A councillor has said Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to relocate its horticultural nursery from Harlow Hill will mean a “big, sad loss” for the area.

The authority’s cabinet met yesterday to rubber stamp buying land for a larger nursery elsewhere in the district.

The move paves the way for a sale of the current facility at Harlow Hill to a housing developer, with 62 homes mooted.

The council grows flowers for its displays across the district at the site on Nursery Lane. It also sells plants to members of the public to bring in revenue.

Officers prepared a report that does not disclose the specific location of the land the council wants to buy, citing a confidentiality exemption, only that it’s in the Killinghall and Hampsthwaite ward and is valued above £250,000.

Liberal Democrat member for Harlow & St Georges Division on North Yorkshire County Council, Michael Schofield, told the Local Democracy Service the move away from Harlow Hill will be keenly felt by residents as many have walked there to buy plants for decades. 

He said:

“You’re forcing people who live here to drive their car elsewhere. That could be detrimental and it’s not very eco-friendly.”

Read more:

• Harlow Hill and Pannal Ash residents bracing themselves for ’15 years of disruption’
• Plans for housing at Harlow Nurseries emerge
• 62 homes set to be built at council’s Harlow Nursery

Cllr Schofield is also landlord of the nearby Shepherd’s Dog pub and he decorates the pub with plants bought from the nursery.

He said many people enjoy buying plants there and walking through the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens afterwards.

He added the nursery also serves as part of a horticultural trail as it connects with RHS Harlow Carr and the charity-run nursery Horticap. He said:

“I understand what people may call progress but we have three fantastic horticultural sites all within walking distance of each other. That inspires people. Residents living here will be very sad to see it go.”

‘Need to move on’

Harlow Hill is not represented on Harrogate Borough Council after Conservative Jim Clark resigned in October. There will not be a by-election as the council will be abolished on March 31.

The council argues in the report discussed last night that a move to a larger site will enable greater commercial opportunities.

The Harlow Hill nursery is a significant earner for the council with its 2020/21 annual report stating it brought in income of £153,477.

Conservative cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, Cllr Sam Gibbs, told cabinet that the move away from Harlow Hill is “the right next step”. He said:

“We will be aware of all the good that the Harlow Hill nursery does but also its shortcomings, particularly around size and commercial opportunities going forward. Therefore, there’s a real need to move on from Harlow Hill as we look to the future.

“The land identified seems to tick all the boxes and I’m fully supportive if all other members are.”

Senior Harrogate councillors have rejected plans for a new business park in Pannal as the proposal was “not viable without significant support”.

Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet last night put the brakes on the proposals for a site off the A61 Leeds Road between the railway line and Crimple Beck.

Councillors also paused plans for a redevelopment of Dragon Road car park in Harrogate and agreed to progress with a housing plan for the Harlow Nursery site provided a new nursery is found.

It comes after council-appointed consultants BDP and Colliers undertook a study to come up with options for three brownfield sites under the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35.

Cllr Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning at the council, told a meeting last night he was not comfortable with the standard of the design for the Pannal proposal.

He said:

“The options presented, which aren’t viable without significant support, are not up to a standard design with which I can feel comfortable.

“There seems little hope to producing something to the quality that I believe the site needs. I will therefore propose that we do not progress with options for the site.”

He also recommended that the employment site be removed from the local plan “at the review stage or during the creation of a new local plan on a North Yorkshire Council geography”.

The proposed layout of the employment site along the A61 near Pannal.

An officer’s report said the site could be used for high-tech manufacturing, research and development, or business headquarters. Buildings would be up to three storeys and 5,000m sq in size.

The total office space allocated for the site was 10,000m sq alongside 31,500m sq of industrial space.

The officer’s report acknowledged that any development of the site was likely to take place after Harrogate Borough Council is abolished next spring, when the new North Yorkshire Council comes into effect.

Dragon Road redevelopment paused

Meanwhile, senior councillors also decided to pause plans for development on Dragon Road car park in Harrogate.

The site could be used to create affordable flats or extra care housing.

However, Cllr Myatt proposed that the council should ensure that “adequate parking for Harrogate Convention Centre associated vehicles take primacy over site redevelopment”.

Read more:

• 62 homes set to be built at council’s Harlow Nursery
• Plans to build 72 flats and care home in Harrogate’s Dragon Road car park
• Council could create new Pannal business park

He added that the council should “pause consideration of this site until it is clear that the Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment will be able to accommodate exhibition traffic on site”.

The cabinet did, however, approve plans to procure technical drawings and surveys into how infrastructure for the Nidderdale Greenway cycle route, which passes through the car park, could be improved.

Cllr Myatt said:

“We do certainly want to see improvements to the cycle path.

“But greater development isn’t possible until the site’s role as a car park for Harrogate Convention Centre traffic has been explored during Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment.”

Harlow Nursery housing

The council approved plans to press ahead with housing for the site at Harlow Nursery provided a replacement nursery is found.

