Decision on 1,300-home Ripon barracks scheme could be made this monthA decision on whether to build a major 1,300-home scheme on an army barracks in Ripon could be made within weeks.
The scheme, which has been submitted by government housing agency Homes England, would see houses built on Claro Barracks off Clotherholme Road.
The proposal was submitted to Harrogate Borough Council in September 2020, but has yet to be decided.
Council officials have now said the scheme could come to the authority’s planning committee this month after negotiations over NHS contributions were nearing an end.
Trevor Watson, the council’s director of economy and culture, told an overview and scrutiny commission meeting on Monday that developer contributions for health was the “last big issue” to overcome.
He said:
“We are confident that we are now approaching the final negotiations in relation to what was the last big issue that has caused a few problems.
“That is the level of contributions towards health provision. We are nearing an agreement on that, I think.
“That will allow us to bring forward the application for determination by Harrogate Borough Council at a special planning committee, we hope on February 23 and we also hope with a recommendation of approval.”
Claro Barracks
Mr Watson added the scheme was a “once in a generation opportunity” to develop a brownfield site included in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place.
Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished at the end of next month and succeeded by the new North Yorkshire Council.
The negotiations over developer contributions come after NHS managers in North Yorkshire objected to the scheme because of concerns about the amount of funding that would be provided for local healthcare.
In a letter to the council, Andrew Dangerfield, head of primary care transformation at NHS Humber & North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said the method used by Homes England to assess healthcare need as a result of the new homes was “at odds” with the NHS.
He added the developer had offered “zero” section 106 contributions to help mitigate demand as a result of increased population due to the scheme.
Read more:
Mr Dangerfield said:
“The integrated care board is concerned about Homes England’s overall approach to health, they have sought to provide zero section 106 contributions towards the provision of healthcare infrastructure on a development of significant scale (circa 3,000 people), using a methodology which is at odds with the NHS commissioners and local healthcare partners.
“The integrated care board, who has direct expert knowledge of the local surgeries in the area and is responsible for the commissioning of healthcare services have consistently outlined that the existing practices do not have capacity to absorb the population created by the 1,300 homes coming forward as part of this application, and therefore have requested mitigation in the form of a section 106 contribution.”
Mr Dangerfield added that should no contributions towards healthcare be made, then the development “cannot be considered sustainable”.
In October 2020, NHS North Yorkshire CCG – which preceded the integrated care board – said in a letter to the borough council that it was seeking £553,128 from Homes England in contributions to health.
The planned homes in Ripon will include a significant number of two and three-bedroom mid-range houses and will include apartments in the centre.
It also includes a community centre, employment space, shops, parkland, a new primary school and sports facilities.
New plans submitted for redevelopment of former Ripon timber yard site
A new planning application has been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council for redevelopment of the former North Yorkshire Timber yard on Trinity Lane in Ripon.
Site owner Red Tree Developments Ltd is seeking consent for the change of use and conversion of the former warehouse space to form 12 houses.
Approval is also requested for construction of two further dwellings on the 0.64 acre plot, which was home to a timber yard from 1860 to 2018.
The application includes plans for formation of access onto Trinity Lane, along with associated landscaping and parking provision.
In a previous application submitted in September 2020, Red Tree sought permission to demolish buildings on the site to make way for 13 new homes.
That application was refused by council planners in December 2020 and last month an appeal against the refusal decision was lodged with the government’s Planning Inspectorate.
Read more:
Planning consent was refused on the grounds that the scheme would cause “unacceptable harm” to the Ripon Conservation Area, but Jay Everett, a planning consultant who submitted the appeal on behalf of Red Tree, argued that the loss of the existing building would cause ‘less than substantial harm’ to the conservation area.
The newly-submitted application would see retention and regeneration of the former warehouse building and the design and access statement in support of the submissions, says:
“The re-submitted scheme seeks to create 14 new dwellings of a size which will make them ideally suited to a wide range of residents from professional couples to retirees.
“They will be suitably priced such that they will likely appeal to first-time buyers, while the south-facing front gardens and proximity to the local school, nursery, shopping areas and parks will also make them attractive to families.”
