New Clotherholme plans heighten fears for Ripon’s military heritage

The organisation fighting to save Ripon’s military heritage from being bulldozed has said it is “hugely disappointed” about updated plans for the 1,300-home Clotherholme housing scheme.

Government agencies Homes England and the Defence infrastructure Organisation provided the update in a planning report published on North Yorkshire Council’s website last week.

The homes will be built at the barracks site which contains internationally significant military structures, including huts constructed in 1939 when Neville Chamberlain’s government prepared for war with Germany and training bridges that influenced global warfare.

The demolition training bridge. Pic: Ripon Military Heritage Trust

The report pledged to “work with the Ripon Military Heritage Trust on a heritage strategy which will balance the urgent need for new homes for local people with a strategy for preserving and recording the unique history and heritage of the barracks”.

But the trust, which has launched a website as part of a campaign to preserve key aspects of the site, fears the agencies have shown little desire to co-operate since Harrogate Borough Council granted planning permission in February last year and their pledges remain vague and opaque.

Trust chairman Guy Wilson said:

“We are hugely disappointed that after 15 months of engagement with Homes England, the current outline planning application lacks any provision for the preservation of even a single example of the rare and unique huts at Deverell Barracks.

“Neither has any land been allocated to allow for the relocation and re-use of these heritage assets. Both were specific requests that the Harrogate Borough Council planning committee called for in February 2023.

“It has sadly become apparent that none of the parties to this development has any real interest in preserving the heritage of the site and none has made any attempt to work constructively with us. All they are interested in is appearing to do enough to get their present plans passed without alteration, in which case the result will be that significant heritage assets will be lost and this we very much regret.”

The planning update said the housing scheme will preserve the main military roads and names as well as provide information signs.

How the site will look. Pic: Homes England

It also talks about “exploring ways to integrate a walking tour, virtual tour or to develop other forms of public exhibition at the site”.

One of the conditions of planning consent was to allocate £100,000 to the trust to conduct a feasibility study on preserving and retaining some of the existing military buildings on the site. But progress since then has been limited.

Mr Wilson said:

“Unfortunately, we are sceptical about their commitment to developing a feasibility study, as after 15 months of engagement with Homes England there has been no proper engagement with the real issues involved in preserving the heritage.

“During that period work has begun on producing an options appraisal; all the proposals put forward by the trust have been ignored and they have refused to allow the process to be based on a clear understanding of the assets’ heritage significance.”

He added:

“Where is the commitment to assess significance? Where is the list of assets to be preserved? Where is the agreement to transfer ownership of assets required? Where is the commitment to allocate the necessary land to relocate assets? Where is the commitment to build into the development timescale the reality of fund-raising?

“Instead of work on these crucial issues we have been stonewalled at every turn by all parties. Their heritage strategy is aimed at ticking boxes and getting approvals not at preserving the heritage.”

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Harrogate residents say they’ve been ‘kept out the loop’ on plans for 4,000 homes

Residents have been “effectively kept out of the loop” on plans to build 4,000 homes in west Harrogate, a meeting heard this week.

About 10,000 people are expected to move into new homes being built on a patchwork of sites stretching from RHS Harlow Carr to Yew Tree Lane. 

Some have already been completed but construction has yet to begin on about 2,000 homes.

Frustration at how the process has been handled was expressed at Wednesday’s spring meeting of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association. 

Hapara secretary David Siddans said it had “always acknowledged the need for housing” but added “this must be supported by the right infrastructure” and he said residents’ concerns had not been addressed. He added:

“Four thousand homes on the west side of Harrogate were agreed four years ago and still we have no clear idea on the transport implications.

“We have found the whole process opaque, high handed and illogical.”

A satellite map showing the 'Western Arc' of current and proposed development areas in Harrogate.

The ‘western arc’ of development areas in Harrogate. Image: HAPARA.

Mr Siddans said it was illogical in the sense that the planning process had been “turned on its head” because mitigation measures were being suggested before assessments and strategies had been carried out on key issues such as transport and healthcare.

