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06
Nov
Harrogate car wash still operating despite enforcement investigation
A car wash on Harrogate’s Skipton Road is still operating despite an enforcement investigation into the site.
The Stray Ferret reported Skipton Road Car Wash had been under investigation by North Yorkshire Council last Thursday (October 31).
Plans to open a car wash at the site were submitted to the council last December but were then withdrawn in March.
The Stray Ferret was recently alerted to claims a car wash was being set up there without planning permission.
When we asked the council, it told us no further planning applications had been lodged for the site and it had opened an "ongoing enforcement case".
A letter from the council’s planning department, seen by the Stray Ferret, said an investigation into a potential breach of planning control had been carried out and the owners of the car wash had been advised to cease operating until the relevant permissions were in place.
The letter added a revised planning application was expected and council officers would continue to monitor and investigate the site in the meantime.
The Stray Ferret noticed cars were still being washed at the site over the weekend, and signs for Skipton Road Car Wash and large flags advertising a hand car wash remained in place. The car wash remained open yesterday (November 5).
We asked the council if it was considering further action.
Trevor Watson, the council’s assistant director for planning, said yesterday:
We are working with the owners who have advised that they are in the process of submitting a planning application to keep operating the hand car wash.
In the meantime, our planning department is working with highway officers to determine whether there are any highway safety concerns. If there are, formal enforcement action will be considered.
A car at Skipton Road Car Wash on November 5.
The Stray Ferret last week called several people whose numbers were listed in connection with the site, all of whom denied any involvement with the car wash.
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