Council appoints contractor to design £49m Harrogate Convention Centre revampHarrogate Borough Council has appointed a contractor to draw up designs and “cost certainty” for its £49 million Harrogate Convention Centre revamp.
The authority has commissioned Hertfordshire company BAM Construction Limited to provide it with technical designs for the project at a cost of £3.3 million.
The convention centre is currently owned by Harrogate Borough Council, which will hand over ownership of the venue on April 1 to North Yorkshire Council.
Senior borough council officials have previously warned the venue could lose up to £250 million over the next 40 years unless the redevelopment is carried out.
However, there is no guarantee the upgrade will go ahead.
Following the appointment of a contractor, a spokesperson for the council said:
“Under the YORbuild3 Major Works framework, we have appointed BAM – a leading construction, facilities management and property developer with offices in Leeds – to provide the design and delivery for the refurbishment and redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre (Phase 1) to RIBA Stage 4.
“The value of this early contractor involvement contract is £3.3million and will provide us with the technical design information and cost certainty required to take us to the next stage of the proposed multi-million investment project.”
Amid the transition to the new council on April 1, the borough council required consent from North Yorkshire County Council to appoint BAM Construction.
The county council told the Stray Ferret it had consented to the award of the contract for technical designs, but any approval for construction would be made at a later date.
Gary Fielding, director for strategic resources at the council, said:
“We have given consent for the first stage of the contract to carry out extensive improvements to the Harrogate Convention Centre.
“This initial stage of the contract is intended to lead to detailed designs for the project.
“However, a further decision will need to be taken as to whether the scheme progresses to the other stages of the contract.”
Funding struggles
The move comes shortly after the borough council was dealt a blow in its efforts to fund the project.
Last month, the government rejected the authority’s bid of £20 million from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ flagship levelling up fund.
Read more:
Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of the council, said he was “disappointed” and “slightly surprised” at the decision.
Meanwhile, Richard Flinton, who will be chief executive of North Yorkshire Council, has refused to commit to the £49 million redevelopment.
Speaking at a Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting in January, he said the conference and events venue needed to be vibrant and relevant in the face of competition from a new venue in Leeds rather than “an enormous drain on public finances”.
Tesco supermarket in Harrogate set to be approved next weekHarrogate looks set to get a Tesco supermarket after a long-running saga dating back more than a decade.
The store will be built on the site of the former gasworks, off Skipton Road, and include a petrol station and 209 car parking spaces. It is expected to create about 100 jobs.
Harrogate Borough Council ‘s planning committee has been recommended to approve the plans next week, despite “significant concerns” about the impact on the nearby Co-op in Jennyfields and neighbouring shops.
In her report recommending approval, case officer Kate Broadbank says there is “real potential for the proposed Tesco store to have a significant adverse impact upon the Co-op store and the wider performance of the Jennyfield local centre”.
The report adds the cumulative impact of a new Tesco on the Co-op could be as high as -22.4% and the Co-op “acts as a key anchor to the local centre, including its wider post office offer”.
The local centre in Jennyfields
Tesco will therefore be asked to sign an agreement to use “reasonable endeavours” to open a Tesco Express at Jennyfields local centre if the Co-op closes within five years of Tesco opening and will operate this for at least five years.
Ms Broadbank’s report adds:
“A post office and pharmacy would also be required. An additional clause has also been added that requires an independent expert to determine matters should dispute arise between Tesco and the council, as to whether the replacement store can be provided.”
New footpath and cycle lane
The report says no environmental impact assessment will be necessary for the brownfield site project even though trees will be felled on the north side of Skipton Road to accommodate the creation of a new roundabout at the site entrance, where the A61 Ripon Road and A59 Skipton Road meet at New Park.
The site of the former gasworks
North Yorkshire County Council plans to widen Oak Beck Bridge in a scheme that could see six months of roadworks in the area.
The report adds:
“A continuous footpath will be provided along the northern edge of the roundabout with additional uncontrolled pedestrian refuge island crossings on the site access and the eastern arm of Skipton Road.
