harrogate borough council Archives - Page 30 of 159

Retrospective plans refused after Harrogate district firm builds larger warehouse than agreed

Councillors have refused a retrospective planning application after a bathroom manufacturer in the Harrogate district built a warehouse larger than originally agreed.

Abacus Ltd was formed in 1989 and is a manufacturer and distributor of bathroom products to companies including Villeroy & Boch and Wickes.

It employs 85 people and is based at Jubilee Court on the outskirts of Copgrove, near Boroughbridge, alongside 10 other businesses.

In 2019, Abacus won permission from Harrogate Borough Council to build an extension that would see a steel warehouse erected to support the growing business.

However, the company ended up building a bigger structure than what was approved after securing two large commercial deals.

Abacus’ extension in Copgrove

The council’s planning committee met yesterday to consider a retrospective application for the larger extension as well as for a pallet store that had to be relocated elsewhere on the premises.

The application was recommended for approval by officers.

Speaking to councillors, Ian Patterson from Abacus conceded the company should have submitted new plans before starting construction but said the early months of the covid pandemic made this difficult. He said:

“We accept as bathroom manufacturers we are definitely not planning experts. We acknowledge that a material change should have been sought prior to works commencing, but timings due to the lockdown and the pressures of business didn’t enable this.”

High Court quashing

The application to retrospectively build the larger extension was originally approved by the council in October 2021 before being overturned in the High Court in February 2022 after Copgrove resident Justin Appleyard requested a judicial review of the decision.

The High Court overturned the decision because it found the council did not take into account the relocation of the pallet store in its approval.

A different retrospective permission had previously been sought for the pallet store, however, it was refused in January 2021 by the council because it said it was not adequately screened by trees.

Abacus’ plans received 51 objections with no submissions of support.

Nick Stringer, from Staveley & Copgrove Parish Council, told councillors that the company had on more than one occasion sought planning permission retrospectively after building work had already been done. He added:

“The site is in open countryside close to a beautiful medieval church and overlooks Staveley Nature Reserve which has an abundance of floral and fauna. I suggest the impact on the countryside is severe and unacceptable.”

‘Pimple on a pig’s backside’

Councillors were unconvinced by the application, in part, due to the relocation of the pallet store and its visual impact. Conservative member for Masham and Kirkby Malzeard, Nigel Simms, described it as standing out like a “pimple on a pig’s backside.” He added:

“I have no objection to the storage building being built, what I’m objecting to is the pallet store being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. The screening is not sufficient.”

The committee voted to refuse the application by 9 votes to 3. Abacus Ltd can appeal the decision.

Plans submitted for South Stainley solar farm that could power 3,000 homes

Plans have been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council to build a major solar farm in South Stainley that could power 3,000 homes.

The site north of Burton Top Farm covers 19 hectares of land and is also close to the village of Wormald Green.

If approved, it would be the second solar farm in the area, following the approval of Elgin Energy’s nearby Caton Solar Farm by HBC’s planning committee in August 2021. That site is larger and can power up to 15,000 homes.

Applicants Infraland and Boultbee Brooks say the reneweable energy facility would operate at a peak capacity of 10MW a year to help the UK meet its legal target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Solar panels would be built on three grade 3 agricultural fields, which are currently used for arable farming and for pasture.

Construction would take around 12 weeks with planning permission sought for the farm to operate for 40 years.

In a planning statement, the applicants said the farm would support HBC’s economic policies by encouraging the diversification of use for rural and agricultural areas.

The applicants set up an online consultation about the plans for residents living in South Stainley, Bishop Monkton, Burton Leanard and Markington with Wallterthwaite and sent out more than 1,000 leaflets to homes.

The web consultation garnered just nine responses, with four offering support or no objection and five against.

Caton Solar Farm

Irish renewable energy firm Elgin Energy was granted permission to build Caton Solar Farm on land the size of 70 football pitches last year. It will generate up to 48MW a year and power 15,000 homes.

The UK government sees solar as an important part of the energy mix as it attempts to reduce the country’s dependancy on foreign imports and fossil fuels.

However, applications to build solar farms on agricultural land have not always been popular with residents who might live near them.

South Stainley Parish Council is yet to issue its formal response to the Infraland and Boultree Brooks application, but last year it strongly objected to the Caton Solar Farm plans.

It said:

“The area would become sterilised from an agricultural, environmental and recreational point of view.”

Developer plans 24 homes in Summerbridge

Developers have lodged plans to build 24 homes in Summerbridge.

Nidderdale Estates Ltd submitted the proposal to Harrogate Borough Council to build the scheme on land at Braisty Wood off the B165.

It would see a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes built at the site, which is allocated for housing under the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-2035.

The developer said in documents submitted to the council:

“A high quality development is proposed that will sit comfortably within the village and the AONB setting.

“The design and detail will build upon the qualities found within the local vernacular, creating a development with a sense of identity.”

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

New Tesco supermarket would threaten future of Jennyfields Co-op, warns report

Two of the largest retailers in the country are locked in a battle over the location of a potential new Tesco supermarket in Harrogate.

