Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee has given planning permission to refurbish 12 “eyesore” council flats in Ripon that date from the 1960s.

The project will include rendering of the brickwork, new stainless steel walkways and balconies, a communal garden and six car parking spaces at Allhallowgate.

The council approved spending £600,000 to improve the properties in December and the decision was ratified by the planning committee this week.

Plans to refurbish the homes date back seven years but have been delayed due to sinkhole concerns in the area.

In 2015, planning permission was granted to demolish a block of flats at 4-14a Allhallowgate and replace them with nine townhouses. The plan also included a major refurbishment of an existing block of flats.

The flats were demolished but the rest of the scheme was halted in 2019 after an engineering firm found ground instability “could be foreseen” on or near the site. They warned that measures to reduce the risk of the townhouses collapsing were not cost-effective.

Ripon sits above a layer of gypsum, which is a water-soluble rock that leads to the formation of large underground caves that can collapse.

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The council pledged to continue with the refurbishment of the existing flats that weren’t demolished. However, its plans were paused again during covid as they were used as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

In May, the council was quoted £1.1m for the project by a contractor — almost double its budget of £650,000. It has since removed plans to build an extension to the building to reduce costs.

‘Somewhat of an eyesore’

Conservative cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Mike Chambers, who is also councillor for Ripon Spa, said he was happy the project was finally moving forward.

Cllr Chambers told a meeting in December after the funding was approved: