New Dene Park council houses the most energy efficient in North YorkshireFive new homes in Harrogate are the most energy efficient properties ever developed by North Yorkshire Council, the local authority said today.
The three houses and two flats, which have been built on the site of a former car park in Dene Park, in the Woodfield area of Bilton, have air source heat pumps, solar panels, triple glazing and insulation.
The homes, which were developed for £1 million as part of a council scheme to turn redundant land into social housing, will be let to local people.
The scheme sees the council in-house development team obtain unused land, dilapidated garages and anti-social behaviour hotspots, then build properties and let them as social housing.
The Harrogate homes are the latest in more than 50 to be built on in the former Harrogate and Craven district areas over the last eight years.
The largest house will produce 0.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, compared to an average home creating six tonnes.
Cllr Simon Myers, the council’s Conservative executive member for housing, said:
“This scheme is delivering new social rented affordable homes which make a big difference to the lives and well-being of local families. It is a scheme that has been running in Harrogate and Craven for many years and we hope to expand it across the county.
“Added to that these new homes in Harrogate are the most energy efficient we have developed, reducing fuel and lighting costs for the tenants, making them truly affordable homes.”
Cllr Simon Myers (centre) outside the new Harrogate homes with the council’s assistant director of housing, Andrew Rowe (left) and corporate director for community development, Nic Harne.
Kirsty Birbeck, manager for provider management at government housing agency Homes England, which contributed a £225,000 grant, said:
“As the government’s housing and regeneration agency, increasing the supply of quality affordable homes remains one of our key objectives and we are committed to supporting ambitious housebuilders of all sizes to build those homes and communities.
“This investment through the affordable homes programme does just that, enabling North Yorkshire Council to build five much needed new homes the people of Harrogate can be proud of.”
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Council to bid for government funding to progress Harrogate social housing schemesNorth Yorkshire Council is set to bid for government funding to progress five social housing schemes in the Harrogate district.
The authority is set to apply for a grant from Homes England to help fund the projects, which include new build houses and conversion of a former Robert Street homeless hostel.
In a report due before senior councillors on Tuesday, council officers said the move would help to meet “huge demand” for social rented housing in Harrogate.
Currently, the council has 2,196 households on its housing waiting list in Harrogate alone.
Vicky Young, the council’s housing policy and strategy officer, said in her report:
“The tenure of the new build units will be social rent.
“There is huge demand for social rented accommodation in the Harrogate locality, with 2,196 households currently registered on the Harrogate waiting list.”
Among the projects in the councils bid include new build homes on Poplar Grove and Gascoigne Crescent in Harrogate, Springfield Drive in Boroughbridge and Kingsway in Huby.
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Each of the homes are estimated to cost £375,000 to construct.
Meanwhile, the council also estimates that a plan to convert Cavendish House on Harrogate’s Robert Street into six flats would cost £400,000.
The former homeless hostel will be converted into a shared ownership property.
Councillors approved the conversion of the hostel in September. At the time, the council said in a report that the property would help to deliver “much needed affordable housing”.
It said:
“The building has been empty since November 2021. As such, it has a negative impact on residential amenity and increasingly risks attracting anti-social behaviour.
“The development proposals will deliver much needed affordable accommodation in a redundant building and a highly sustainable location, complying full with national and local planning policy guidance.”
The bid to Homes England would help towards 30% of the total cost of the five schemes.
According to the report, the projects would cost £1.9 million to build.
Senior councillors will discuss the bid at a council executive meeting on October 17.
Homes England earmarks £10m for major Ripon housing site contributionsA total of £10 million has been budgeted to cover items in a Section 106 agreement being drawn up by Homes England for the 1,300-home Clotherholme development at the Ripon Barracks site.
The money will fund a number of areas, including off-site highway adjustments and contributions towards primary and secondary education provision and primary healthcare.
In addition, under the legally-binding agreement, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, is required to put a strategy in place to “secure military heritage within the site”.
