64 homes at former Knaresborough factory set for approval

A 64-home development on the site of a former factory in Knaresborough has been recommended for approval.

Developer Countryside Properties has earmarked the former Trelleborg factory on Halfpenny Lane for the houses.

The site is not allocated for housing in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, which describes where development can take place. But it is included on the council’s Brownfield Land Register, which identifies locations considered to be appropriate for redevelopment for residential use.

The original proposal was for 77 dwellings. However, a group of mature trees on the site recently received tree preservation orders, which prompted the developer to reduce the number of homes. Twenty of them would be classed as ‘affordable’.

The site has been empty since 2016.

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The application faced an objection from Knaresborough Town Council, which said

“These houses are not needed, as sufficient house building is allocated elsewhere in the Local Plan and is being delivered.”

Network Rail also raised concerns about how close the homes will be to an operational railway crossing.

However, council officer Graham Smith backed the scheme, saying it would bring a derelict site back into use whilst boosting housing in the town.

He said:

“The proposal would contribute towards ensuring the district’s housing needs are met, including the provision of 20 affordable dwellings as well as properties that are designed to be accessible and adaptable.”

Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee will consider the plans next Tuesday.

Two years on: What has ‘Think Harrogate’ achieved?

It’s now more than two years since a marketing drive to attract visitors and investors to Harrogate was launched with the backing of £45,000 in taxpayer’s money.

Think Harrogate set out to create a “brand” for the district and was supported by several businesses ready to sell Harrogate’s “story”.

But what has the project actually achieved?

That was a question put to Conservative councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, at a meeting on Wednesday.

Cllr Swift said it was “quite extensive” how much Harrogate has got for the “modest” amount of money spent on the project which has been led by Preston-based marketing firm Thinking Place.

Yet this was not a view shared by the Liberal Democrats whose councillor Chris Aldred said they had heard “very little” about Think Harrogate’s achievements.

Cllr Swift, who is also cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, responded:

“A recent Ipsos survey looking into the UK’s economic recovery from covid identified Harrogate as the third best performing city or town.

“That is a direct impact of the work of our officers and covid recovery plan, and is also part of the whole environment of what Think Harrogate is about.”

He added:

“I’ve read a few Liberal Democrat leaflets recently that claim much of this work is not worthwhile.

“I suggest that’s because they ignore the data.”

Cllr Swift said branding material produced as part of Think Harrogate had created a “clear narrative” for the district and been used in shops and on road signs, as well as part of a ‘shop local, shop safe’ campaign earlier in the Covid pandemic.

He also said the branding had been used by Harrogate Convention Centre and in a new tourism strategy led by the council’s destination management organisation.

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But Cllr Aldred argued these marketing campaigns and strategies would have still gone ahead – even without Think Harrogate.

He said:

“We would have had the destination management organisation and we certainly had a tourism industry before the wonderful Think Harrogate came along.”

In the first phases of the project, around £42,000 was spent on research on how the Harrogate district is perceived by the public and how its offer can be improved to attract more visitors and investment.

This also included consultations with businesses and residents, as well as the creation of a steering group and branding material.

A further £14,400 was spent on the project launch, printing costs, and events and classes which councillor Swift said were “very welcomed by very large numbers of people.”

He also said a Think Harrogate leadership group had met six times during 2020.

And when questioned by councillor Aldred why they had not met more, Cllr Swift said:

“I don’t know if you’re aware but there is a thing called coronavirus which stopped a lot of meetings taking place.”

Cllr Swift added:

“The funds we have spent on supporting our £4 billion economy are modest, but they are cumulatively highly effective as demonstrated by the vibrancy of our town and the return to normal from coronavirus.

“There is also the marvellous work of our destination management organisation, the convention centre, our museums, leisure facilities and 1,100 staff – all of whom collectively add to the excellent product to ensure we all Think Harrogate.”

Bishop Monkton residents fear 125 new homes will exacerbate flooding

Villagers in Bishop Monkton say climate change has led to increased flooding in their village over the past decade — and two housing developments, with a total of 125 new homes, will exacerbate the problem.

Bishop Monkton Action Group was formed two years ago to raise awareness in the village about a 98-home development on Moor Road by Alfa Homes and 25-homes by Kebbell Developments on Knaresborough Road.

The group’s members are residents Kenneth Barker, Jonathan Beer, Harvey Bigg, Martin Minett, Raj Selvarajan and Bob Upton.

Both sites in the village, which is five miles south of Ripon, were allocated for development in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, which means they are likely to be approved in some form.

But the action group is holding out hope that they will be dismissed outright because surface water at the two sites will run off into Bishop Monkton Beck, a small river that runs through the village.

Major implications

The group says freak flood events are becoming more common in the village.

One resident submitted an objection to both developments that said from 2011 to 2020 the village faced nine days of floods, which was the same as the previous 50 years combined.

A spokesperson for the action group said

“The wider cumulative impacts of these developments will have major implications to the village in our view.”

The Alfa Homes proposal

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Flood risk assessment

A flood risk assessment submitted on behalf of Alfa Homes says surface water from the development will be discharged into Bishop Monkton Beck, which the Environment Agency classes as a river.

The developer said it has factored in a 30% increase in rainfall due to climate change but the risk of flooding would remain low.

A flood assessment submitted on behalf of the smaller Kebbel Developments scheme said surface water run-off into the river “will not increase flood risk elsewhere.”

That scheme will store water in a tank before it is discharged into the river.

However, members of the action group fear the two schemes, as well as a plan to increase the number of caravans on a local holiday site, could make flood events like those seen in 2015 and 2020 worse.

The two applications have almost 300 objections between them, with many people citing fears about flooding in the village.

North Yorkshire County Council, which is the flood authority, said HBC should refuse the application on flood grounds. It said:

“[The development] will ultimately increase the risk of flooding and exacerbate an already flood prone area; potentially further jeopardising people, property and critical infrastructure.”

Mike Mulligan, director at Kebbell Developments, sent the following response:

“The site is allocated for residential development in the adopted Harrogate Local Plan and therefore the principle of development has already been established. The comments and concerns of local residents on surface water flooding are noted and our engineers are liaising with the relevant bodies on the detailed design of the on-site attenuation and drainage scheme.

“We can confirm that the surface water drainage scheme for the development will meet all the necessary requirements. The key principle of the scheme is to ensure that the surface water is attenuated on the site in a large storage tank before being slowly discharged into the Beck at an agreed discharge rate.”

Afla Homes did not send a response at the time of publication