He said:

“It’s rather like a doctor presenting a cure and some time later trying to find out what’s wrong with you.

“The whole process is led by developers who assess the impact they create and the remedies for them. Their focus, understandably, is on the bottom line. Therefore we look to the council to make their own assessments or at least to scrutinise.”

Mr Siddans added:

“I understand councils have limited resources but they should be doing this on behalf of the community.

“Yet we feel we have been effectively kept out of the loop because we are told it is ‘too complex’. All we get is a brief window to comment on the planning applications when they are published — that is the first time we get to see the impact.

“Maybe everything will be fine but the public deserves more openness.”

Hapara chair Rene Dziabas told the meeting, which was attended by North Yorkshire Council highways officials, 2,000 homes were due to built simultaneously on three sites. He added:

“It’s unbelievable. We have never seen anything like this before — to have work on 2,000 homes going on in one go is unreal.

Yew Tree Lane and Whinney Lane updates

The meeting also heard updates on other key issues in the area.

Mr Dziabas said phase three of the Otley Road cyclepath will go ahead, as reported by the Stray Ferret.

Regarding the former police training centre on Yew Tree Lane, where 200 homes are due to be built, Mr Dziabas said Hapara wanted to see a construction management plan adhered to.

He said the plan should include issues such as onsite parking to prevent lorries parking on Yew Tree Lane, conditions on noise and light pollution, proper onsite washing facilities for lorries “so they are not chucking up muck everywhere” and lorries avoiding local roads at school drop off times.

Final planning approval was granted in January, but Mr Dziabas said developer Vistry Group was still in the process of acquiring the old police training centre site.

Mr Dziabas said Hapara wanted to see the public right of way reinstated on Whinney Lane, but some lorries by developer Stonebridge were still using it.

Council officers at the meeting said Pannal Ash Road would be resurfaced and traffic calming measures would be installed, hopefully at the same time. 

Developer appeals decision to refuse 53 homes in Harrogate

A property developer has launched an appeal after its bid to build 53 homes in Harrogate was refused.

Councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee rejected plans for the homes off Knox Lane in the Bilton area in September last year.

Now Teesside developer Jomast has appealed to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which means the council faces a potentially costly legal battle.

Jomast’s appeal form indicates it has opted for an inquiry rather than a hearing or written representations.

It expects the inquiry to last four days and to call witnesses in the fields of planning, highways, design, landscape and ecology

The document says the 3.2-hectare site is owned by the Greenbank family near Boroughbridge.

The council must now decide whether to contest the appeal.

It is the latest round in the long running campaign to build homes off Knox Lane, which has been fiercely resisted by local people.

The site earmarked for houses.

A 45-page report  by council case officer Andy Hough before last September’s planning meeting said the application was “considered to now be in compliance with development plan policy” and should be approved.

But councillors cited concerns about land contamination and the lack of a travel plan to go against Mr Hough’s recommendation. The site is alongside a narrow cul-de-sac and not close to a bus route.

Cllr Paul Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, spoke on behalf of residents at the meeting. He said:

“There have been over 500 objections to this application from residents. Not because they are ‘nimbys’, but because they believe the council is making a mistake.”

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Disability charity unveils assisted living flats in Harrogate

A disability charity has opened its new assisted living development in Harrogate.

Disability Action Yorkshire, which offers support and residential care to people with a range of disabilities, unveiled the St Roberts Grove development on Wednesday, April 10.

The building, which is also owned by Highstone Housing Association, aims to provide disabled people with a space to live independently.

The development consists of 35 accessible flats, 23 of which are now open, which all have their own kitchen, living area, bedroom and wet room.

Support staff will also be on site 24-hours-a-day to provide people with personal care and support when required.

Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones, who cut the ribbon alongside Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thomson, said the development is “what the future of care looks like”.

The charity said residents of its current care facility, 34 Claro Road, would move into the new flats on Monday, April 14.