“A new segregated cycle lane will be provided along the south of Skipton Road from the access to the bridleway further along Skipton Road. These works will be secured by condition and a Section 106 agreement.”
The 209 parking spaces will include four click and collect spaces, six electric vehicle charging spaces, 12 blue badge spaces and nine parent and child spaces. Two motorcycle spaces and 24 cycle spaces are also provided.
£50,000 for bus services
North Yorkshire County Council has requested a contribution from Tesco for improvements to bus stops on Skipton Road and Ripon Road. Ms Broadbank’s report adds:
“North Yorkshire County Council wish to provide a new bus service in the Killinghall area as part of the bus service contribution from the housing development on Penny Pot Lane and these additional improvements would add value to the new service and help encourage sustainable travel by bus to reach the new store.
“A contribution of £50,000 (£10,000 per bus stop) is requested to help fund this service and will help provide new extended shelters with information boards, seating and where necessary raised kerbs to each carriageway.”
The report also says discussions have taken place between the applicant and Northern Gas Networks about “potential interaction” between the proposed petrol station and an existing Northern Gas Networks high pressure gas transmission pipeline located beneath the site.
It says the risk of interaction is “acceptably low”.
The site is highlighted on a planning document.
Majority opposed to scheme
The council received 82 representations about the scheme. Just 24 were supportive and 57 objected, mainly on the grounds of amenity, traffic, environmental and drainage impacts.
Ms Broadbank has recommended the project be approved subject to conditions being met. The Conservative-controlled planning committee will decide whether to accept her recommendation when it meets on Tuesday next week. The meeting will be broadcast live on the council’s YouTube page.
It will be the penultimate meeting of the planning committee before Harrogate Borough Council is abolished at the end of next month.
Ms Broadbank’s report concludes:
“In summary, the development is acceptable in principle and meets the requirements of the sequential and retail impact tests with appropriate mitigation.
“The scheme uses previously developed land and is in a sustainable location within the development limits of Harrogate.
“The design and landscaping of the buildings are appropriate for this site and impacts with regards to the residential amenity, environmental impact and highways are acceptable.
“The development will create jobs and provide social, environmental and economic benefits to the local area.
“The scheme is in accordance with the development plan policies as a whole and represents sustainable development as required by the National Planning Policy Framework.”
Tesco first secured planning permission on the site in 2012 but revived its plans in December 2021.
Read more:
Two major Harrogate housing schemes set for go-aheadTwo major housing schemes in Harrogate look set to be approved.
Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee have been recommended to back 162 new homes on Kingsley Drive and 53 houses on Knox Lane at a meeting next Tuesday (February 14).
Both applications have proved controversial with local residents.
Persimmon Homes lodged the proposal for Kingsley Drive in December after its original plan for 181 homes was met with 222 letters of objection. A prior application for 222 homes was refused.
In documents submitted to the council, Persimmon said it had reduced the size in response to comments from the authority and “other third parties”.
Read more:
Residents in the area have held long concerns about the amount of housebuilding in the area and its affect on traffic, noise, health and loss of green space.
In a report prepared in advance of next week’s meeting, council officers said the scheme would “make a valuable contribution to meeting the district’s housing need”.
Officers have recommended the scheme be deferred to the executive officer for development management and building control for approval.
The site is included in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place.
Case officer Kate Broadbank concludes:
“The detailed layout, access, landscaping, appearance and design of the proposal are acceptable and are considered compliant with the overarching policies of the development plan and national requirements.
“The proposed development will make a valuable contribution to meeting the district’s housing need. The proposal will have an acceptable impact upon the character and appearance of the area. The development constitutes sustainable development.”
Knox Lane
Councillors will also be recommended to approve plans for 53 homes on Knox Lane in Harrogate which have been submitted by developer Jomast.
The scheme has been met by opposition from residents, including campaigners Keep Knox Natural who took to Nidderdale Greenway, off Bilton Lane, dressed as woodland creatures to collect signatures for a petition last November.
Site layout for the Knox Lane scheme.
