built by Taylor Wimpey UK and the remaining 380 by Redrow Homes. Johnson Mowat said 32% of the site would remain as "open green space".
A website containing details of the development invites people to give their thoughts. No formal planning application has been submitted yet.
The website says:
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The site is allocated for development in Harrogate Borough Council's Local Plan, which is a document that lays out where development can take place in the district until 2034.
Scoping report
A preliminary scoping application approved by the council in 2019 suggested 1,000 homes and two primary schools could be built on the site.
If the Windmill Farm development is granted full planning approval, it would mean over 1,200 homes could be built on that section of Otley Road.
The government’s housing agency, Homes England, has plans to build 560 homes on Bluecoat Park, near Harrogate police station.
A spokesperson for Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association told the Stray Ferret it was "very concerned" about the scale of the Windmill Farm development and its impact on the environment.
They added:
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