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17
Nov
Harrogate business park set for major expansion
A Harrogate business park looks set to undergo a major expansion.
Teakwood Developments and DS Estates applied last year to build 10 industrial units at Harrogate West Business Park on Burley Bank Road.
North Yorkshire Council case officer Emma Walsh has recommended councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee approve the application when they meet on Tuesday next week (November 25).
You can read Ms Walsh’s report, which was published today, here.
If councillors accept her recommendation it would pave the way for ventilation company Envirovent to expand and enable other businesses to occupy units ranging in size from 3,300 square feet to 31,300 square feet. A total of 214 car park spaces would also be created.
The application is supported by letters from eight businesses, including Envirovent.
Envirovent's building on the business park.
It moved into a 61,000 square foot unit when the first phase of the business park, near the army foundation college, opened in 2022. The company now employs 180 staff.
Envirovent said in planning documents the business park had proved to be "very successful", with 13 companies quick to take up units in phase one.
Ms Walsh’s report said the expansion would address an “under supply” of employment sites in the Harrogate district and “would offer significant economic benefits to the Harrogate area”.
But it would take place on 15 acres of agricultural land that isn’t designated for development.
An illustration of the proposed extension. Image: SPX Architects
Four public objections were received during the consultation. They cited concerns such as building outside development limits, Burley Bank Road becoming a rat run and extra traffic making cyclists and pedestrians less safe.
Ms Walsh said the “lack of availability of existing sites to suit business requirements does constitute a material consideration in this regard” and her council colleague, economic development officer Rebecca Micallef, described the application as “a really exciting proposal”, adding:
There is a shortage of existing stock, and no real opportunity for the development of alternative new employment units to meet the immediate needs of some of our fantastic businesses.
The development of the type of space proposed here is central to our ability to retain and attract businesses, providing opportunities for companies that want to be located closer to town and their workforce, sustaining the important diversity of the local economy and offering geographic choice necessary to attract and stimulate economic growth.
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