The creation of a plan to guide Harrogate’s development moved a step closer this week, when around 30 people met to take part in the latest meeting of the new Harrogate Town Plan Forum.

The group of volunteers aims to fill what organisers describe as a “planning void” left by the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council.

They want to put together an enforceable Neighbourhood Plan ready to guide the new Harrogate Town Council when it comes into being this spring.

The council’s area of responsibility will be the unparished area of Harrogate – the centre and its immediate surrounds – and its first elections will be held on May 1.

Wednesday’s session, held at the United Reformed church on West Park, was introduced by forum chair Stuart Holland and focused on heritage and the built environment. 

It started with a presentation by Tiffany Snowden and Ailsa Bailey of Harrogate-based consultancy Blue Willow Heritage, which specialises in listed buildings.

Three previous sessions have looked at retail, transport and housing.

Ms Snowden emphasised the importance of producing a ‘local list’, which includes buildings that are not listed but still worth preserving, adding that “the public’s input is essential for that”.

The group then split into four to discuss the heritage chapters of the Harrogate District Local Plan 2014-35, and reconvened to compare notes.

Contrasting views

Although the group is united in wanting to define a modern-day vision for Harrogate, the session highlighted some differences of perspective.

One attendee wanted to know if the forum could influence design guidance to avoid the construction of more “redbrick monstrosities” – presumably a swipe at Harrogate Convention Centre – while another was keen that the town should not limit itself to ‘mocktoriana’ (pastiche Victorian) developments, but should embrace more high-quality contemporary buildings.

When attendees were asked to describe Harrogate in one word, the word-cloud generated featured contrasting adjectives, including both “forward-looking” and “backward-looking”, and “inspiring” but “unimaginative”. Several hinted at the town’s conservative image, such as “affluent”, “complacent”, “static” and “staid”.

Nevertheless, most of the attendees the Stray Ferret spoke to felt it had gone well.

Former Harrogate mayor Michael Newby, who is chair of Harrogate Civic Society, said:

The forum has created four sub-groups to examine different aspects of the proposed Neighbourhood Plan: transport, the economy, housing, and heritage and the built environment.

Each of these will hold their own meetings over the coming weeks. The transport group will hold theirs first, on Wednesday (February 12).