The existing care home, which is located next door to St Robert’s Grove, is scheduled for demolition later this year. This will allow for the final stage of development to begin, the charity said, adding it expects the project to be complete by spring 2026.

The charity’s chief executive, Jackie Snape, said:

“The hardest task was finding land, and after a number of false starts we finally realised that our own land on which our current care home stands, along with a small piece of land owned by the council was the solution.

“We are so excited that, finally, our ambition to be part of providing accessible housing is coming to fruition. Being a disabled person doesn’t mean that you have to live in a care home with a large number of people you haven’t chosen to live with; the right to a home of your own is one that should be extended to everyone.”

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Revised plans submitted for 126 homes in Knaresborough

Revised plans have been submitted to North Yorkshire Council to build 126 houses in Knaresborough.

The homes, along with car parking, open spaces and a children’s play area, would be built on two fields used for grazing off Water Lane.

The fields are close to Hay-a-Park site of special scientific interest, which is regarded as an important breeding site for goosander ducks and protected Canada geese.

The site has been subject of multiple proposals for new homes, which the Stray Ferret has covered extensively.

Knaresborough Town Council and Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, were among those to object last year when plans were submitted to North Yorkshire Council for 138 homes. More than 600 people also signed a petition opposing the scheme.

Previous plans for 218 homes and 148 homes on the fields were rejected.

View of a section of the proposed site, south and west to school boundary and rear of Carmires Avenue and Halfpenny Lane

New plans for fewer houses have been drawn by Haines Phillips Architects on behalf of applicant Geoffrey Holland.

But Andy Bell, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Knaresborough Town Council who organised last year’s petition, said:

“I’ve spoken with a number of nearby residents who are steadfast in their opposition to this proposal.

“It’s still accessed by narrow estate roads, still very close to the site of special scientific interest and still is on the site of an unlicensed tip that has suspicions of asbestos buried. This site isn’t appropriate.”

To view or comment on the application, visit North Yorkshire Council’s planning website and type reference ZC23/02886/FULMAJ.

Hay-a-Park, site of special scientific interest 

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Plans revived to build flats off Stockwell Road in Knaresborough

Plans to build eight flats in Knaresborough have been submitted to North Yorkshire Council.

Applicant Paul Franklin has proposed building the flats on the site of one of the town’s oldest houses and its garden off Stockwell Road.

Under the plans, the existing property would be demolished and a two-storey building erected. The new building would house six two-bedroom flats and two one-bedroom apartments.

The plans also show landscaping and eight car parking places.

Mr Franklin submitted plans to the council last year for nine apartments on the plot. He told the Stray Ferret at the time the scheme would “provide local people a quality and sustainable place to live and enjoy Knaresborough”.

But those plans were withdrawn last summer after about 30 residents and Knaresborough Town Council objected. They raised concerns that the development would be “overbearing and will overlook neighbouring properties”, create parking problems and increase congestion.

The town council is among more than 20 objectors to the new plans.

It said in its submission to North Yorkshire Council:

“Knaresborough Town Council object to this application and sees no reason to change its objections from the previous applications at this site.”

The town council raised concerns about the increase in traffic, location of the refuse and recycling bins and “is not convinced that any lowering of levels will prevent overlooking onto neighbouring properties.”

 

13 Stockwell Rd flats floorplan. Image: DNA Group

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Readers’ Letters: The ‘scruffy’ state of Harrogate makes me ashamed of my town

Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. 

This letter follows an incident on Harrogate’s Parliament Street on Wednesday, during which three teenagers threw bottles from an upper level window onto the street.

Your story about the throwing of bottles onto Parliament Street includes a picture of the buildings on that part of the street, and they just serve to demonstrate how scruffy much of Harrogate is these days.

It makes me ashamed of my town.

Many of the windows appear to be broken, the paintwork is in a dire state, and I’ve no doubt the insides are equally scruffy and weather worn. This is a prime street in what is supposed to be a smart town – doesn’t anybody care?!

