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05
Jun 2021
Harrogate councillor's countryside home approved at third time of asking
A Harrogate councillor has been granted final approval to build a new countryside home at the third time of asking.
Conservative Cllr Margaret Atkinson, who represents the Fountains and Ripley ward, has won permission to build a four-bedroom farmhouse opposite her existing home in Kirkby Malzeard after previously being refused over size concerns.
She was asked to justify why the property classed as a farm workers dwelling needed to be so large before she scaled back the overall floorspace from 276 sq m to 199.5 sq m.
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee, which Cllr Atkinson was formerly a member of, voted through her new proposals at a meeting yesterday (June 3) with five votes for, one against and two abstentions.
The only committee member to speak against the plans was Cllr Pat Marsh who said it was a “mistake” to previously grant outline permission in 2019 and that she was still not convinced why a property of that size was needed.
Cllr Marsh said:
Cllr Atkinson told the committee the farmhouse needed to be larger than Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS) – which recommends up to 124 sq m – because of family and business needs, with a family-run farm amassing around 200 acres and 800 cattle.
Read more:
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As well as four bedrooms, Cllr Atkinson’s plans also include a living room, dining room, kitchen, sunroom, office, storage space and two-bay carport.
Other reasons for refusal previously given by officers were a negative impact on the surrounding countryside and that the farmhouse would not have been affordable to any future owners because of its size.
The scale and layout of a proposed garden area was also a concern, as well as a lack of “suitable planting species and mix”.
However, a report to yesterday’s meeting said these areas had now been addressed in the new application.
It said:
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