Developer appeals decision to reject Harrogate district eco-homes

A developer has appealed a decision to refuse plans for nine new eco-homes near Flaxby.

Holmes Planning Ltd submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council for the development in October 2021.

It would have seen houses built to environmental standards and include solar panels, air-source heat pumps and super-tight insulation.

It also included self-build and custom homes on the site at York Road in Flaxby.

The council rejected the plan on the grounds that it was outside the development boundary, the affect on the character of the area and because the number of homes was below the council’s requirement per hectare.

However, the developer has appealed the decision to the government.

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In documents submitted for the challenge, the developer argued that there was not enough custom build developments in the district.

It said:

“The appellant submits that the custom self-build deficit is so severe, and likely to get worse, that this material consideration outweighs any departure from the Harrogate District Local Plan and that the appeal site is suitable for custom self-build and the appeal, if allowed, would be secured for custom self-build through the Unilateral Undertaking.”

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

Butcher serving Harrogate district appoints first resident chef

A butcher that provides meat and poultry to restaurants, cafes and homes across the Harrogate district has appointed its first resident consultant chef.

Greg Lewis will help Wetherby-based Sykes House Farm develop products and build and run a new demo kitchen on site.

Rachael Hirst, who runs the third-generation family business with her brother Robert Smith, said:

“We are delighted to have Greg on board and are extremely excited for our future plans with him.”

Mr Lewis began his career as a bakery assistant in New Zealand, then progressed onto cooking for athletes at the Sydney Olympics. He then moved to the UK and worked under Jeff Baker at Pool Court, Leeds, which was England’s only inner-city Michelin starred restaurant outside of London at the time.

Estate agent makes series of appointments

Georgie Williams

Estate agent Dacre, Son & Hartley has made a series of appointments and promotions across its North Yorkshire offices.

Georgie Williams has been promoted to branch manager in the Wetherby office, where she will lead the team selling homes throughout the town and surrounding areas including Boston Spa, Collingham, Tadcaster, Spofforth, Sicklinghall, Bramham, Harewood, Scarcroft and Kirk Deighton.

Alison Reilly from Dacres’ Pateley Bridge office and Dan Rice from the Ripon office have both been promoted to sales managers. Reilly has worked at Dacres for almost 19 years and Rice joined in 2018.

In the company’s Harrogate office, Alex Jackson and James Curtis-Bean have been appointed as sales negotiators. The pair will work alongside the team’s branch manager Sophie Tillisch.

The North Yorkshire teams are led by area director Paul Baxter. He said:

“These promotions and appointments will enhance the standard of service that our clients enjoy, and further strengthen our Wetherby, Harrogate, Ripon and Pateley Bridge offices.”

Harrogate IT firm acquires company

Harrogate IT firm Redcentric has acquired a provider of security testing, incident response management and consultancy services.

7 Elements works with customers to assess security threats, identify weaknesses and provide tailored support.

The company, which has operations in Edinburgh and Leicester, has an annual revenue of about £1m.

Following the acquisition, it will continue to operate as a standalone business and will be led by its former owner, David Stubley, who established the company in 2010.

Redcentric paid £1.95m in cash, which could rise to £2.4m based on the future performance of the business over the next 13 months.

Chief executive Peter Brotherton said:

“I am delighted to welcome 7 Elements into the Redcentric family. The addition of its services to Redcentric’s existing DDOS, SIEM, managed WAF and information security consultancy services means we are now able to offer a complete portfolio of security services to our customers.”

Plan submitted to demolish Bilton garages for social housing

Harrogate Borough Council has lodged plans to demolish 10 garages in Bilton to build two new houses.

The garages are on Woodfield Close, near the iron bridge in the Harrogate suburb.

As part of the proposal, two one-bedroom homes would be built on the site.

A council report  in August said there were 24 garages on the site but only 12 were occupied. Of these, four were used by local residents.

The report proposed demolishing seven garages to allow for the new development but the number has now increased to 10.

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The council owns and rents out garages across the district and has increasingly looked at the pockets of land as a way to build social housing.

In planning documents, the council said the development would help to provide “much needed affordable homes”.

The move comes as the council approved plans to earmark the site for housing back in August 2021.

The authority also plans to build a two-bed property for social rented housing on grassland it maintains on the corner of Poplar Crescent and Poplar Grove

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

Residents say new Granby Farm homes will ‘tower over’ them

Residents who live adjacent to the 95-home Granby Farm development have complained to Harrogate Borough Council about the height of some of the new properties being built, saying they will “tower over them”.

The council investigated the complaint and found Redrow Homes breached planning rules at the development by starting to build 15 houses before receiving the correct planning approval.

