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23
Feb 2023
Plans approved for 1,300 homes at Ripon Barracks
Councillors have approved plans to build 1,300 homes at Ripon’s army barracks, subject to conditions.
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee met this afternoon to consider an application from government housing agency Homes England, which has been developing the plans for several years alongside the Ministry of Defence.
Councillors were split over the scheme's impact on roads in the city as well as whether historical military buildings on the site, which were used during both world wars, would be protected.
Votes were tied at six for and six against supporting the officer’s recommendation to defer the plans to officers to approve, subject to conditions.
This meant the committee’s chair, the Conservative councillor for Harrogate St Georges, Rebecca Burnett, cast the deciding vote to see the plans passed.
Clotherholme
The military is set to vacate the site in 2026 but phased work will now begin.
The housing scheme is called Clotherholme and also includes a new primary school, sports pitches, retail, food and drink units, and a 60-bed care home.
The site is home to the Royal Engineers and consists of Deverell Barracks to the east, Claro Barracks to the west and Laver Banks to the south.
Homes England says 3,000 people will live there to increase the population of Ripon by a fifth, although this does not take into account the loss of military personnel who have lived in the community for decades.
It’s expected that all the homes would be built by 2035 and 30% will be classed as affordable.
No new road
Campaigners have long raised fears about the impact on local roads and there have been calls to include a relief road via Galphay Road, but this was rejected.
Access to the site would be from Clotherholme Road and Kirkby Road.
Homes England undertook traffic studies that predicted queues and delays at existing junctions if the homes were built, so changes to the Low Skellgate, Coltsgate Hill and Clock Tower junctions have been proposed as part of 28 alterations to the existing road network.
A new roundabout would also be created at the junction of Kirkby Road and Chatham Road.
‘Hell to drive through’
Liberal Democrat county councillor Barbara Brodigan spoke on behalf of Ripon Spa Residents’ Action Group against the plans.
Cllr Brodigan said she was not against the site being developed but objected to the number of homes proposed. She said a relief road should be built to accommodate any increase in traffic. She said:
A computer generated image of how Chatham Road and Napier Street in Ripon would look under the plans
Ripon Independent councillor for Ure Bank, Sid Hawke, said there was a question mark over the traffic surveys undertaken by the developer. He said:
David Rowlinson, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said highways and transport had been a “key issue” that Homes England and the MoD had worked through whilst developing the scheme. He said:
Military history
The barracks were originally built as a convalescent camp for troops during the First World War.
Thousands were housed there, including the wartime poet Wilfred Owen, who wrote some of his famous works there.
Jane Furse, on behalf of the Ripon Military Heritage Trust, asked councillors to defer the plans until a strategy had been produced that protected from demolition two training bridges and a hut, which has been called one of the best-surviving Second World War-era prefab structures.
However, the bridges and the hut are not protected under planning laws.
Read more:
- Ukraine war could delay Ripon Barracks housing plans, says councillor
- NHS objects to planned 1,300-home development on Ripon barracks
Ms Furse gave a history of the military’s involvement at the site spanning two world wars and the Cold War.
She added:
Historic England raised "strong concerns" over the demolition of the hut but it has been decided that it can’t be retained because of asbestos, which HBC officer Andy Hough called “extremely regrettable”.
Homes England said it is committed to working with Ripon Military Heritage Group on studies to resolve what happens to the buildings.
Mr Rowlinson said:
‘Evidence-based decision’
The Conservative councillor for Ripon Spa and cabinet member for housing, Mike Chambers, who is also a former serviceman, said he supported “the majority” of the scheme but there are “clear issues” with the traffic assessment, so he would not be supporting the proposal.
Cllr Chambers claimed the changes to the Low Skellgate junction, banning right turns, “will only seek to exacerbate the situation”.
Conservative council leader Richard Cooper, who was on the planning committee today as a substitute, said rejecting the plans on transport grounds would risk a costly appeal.
In 2022, HBC had to pay £25,000 in costs after the authority was taken to appeal over its rejection of the Leon drive thru on Wetherby Road. Cllr Cooper said:
Cllr Cooper added:
The applicant has agreed to pay £4,694,875 to North Yorkshire County Council to go towards local primary and secondary schools.
It will also pay £907,267 to the NHS to support healthcare facilities.
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