Cllr Myatt recommended that any sale of the site was “contingent on the relocation of the existing council nursery”.

Consultants hired by the council came up with two options for the site this year. The first option was to build a mix of 57 family homes and flats. The second was to build 62 homes and flats with smaller gardens.

The Harlow Nursery site in Harrogate.

A report before councillors recommended the 62-home option and invites expressions of interest for the land before proceeding to tender for a conditional sale.

Cllr Myatt told councillors:

“On Harlow Nursery, we must make sure that a successful nursery relocation is prioritised and that should be explicitly referenced in our recommendations.”

Pinewoods Conservation Group has called on Harrogate Borough Council to be “transparent” over a housing plan amid concerns over loss of green space.

The council looks set to press ahead with plans to build on the Harlow nursery site next to the woods.

Consultants hired by the local authority came up with two options this year. The first was to build 57 homes and flats. The second was to build 62 homes and flats with smaller gardens.

A report due before councillors next week recommends the 62-home option and invites expressions of interest for the land before proceeding to tender for a conditional sale.

The nursery, where the council cultivates plants for floral displays and sells plants to the public, falls within the 96-acre woodlands known as the Pinewoods.

A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group, a charity set up to protect the area, says it has concerns over the potential loss of green space due to the need for an access route.

They said the proposals indicate that trees would be lost and have called for the authority to be transparent with the group and address the concern.

The spokesperson added:

“We were pleased by the early consultation in May 2021 but had heard nothing since on plans or feedback regarding our initial concerns. The nursery site is a key across point to the Pinewoods used by hundreds of people every week, especially local residents.

“Whilst we are encouraged by the confirmation that it seems public access will continue, there will obviously be major disruption for a substantial period, and we suspect path closures during any development works. However, this is still likely to be several years away.”

They added:

“Our main concerns raised during the consultation were around proposals to widen Nursery Lane East, from the proposed development site to Harlow Moor Road. This is currently a single width track and we understand that the highways authority were looking for two-way access with associated footpath.

“This would likely require the loss of an area of the Pinewoods with this area being a designated green space under the local plan with additional protection under the Localism Act as an asset of community value.

“The published proposals seem to indicate the building on an additional access route that would result in loss of trees and green space.

“We would encourage the council to be transparent on its plans and engage further with groups such as us to help address the concerns already being raised.”

Read more:

• 62 homes set to be built at council’s Harlow Nursery
• Plans for housing at Harlow Nurseries emerge
• Plans for new plant nursery in Harrogate progress – but council refuses to reveal location

In response to the concerns, a council spokesperson said:

“The existing horticultural nursery off Harlow Moor Road is allocated for new homes within the council’s adopted local plan. This site provides an exciting opportunity to deliver innovative, high-quality private and affordable homes to help meet the current housing demand.

“It is also hoped that this development will complement the surrounding area and provide a dedicated pedestrian and cycle tree-lined avenue at its heart.

“Any proposals for the development of the site would need to go through the formal planning process and at this stage no plans are yet to be submitted. Once an application has been submitted, community groups and members of the public will be able to share their views that will be considered through the planning process.

“If the proposal identifies any loss of trees, these will be replaced at a minimum ratio of 2:1 should the application be approved.”

Harrogate Borough Council looks set to press ahead with plans to sell land at Harlow Nurseries for housing.

The site next to the Pinewoods is owned by the council and sells plants, pots and compost to the public.

The council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, allocates 40 homes to the site. The nursery will relocate if a development goes ahead.

Consultants hired by the council came up with two options this year. The first option was to build a mix of 57 family homes and flats. The second was to build 62 homes and flats with smaller gardens.

A report due before councillors next week recommends the 62-home option and invites expressions of interest for the land before proceeding to tender for a conditional sale.

The council says the area “provides a good opportunity for sustainable, low carbon and high quality place-making”.

The report says:

“The masterplan illustrates how a bespoke, high quality, carbon efficient, housing development could be delivered at Harlow Nurseries.

“It would create a community that sits well in its setting with a dedicated pedestrian and cycle tree lined avenue at its heart.

“A mixture of dwellings is proposed totalling 62 homes including 40% affordable.”

Read more:

• Harlow Hill and Pannal Ash residents bracing themselves for ’15 years of disruption’
• Plans for housing at Harlow Nurseries emerge
• Plans for new plant nursery in Harrogate progress – but council refuses to reveal location

The plans have previously been met with anger from residents who objected to the closure of the Harlow Hill nursery where thousands of plants are grown each year for the district’s award-winning gardens.

In June, Cllr Sam Gibbs, the council’s cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, signed off £50,000 for “in-depth professional advice,” site surveys and other works to progress the replacement nursery plans.

At the time, a council spokesperson said the proposals were in the early stages and that it wanted to see whether the unnamed preferred site is “viable”.

The Stray Ferret has approached the council to ask whether it has now identified a preferred site for the existing nursery.