Outline planning permission for the development was granted in April 2021. It will be called Granby Meadows and will have a mixture of 95 one, two, three and four-bedroom properties.

In recent months, contractors have started preparing the land, laying roads, and building some of the houses.

The homes are being built on a field that is prone to flooding and the council said some of the homes are being built between 0.5m and 1.35m above existing ground level to help with drainage.  However, the increase in the ground elevation had not been approved at the planning stage.

Residents concerns

Granby Residents Association, which includes people living in properties adjacent to the development, complained to the council that the homes were being built too high and would “tower over” nearby homes.

Gary Walker, a member of the group, said:

“Residents along the site boundary with both Roseville Drive and Kingsley Drive expressed grave concerns once the work on the infrastructure commenced.

“You only have to visit the properties on Kingsley Drive to see how high the levels have been increased and how these new houses will tower over them.”

Work underway at the site.

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Mr Walker shared with the Stray Ferret email correspondence he had with the council’s planning enforcement officer Andrew Lancashire.

Mr Lancashire confirmed that work on 15 homes took place before the planning condition had been discharged.

He wrote:

“It would appear that the foundations for the units 80-94 have been laid and ground levels will be raised between 0.5m to 1.35m above the existing ground levels to the internal finished floor level (FFL) of the new dwellings.

“The engineering operation to increase the FFL were not approved at the planning stage and development has begun without these planning conditions first being discharged. This is a breach of planning.”

Action

Mr Lancashire said the council investigated the planning breach further to decide what action to take.

As the homes would be up to 1.35m taller, he measured what the distance was between them and Kingsley Drive.

He found all met the recommended distance except for two properties. 

Mr Lancashire said the difference was “relatively minor” and requested that trees be planted as mitigation.

He wrote that Redrow Homes have “recognised this shortfall and are in the process of submitting a revised and enhanced landscape buffer to deal with this situation”.

David Faraday, technical director for Redrow (Yorkshire), said:

“We are developing this site in accordance with the approved plans. Prior to the planning permission being granted we had supplied all relevant and requested information to the council regarding site levels.

“We are currently liaising with officers at the council regarding an issue identified with the site levels and we have committed to provide additional landscaping along the boundary. This will be maintained long-term, initially by our site team and on an ongoing basis by a management company for the site, once they have been appointed.

“Site drainage proposals remain consistent with the strategy agreed during the planning process and Yorkshire Water have confirmed their intention to adopt the scheme as proposed.”

Plans approved to demolish Little Ouseburn pub for homes

Harrogate Borough Council has approved plans to demolish a Little Ouseburn pub to build new homes.

The proposal by Low Lane Developments will see the Green Tree Inn flattened to make way for four houses.

The pub, which is on the main B6265 from Green Hammerton to Boroughbridge, closed in late 2019.

In documents submitted to the council, the developer said the plan would help to enhance the local area.

It said:

“We believe that redevelopment of this site will enhance the conservation area and will bring a positive contribution to the local environment.”

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In 2017, pub owners Michael and Barbara Briggs were granted permission to convert the property into housing while retaining part of the downstairs as a micro pub.

However, planning documents state Mr Briggs died in January 2017 and Mrs Briggs struggled to maintain the pub alone.

After three years of trying to market the micro pub, Mrs Briggs decided it was no longer a viable business.

Plea for ‘moratorium’ on controversial 181-home Kingsley development

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred has issued a plea for Harrogate Borough Council to halt a controversial planning application for 181 homes on Kingsley Drive in Starbeck.

At a full council meeting last night, Cllr Aldred asked Conservative cabinet member for planning, Cllr Tim Myatt, if he would consider issuing a ‘moratorium’ on the plans, which were submitted this week by Persimmon Homes.

It is the third time the developer has submitted a proposal at the location, which used to form part of Kingsley Farm. A larger application for 217 homes was rejected by councillors in August.

Cllr Aldred, who currently represents the Fairfax ward, cited government Housing Delivery Test figures that revealed Harrogate Borough Council has exceeded its housebuilding target by almost 1,700 homes over the last three years.

He said he attended a meeting of Kingsley residents last month to discuss the application and heard how various housing schemes have heaped “misery” on local residents due to the disruption caused.

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Cllr Aldred said:

“We’ve met the target, so would the cabinet member be prepared to consider an immediate moratorium halting the proposed development of a further 181 homes that went into planning yesterday?

“It’s greatly affecting the physical and mental health of Kingsley residents.”

‘Intense period of development’

In response, Cllr Myatt, who represents High Harrogate on the council, said he had “great sympathy” for people affected by the “intense period of development” in the ward.

But he said over the past six years, the council was still below the housing need target identified in the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-2035, which maps out where development can take place until 2034.

