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13
Jul 2022
Final approval for 133 Harrogate homes
Plans for 133 homes in one of Harrogate’s fastest growing areas have been granted final approval after concerns shifted from the discovery of badgers to road safety.
Harrogate Borough Council initially rejected the Kingsley Road plans in 2019, but the authority was forced to reconsider the proposals after its decision was overturned at appeal.
Final plans were then submitted by the developers Redrow, however, local residents brought the development to a halt after using night vision cameras to discover six out of 11 badger setts in the area were active.
A wildlife consultant for Redrow told a council meeting today that after further badger surveys and through mitigation measures there would be “no damage or danger” to the protected mammals.
And while this allayed the concerns of councillors, their attention soon shifted to the safety of pedestrians on Kingsley Road on Bogs Lane.
Read more:
- Harrogate residents hope badgers will thwart housing scheme
Starbeck residents pledge to fight 181-home Kingsley Drive plans ‘tooth and nail’
A new footpath connecting the two roads has been promised by the developers of another housing site in the Kinglsey area which overall is facing the construction of around 600 new homes.
However, detailed plans for the footpath have yet to come forward.
Cllr Hannah Gostlow said road safety was a “huge concern” and that having seen a mother and two children try to navigate the road earlier today, the “risk to life” was clear.
She suggested a temporary footpath be built within the Redrow site – and the developers agreed to submit proposals for this should the other footpath on the opposite side of Kingsley Road not be built before the new homes are.
Cllr Pat Marsh described the road as “very dangerous” and said a solution for pedestrians had to be treated as a priority.
She said:
Also at today’s meeting, John Hansard, a member of the Kingsley Ward Action Group, made repeated complaints about the disruptions that residents have faced from construction sites in the area as he also called on the council to step up enforcement action on developers.
He said:
Mr Hansard received sympathy from Cllr Marsh who agreed that the Kinglsey area has “suffered far too much”.
She said:
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