Harrogate doesn’t really have individual fine buildings; it is the collective period ambience which gives the style to which the much-needed visitors and shoppers will come. We must make sure that it is kept up to scratch.

How do we make the owners of properties smarten them up? Who do we vote for who will lead the change?

Chris Graville, Harrogate

Housing developments, Kex Gill and local flooding

This letter is in response to several ongoing topics, including plans for new housing developments and the new mayor.

Almost every day the Stray Ferret tells us the council have approved plans to build more houses.

Our hamlets and villages have all now been turned into towns and the green fields can never be recovered. The loss of trees and the damage to wildlife is unforgiveable.

The ‘new town’ on York Road has been advertising for some months “£30,000 of savings”, to me this says they are not selling, so why are the council doing everything in their power to force through these permissions? Nobody ever votes in favour and all the votes are against.

We are a tiny island with limited resources and all this unrestrained building will end in disaster.

Flooding is getting more regular and more severe. Could the fact that 1,000’s of acres of green field sites have been concreted over to build new houses have anything to do with it. As there is no longer any natural drainage where do the authorities think this water is going to go?

In addition, the new mayor: outdated, no longer required and a waste of money. £2.2 million to find a mayor and then £80,000 a year + all the expenses to maintain. What useful purpose does this position provide? Surely this money could be better spent elsewhere.

Malcolm Hodgekinson, Bilton

Lack of information on Kex Gill is ‘outrageous’

This letter follows the ongoing A59 at Kex Gill saga. The road closed more than two months ago. The Stray Ferret reported on Thursday that the road is expected to be closed until the end of June.

Having read the reporting of closure of the A59 in the Kex Gill area, Mr. Alistair Young’s honest comments came as breath of fresh air. The environmental comments which are said to have come from an official could have been written by J. K. Rowling.

It appears to be clear that the public consultation documents haven’t been read and the geological survey hasn’t been observed.

I can’t believe that the effects of a little drop of rain in these conditions wouldn’t have been calculated. To be awarded £115,000 of council tax money to repair an avoidable damaged road clearly needs an independent investigation. It’s about time these so-called knowledgeable officials listened to people like Mr. Young and read documents which they requested.

I live just outside of Harrogate area and travel the A59 every week. Like so many other people we are suffering the inconvenience. The council have been very inconsiderate to local people.

The lack of information has been outrageous.

Interestingly the repairs may begin after Easter, two months after the closure. Ironically that coincides with the new financial year.

Keith Norris, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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Plans to build 13 homes in Markington withdrawn

Plans to build 13 homes in Markington have been withdrawn.

Leeds Housing developers KCS Development Ltd applied to build 13 two to four-bedroomed houses with gardens and car parking spaces at High Mill Farm on High Street. Five were classed as affordable homes.

The firm previously applied to build 21 houses on the site in 2022 but withdrew that application in February 2023 to consider “concerns raised by consultees and the planning officer.”

The latest plans for 13 houses were submitted in July last year, but documents on North Yorkshire Council’s planning portal reveal they have now been withdrawn.

The planned site on High Mill Farm.

The planned site on High Mill Farm, Markington.

A design and access statement submitted to Harrogate Borough Council by Ilkley architects Halliday Clark on behalf of the applicant said there was an “identified need” for new housing in Markington, which is situated between Harrogate and Ripon and has a population of just over 600 people.

The statement said:

“The proposal sits centrally in Markington and is in walking distance of all the village amenities such as the primary school, shops and community spaces. Developing in a small village such as Markington will protect the continuation of these vital services, allowing the village to stay sustainable. There is an identified need within Markington to provide affordable family housing to enable young families and people to stay living in the village.”

The statement adds the development would be “concealed and therefore will have no visual impact on Markington’s high street”.

Markington with Wallerthwaite Parish Council objected to the development and said:

“The council also rejects the idea that there is an ‘identifiable need’ for housing in Markington. The number of properties for sale in the village, which aren’t selling, including on Phase 1, point towards the fact that more housing is just not necessary.