Cllr Tim Myatt

The government and the council’s Local Plan have different housebuilding targets for the district.

Cllr Myatt said:

“I have been speaking with residents regularly about this application and about what I think the weaknesses are.

“We have a Local Plan, which was adopted recently. It has a target for local need for the past six years. It’s around 690 homes per year. If you look at those figures, we haven’t exceeded that target over the past six years, in fact we are slightly below it.”

Local Plan

The Local Plan was adopted in 2020 but can be reviewed after five years.

Cllr Myatt confirmed that officers are already working on the review, which could see some sites removed if it is deemed the housing need for the district has changed.

Cllr Myatt added:

“Can I order a cease of planning applications? That simply wouldn’t hold up on a national level and I think the councillor knows that, he was just trying to get me to say no. It’s not something within my gift to cease housing applications, if I tried to do so, it would be overturned nationally.

“Our Local Plan is in place, it was voted on by this council and received a strong approval.”

Former pub near Boroughbridge to be converted into flats

Harrogate Borough Council has approved plans to convert a former pub near Boroughbridge into flats, despite objections from local residents over the loss of a community asset.

Stonefield Developments applied to the council to convert the building in Lower Dunsforth, It was most recently a restaurant called The Hideaway Kitchen. Before that it was a pub called The Dunsforth.

The village is four miles from Boroughbridge.

The restaurant closed last year. Planning documents cite a “lack of customer trade and consequent viability issues” as the reason.

Now, proposals will see the ground floor of the former restaurant converted into two two-bedroom flats, along with car parking.

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The upper floor of the building already has three existing flats, so if approved the building would have six in total.

37 letters of objection

The decision comes despite objections from the local parish of Dunsforth, which said the conversion would “strip a community of a vital asset”.

Chris France, who submitted the objection to the council on behalf of the parish, added in his letter:

“The pub is the only secular amenity in the village so its removal would severely impact village life leaving nowhere for the above to take place.”

In addition, 37 letters of objection were submitted to the council pointing out that the former pub has been a community asset in the village for more than 100 years.

The move comes as other applications have been lodged to convert former working men’s and private members clubs into flats.

In January, a proposal was lodged to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the former Ripon City Club into a house.

Drainage concerns at Goldsborough housing site following Storm Franklin

Residents in Goldsborough have raised concerns over drainage on land earmarked for 36 homes following Storm Franklin.

Heavy rainfall last week caused puddles to appear on a site off Station Road in the village (pictured above), which is a mile from Knaresborough. This has renewed concerns from residents of water run off into nearby properties.

The development was approved by Harrogate Borough Council in October 2021.

However, residents say they are concerned that the surface water may affect nearby homes and that they have repeatedly warned Stonebridge Homes, the developer, and the council over flood risk.

Noel Evans, who lives next to the site, said:

“Residents have frequently over the past four years stated that the change of this field from agricultural land, where there has been recorded flooding problems, will be immensely worse once the site is filled with hard surfaces such as roofs, pathways and roadways.”

In a letter to the council, local resident Beverley Jackson added:

“These heavy rainfall events now occur every year so we cannot treat them as occasional hazards.”

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Since the heavy rainfall last week, multiple residents have submitted comments via the council’s planning portal about their concerns.

The developer lodged a drainage plan as part of its proposal, but is still awaiting approval as part of its conditions with the council.

Mr Evans said the plan would need to be “superlative” in order to reduce the risk of flooding.

New sewer system

The Stray Ferret asked both Stonebridge Homes and its parent company, Henry Boot Ltd, for comment on the concerns raised by residents at the Goldsborough site, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

However, in a letter to the council in January this year addressing public comments on drainage, Katie Purdam, senior planner at Stonebridge Homes, said drainage at the site would “not contribute to the flood risk noted by residents”.

She said:

“We have carried out the detailed technical analysis and soakaway tests to the required standards by an independent consultant, which has shown that we can provide sufficient permeability rates and therefore the development can be accommodated.

“The cause of the historic flooding noted by residents is likely the old-style sewage system which runs through the gardens on the west and east sides of Station Road, which may be poorly maintained.

“We will be providing a new sewer system, which will bypass the existing unadopted sewer system in the gardens of properties either side of Station Road. Our new foul sewer will be laid down the site access, north along Station Road and then east to connect directly into the adopted sewer at Princess Mead. 

“The drainage from our site will therefore not contribute to the flood risk noted by residents.”

Residents urged to report empty homes to help solve Harrogate’s housing crisis

Harrogate district residents are being urged to report empty homes as new figures show some progress has been made on the problem which is contributing to the housing crisis.

Harrogate Borough Council has faced calls to take greater action to bring empty homes back into use at a time when around 1,800 households remain stuck on the social housing waiting list due to a “desperate” lack of affordable properties.

