Almost 50 Pannal Ash residents met last night at the Squinting Cat pub to “mobilise” against hundreds of new houses proposed for Whinney Lane.
It was organised by Whinney Lane resident Mike Newall who wanted the event to be a “wake-up call” for locals who he said will face years of disruption.
The developer Stonebridge is currently building 130 homes at Castle Hill Farm on Whinney Lane and last month plans were submitted by Banks Group for 270 homes and a new primary school on the fields opposite the Stonebridge development.
Pannal Ash residents meeting at the Squinting Cat pub last night.
Mr Newall spoke to give locals information about each development and advice for submitting objections to Harrogate Borough Council.
Whinney Lane is now closed for seven months due to the construction of two site access points for the Castle Hill Farm housing development as well as a new roundabout.
The lengthy closure has proved controversial and the manager of the Squinting Cat pub told the Stray Ferret that it “could kill” the business.
Mr Newall told the Stray Ferret that developers are “riding roughshod” over the area.
He said:
“All of a sudden people are realising that if we’re not careful it will be urban expansion. It will be a complete belt around Harrogate that is expanding into urban sprawl.
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While the latest set of plans from Banks Group is at a site allocated for development in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, Mr Newall is hopeful that because it is on Special Landscape Area (SLA) land, development could be delayed.
Since HBC adopted its long-awaited Local Plan in March, the planning committee has begun to refuse developments on sites that sit within the plan.
Last week, councillors refused 149 new homes on Kingsley Road near Harrogate High School because they said it would make already clogged roads in the area even worse.
Mr Newall added:
“People are suddenly waking up to the fact that they have a big housing development behind them and they will be staring straight into someone’s bathroom. That’s what’s stirred up this current group.”
