Housing Archives - Page 21 of 47

Knaresborough housing site should be reviewed under local plan, says councillor

A councillor has called for land earmarked for homes in Knaresborough to be reviewed under the council’s new housing plan.

North Yorkshire Council is set to draw up a new local plan when it comes into force in April. It will outline where development can take place across the Harrogate district over the next 30 years.

But Andy Bell, who sits on Knaresborough Town Council, has called for land at Water Lane in the town to be “questioned” after it was previously allocated for housing in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan.

The site was subject to a 170-home proposal last year, but it was thrown out by the government’s Planning Inspectorate on appeal.

Cllr Bell, a Liberal Democrat who spoke against the application at the Inspectorate hearing, said the new council should “think again” on the development.

He said:

“There have been four developments within a few hundred metres of this site recently, three of which are still under construction.

“We can not lose what makes Knaresborough special by allowing development if it is not right for the physical site or the community. This is not a no to all development.

“The Water Lane development had huge issues with access, no public transport provision, and was far too close to the neighbouring site of special scientific interest.

“It has been rejected at all levels of the planning process. It’s time to think again and question its place in the local plan.”

The Water Lane site is currently allocated for 148 homes under the current Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-2035.

The creation of a fresh local plan for North Yorkshire was agreed by senior councillors last month.

The new local plan will look ahead for a minimum of 15 years, and at least 30 years in relation to any larger scale developments, such as new settlements or significant urban extensions. It would encompass all areas of the county outside the national parks.

Conservative Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for growth and housing on the county council, said:

“The plan will be vital to the new North Yorkshire Council’s ambitions to deliver sustainable economic growth, through good homes and jobs, as well as the best facilities and infrastructure for everyone who lives or works in the county.

“Planning guidance will also play a key role in meeting our ambitious targets to tackle climate change. In addition, it can support other services in meeting the needs of our many communities at a local level, taking into account everything from transport and education to housing, health and social care.”

Sharow pub owner appeals housing plan refusal

The owner of the Half Moon Inn at Sharow has appealed a decision to refuse plans to convert the pub into a house.

The pub on Sharow Lane opened in 1822 but closed in 2016.

Mark Fitton, owner of the pub, lodged a plan to convert the former pub into a house in March last year.

However, Harrogate Borough Council refused the proposal on the grounds that “insufficient evidence” had been submitted to demonstrate that no community use existed for the property.

Mr Fitton has now taken the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, the body that deals with planning disputes.

He has also resubmitted the proposal to the council and challenged a decision to allocate the former pub as an asset of community value.

In documents submitted to the government, he said:

“Contrary to the stated reason for refusal, an abundance of evidence was submitted to demonstrate that no community use exists for this property.”

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

Following the council’s decision to allocate the building as an asset of community value, residents have called for the pub to be reinstated.

However, Mr Fitton has challenged the move and called for a review of the decision.

In a letter to Mr Fitton, which has been seen by the Stray Ferret, the council confirmed that it expected to complete a review by January 29, 2023.

Plan to convert former Markington pub into house approved

A plan to convert a former Markington pub into a house has been approved.

The Cross Keys Inn, on High Street, closed in 2016 after declining turnover and profitability.

Now, Harrogate Borough Council has approved plans to convert the former public house into a home.

ID Planning, which lodged the plan on behalf of Leeds-based Lotherton Property Services, said in documents submitted to the council the building had been extensively marketed for sale as a pub.

But it added potential buyers had shown little interest in reopening it for that purpose.

The documents said:

“No party expressed any interest whatsoever in reopening it as a public house or indeed any other use other than residential.”

The proposal would see the former pub converted into a four-bedroom house along with three car parking spaces.

Looking ahead 2023: Major development in the Harrogate district

The Harrogate district is expanding with new homes and businesses.

Next year will be no different as both Harrogate Borough Council and the new North Yorkshire Council are set to decide on some major developments.

From 1,300 homes in Ripon to a new Tesco on Skipton Road in Harrogate, there are some key planning decisions to be made.

Here are some of the major developments on the cards for the district.

A new Harrogate Tesco?

In the pipeline for nearly 20 years, talk of a new Tesco in Harrogate could now potentially become a reality over the next 12 months.

The company has earmarked land at former gasworks site on Skipton Road for its new store.

Since pulling out of plans for the site in 2016, Tesco returned at the end of last year with fresh plans for a 38,795 square feet supermarket.

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

Throughout 2022, objections have been lodged against the plan from residents and retailers – including the Co-op, which argued the new store could damage takings at its Jennyfields shop.

The proposal represents a major scheme for Harrogate, which currently does not have a Tesco supermarket.

