North Yorkshire Council has published a map of sites put forward for the county’s Local Plan. The blueprint will determine housing and employment land for the next 15 to 20 years.

The council has stressed that no assessment of sites have been completed at this stage and land submitted may not necessarily be taken forward as part of the Local Plan process.

You can read about the sites put forward for Harrogate below. We will report on other locations in the days ahead.

As the national drive to build more homes heats up, North Yorkshire Council is still in the early stages of devising a Local Plan.

The county-wide plan is expected to be geared towards delivering up to 4,077 homes a year as part of government mandated housing targets.

As such, Harrogate will not be immune from a significant increase in housebuilding.

The council’s map of suggested sites for the Local Plan mostly covers the outer area of the town, such as Killinghall, Skipton Road and some plots in the green belt near Pannal.

Among those put forward are three sites south of Pannal at the Buttersyke Bar roundabout. All of them have indicated residential land.

However, they are included in the green belt which runs along the southern edge of Harrogate towards Leeds.

Similarly, three plots of land have been put forward off Forest Lane and Forest Moor Road for potential housing schemes which also fall within the green belt.

The green belt is protected areas of rural land where the building of new homes and businesses is only allowed in special circumstances.

However, under the Labour government’s planning reforms, local authorities which cannot meet housing need will be required to carry out a review of green belt land.

This would help to release “grey belt” land, which is defined as land in the green belt comprising previously developed land or land which does not support the green belt designation.

Meanwhile, multiple plots of land have been put forward in the Skipton Road and Killinghall area.

A 73-hectare site off Burley Bank Road has been submitted for “mixed or other” purposes, while four sites at the Curious Cow roundabout on Skipton Road have been tabled for development.

Also in Killinghall, a six-hectare site between Ripon Road and Maltkiln Lane has been suggested for housing purposes.

Three sites at Spruisty Farm to the east of Ripon Road have also been put forward for residential development. A further site between Ripon Road and Grainbeck Lane, opposite the farm, has also been submitted for housing.

The land included in the council’s map is for sites submitted up until December 2024 following a call for sites. More land will be added on a six monthly basis.

The authority has stressed that the sites included in the map may not be taken into the Local Plan and that no assessment work has been completed at this stage.

It added

A public consultation on the sites will be held at a later date.