On Monday, Homes England project manager Martin Wilks and senior planning and enabling manager David Rowlinson, met with city councillors to provide a progress report on the major scheme, that will eventually increase Ripon’s population by 20%.
In February, Harrogate Borough Council planning committee said it was minded to grant planning consent for the Clotherholme scheme and Mr Wilks, pointed out:
“The next stage on the planning process is to present the Section 106 agreement to North Yorkshire Council for approval.”
He added:
“The Section 106 monies have been set at £10 million to cover areas including off-site traffic interventions and contributions to education provision,”
The 21 Regiment of the Royal Engineers is scheduled to vacate the site by March 2026 and enabling works for the homes development will start in 2025.
In the meantime, Homes England is drawing up a sustainable drainage plan for the scheme with Yorkshire Water and working on a design guide for the development with Ripon Civic Society.
Meetings have been held with Ripon Military Heritage Trust regarding the protection and preservation of historically-important buildings and bridges on the site and a further meeting with them is planned for November 7.
Matters raised by councillors included the significance of the site’s rich military Heritage, increased traffic generation and the impact it will have on the city’s roads infrastructure and the additional strain that an increase in population will put on healthcare provision.
In view of the number of issues put forward, it was agreed that Mr Wilks and Mr Rowlinson will hold further meetings with councillors to focus on specific concerns that they have in relation to the development.
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Employees to get little from Ilke Homes settlement, document revealsA new document published by the administrators of failed housebuilder Ilke Homes has revealed that its debts are far greater than previously believed, and that employees stand to gain little from any settlement.
Ilke Homes collapsed into administration in June, causing the loss of 1,100 jobs and leaving a long list of creditors wondering when they might get any money back – and how much they might receive.
A Statement of Affairs published on the government’s Companies House website two weeks ago appeared to show that the company left debts of about £320 million, but it transpires that that figure applied only to Ilke Homes Limited (IHL), which is one of three companies currently in administration by AlixPartners.
The other two, Ilke Homes Land Limited (IHLL) and Ilke Homes Holdings Limited (IHHL), were part of the same operation and have also left debts, of £52.8 million and £23.9 million respectively.
The total combined sum of the three companies’ debts amounts to £397.95 million.
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The document also details how much various creditors are likely to receive. For example, IHL owes 1,061 employees a total of £724,614 in the form of holiday pay and pension arrears – an average debt of £683 per person – but the statement lists this debt as being payable at “nil” pence in the pound, meaning they will get nothing.
By contrast, secured creditors will receive the full amount owed to them. For example, IHL is expected to repay the whole of its £221,000 debt to Barclays Bank, but none of its £2.2 million debt to HMRC. In all, it is expected to repay £326,000, or just 0.1%, of its £321 million total debt.
IHLL is expected to repay its debts to secured creditors Redlawn Land Ltd (£7.7 million) and Barclays Bank (£5.4 million) in full. Claims from HMRC of £279,743 and from former employees of £43,258 are also expected to be paid in full, but other unsecured creditors are expected to receive just £694,000 of the £39.4 million they are owed.
In the case of IHHL, the amounts of repayments to unsecured creditors, who are collectively owed nearly £23.9 million, are listed as “uncertain”.
The three Ilke companies collectively owe Homes England £68.7 million, a sum which appears on all three of their balance sheets due to a system of cross-guarantees. Of this debt, IHL will repay £105,000, IHLL will repay £1.005 million, and IHLL will repay just £30,000. In total, Ilke will repay just £1.14 million of its £68.7 million debt to the government agency.
In all, the three Ilke Homes companies are expected to pay off £15,478,001 of their debts – or just 2.9% of the total.
This story was updated on September 20. A previous version wrongly stated that Ilke’s total debts exceeded half a billion pounds. This was because the £68.7 million that Ilke owes to Homes England appears as a liability on the balance sheets of all three Ilke companies, as they have all guaranteed it, and so was counted three times instead of just once.