Last December, Tesco submitted plans to Harrogate Borough Council for its first major supermarket in the town.

The store, off Skipton Road on the site of an old gasworks, would be 38,795 square feet and include a petrol station, 200 car parking spaces and electric vehicle charging points. Tesco says 100 jobs would be created.

Tesco argues the supermarket is needed due to the proliferation of new housing around Skipton Road and towards Killinghall.

However, less than a mile away is the Co-op, which has been attached to Jennyfield Local Centre since 1980. The Co-op claims a new Tesco would lure shoppers and damage takings.

Harrogate Borough Council commissioned consultants Nexus Planning to examine how the new Tesco would impact on the local centre.

This is because key to the Co-op’s argument is a policy in Harrogate Borough Council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which says development must not “lead to a significant adverse impact” of local centres, such as the one in Jennyfields.

Artist impression of how the Tesco will look on Skipton Road.

If it can be successfully argued Tesco would harm the centre it could give the council grounds to refuse the application.

Jennyfield Local Centre was built in the late 1970s to support the growing community on the estate and it includes a small shopping precinct and the Stone Beck pub.

The Nexus report said the new Tesco, and to a much lesser extent the new Lidl on Knaresborough Road, could divert as much as 38% of trade away from the Co-op.

The report adds that such an impact on the centre’s anchor tenant would, in turn, threaten the future of the whole local centre.

It said:

“In light of [The Co-op’s] well-below benchmark average turnover, its importance in anchoring the local centre and the potential future loss in turnover should the Tesco food store proceed, we have significant concerns in respect of the future vitality and viability of Jennyfield Local Centre as a result of the proposal.”

Tesco’s response

Tesco consultants, MRRP strongly disputed the claim the Co-op would be at risk of closure from the new supermarket, arguing that it is likely to lose just 5% of its regular trade after residents from new housing developments are taken into account.

It said the Co-op and local facilities in Jennyfields would be boosted by the hundreds of new homes that are set to be built in the area. It added:

“In these circumstances, there is not considered to be any threat of closure in relation to the Co-op, none has been asserted by its consultants, or that there is a real risk of other shop units falling vacant.”

MRRP also disputed Nexus’s claim that the Co-op acts as an anchor tenant for the local centre. It said most people visit only to shop and do not use its other units. Two are currently empty and the other is a charity shop.

On November 22, a letter sent by Louise Ford, Tesco’s town planning manager, to the council said it was “disappointed” the two consultants could not agree on the potential impact of the new store.

Ms Ford pledged that Tesco would open a mini supermarket in Jennyfield Local Centre if the Co-op closed within five years of the new Skipton Road supermarket opening.

She said:

“If the Co-op does close within five years of the Tesco store opening and remains vacant for more than six months, then Tesco would use reasonable endeavours to open a convenience format store within Jennyfield Local Centre.”

Delayed opening for temporary gym at Ripon leisure centre

The opening of the proposed £300,000 temporary gym at Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon has been delayed until the New Year.

On July 28, Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) said it had submitted a planning application to install the temporary structure on the car park next to the centre’s main entrance and added that it would open in the autumn at a date to be confirmed.

Today, an HBC spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:

“I’m led to believe the temporary gym will not require planning permission now and we’ll be looking at installing the temporary gym in the new year (date TBC).

“Ahead of opening, we’ll be making all customers/members aware.”

In the meantime, the gym located on the upper floor of the existing 1995 leisure centre where remedial ground stabilisation works are due to take place at a cost of £3.5 million will remain open.

At the time of HBC’s announcement in July, Cllr Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of the board of directors at Brimhams Active which runs the centre, said:

“We remain committed to enabling people to enjoy physical activity.

“By providing a temporary gym, while the ground stabilisation works take place, we can minimise the disruption to current and potential customers and ensure they can continue to maintain their health and wellbeing goals.”

The need for ground stabilisation works follows the discovery of a void under part of the existing leisure centre understood to have been present for a number of years.

It was discovered when the reinforced concrete slab for the new swimming pool was cast.

The temporary gym will include equipment currently available in the existing leisure and wellness centre and expert advice and guidance will be provided by members of the Brimhams Active team.

Customers will be able to use the changing and shower facilities in the new pool area – as well as the sauna and steam suite – which opened in March and group exercise classes will also continue to be provided at Hugh Ripley Hall.

Plan to create six flats above former Harrogate Orvis store

Plans have been lodged 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 Farrar would see the upper floors of the unit on West Park converted for housing.

Orvis closed its doors back in April 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.

It would see a mixture of one bedroom and two bedroom apartments created.

The developer said in documents submitted to Harrogate Borough Council that the plan would not include any extension of the building.

It said:

“It is considered that the proposed scheme responds to the constraints of the site, planning policy constraints and its heritage context and should fall within the parameters of acceptable development.”

Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Plan to convert Glasshouses pub into holiday cottage rejected

A plan to convert a former Glasshouses pub into a holiday cottage has been refused.

The Birch Tree, at Lupton Bank, closed its doors back in March 2020 due to the covid pandemic.

