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22
Jul
Application for 210 homes on county border draws over 100 objections
A planning application to build 210 homes on a greenfield site on the edge of Wetherby has drawn 118 objections.
The 13-hectare site lies within the former Harrogate district – so legally in North Yorkshire – but in practice would form an extension of Wetherby, which is in West Yorkshire and served by Leeds City Council.
Many objectors have cited this point as a reason why the application, which was submitted last month by Hallam Land Management and Stockeld Park, should be turned down.
One pro forma letter sent by many local residents says:
The developers say it’s in North Yorkshire, but the people living here would depend on Leeds for everything — roads, schools, GPs. Yet there’s no agreement in place with Leeds, and no clear plan for how all this would work. It doesn’t seem fair or sensible to go ahead without that.
Wetherby is a historic market town. People come here for its charm, green spaces, and community — not for industrial estates or endless building. Pushing more and more housing onto the edge of town puts all of that at risk.
This isn’t about saying ‘no’ to any new homes. But development needs to be done properly — in places with train stations, jobs, and the space to grow.
The site, to the north of the A661 road between Harrogate and Wetherby, abuts the edge of the Spofforth Park residential development by Bellway at Ingbarrow Gate.
Malcolm Gardner, director of the Spofforth Park Management Company, has added his voice to object to the proposals, calling them “speculative in nature, strategically incoherent, and environmentally unsound”.
Wetherby Civic Society has also written to object against the development.
Another resident, Kirsten Evans, wrote:
Roads are already struggling with heavy traffic congestion, and this is before completion of the 1000+ houses currently being built adjacent to the racecourse, and other nearby developments, eg in Collingham, that feed into Wetherby.
To add a further 210 properties will have a massive impact on the town its residents and services. The bus services from Wetherby are limited. There is no train station. Parking is already a challenge. It is the wrong location.
In total, 120 comments have been received from the public, and only one of them was in favour.
But in a planning statement supporting the application, development consultancy Lichfields, acting on behalf of the applicants, points out that there is a presumption in favour of sustainable development set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.
It says that, since the Harrogate District Local Plan published by Harrogate Borough Council has not been updated since that council’s abolition in 2023, it is out of date and permission should be granted in the absence of other overriding considerations. It concludes:
...the adverse impacts of the granting of planning permission do not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits. The proposals therefore accord with NPPF paragraph 11(d) and planning permission should be granted.
North Yorkshire Council’s deadline for deciding on the application is September 11, 2025.
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