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11
Feb 2023
Kingsley anger reaches 'boiling point' as another 162 homes set for approval
The beeping sound of lorries and diggers reversing fills the air. Mud covers the street. Planning application notices hang like baubles from lamp posts.
Welcome to Kingsley Road, a once quiet rural area on the edge of Harrogate that has become a permanent building site.
Some 600 homes are at various stages of construction in the nearby area. Work started years ago and shows no sign of ending.
On Tuesday, Harrogate Borough Council's planning committee is expected to approve a sixth development – Persimmon's application for 162 homes in a field on Kingsley Drive. Some locals plan to demonstrate at the council offices in the hope of persuading the Conservative-controlled planning committee to reject the scheme.
Gary Tremble, pictured where more development is due to take place.
Gary Tremble, who lives on Kingsley Road, is at the forefront of local resistance. He is a member of Kingsley Ward Action Group, which was set up in 2019 because "we soon realised we needed to work together".
By his own admission, Mr Tremble is a "pain in the arse campaigner" who bombards councillors of all political colours with emails complaining about uncovered lorries, the state of the roads, road safety and anything else that concerns people who live in the area. He says some Greens and Liberal Democrats "have been helpful" but the bulldozers keep coming. He says:
The proposed road closure leading to Bogs Lane
The homes are being built in a residential area off the already-congested Knaresborough Road. North Yorkshire County Council has now applied to block the through-route on to Bogs Lane, which some welcome on the grounds it will reduce local traffic. Others say it will just drive more vehicles on to Knaresborough Road.
All you can see in the Kingsley area is houses.
Mr Tremble says:
He says if the Persimmon development is approved and more green land between Starbeck and Bilton is concreted over, many people will have had enough and look to move.
Read more:
- Kingsley residents call for halt to new housing decisions
- Council recommends controversial Kingsley Farm homes be approved
Other local people feel equally strongly. Darren Long says:
Peter Nolan, who has lived in the Kingsley area for 49 years, says Harrogate Borough Council "should be ashamed of the state they have let this once quiet area get into". He adds:
Resident Dee Downton added:
Developers have targeted Kingsley because the land is allocated for development on the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place,
They say the schemes bring much-needed housing to Harrogate.
But those living in the area are less enthusiastic. Anonymous posters appeared on the street recently urging locals to legally double park on the pavement to prevent developers' lorries from passing.
Mr Tremble says such anger is understandable because feelings are reaching "boiling point".
Andrew Hart, a postmaster in nearby Starbeck, sympathises and says the action group is "doing their best to right a massive wrong", adding:
Tuesday's planning committee can be watched live on Harrogate Borough Council's YouTube page here.
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