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    24

    Mar 2021

    Last Updated: 24/03/2021
    Business
    Business

    Six-month planning wait ruins Starbeck micropub plan

    by Thomas Barrett

    | 24 Mar, 2021
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    IT consultant Kevin Jones says he's 'seriously upset' about delays at Harrogate Borough Council, which he says jeopardised the project.

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    Plans to open a new micropub called the Office Ale House in Starbeck have fallen through.

    IT consultant Kevin Jones previously said he hoped to get the venue at 67d High Street up and running by May, subject to planning permission.

    He applied for a change of use planning permission on September 22, but nearly six months later Harrogate Borough Council was still to consider the application.

    Mr Jones said the landlord of the building has now decided to offer the building to a different tenant.

    He said he was "seriously upset about it" and criticised the council's planning department:

    "Starbeck has lost what would have been a community asset."
    "Now all the money I have spent on it has been wasted."





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    A council spokesperson blamed the covid pandemic for the delay:

    "We would normally endeavour to determine an application for a change of use within eight weeks. This can sometimes take longer should revisions to a scheme be needed and/or further information required.
    "But, like all local authorities, the planning application process was disrupted considerably last year due to the on-going global pandemic and the numerous lockdown and social distancing measures introduced.
    "Once remote meeting were introduced, along with government measures for carrying out the planning process safely, we have successfully reinstated this process. However, as a result of the aforementioned issues, some application decisions are taking longer to determine."


    A different building on Starbeck High Street will be turned into a pub called the Waiting Room, after Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing sub-committee granted it a licence to sell alcohol last month.

    The premises was previously occupied by Greenalls and Your Factory Bed Shop.