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05
Nov
Nidderdale village car park set to be protected from development
A car park in Nidderdale is set to be designated as an asset of community value to protect it from development.
The Oak Lane car park, Dacre Banks, was awarded the designation in 2021 under the former Harrogate Borough Council.
Dacre Banks Parish Council has since applied to North Yorkshire Council for the site to be designated an asset of community value for a second time.
The car park, which is off Oak Lane in the centre of the village, currently has 20 spaces and is free to the public.
In its application, the parish council said the facility serves people using the village hall, medical centre and Nidderdale Way walking route.
It added that, while it was unaware of any future plans to change the use of the land, the parish wanted to secure the car park for the community in the long term.
It said:
There is no proposal known to the parish council to change the use of the land and nothing about the site that would make its continued use of public parking difficult. It is level, accessible, in the centre of the village and already fit for purpose.
The parish council is committed to this land remaining available to the community for the long term and would wish to explore taking on responsibility for it should North Yorkshire Council ever consider disposing of it.
The parish council added that the circumstances which saw the car park designated as an asset of community value in 2021 had been “strengthened” as the village had grown through housebuilding.
In a report, North Yorkshire Council, which owns the car park, said it had no objections to the designation and that there were “currently no proposals for an alternative use of the site”.
It recommended that the land should be placed on the council’s list of assets of community value.
What does an asset of community value mean?
The Localism Act gives communities the ‘right to bid’ to buy land or property considered to be of community value — if they are listed as assets of community value.
This means that if the council decides to sell the car park, community groups would have up to six months to put together a bid to buy it on the open market.
The council would not be obliged to accept the bid and could sell to whoever it wanted at the end of the moratorium period.
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