Councillors deferred the application in October last year amid concern over contamination in the area.
At the time, Cllr Robert Windass, a Conservative who represents Boroughbridge, said much more work was needed on the proposals which he described as “wrong, wrong, wrong”. He said:
“I’ve heard nothing from the developers or our officers that would make me wish to support this application.
“Unless I feel the applicant has done a proper contamination assessment and got a full report when it comes back to this committee, I’m afraid I won’t be supportive.”
However, council officials have now said in a report prepared in advance of next week’s meeting the “applicant has provided additional information in respect of potential ground contamination”.
Councillors have been recommended to approve the proposal subject to conditions being agreed.
The report, compiled by case officer Andy Hough, says:
“The development of the site, which has been extensively amended and reduced since submission, will contribute towards the district’s housing need across the plan period.
“The site is located within a sustainable location for housing and has been designed in such a way that the layout takes into account the constraints of the site, whilst ensuring that it retains and builds upon the natural features of the site.
“The scheme provides a new pedestrian route through the site utilising the new green infrastructure to link directly into Knox Country Park, reducing the length of the Nidderdale Way, passing through the housing areas in Bilton.”
The Conservative-controlled planning committee will vote next week whether to accept the officers’ recommendations for the two housing schemes.
The meeting can be watched live at the council’s Civic Centre or on its YouTube channel.
Developer withdraws former Harrogate Orvis store flats planA developer has withdrawn plans to create six new flats above the former Orvis store in Harrogate.
The proposal lodged by York-based Balance Planning Solution Ltd on behalf of Andrew Farr would have seen the upper floors of the unit on West Park converted for housing.
Orvis closed its doors back in April 2022 after 25 years of trading in the town.
The plan would see part of the ground floor unit converted for access to the apartments, along with an entrance to the back of the building next to the Coach House flats on Robert Street.
However, the developer has since withdrawn the application.
It comes despite supportive comments from Harrogate Borough Council’s economic officers and Harrogate Civic Society.
Rebecca Micallef, economy and transport officer at the authority, said in a letter:
“Upper floor residential at this location will add to the vibrancy of the town, supporting both the daytime and evening economy.”
Meanwhile, Henry Pankhurst, of the civic society, said:
“The civic society has for many years – decades actually – supported the use or better use of unused or underused upper floors of town centre premises, especially residential use.”
Read more:
New canopy and benches installed in Harrogate’s Valley GardensA new canopy and picnic benches have been installed in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.
Harrogate Borough Council put in the facilities, which cost £25,000, as part of its annual maintenance programme.
The council said the existing benches were in need of repair.
It added the new seats and canopy would “ensure visitors have adequate seating and shelter from not only the rain and snow but also the hot weather”.
A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said:
“Valley Gardens receives more than four million visits per year, and the new picnic benches have been installed to replace the existing ones that were in disrepair, as part of our annual maintenance programme.
“To celebrate these new additions to Valley Gardens we are hosting a treasure hunt on Tuesday 14 February between noon and 4pm. The first 240 children to complete the treasure hunt will receive a free ice-lolly.”
Read More:
Knaresborough Castle could host more events as new era dawnsKnaresborough Castle could stage more large scale public events in the wake of major political changes.
North Yorkshire Council will assume control of the castle when Harrogate Borough Council ceases to exist at the end of next month.
Councillor Carl Les and Richard Flinton, who will be leader and chief executive respectively of North Yorkshire Council, are due to visit the town on February 15 when they will discuss the future of the medieval fortress.
There was optimism at last night’s meeting of Knaresborough and District Chamber that the change of ownership could herald a bright new era for the castle, which was seized by Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarian troops in 1644 during the Civil War.
Knaresborough Castle, which overlooks the River Nidd, will be the only castle in the county controlled by North Yorkshire Council and there is a feeling among chamber members that the new leadership will be open to fresh ideas — including holding more events at the site.
Chamber member Bill Taylor told the meeting:
“The castle is massively under-utilised. I’ve been in Knaresborough 24 years and can only remember four or five big events.”