Figures now show some progress has been made, with the number of homes empty for more than two years falling from 228 in 2019 to 205 this week.

There is still much ground to be made, but the council said the figures show it is taking positive action.

Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities, is now asking more property owners to bring their empty homes back into use as he also urged residents to report any cases to the council as part of a national week of action.

He said:

“We want to work with property owners who, for whatever reason, have an empty property that could be better used to provide a home for local people.

“There are options available, including the empty homes loan or rent bond scheme to carry out repairs or improvement works and bring them back into use.

“I’d urge anyone who is interested to get in touch.”

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Other figures show the number of Harrogate district homes empty for more than six months has also fallen from 838 in 2019 to 758 this week.

‘We can’t afford to waste properties’

This comes at a time when campaign group Action on Empty Homes says the nation has seen a “massive rise” in cases as it also calls for councils to be given greater powers “to act where owners and landlords won’t or can’t”.

The campaign group said:

“We believe that we cannot afford to waste such properties.

“In England 100,000 families are trapped in often poor quality, insecure temporary accommodation, which does not meet the standards that are required of the permanent, secure, social housing these families are entitled to.”

There are numerous reasons why properties can lie empty. In some instances, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent out.

Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them.

Loan scheme

Harrogate Borough Council last year launched a loan scheme to help property owners carry out repairs. The loan is for anyone who does not have the money to carry out repairs to a property which has been empty for more than six months.

In what is described as a “last resort”, the council also has powers to carry compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) where efforts to bring empty homes back into use have failed and legal action is taken against landlords.

Just two CPOs were carried out in 2020/21 and the local Liberal Democrats previously said a stricter approach should be taken.

But councillor Chambers said the Conservative-run council would rather work with property owners rather than take legal action against them.

He said:

“When we have exhausted all options, we will look to make a compulsory purchase order to bring empty homes back into use.

“But we would much prefer working with property owners and highlight the options available to them.”

Councillor Chambers also said there are often empty properties which the council is unaware of, and he urged residents to report cases to the council’s empty homes officer.

Council approves long-awaited West Harrogate Parameters Plan

Harrogate Borough Council has approved a long-awaited plan that aims to solve how the west of Harrogate’s roads, schools and health services will cope with 2,000 extra homes.

The West Harrogate Parameters Plan will be used to identify what infrastructure is required and to help assess the planning merits of future developments in the area.

Council officials devised the document following discussions with the county council, developers and site promoters, along with community groups, parish councils and stakeholders.

Cllr Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning, said the plan would ensure “we have the necessary infrastructure to support these future communities on the west side of Harrogate”.

He said it included two new primary schools, four playing pitches and two new local centres for shops and health services, as well as land designated for employment, new cycle lanes, footpaths and bus routes.

Cllr Myatt added:

“A number of suggestions have helped shaped the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan and I’d like to thank stakeholders – and especially local community groups and residents’ associations – for their valuable feedback.

“This engagement has played an integral part in ensuring we have been able to produce a plan that clearly identifies what infrastructure is required, whether that’s community facilities, school provision, green infrastructure or sustainable travel opportunities, for example.

“It also sets a benchmark for future developments across the Harrogate district and ensures that we not only delivery much needed homes but also create communities that residents can be proud of to call home.”

Beckwithshaw is set to see an increase in through traffic due to new housing on Otley Road.

Beckwithshaw is set to see an increase in through traffic due to new housing on Otley Road.

The council added that the document was designed to help “support the sustainable and coordinated” development of future homes in the west of Harrogate.

Council to draw up infrastructure strategy

Now the plans has been approved, the council will begin preparing a West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy (WHIDS) that will provide more detail about infrastructure requirements for West Harrogate and the associated cost.

It will include a review of existing capacity and timings for the phasing of key infrastructure, including education provision, health and wellbeing services, water and drainage, sport and playing fields provision, highways and open space.

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The plan is due to be completed in May and will also be used to inform section 106 agreements paid by developers to fund infrastructure associated with their schemes.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive councillor for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said the authority would continue to support the borough council on infrastructure.

He said:

“North Yorkshire will continue to work closely with the borough council as a key partner responsible for services like education, highways and transport.

“We will support investment in the local highways infrastructure, as is already taking place on Otley Road, but will place the greatest priority on the provision of excellent public transport and facilities for walking and cycling.”

Residents remain unhappy

However, David Siddans, secretary of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service previously:

“We, along with other organisations in the area, say that the council should not be approving the parameters plan until full details of the infrastructure package is agreed.

“We understand that is not expected before May this year.

“We have no confidence that this will happen and it is likely that developers will again be given the green light with the wider infrastructure needs remaining unaddressed.”