In plans lodged to Harrogate Borough Council, Harrogate Architectural Ltd said the site had been marketed extensively without success.

The fresh proposal would have seen the empty public house converted into a two-bedroom holiday cottage.

However, the borough council rejected the plan on the grounds that the loss of the pub was “not justified”.

In a decision notice, the authority said:

“The proposal would result in the loss of the community facility and this loss is not justified, therefore the development is in conflict with policy HP8 and part F of policy EC7 of the Local Plan.

“It has not been demonstrated that reasonable attempts have been made to actively market the land and premises in line with the requirements of policy HP8.”

The site has already seen three cottages built under a previous planning permission, with the pub reduced in size.

In planning documents for the fresh proposal, the developer said the building had been put on the market without success.

It said:

“These premises have now remained empty since March 2020 when the previous tenant walked away due to the pandemic.

“Since that time two agents have marketed the property including a specialist in selling public houses, for a period of seven months.

“Since that time the applicant has continued his own marketing, all without success.”

Developers appeal Lamb and Flag housing plan refusal

Developers have appealed a council decision to refuse plans to build five houses at the Lamb and Flag pub in Bishop Monkton.

The proposal was tabled by Carol and Trevor Pawson for the 200-year-old pub, which also had a bed and breakfast.

Harrogate Borough Council rejected plans for the pub back in May.

Now, the developers have taken the refusal to the government’s Planning Inpsectorate, which deals with planning disputes.

As part of the plan, two houses would be created by converting the pub itself and another would be created at the barn next door.

A further two homes would be built at the car park at the back of the pub.

However, council officials have refused the application on the grounds that “insufficient marketing” has been done to demonstrate that the pub could not be used for community use.

Officers added in a decision notice that two of the houses on the car park are outside the development limits.

In documents submitted to the government, the developers argued that the site was not viable for any community use.

It said:

“An independent report has confirmed there is no scope for the Appeal property to be viably run as a public house.

“The issues highlighted in that report would equally, and perhaps more so, apply to any alternative community use.

“The only realistic potential purchasers for an alternative community use project would be the parish council and Harrogate Borough Council. The property has been marketed since 2017 and at no time has either body expressed any interest in it.”

A government planning inspector will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Harrogate Hydro reopening delayed until summer

The reopening of Harrogate Hydro has been delayed until summer next year.

The swimming pool and leisure centre closed in April for an £11.8 million refurbishment.

At the time, the pool hall and changing rooms were due to re-open next month and the ‘dry side’ activity space was expected to welcome visitors in April.

The pool opening date was later pushed back until May. But in a post on its Facebook page this week the venue said it is now due to open in summer.

The facility will get a two-storey extension as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area and sauna and steam suite.

There will also be new diving board equipment, a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.

How the Hydro is looking.

The Hydro, which is run by Harrogate Borough Council-controlled leisure company Brimhams Active, said in its Facebook post that work was “well underway”. It added:

“As is often the case when refurbishing an existing building, we have discovered some additional areas of work that could only have come to light when the building was closed and a strip-out of the internal fabric had taken place.

“This includes some improvements to the fire protection of the steel frame, replacement of corroded steelwork, replacement of soffit boarding, and resolution of air leakage and heat loss between the roof and the external walls. As well as some work to ensure the building conforms to the latest legislation and is as energy-efficient as possible.

“Despite everything being done to minimise delays to the project, we now anticipate opening our doors once again next summer (date TBC). But by carrying out the work now, we will be able to ensure people across the Harrogate district can keep fit and active for many years to come.”

The Stray Ferret has asked the council if the “additional areas of work” will mean the cost of the project has risen. We have not received a response at the time of publication.

One person commented in response on Facebook about the length of time Harrogate swimmers would have to travel to Ripon to use another council pool:

“This is going to be well over a year swimmers in the north of the town have been without a pool, and ‘summer (tbc)’ isn’t inspiring me with a lot of confidence.

“Driving to Ripon (actually quicker than trying to get through traffic to Starbeck or Knaresborough) isn’t a particularly appealing prospect on a foggy/icy winter morning, nor is it very green.”

Another person said the wait would be worth it.

“Ah well a least another seven months travelling through to Ripon. If it’s going to be as good as Ripon, really looking forward to it reopening.”

The council, which will be abolished in April, is also spending £17 million on a new leisure centre in Knaresborough, which will have a six-lane swimming pool, health spa and fitness studios.

It is being built behind the existing Knaresborough Pool which will be demolished.

Get your skates on! Harrogate Christmas festivities get underway

The first skaters took to the ice and the giant Ferris wheel wheel began turning as Harrogate’s Christmas festivities got underway.

Fog lifted at noon just in time for people to get a great view of the festivities, including the 50 market stalls, ice rink and more from the top of the 32-metre Ferris wheel.

The Christmas Fayre is running with the Candy Cane Express road train from today until December 11 but many of the rides including the ice rink, ferris wheel and carousel will stay in the town centre until January 3.

Read our comprehensive guide to Harrogate’s Christmas fun here. Check out our gallery from this morning for a taste of the fun: