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North Yorkshire Council has proposed building an extra care housing scheme on land at Cardale Park in Harrogate.

The authority purchased the three-acre site in on Beckwith Head Lane in January 2022 for £1.8 million.

The land was previously owned by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the district.

Now, the council has launched a survey on creating an extra care housing scheme on the site.

Extra care housing is specialist housing designed for older people. It offers help with personal care and household chores and is designed to give residents independence.

The authority said the project could become an “asset to the local community” in light of the extensive housebuilding planned for the west of Harrogate.

In its survey, it said:

“We acknowledge that the site, at present, is fairly remote, however, the proposed plan for local development includes building over 1,200 new homes, a primary school, a cricket pitch, a football hub and community woodland space, creating a vibrant surrounding community hub, with the extra care scheme becoming an asset to the local community, providing affordable housing for older people in an idyllic rural location.”

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The deadline for the council’s survey is November 29.

The land was previously given approval for a 36-bed mental health facility on the site, following the closure of Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Unit, which helped adults with mental illness.

However, those plans were dropped in 2019 and inpatients on the unit were sent to Foss Park Hospital in York instead.

‘No timeline’ for £1.8m care facility at Cardale Park

Council officials have said no timeline has been set on proposals for land at Cardale Park in Harrogate which was purchased to provide care services.

The three-acre site on Beckwith Head Road in Harrogate was previously owned by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the district.

North Yorkshire County Council, which has now been replaced by North Yorkshire Council, completed a £1.8 million purchase of the land last year.

At the time, the authority said it had bought the site in order to progress a “scheme to assist with social care market development in the Harrogate area”.

In February, the council said it was “examining the best options” for the site.

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council whether it had any timescales for bringing forward a proposal for the site.

Richard Webb, the council’s director of health and adult services, said:

“We cannot at this stage provide you with a timeline as we are still in the process of examining the best options for meeting the community’s needs and will bring forward a scheme in due course.”

The land was previously given approval for a 36-bed mental health facility on the site, following the closure of Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Unit, which helped adults with mental illness.

However, those plans were dropped in 2019 and inpatients on the unit were sent to Foss Park Hospital in York instead.

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Administrators reveal state of Harrogate firm Amovc’s finances

Administrators have revealed the state of failed Harrogate firm Amvoc’s finances.

The telemarketing company, which was based at Cardale Park, collapsed and was placed into administration in March this year.

Staff were left shocked on March 17 when they received a late night email from chief executive Damian Brockway saying “all our offices are closed with effect from tonight”. It went on to blame “covid debts”.

A statement of affairs published by administrators Lewis Business Recovery and Insolvency showed the company owes £546,534.71 to preferential creditors against assets of £302,802.63.

This includes wage arrears, holiday pay and pension contribution arrears.

The company also owes £1.2 million to HMRC, which is classed as a “second preferential creditor”.

It also has £868,267 worth of unsecured creditors.

Hemel Hempstead-based data marketing firm, Aura Media Group, is owed £154,467.38 and is among the highest creditors on the list.

Founded in 2010

Mr Brockway set up Amvoc, the trading name of A Marketing Vocation Ltd, from a small office in Dacre in 2010. It sold telemarketing services, initially in the legal sector, and grew rapidly, moving first to Pateley Bridge and then to large offices at New York Mills near Summerbridge.

It opened a new head office on Cardale Park in Harrogate in 2015, a facility in Leeds in 2018 and an office in Manchester in 2022.  It also had plans to expand to London.

Amvoc’s clients included BP, Barclays, Virgin Media, Leeds Beckett University, and both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.

When the Stray Ferret tried to contact Mr Brockway following the collapse of the company, an immediate email response said:

“I regret to inform you that Amvoc has been forced to cease trading with immediate effect due to financial difficulties.

“We understand that this news may come as a shock to many of you, and we want to assure you that we are doing everything possible to manage the situation.

“We are in the process of contacting all our staff, clients and partners to inform them of the situation and provide any necessary information. We apologise for any inconvenience or disruption this may cause, and we are committed to minimising the impact on our stakeholders as much as possible.”

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Its website said it employed 450 staff but the Stray Ferret believes the figure at the time the company collapsed was under 300.

Twenty-three former employees found work with Brighton-based One-Family, which was a former customer of Amvoc.

Meanwhile, Law firm Atticus said in the days after Amvoc’s collapse it had been contacted by 145 former employees.

The law firm said it was investigating the circumstances of the company’s collapse and concerns around how the redundancy process was managed, as well as whether ex-staff are eligible to claim for compensation.