Ripon military heritage trail plans backed by city councilRipon councillors have given their unanimous backing to proposals for a heritage trail focused on the city’s unique military history.
At Monday’s full council meeting, Guy Wilson and Jane Furse of Ripon Military Heritage Trust, provided an update on work that the charity is doing in a bid to save buildings and bridges at the the Ripon barracks site, where Homes England has planning consent to build the 1,300 homes development known as Clotherholme.
The trust wants to ensure that heritage structures that tell the story of the crucial role that Ripon played in World War II and the Cold War are not destroyed.
These include a number of rare huts on the Deverell Barracks section of the site that date back to 1939 and are among only a handful still in existence.
The trust wants to preserve seven of the huts for future relocation to a site next to the Laver Banks training area.
But to do this, they need approval for the buildings to to be dismantled and kept in the storage depot at Deverell Barracks.
The trust’s plan also involves the phased development of a military heritage centre alongside countryside trails which will interpret the city’s unique military heritage, while providing a gateway to the Clotherholme scheme.
Trust chair Mr Wilson said:
“We have presented our ideas to Homes England and are now seeking the support of the city council.”
Councillor Stuart Flatley said:
“These plans are mind blowing for Ripon. Military history is massive and this has to be good for the whole community.”
Councillor Pauline McHardy added:
“This is a wonderful idea. Many people who live in Ripon used to serve at that site and have a lasting connection to it.”
The proposals were welcomed by city council leader Andrew Williams, who said:
“We share the aspirations of Ripon Military Heritage Trust and will continue to offer it our full support.”
It was agreed that North Yorkshire Council planners will be called upon by the city council to ensure that heritage infrastructure on site is protected and preserved.
Priceless military heritage to be protected at Ripon development siteFears that priceless elements of Ripon’s rich military heritage could be flattened to make way for the 1,300-home Clotherholme scheme have been allayed.
Jane Furse, a trustee of the Ripon Military Heritage Trust, which has plans to create heritage trails on the development site, told the Stray Ferret:
“We were concerned that some extremely rare huts on the Deverell Barracks part of the site, and other historically important structures, would be demolished, but I’m relieved to say that this will not be the case.
“These huts are among the few surviving of their kind in the UK and help to tell the story of the vital national and international role that Ripon’s Royal Engineers played in just about every aspect of World War II and subsequent conflicts.
“This included training British and allied troops in the erection and use of Bailey Bridges in theatres of war such as Sicily and France and bomb disposal, that saved the lives of civilians and military personnel around the world.”
Minutes of Harrogate Borough Council’s February 23 planning meeting at which Homes England was seeking outline approval to progress development of the huge Clotherholme scheme, confirm that the huts and other structures will have protection.
Under the provisions of a Section 106 agreement the developer is required to put in place a strategy to ‘secure military heritage within the site.’
Jane Furse of Ripon Military Heritage Trust pictured at the barracks site
The planning meeting minutes also say:
“Prior to the commencement of works to each phase of development, a record (including photographs, drawings and summary of historic analysis) shall be made of a representative selection of buildings with military heritage on site and shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority. Copies of this record shall be placed on the North Yorkshire Historic Environment Record.”
Ms Furse, an architectural historian and former inspector of historic buildings with English Heritage (now Historic England) pointed out:
“Inclusion within the S 106 agreement means that the significance of military heritage assets at the site has been formally recognised and that is very welcome news.
“It means that we can go forward, in liaison with Homes England and other parties, to progress plans for military heritage trails at Clotherholme that alongside other heritage attractions, will add to the city’s development as a tourist destination.”
Bomb disposal and the American connection
The wooden huts at Deverell Barracks are of heritage importance, because they are identical to ones that were located at the nearby Harper Barracks which became the home of the Royal Engineers’ School of Bomb Disposal in 1941.
Setting up of the national school in Ripon, soon saw Royal Engineers based in the city providing vital training and passing on know-how to the Americans, in the wake of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour, the USA naval base.
