A new application has been submitted to build 138 homes on Water Lane in Knaresborough.
The plans, put forward by Cunnane Town Planning on behalf of landowner Geoffrey Holland, also include a playground, a pond, and tree-lined streets.
The site had previously been subject to a proposal for 170 homes, which was rejected by Harrogate Borough Council in August 2021.
An appeal over that decision was unsuccessful, with the government’s planning inspector saying the plans would have caused “significant harm” to the surrounding area.
In the new plans submitted to North Yorkshire Council, Haines Phillips Architects said:
“The submission now presents a well-balanced, landscape dominated proposal where front gardens are generous, dwellings are no longer cramped, parking or garaging no longer remote or dominant, and casual surveillance and street activity visible in all locations.
“Thus this revised proposal addresses both the inspector’s concerns at appeal and the subsequent comments of the planning officers throughout the recent pre-application dialogue.”
The documents reveal that plans for 148 homes were initially considered after the appeal failed, but a council case officer suggested the scheme be “wholly redesigned”.
After this was done, the planning officer said the proposal was “moving in the right direction”, and further discussions resulted in the new plans being submitted this month.
The previous plan for 170 homes, which was rejected on appeal
The site, a former nursery, lies adjacent to housing on Halfpenny Lane, and to the Hay-a-Park site of special scientific interest.
Road access would be created via Mint Garth, with footpaths onto the site from Guinea Croft and Water Lane.
To view or comment on the application, visit North Yorkshire Council’s planning website and use reference ZC23/02886/FULMAJ.
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Developer fails to submit plans for 214 homes in Boroughbridge before deadline
Planners have refused to grant permission for a development in Boroughbridge to go ahead because the applicant has failed to provide sufficient information.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes were criticised by Harrogate Borough Council for not submitting the required documents for the southern half of the Stump Cross development, despite repeated requests.
Planning officer Kate Broadbank told the planning committee yesterday:
“Without information relating to scale, design and appearance of houses, which would be affordable and where the open spaces and landscaping would be, it’s not possible to assess the relationship between the buildings, routes and open spaces to confirm whether this layout would be acceptable.”
The site, which is east of the A168 and is included in the local plan, already has outline planning permission for 450 homes granted in 2019.
A condition of that outline permission was that full details would be submitted for approval within three years, which would have been last April.
Ms Broadbank added:
“We have had no applications for the remaining reserved matters and the applicant is out of time for the submission of these, therefore the outline permission can no longer be taken forward.”
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Details of the first phase of development on the northern half of the site have already been submitted and were approved last February, with 256 homes included.
If the second phase were to be approved with the proposed 214 homes, it would bring the total to 470.
Speaking at yesterday’s committee meeting, Conservative Cllr Robert Windass said the council had worked with the developer on the first half of the site. He added:
“I’m totally and utterly surprised that they haven’t engaged with us as they did last time, because we came to a very amicable conclusion on that one, but this beggars belief.”
Ms Broadbank agreed, saying:
“They have had plenty of opportunity to engage with us and to discuss everything with us that we’ve asked for.
“We have had various meetings and they’ve kept saying, ‘it will be coming, it will be coming’, but it’s got to the point where enough is enough.”