Peter Lacey, executive member of the chamber, said the key issue was to extend the lease on the land, which is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster.
Mr Lacey said the current lease is due to expire in about eight years and it was difficult to plan how to use the site until North Yorkshire Council negotiated an extension.
He added Knaresborough had “lots of willing partners” keen to work with the new council on initiatives at the castle and its grounds.
Read more:
Cllr Les has said the new council will champion “double devolution” by giving powers to local areas.
He previously said:
“We believe this double devolution which passports powers from Whitehall to the town hall and the town hall to the village hall is an exciting prospect.
“We are seeking more powers from the government, but we want more powers to be devolved to the very local area as well. We want to bring people together to get more things done at a local level.”
Mr Lacey said:
“When Carl Les says the council has the ambition to be the most local as well as the largest unitary council in the country, we will take him at his word.
“Knaresborough has been a spoke of Harrogate Borough Council for many years and now we want to become our own hub.”
Homelessness ‘significantly increased’ amid cost of living crisis, says Harrogate council officialHousing officials at Harrogate Borough Council say the number of people presenting as homeless has “significantly increased” amid the covid pandemic and cost of living crisis.
Maggie Gibson, housing needs manager at the authority, told a council overview and scrutiny commission that officers had seen a large amount of people who were in a “higher level of financial difficulty”.
It comes as the housing department has forecast an overspend of £170,000 due to an increase use of bed and breakfast accommodation amid a lack of temporary homes.
Ms Gibson said the council had started to see more people citing financial difficulties as their primary reason for approaching the service.
She said:
“As a backlash of the pandemic, what we are seeing is people who are in a higher level of financial difficulty.
“So whereas we may have experienced problems with affordability, we have a larger amount of people coming forward with that being their primary issue as to why they are approaching our service.
“What we also have is parents who have older children who are now living in their households, they have been struck by the additional costs associated with gas and electric. They want a contribution and maybe those older children don’t want to contribute.
“Therefore, we have those people now approaching our service.”
Read more:
The comments come as the Stray Ferret revealed last month that the council had spent £25,000 a month on temporary hotels and bed and breakfasts for homeless people.
The council, which has a statutory duty to prevent homelessness, is paying individual hotels up to £126 a night because its hostels are full.
Ms Gibson said housing officers were now seeing a “different picture” of homelessness due to the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
She said:
“I think it’s a very different picture that we are looking at. Whereas we might have been looking at affordability on it’s own, we have now got affordability coupled with health issues – both mental and physical – which have an impact on where the person is next accommodated.
“If our temporary accommodation is not available and we are using bed and breakfast accommodation – and that will be in extreme situations – it may well be that we are waiting then with a person in bed and breakfast until a vacancy becomes available again in the hostel.”
Developer withdraws plan for 55 retirement homes in Kirk HammertonA developer has withdrawn plans for 55 retirement homes and a community hub in Kirk Hammerton.
SageHaus Living, which is based in the Isle of Man, submitted the proposal to Harrogate Borough Council for land off Station Road in the village.
The proposal would have seen 55 park homes built along with a hub, which would be open for the community to use for meetings and other activities.
SageHause Living, which acquired the site known as Carlton Fields in 2021, said in documents submitted to the council that scheme would help bring more retirement accommodation to the district, while also being environmentally friendly.
However, the developer has since withdrawn the application.
Read more:
In a letter to the council from Kirk Hammerton Parish Council, the authority objected to the proposal on the grounds of highways, public transport and amenity concerns.
It also added that it had concern that the plan was outside the development boundary.
A visual of the community hub planned for the Kirk Hammerton site.
The council said:
“The majority of the land to be developed is outside the Development Limit shown in the current version of the Local Plan for the Harrogate district.
“There are some aspects of the proposals which, despite this, are attractive (the carbon neutral/negative nature of the development, the focus on retirement properties).
“There are, however, some disadvantages to the arguments put forward in the application to justify a development outside the permitted limits.”
In a letter to the council, Spring Planning, agents for SageHause, said it wished to withdraw the proposal in order to consider comments made about the scheme.