However, in 2023, that could change if councillors side with the retail giant.

West of Harrogate expansion

The west of Harrogate has been earmarked for major development for some time.

The scale of the housing planned for the area has led to the approval of a parameters plan by the borough council.

Among the schemes include 480 homes at Bluecoat Wood, 770 homes at Windmill Farm and 200 homes at the former police training centre off Yew Tree Lane.

Some of the developments are yet to be decided and could be heard this coming year.

More housebuilding in Kingsley

Another area of Harrogate that has seen extensive housebuilding is Kingsley.

Developers including Persimmon Homes have pursued schemes on Kingsley Drive for the past 18 months.

A revised proposal for 162 homes has just recently been tabled for the street this month.

Despite concern from residents that nearby Rydal Road, Birstwith Road and Leyland Road have been used as rat-runs due to housebuilding, the area looks set to be subject to further applications.

Knox Lane controversy

Perhaps one of the more controversial developments which could be decided this coming year is new houses off Knox Lane.

A decision on the 53-home proposal has been delayed since October after councillors raised concerns that the site is likely to be contaminated by coal and tar spillages from a former railway track.

The plans were first submitted in April 2020 and initially included 73 homes, but this was reduced to 53 after local complaints.

Despite further changes, residents have continued to strongly oppose the development with more than 300 objections and no letters of support being submitted to the council.

Campaigners dressed as woodland creatures also took to the Nidderdale Greenway to collect signatures against the proposal.

A computer generated image of the proposed Ripon Barracks site

New homes in Clotherholme?

One of Ripon’s longest running housing schemes is the planed 1,300 homes on the former Clotherholme barracks.

The plans were first submitted in 2020 by Homes England, the government’s housing agency.

However, since then, there has been a bitter debate over the scheme and its impact on health, transport and the site’s military history.

A consultation into the homes was extended in March following a request by Ripon City Council.

However, there has been little movement on the development since.

Sharow pub owner resubmits plan to convert building into home

The owner of the Half Moon Inn at Sharow has resubmitted plans to convert the building into a home.

The pub on Sharow Lane opened in 1822 but closed in 2016.

Since then, a long running saga has unfolded over how best to put the building to use.

Mark Fitton, owner of the pub, has resubmitted plans to convert the former public house into a home.

The move comes as Mr FItton has also challenged a Harrogate Borough Council decision to allocate the Half Moon Inn as an asset of community value.

In documents submitted the council, he said the prospect of reopening the pub was “unviable”.

Mr Fitton said:

“The catalogue of business failures at the Half Moon is so well established that it must surely now be considered conclusive.

“It is well documented that for at least thirty years, everyone who has tried to run the premises as a hospitality venue has found it to be unviable, with eleven separate individuals and couples having, over three decades, tried and failed.”

The council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Following the council’s decision to allocate the building as an asset of community value, residents have called for the pub to be reinstated.

However, Mr Fitton has challenged the move and called for a review of the decision.

In a letter to Mr Fitton, which has been seen by the Stray Ferret, the council confirmed that it expected to complete a review by January 29, 2023.

Plan to convert former River Nidd mill into housing

Plans have been lodged to convert the former Nidd Valley Saw Mills into housing and build a further 15 homes.

The proposal has been tabled by Wakefield-based Milner Homes for the former mill, which is based next to the River Nidd near Dacre Banks.

The mill was sold to the developer in 2020 after its former owner retired.

Now, Milner Homes plans to convert the mill into five homes, and build a further 15 houses consisting of two to four bedrooms.

It also proposes to build 12 glamping pods on the site.

The housing and glamping pod scheme as outlined for the Nidd Valley Saw Mills site.

The developer said in documents submitted to Harrogate Borough Council that it intends to build both a sustainable residential and tourist development.

It said:

“The proposal will create a distinctive residential development which is sympathetically designed to respect the surrounding built and natural environment.

“Housing will compromise a mix of two to four bedroom houses, to create a sustainable and mixed community.

“The site provides a leisure use in the form of camping pods which seeks to promote sustainable tourism and leisure whilst respecting the character of the Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty.”

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

County council agrees creation of 30-year housing plan

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to create a county-wide local plan that will plot where housing and development can take place over the next 30 years.

Conservative councillors on the authority’s executive met today to approve the creation of the document, which must be finalised within five years of the new North Yorkshire Council forming on April 1.

It will replace the seven local plans that are currently used by the soon-to-be abolished district councils.

This also means the reviews that are under way on the plans for Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council will be halted. However, both documents will still guide planning decisions until the new local plan is created.

Harrogate Borough Council’s local plan says around 13,000 homes can be built across the district between 2014 and 2034.