“The council has received no support for the application. There have been no comments in favour of Phase 2 from the village. The total opposite is true. Residents have expressed alarm and frustration with the plans and planning process asking ‘at what time does a village move to not being a village anymore’ when what gives a village its essence is slowly eroded.”

The parish council also raised concerns regarding overlooking, overshadowing, and flood risks. The application received 31 objections.

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Readers’ Letters: Harrogate is short of social housing – not luxury apartments

Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This letter is in response to two stories. One was about plans to convert King’s Club, a former Harrogate strip club, into luxury flats, and the other revealed plans to turn the former Knaresborough cattle market into a commercial unit. 

North Yorkshire Council should take the opportunity to provide social housing on these sites.

We are not short of executive homes and luxury apartments, but genuinely affordable homes and social housing are desperately needed.

Harrogate is largely dependent upon conference and tourism to provide jobs but these are not high-waged occupations.

People who would otherwise be able to do this work cannot afford to live in Harrogate.

Diane Stokes, Harrogate

Scant information about Harrogate’s ‘new town’ causing community despair

This letter is in response to a feature about how Harrogate’s ‘new town’ is fuelling worries about local roads.

Thank you for the excellent article in the Stray Ferret on the ‘new town’ around Harrogate’s Western Arc.

I have been involved with Harlow and Pannal Residents Association for over ten years, during which time we have been campaigning on the scale of development and the weak or non-existent infrastructure to support this level of development.

Our message has fallen on the deaf ears of the planning authority, the highways authority and the planning inspectorate throughout that period, despite claims that the authorities have ‘engaged’ with us as stakeholders.

North Yorkshire Council, no doubt through limited resources, appear to rely in large part on the private developers to identify the problems with the road and transport network and to come up with the solutions which unsurprisingly amount to very little.   Fundamentally, the studies quantifying the impacts of development have still not yet been produced, either by the developers or the Council, yet a list of ‘mitigations’ is about to be signed off by the Council.  This is what Rene refers to as ‘wrong way round’.  Needless to say, we and the public at large, have not been informed about the cumulative transport assessment which is key to identifying and resolving the problems.

The sheer length of time this has taken, the constant delays, missed targets and scant information have all contributed to a sense of frustration and despair within the community.

We all know that roads in this area are in a very poor condition with widespread potholes and temporary patches. Years of construction activity followed by the impact of thousands of extra vehicles on the country lanes and residential streets in this part of Harrogate present an alarming prospect for residents.

David Siddans, Harrogate

Crimple Valley needs protecting – not developing

This letter is in response to developers reviving plans to build 17 homes in Harrogate’s Crimple Valley.

If planning permission is granted for this application, then as sure as night follows day another application for more housing will follow.

I have lived in Pannal for 60 years and the A61 Leeds Road is a very dangerous road. There have been numerous accidents on and near the bridge. Two acquaintances of mine were tragically killed outside Almsford Bank Stables a few years ago.

Traffic is very fast-moving, due to the road being downhill.

The Crimple Valley is a lovely walk and needs more protection than it currently has.

Harrogate is being overdeveloped and needs more green spaces not less.

Anne Smith, Pannal

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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Plan for 20 new homes in Summerbridge

Developers have submitted plans to build 20 homes in Summerbridge.

Nidderdale Estates Ltd, which is based in the village, has tabled the proposal to North Yorkshire Council for land off the B6165.

The plan comes as a proposal for 24 homes on the site, known as Braisty Woods, was refused by the former Harrogate Borough Council in February last year.

The fresh proposal would see a mixture of one, two, three, four and five-bedroom houses.

The dwellings would range from apartments to detached homes, according to the proposal.

In documents submitted to the council, the developer said that the proposal would also include “high quality outdoor space”.

It said:

“The dwellings will be exemplary and provide living accommodation for modern lifestyles. The development as a whole creates a sense of place by introducing a high quality public outdoor space.

“Overall, this development will provide a special place to live in Summerbridge whilst remaining respectful to the local buildings, ancient woodland and AONB setting.”

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

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