Ms Furse said:
“The Royal Engineers sought out examples of every known enemy bomb and developed countermeasures to defuse them. The School developed a rigorous training programme in bomb identification and disposal methodology.
“The Americans, although aware of the threat of unexploded bombs, had no proper procedures for safe disposal and the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbour on December 7 1941, meant that for the first time, they were faced with unexploded bombs scattered throughout their bases and the harbour.
“On December 9, the British Military Attache’s office in Washington received a request for a joint personnel exchange – an early example of the ‘special relationship’ between ourselves and the USA.
“A group of eight hand-picked American soldiers headed by Major Thomas J Kane, travelled to Ripon to train with the Engineers, arriving on February 1 1942.
“After six weeks of attending lectures and demonstrations, all of the U.S. Army ordnancemen passed the course and were made honorary Royal Engineers – they were even given official RE patches and allowed to wear them on the sleeves of their American uniforms.”
The expertise gained from the Royal Engineers in Ripon subsequently saw Major Kane set up the USA’s first Bomb Disposal School in Maryland.
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200-home Pannal Ash scheme ‘fails to address infrastructure’, say residentsA plan for 200 homes at Harrogate’s former police training centre “fails to address” increased pressure on infrastructure in the area, say residents.
The plans from Homes England and Countryside Properties include the conversion of several former training centre buildings into 16 homes and building 184 new properties.
Homes England, which is the government’s housing agency, already had permission to build 161 homes on the site but wanted to increase this by 23% to 200 homes by building on three planned football pitches and one cricket field.
Harrogate Borough Council granted outline permission for the scheme to go ahead in December 2021.
But Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association has criticised the plan.
In a letter to the council, the group raised concern over the “over-intensification” of affordable housing, the impact on carbon emissions and disruption caused by construction traffic.
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Hapara added the proposal did not address how the increased pressure on infrastructure will be addressed.
It said:
“Disappointingly, this application, like many others, fails to specifically address the increased pressure that will be placed on infrastructure. Where do children go to be educated when schools in the vicinity are already at capacity?
“Where will people receive primary medical care when there are no doctors’ surgeries in the area?
“Will people really catch a bus into town rather than take their cars when the nearest stop is 1km away?”
Homes England appointed Countryside Properties in a £63 million contract to build the homes and a reserved matters application has now been submitted for the scheme.
This includes details such as landscaping, how the homes will look, and the site layout.
The developers said in a planning statement that the scheme will be of “high quality”.
It said:
“Careful consideration has been given to the detailed design of the proposal to ensure that it creates a high-quality and distinctive development that establishes a strong sense of place and provides an attractive and comfortable place to live.”
Plans approved for 1,300 homes at Ripon BarracksCouncillors have approved plans to build 1,300 homes at Ripon’s army barracks, subject to conditions.
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee met this afternoon to consider an application from government housing agency Homes England, which has been developing the plans for several years alongside the Ministry of Defence.
Councillors were split over the scheme’s impact on roads in the city as well as whether historical military buildings on the site, which were used during both world wars, would be protected.
Votes were tied at six for and six against supporting the officer’s recommendation to defer the plans to officers to approve, subject to conditions.
This meant the committee’s chair, the Conservative councillor for Harrogate St Georges, Rebecca Burnett, cast the deciding vote to see the plans passed.
Clotherholme
The military is set to vacate the site in 2026 but phased work will now begin.
The housing scheme is called Clotherholme and also includes a new primary school, sports pitches, retail, food and drink units, and a 60-bed care home.
The site is home to the Royal Engineers and consists of Deverell Barracks to the east, Claro Barracks to the west and Laver Banks to the south.
Homes England says 3,000 people will live there to increase the population of Ripon by a fifth, although this does not take into account the loss of military personnel who have lived in the community for decades.
It’s expected that all the homes would be built by 2035 and 30% will be classed as affordable.
No new road
Campaigners have long raised fears about the impact on local roads and there have been calls to include a relief road via Galphay Road, but this was rejected.