Conservative Mid-Craven councillor Simon Myers, executive member for planning for growth, told the meeting that the local plan will be “hugely important to the economic vitality of the county”.

He said:

“It’s hugely important for the provision of housing and for many strategic matters. It is imperative we have an ambitious local plan for North Yorkshire and that planning committees abide by it.”

Cllr Myers confirmed that the new council will create six new planning committees to oversee decisions across parliamentary constituency areas, such as Harrogate and Knaresborough, and Skipton and Ripon.

Linda Marfitt, acting head of place-shaping and economic growth at the council, said the creation of a new local plan is a “great opportunity to deliver some of the ambitions the new council will have”.

She said:

“A plan-led approach will ensure the new council is in the best possible place to guide quality development and infrastructure.”

Maltkiln

While a review into Harrogate council’s local plan will now not take place, work on the Maltkiln development plan document will continue.

Maltkiln is the name of a new settlement proposed by the Oakgate Group around Cattal railway station.

It is set to have between 3,000 and 4,000 homes, as well as two primary schools, shops and a GP surgery.

The development plan is in the latter stages of development, after being worked on for the last two years. It sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how Maltkiln is designed and developed.

However, Arnold Warneken, Green Party councillor for Ouseburn division, described the process of forming it as “rushed” and said residents have unanswered questions over the boundary of the settlement as well as the position of a new relief road.

He said:

“The whole process, from my perspective and the eight parish councils it will affect, has been rushed. I’m really, really keen that if this settlement goes ahead it becomes the exemplar it’s meant to be.

“I don’t want it to be rushed, I want it to be right. I want to exercise caution before the inspector gets his hands on it”.

In response, Cllr Michael Harrison, Conservative councillor for Killinghall, Hampsthwaite & Saltergate as well as executive member for health and adult said:

“We want the Maltkiln DPD to be right and planning in Harrogate could never be described as rushed.”

He added:

“If we pause progression of DPD it ceases to be a plan-led approach in the local area.

“The worst thing we could do is to stop the Maltkiln DPD because we’d still have to determine those planning applications.”

Key Harrogate infrastructure document will not be scrapped, says council

Work on a key infrastructure document to support a wave of housebuilding in the west of Harrogate will not be scrapped, according to Harrogate Borough Council.

The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy is being drawn up by the council and North Yorkshire County Council to shape how infrastructure in west Harrogate will cope with up to 4,000 new homes.

It will supplement the West Harrogate Paramaters Plan, which was approved in February.

The borough council has paid £25,000 to consultancy Hyas to produce the document. It was expected in May but is still yet to be published.

The area features heavily in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place. For example, the area from Otley Road towards Beckwithshaw is set to be transformed with over 1,000 new homes.

Other major development sites in the area include Persimmon Homes’ under-construction 600-home King Edwin Park scheme on Pennypot Lane.

But with shovels yet to be put in the ground for many of the proposed sites, Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association, hopes the infrastructure strategy will ensure investment takes place into roads, schools and healthcare before homes are built.

As part of the delivery strategy, a review of existing infrastructure is being carried out ahead of the document being published in draft form during a public consultation.

With less than four months until the borough council is abolished, HAPARA is questioning if the document will now ever see the light of day.

Last week, the county council announced the new North Yorkshire Council will develop its own Local Plan to replace the one drawn up by Harrogate.

A borough council spokesperson said the parameters plan, which was approved by the authority’s cabinet in February, would still be used as a material planning consideration until the sites covered in the plan are developed.

However, David Siddans, a spokesperson for HAPARA, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the infrastructure strategy has “practically receded from my memory” due to a paucity of meetings with the council.

Mr Siddans said:

“It is now so long since we had an engagement session with Harrogate Borough Council on the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy that it has practically receded from my memory.

“The last engagement session with Harrogate Borough Council was on July 19 following which we were promised a further session in October when it was expected that further analysis work by the consultants had been carried out. It is now December and there has been no further contact.”

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said:

“Work on the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy continues.

“It is an important piece of work to ensure the effective delivery of infrastructure to support the West Harrogate sites. We will hold further stakeholder engagement in due course.”

Residents call for Sharow pub reinstatement after latest council rejection

Residents in Sharow have called for a local pub to be reinstated following a council decision to reject plans for it to be turned into a home.

The Half Moon Inn pub on Sharow Lane was opened in 1822 but closed down back in 2016.

Since then, a long running saga has unfolded over how best to put the building to use.

Harrogate Borough Council turned down latest plans by owner Mark Fitton to convert the pub into a house last month.

The Half Moon Inn at Sharow.

Now, residents are calling for the public house to be reinstated.

