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16
Sept
Developer to hold consultation into major plan for Flaxby Park
A developer will hold a consultation into major plans for a former golf course in Flaxby.
As previously reported, Scarborough Group International and Greyfriars Investments are assessing the 270-acre site off the junction 47 of the A1(M) for potential development.
The proposal could see the site earmarked for a new employment destination, providing modern space for businesses alongside new landscaping, transport infrastructure and environmental improvements.
In total, approximately 810,000 sq ft of employment floorspace is proposed.
In a statement issued in February 2025, Adam Varley development director at Scarborough Group, confirmed the company had put forward the site for consideration as part of the North Yorkshire Local Plan.
Layout for the scheme at Flaxby. Picture: Scarborough Group.
The developer plans to submit a hybrid application to North Yorkshire Council, which would seek outline permission for the development of the first phase of the scheme.
The application would cover employment space on the eastern side of the site — which amounts 99.6 acres.
On its consultation site, the Scarborough Group and Greyfriars Investments said the remainder of the site "continues to be promoted separately through the emerging North Yorkshire Local Plan" as part of a longer-term vision for Flaxby Park.
Now, an online consultation into the plans will run from September 16 until October 7 this year. People can have their say on the proposal here.
A public exhibition will also be held on Wednesday, September 23, at Goldsborough Cricket Club, Main Street in Goldsborough, between 3pm and 7pm. Members of the project team will be on hand to answer questions and discuss the proposals.
Phill Holdsworth
Phillip Holdsworth, president of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, urged businesses to take part in the consultation.
He said:
The shortage of modern, well-connected commercial space is one of the issues our members raise most often. Proposals on this scale, right next to the A1(M), deserve careful attention from businesses across Harrogate, Knaresborough and the wider district.
We are not taking a position on the detail at this stage. What we do want is for local businesses to look at the plans, ask the questions that matter to them, and make their views known while the consultation is open. Consultations only work when the people who will live and work with the outcome actually take part.
The move comes as the site at Flaxby Park has a history of failed planning applications.
The land was previously earmarked for a 400-home eco-resort in 2020 after plans to put it forward for a 3,000-home new settlement were turned down by the former Harrogate Borough Council.
However, the eco-resort plans also never moved forward.
Meanwhile, The site was subject to High Court legal proceedings in October 2020.
At the time, the developers, Flaxby Park Ltd, took the former Harrogate Borough Council to a judicial review when the authority opted to pick a site in Green Hammerton over Flaxby Park for a new settlement.
Following the hearing, Mr Justice Holgate ruled in the council's favour by saying it did not have to make the decision over a new settlement again.
But he ordered the council to pay 15% of Flaxby’s legal costs because it failed to adequately consider an environmental assessment of alternative locations for the settlement.
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