Harrogate council pays out almost £20,000 in compensation to tenants due to damp

Over the last three years Harrogate Borough Council paid out £18,690 in compensation to tenants living in damp or mouldy council homes.

People who live in the council’s properties can request repairs for issues that arise due to mould or damp through its website or over the phone.

If the tenant is not satisfied with the repairs they can then complain to the Housing Ombudsman, which will look at what action was taken and potentially suggest compensation is paid to the resident.

Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service through a freedom of information request reveal Harrogate Borough Council paid out on seven compensation claims where damp or mould was a factor since the start of 2020.

The total amount for each year is below:

The issue has received national attention in recent months following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak who died from a respiratory condition caused by exposure to mould at his Rochdale home.

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Awaab Ishak’s father repeatedly raised the issue with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) but no action was taken.

In November, housing secretary Michael Gove ordered councils and other social housing providers to step up action to tackle mould and damp in the wake of the death.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said it was “wholly unacceptable” for any tenant to be “stuck in an unfit home with damp or mould”.

She added:

“Social housing is rented by lots of people who may be more vulnerable to poor housing conditions: older people, people with disabilities and long-term health problems and families with children. Reports of disrepair should be dealt with swiftly, so no-one’s health is harmed by their home.”

Harrogate Borough Council said it undertakes an annual maintenance programme in its properties and advises residents to report issues as soon as possible.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said:

“There are a number of reasons why damp and mould can occur in a property. These include everyday activities such as cooking, cleaning and bathing that, if satisfactory ventilation is not available or not used as intended, can add moisture to the inside of properties, resulting in the development of damp and mould in colder areas.

“Other potential reasons include rising damp, defects to a property or faulty plumbing, for example.

“To prevent our properties from experiencing these issues we have an annual maintenance programme, advise residents to report any issues as soon as possible and also share guidance on how damp can sometimes be prevented.

“Unfortunately, in some occasions, it can occur and where it has caused significant issues for our tenants then they have been eligible to claim compensation.”

Decision on 1,300-home Ripon barracks scheme could be made this month

A 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 Ripon

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.

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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.

Two major Harrogate housing schemes set for go-ahead

Two 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”.

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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.

Knox Lane

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 plan

A 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.”

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Homelessness ‘significantly increased’ amid cost of living crisis, says Harrogate council official

Housing 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.”

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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.”

Harrogate council allocates £55,000 for advice on horticultural nursery relocation

Harrogate Borough Council is set to spend £55,000 on consultants and other professionals to help develop a new horticultural nursery to the north-west of the town.

In December, the council revealed it had identified an unspecified site in the Hampsthwaite and Killinghall ward to build a new nursery, which will pave the way for its current site in Harlow Hill to be sold for housing.

A report that will go before Conservative councillor Graham Swift, the council’s cabinet member for resources enterprise and economic development, next week, says the council now needs professional consultation and site investigations to complete the next phase of the project.

It asks Cllr Swift to approve £20,000 being spent on a consultant partner and £35,000 to undertake initial site surveys, investigations, planning fees and other works.

The council, which will be abolished at the end of next month, has said the construction of a new nursery will be financed through capital investment funding, money raised from the sale Harlow Hill nursery and income generated from the nursery.

The project will transfer to the new North Yorkshire Council after April 1.

Why does the council want to move from Harlow Hill?

Harlow Hill nursery is where Harrogate Borough Council grows flowers for its award-winning displays across the district. It also sells plants to members of the public to bring in revenue.

The nursery is a significant earner for the council with its 2020/21 annual report saying it brought in income of £153,477.

However, the council says it the facility is “no longer fit for purpose” and is unsuitable for redevelopment.

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The land is accessed off either Otley Road or Harlow Moor Road. The council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which sets out where development can take place, says 40 homes can be built there.

A council report published last year recommended 62 “high-quality, carbon efficient” homes are built.

The authority is currently inviting expressions of interest in the land prior to a sale.

An emotional move for residents

Liberal Democrat member for Harlow & St Georges Division on North Yorkshire County Council, Michael Schofield, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the move away from Harlow Hill will be keenly felt by residents as many have walked there to buy plants for decades.

He said people enjoyed visiting and walking through the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens afterwards.

He added the nursery also served as part of a horticultural trail as it connects with RHS Garden Harlow Carr and the charity nursery Horticap.

Cllr Schofield said:

“I understand what people may call progress but we have three fantastic horticultural sites all within walking distance of each other. That inspires people. Residents living here will be very sad to see it go.”

Long-awaited refurbishment of Ripon council flats approved

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee has given planning permission to refurbish 12 “eyesore” council flats in Ripon that date from the 1960s.

The project will include rendering of the brickwork, new stainless steel walkways and balconies, a communal garden and six car parking spaces at Allhallowgate.

The council approved spending £600,000 to improve the properties in December and the decision was ratified by the planning committee this week.

Plans to refurbish the homes date back seven years but have been delayed due to sinkhole concerns in the area.

In 2015, planning permission was granted to demolish a block of flats at 4-14a Allhallowgate and replace them with nine townhouses. The plan also included a major refurbishment of an existing block of flats.

The flats were demolished but the rest of the scheme was halted in 2019 after an engineering firm found ground instability “could be foreseen” on or near the site. They warned that measures to reduce the risk of the townhouses collapsing were not cost-effective.

