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09
Apr
Unauthorised Harrogate car wash raises questions about planning enforcement
A Harrogate car wash has now been operating without planning permission for 18 months.
Skipton Road Car Wash started trading at the former Jewson site in late 2024.
North Yorkshire Council finally began enforcement action last November, ordering the car wash to cease all operations within 60 days.
However, owner Mohammed Khader appealed and took the matter to the government’s Planning Inspectorate. The outcome has yet to be decided.
Mr Khader also lodged new plans to convert the site into a car wash last October – this time with a single-storey extension unit.
After that proposal was refused last week, the Stray Ferret asked the council what action it planned to take.
The council responded:
While the appeal is ongoing, the business may continue to operate.
The council also said the terms of the enforcement notice, which the Stray Ferret revealed last November, will only come into effect if the Planning Inspectorate dismisses the enforcement appeal.
It added:
An enforcement notice was issued on September 25, 2025. The notice is now the subject of an appeal, which will be decided by the Planning Inspectorate.
The notice requires the operator to stop the car wash and valeting business, remove all related machinery and equipment, and take down all business advertising from the site.
It has been almost two-and-a-half years since plans to convert the Skipton Road site into a car wash were first submitted, and with a decision still pending on the enforcement appeal, there is little sign of the saga being resolved.
The continued operation of the unauthorised site raises questions about the effectiveness of the council's enforcement powers.
Skipton Road Car Wash operating on August 3, 2025.
Planning history and noise concerns
After previous plans were rejected due to noise concerns, the latest proposal said the rear and side walls of an on-site garage would be insulated using black acoustic felt and any gaps would be filled using acoustic sealant.
But noise concerns remain.
Rejecting the plans, the council said it has “on several occasions” requested a noise impact assessment be submitted to “allow proper consideration of the potential noise implications” of the car wash.
It added:
No such assessment, nor evidence that one has been commissioned, has been provided. In the absence of this information, the applicant has failed to demonstrate that the proposal would not result in an unacceptable adverse impact on the amenity of nearby noise sensitive residential properties.
Since plans were first submitted in December 2023, applications have been withdrawn, re-submitted, rejected, appealed and dismissed – none of which has deterred the car wash owners from trading.
When enforcement action was finally taken, Mr Khader described the 60-day window he was given to vacate the site as “meagre” and requested a year instead.
The appeal, submitted by Mohammed Ilyas of planning firm The Planning Person on behalf of Mr Khader, claimed Mr Khader had been left in a “dire and cornered position caused by unreasonableness by the council”.
The council responded by saying the car wash had operated for more than 52 weeks despite being unauthorised and the timeframe offered was sufficient to remove equipment at the site.
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