Access to the site would be from Clotherholme Road and Kirkby Road.
Homes England undertook traffic studies that predicted queues and delays at existing junctions if the homes were built, so changes to the Low Skellgate, Coltsgate Hill and Clock Tower junctions have been proposed as part of 28 alterations to the existing road network.
A new roundabout would also be created at the junction of Kirkby Road and Chatham Road.
‘Hell to drive through’
Liberal Democrat county councillor Barbara Brodigan spoke on behalf of Ripon Spa Residents’ Action Group against the plans.
Cllr Brodigan said she was not against the site being developed but objected to the number of homes proposed. She said a relief road should be built to accommodate any increase in traffic. She said:
“The city was founded 600 years ago and the layout of its streets and centre has hardly changed. It’s pretty to look at, but hell to drive through.
“The layout of the city’s streets was not designed for cars but for horses and carts and people on foot.”
A computer generated image of how Chatham Road and Napier Street in Ripon would look under the plans
Ripon Independent councillor for Ure Bank, Sid Hawke, said there was a question mark over the traffic surveys undertaken by the developer. He said:
“Have you been up Clotherholme Road at peak times? It’s absolute mayhem, you’re talking about putting 1,300 houses up there. Thats 2,000 cars on that road.”
David Rowlinson, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said highways and transport had been a “key issue” that Homes England and the MoD had worked through whilst developing the scheme. He said:
“We’re not new to this site, we’ve been working on it for five years. We’ve looked at this very thoroughly and worked with North Yorkshire County Council’s highways department to get their on-the-ground views.
“We feel we’ve robustly assessed the impacts and come up with the best solution possible for Ripon.
“North Yorkshire County Council has confirmed there is no defensible reason to refuse the application on highways and transport grounds.”
Military history
The barracks were originally built as a convalescent camp for troops during the First World War.
Thousands were housed there, including the wartime poet Wilfred Owen, who wrote some of his famous works there.
Jane Furse, on behalf of the Ripon Military Heritage Trust, asked councillors to defer the plans until a strategy had been produced that protected from demolition two training bridges and a hut, which has been called one of the best-surviving Second World War-era prefab structures.
However, the bridges and the hut are not protected under planning laws.
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Ms Furse gave a history of the military’s involvement at the site spanning two world wars and the Cold War.
She added:
“We request robust, enforceable conditions are imposed to protect our internationally significant heritage.”
Historic England raised “strong concerns” over the demolition of the hut but it has been decided that it can’t be retained because of asbestos, which HBC officer Andy Hough called “extremely regrettable”.
Homes England said it is committed to working with Ripon Military Heritage Group on studies to resolve what happens to the buildings.
Mr Rowlinson said:
“We give a commitment that until issues are resolved and a strategy is developed, structures will not be destroyed.
“We’re happy to do that, we need to work through the process with the group.”
‘Evidence-based decision’
The Conservative councillor for Ripon Spa and cabinet member for housing, Mike Chambers, who is also a former serviceman, said he supported “the majority” of the scheme but there are “clear issues” with the traffic assessment, so he would not be supporting the proposal.
Cllr Chambers claimed the changes to the Low Skellgate junction, banning right turns, “will only seek to exacerbate the situation”.
Conservative council leader Richard Cooper, who was on the planning committee today as a substitute, said rejecting the plans on transport grounds would risk a costly appeal.
In 2022, HBC had to pay £25,000 in costs after the authority was taken to appeal over its rejection of the Leon drive thru on Wetherby Road. Cllr Cooper said:
“You go and sit before an appeal and say to them ‘I drove down that road once and it was busy’, they’ll laugh at you.
“They did it with the Leon application, they laughed at us because there was no evidence to back up a refusal on traffic grounds and we lost the cost of the appeal because of that.”
Cllr Cooper added:
“If we aren’t a planning committee that bases our deliberations upon evidence, then we arent fit to be a planning committee at all. All our decisions should be evidence-based.”
