Land promoters behind plans for 1,100 new homes in Killinghall were grilled by residents and councillors this week.

Hallam Land wants to put forward a planning application for the scheme on a site on Burley Bank Road and Oaker Bank.

The company said the development would provide a “sustainable” extension to Harrogate and help to meet housing need in the area.

However, at a Harrogate Town Council meeting on Wednesday (October 21), residents and councillors raised concerns over the scheme.

Here are four concerns raised at the town council meeting:

1 No secondary school

The plan for the site at Burley Bank Road includes the provision of land for a new primary school.

However, John Moretta, of Killinghall Parish Council, pointed out that the north of Harrogate lacks a secondary school.

Mr Moretta said there were other developments in Killinghall, such as King Edwin Park, and another at Beckwithshaw which had also planned for a primary school.

He said:

Cllr Andrew Timothy, a Liberal Democrat who represents Hookstone on the town council, asked Hallam Land whether it had looked into providing a secondary school on the site.

Adam Masters, senior land and planning manager at Hallam, said the scheme would provide for 130 places at its school and that officers at North Yorkshire Council had told them that those places could be taken up with the capacity of secondary education in Harrogate.

2 Highways and access

The site sits between Burley Bank Road to the west and Oaker Bank to the east.

According a presentation by Hallam Land, the site will have four access points, including a three-arm roundabout from the Oaker Bank side of the scheme.

But, Mr Moretta pointed out that, of the four points of access, one of the entrances was into a plot of land earmarked for employment near to Saltergate Business Park. 

He added that he had concerns over the level of access into the site.

Mr Moretta said:

Another resident pointed out that the junction between Burley Bank Road and Skipton Road, known as Four Lane Ends, was “very treacherous”.

Mr Masters said the developer was aware of the concerns around the junction and there were “some element of improvements we can do”.

3 Scale of development

Both councillors and residents referred to the scheme on Burley Bank Road and Oaker Bank as a “small town”.

Cllr David Goodall, Reform UK councillor who represents Bilton Woodfield, said he questioned whether this was the “correct location” for a major housing site.

He said there were other sites in the Harrogate area which could take on a development for thousands of new homes.

Cllr Goodall pointed out that some residents had also told him that they needed “space to breathe” from the number of housing plans which were being proposed for Harrogate.

Mark Johnson, of Johnson Mowat Planning, which is representing Hallam Land, said the scale of housing required in North Yorkshire — which under government targets is 4,156 a year — was “absolutely enormous”.

He said there was potential that the North Yorkshire Local Plan — which would determine where development can take place in the county for the next 20 years — could require around 80,000 new homes.

However, Mr Johnson also pointed out that Hallam’s job was to promote the land and to show “how this site compares against some of the other sites”.

Meanwhile, Mr Masters said, while he appreciated that the site “was large”, it was also providing retail and a primary school — rather than a “piecemeal” site for 100 or 200 homes that don’t provide those facilities.

4 What are the timescales?

Cllr Graham Dixon, a Liberal Democrat who represents Harlow, said he was concerned over the timescales of the scheme.

Mr Masters told the meeting that Hallam Land intended to submit an outline planning application for the site by the end of November.

He added that, subject to gaining planning approval and disposing of the site, construction could begin by 2030.