A spokesperson for the Half Moon Inn Pub Group, which campaigns to reopen the facility, said:

“Local residents are now calling for the Half Moon’s reinstatement, this time as a community hub, where food, drinks, cultural and community events can take place, free wifi can be provided, as well as a small shop that offers daily necessities so local residents don’t need to drive to Ripon.”

Asset of community value challenge

The move comes as the borough council awarded the pub asset of community status in November following a campaign by local residents and the parish council.

However, Mark Fitton, the owner of the pub has challenged the council’s decision and described it as “flawed”.

Mr Fitton said no attempt has been made to reopen the pub as a community facility, despite the building being available.

In a letter to the borough council, he said:

“The Half Moon Inn has been openly available for a community take-over for five of the past seven years.

“During all of that time, no proposal has been put forward.”

Mr Fitton called for a review of the decision.

In a letter to Mr Fitton, which has been seen by the Stray Ferret, the council confirmed that it expected to complete a review by January 29, 2023.

Who will make decisions on new homes in the Harrogate district in 2023?

A debate is brewing over who should decide on plans for new housing in the Harrogate district.

Currently, Harrogate Borough Council makes decisions on proposals for new homes and major developments.

But this will be taken out of the council’s hands in April 2023 when North Yorkshire Council takes over.

Some politicians argue that planning powers should be given to local areas.

But, for council bosses, it appears the matter is not so straight forward.

Local areas should make planning decisions

Ahead of the new council being formed, North Yorkshire County Council set up a working group to look at how planning matters should be decided.

The authority is set to approve measures to create its own Local Plan – but has yet to decide how planning decisions should be made.

For most councillors, they believe the area constituency committees should be in charge of such decisions affecting their own areas.

The committees are made up of county councillors from a local area, such as Harrogate and Knaresborough, and discuss matters relevant to that place.

New housing under construction at King Edwin Park in Harrogate.

Cllr Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough area committee, pointed out that not handing powers to such committees would “erode accountability”.

She said:

“The devolution of decision making powers on planning is the right thing to do. How is a Councillor in Scarborough supposed to understand the impacts or issues of a particular development in Harrogate?

“In the new North Yorkshire Council structure Area Committees will be key, they should be given powers to direct local services and they should have budgets to make that happen.

“Having one huge planning authority for the entire of North Yorkshire would be impractical, costly and would erode local accountability.”

The issue is particularly pertinent when it comes to major developments.

In Harrogate, decisions are still expected on a bottling plant at Harrogate Spring Water and a 3,000 home town between Knaresborough and Cattall called Maltkiln.

Major developments

Councillors believe that such decisions should be made at a local level.

However, in a county council report, officials suggested that a threshold should be set for applications to be made a county-wide committee.

One of the suggestions was that decisions on applications for 500 houses or more would be taken by North Yorkshire Council.

Cllr Arnold Warneken, a Green Party county councillor who represents Ouseburn, said he had concerns over such a threshold.

He said that area committees should have input on major applications, whether they are made at a county level or not.

Cllr Warneken said:

“We got to have a situation where they [local committees] get some input.

“If they are always a consultee then they will have their say.

“I do not want to leave this down to chance, I want it written into the council’s strategy.”

‘Two models being considered’

Conservative Cllr Simon Myers,, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for growth and housing, said two models are being considered for planning across the county.

He said the aim for the new authority was a “co-ordinated planning policy overseen by one over-arching authority”.

He said:

“This will help attract new enterprise and also bring in much-needed new homes to address the affordable housing issues which are seen across North Yorkshire, but especially in our rural and coastal communities.

“We envisage several committees will make key planning decisions when the new council launches from April 1 next year.

“There are currently two models which are being considered for the new North Yorkshire Council to ensure that planning policies are co-ordinated in the best possible manner and are addressing the needs of local communities.

“The first option would see six planning committees introduced based on constituency areas, while the other proposal would see the six committees condensed into three. Both options with see a strategic committee dealing with major planning applications as well as decisions concerning waste and minerals.

“A great deal of work has gone into making sure that planning decisions are made effectively with the advent of the new council, and I have chaired a group of members who have been looking at the issue. I would like to put on record that I am extremely grateful for all the work that has been undertaken by both members and officers.”

The county council’s executive will consider the options and make a decision when members meet on Tuesday next week (December 13).

That decision will then go to a full council meeting in February when it will be discussed and ratified ahead of the launch of the new council.

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A new Harrogate Tesco?

West of Harrogate expansion

More housebuilding in Kingsley

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Knox Lane controversy

New homes in Clotherholme?

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Maltkiln

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Asset of community value challenge

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Local areas should make planning decisions

Major developments

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‘Two models being considered’