The applicant has agreed to pay £4,694,875 to North Yorkshire County Council to go towards local primary and secondary schools.
It will also pay £907,267 to the NHS to support healthcare facilities.
Developer apologises for debris in River Crimple at SpofforthA housing developer has apologised after debris from its site near Harrogate entered a nearby waterway.
Polystyrene and plastic from the 72-home Yorkshire Housing site at Spofforth was floating in the River Crimple in the village over the weekend.
Yorkshire Housing was granted permission to build the homes at Massey Fold in October 2021 after a long-running campaign by some villagers against the development.
Litter strewn across the river and the nearby area. Pic: @spofforthmark
The organisation, which owns and manages about 20,000 homes, said in a statement:
“On Friday, some insulation blew open in the high winds and broke up. The contractor notified the Environment Agency straight away to let them know what had happened.
“Because of the stormy weather over the weekend it wasn’t safe to retrieve and clear-up the debris until this morning. We’re working quickly to do this.
“Windy weather isn’t an excuse and this shouldn’t have happened. We’ve discussed this with the contractor who will ensure any loose materials are secure to prevent this happening again.”
Signs on site say the development, known as Bridgewell, will consist of two, three and four-bedroom homes built in partnership with construction company the Jack Lunn Group and the non-departmental housing agency Homes England.
Villager Mark Lee raised concerns about the incident on social media.
Conservationist Keith Wilkinson, who is chairman of Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership and honorary secretary of Bilton Conservation Group, said the incident reinforced the need to look holistically at problems associated with Harrogate’s three rivers — the Nidd, Crimple and Oak Beck.
Mr Wilkinson said contamination from the Nidd tributaries inevitably impacted on the Nidd itself and therefore it would be better to adopt a more strategic view to managing water quality.
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1,300-home Ripon housing scheme set to be approvedA scheme to build 1,300 homes on historic army barracks in Ripon looks set to be approved next week.
Harrogate Borough Council officers have recommended its planning committee gives the scheme the go-ahead when it meets on Thursday.
If councillors vote to accept the recommendation, it will see Ripon’s population increase by almost 20%, with an estimated 3,000 people expected to occupy the new homes.
Building work is likely to continue until 2035 and 30% of homes would be deemed ‘affordable’.
The 85 hectare-scheme would also include a new primary school and sports pitches as well as shops, restaurants and offices that could support up to 678 jobs.
However, there are concern about the impact on health services, the road network and the loss of key sites of military history.
The report to councillors concludes:
“The proposed development will deliver a range of significant public benefits that demonstrate compliance with adopted policies and the aspirations of the Ripon Neighbourhood Plan.”
Payments for health and schools
Applicants the Secretary of State for Defence and Homes England, a non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England, which are behind the proposal, have agreed to pay a minimum of £907,267 for health care facilities as part of a section 106 agreement developers pay to fund infrastructure costs associated with their schemes.
The agreement would also see the developers pay £2.7 million for primary school education and £1.9 million for secondary school education.
A two-form primary school with a playing field would be built on the site.
A computer generated image of the proposed Ripon barracks site.
Development would take place on the sites of Claro Barracks, Laver Banks and Deverell Barracks, which played key roles in the First and Second World Wars.
The report acknowledges “strong concerns” over the demolition of Deverell Barracks, which according to the non-departmental public body Historic England contains buildings that make it ‘one of the best surviving WWII temporary standardised prefabricated sites’.
The report says the developers would ‘explore retention of these structures’ but adds there are ‘significant issues with their re-use’ due to the presence of asbestos and concludes there is no ‘certainty of retention’.
Part of the current site
The significance of two military bridges on Laver Banks became apparent recently following research by Ripon Military Heritage Group and the report says the applicants have “confirmed a commitment to keep on working together” with the group.
The report says the highways authority, North Yorkshire County Council, “considers there is no defensible reason to refuse the application on highway or transportation grounds” in the wake of proposed highways changes.
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