Ripon sits above a layer of gypsum, which is a water-soluble rock that leads to the formation of large underground caves that can collapse.

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The council pledged to continue with the refurbishment of the existing flats that weren’t demolished. However, its plans were paused again during covid as they were used as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

In May, the council was quoted £1.1m for the project by a contractor — almost double its budget of £650,000. It has since removed plans to build an extension to the building to reduce costs.

‘Somewhat of an eyesore’

Conservative cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Mike Chambers, who is also councillor for Ripon Spa, said he was happy the project was finally moving forward.

Cllr Chambers told a meeting in December after the funding was approved:

“This is a project that for a number of years has hit the buffers for various reasons. It is now appropriate we start moving it forward again. It is somewhat of an eyesore so I’m delighted we’re moving forward.

“It will improve the streetscene and a number of residents are concerned about the state of the block following the demolition. It’s high time we moved on.”

Councillor ‘absolutely amazed’ Maltkiln landowner able to pull out

A councillor whose division could be transformed by thousands of new homes says he is “absolutely amazed” that a landowner was able to pull out of the Maltkiln scheme at the 11th hour.

Last week, Harrogate Borough Council revealed a landowner had decided against selling a parcel of land that would have formed part of a 3,000 to 4,000-home settlement called Maltkiln.

The potential town, which includes two primary schools, would be built off the A59 towards York near the villages of Cattal, Green Hammerton and Kirk Hammerton.

The news came as a blow to Wetherby-based Caddick Group, which has been developing plans for several years.

The developer called the decision by the landowner “regrettable” but said it was confident the scheme would continue.

The broad location for Maltkiln is allocated for development in the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which maps out where housebuilding can take place.

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Planning permission for Maltkiln is yet to be granted but a development plan document has been painstakingly prepared by the council over the last two years and was close to being submitted to the government for approval.

The council has said work on the development plan has now been “paused”.

Cllr Arnold Warneken, Green Party councillor for Ouseburn division on North Yorkshire County Council, described the situation as “a bit of a mess”.

Cllr Warneken told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“How did Harrogate Borough Council and the developer not tie-up people to legal agreements for the sale of land? I’m absolutely amazed they didn’t tie-up all these options.

“They are back to the drawing board and I wouldn’t want to be paying for this. The development plan document goes back on hold and will need to be redrafted. It almost starts again.”

Cllr Warneken said he understood the parcel of land formed a significant part of the overall masterplan.

He described an initial celebratory mood in the affected villages after the council released its statement, with residents hoping it could throw the whole project into doubt.

Now the dust has settled, he fears it could mean the developer will have to reduce its ambitions for the scheme in order to make it financially viable. 

He said:

“The viability will have to be adjusted and could mean a change in the nature of properties. There might be higher density, bigger properties, and they could build one primary school instead of two. I wanted this to be an ecologically exemplar development but I’m concerned they will chip away at that.”

Responding, a spokesperson for Caddick Group said:

“It is usual for landowners to want differing terms when entering into agreements to sell their land and all such agreements are only for a specific period. In this particular case, the family concerned were previously willing to sell but wished to limit their legal agreement to a shorter period of time than the other landowners and subsequently decided not to extend or renew their agreement.

“Our proposals include innovative approaches to reducing both energy and vehicle use which will still apply to an updated new settlement boundary, which will also now incorporate a significant element of renewable energy generation.

“We are now in the early stages of reviewing our draft masterplan for Maltkiln in consultation with Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, both of which will need to decide how best to advance the new settlement from this point on.

“Once we know how the councils wish to approach the change in land area, and we have explored how our proposals could be best aligned with their intended process, we will engage with the community and key stakeholders once again.”

Former Harrogate Chinese restaurant to be converted into home

A former Harrogate Chinese restaurant is to be converted into a house.

The proposal submitted by John Tang will see the former Kwun Wah on Strawberry Dale changed into a four-bedroom home.

Harrogate Borough Council has approved the plans.

The Kwun Wah restaurant has been closed since 2006.

Planning permission was granted back in 2011 to convert the former restaurant into a home, but has since expired.

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Developer appeals decision to refuse 13 homes plan on Ripon timber yard

A developer has appealed a council decision to refuse plans for 13 homes on a former Ripon timber yard.

Red Tree Developments wanted to demolish buildings at the site of the former NY Timber yard to build the homes.

The site on Trinity Lane was home to a timber yard from 1860 to 2018.

However, Harrogate Borough Council rejected the plan in December 2020 on the grounds that the scheme would cause “unacceptable harm” to the Ripon Conservation Area.

Now, the developer has taken the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate.

Jay Everett, a planning consultant who submitted the appeal on behalf of Red Tree, said the loss of the timber yard building would offer “no contribution to the setting”.

He said:

“My conclusion, derived from the evidence provided, is that the loss of the existing building would cause ‘less than substantial harm’ to the conservation area and that, regarding listed buildings in the vicinity, the existing building makes no contribution to their setting and moreover that the proposed development would visually benefit the setting of Holy Trinity School.”

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Red Tree bought the 0.64-acre plot, which is adjacent to the listed buildings, Holy Trinity Church of England Junior School and St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church, from Cairngorm Capital for an undisclosed sum this year.

In its original planning application, the developer said the timber yard, which is not listed, must be replaced due to its “poor state of repair”.

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