‘Build affordable housing at Harlow Nurseries’

Harrogate Community Land Trust has appealed for the chance to develop affordable housing on the Harlow Nurseries site.

Harlow Nurseries, next to the Pinewoods, is owned by Harrogate Borough Council and sells plants, pots and compost to the public.

However, the council’s Local Plan says 40 homes can be built on the site. The nursery will relocate if the development goes ahead.

The council has appointed three external consultants to draw up plans for the site before the end of the year.

But Harrogate CLT, which wants to develop homes to meet community needs, such as affordable housing or low-carbon housing, fears whatever is proposed will be too expensive for most people.

Sarah Hart, who helped to create Harrogate CLT four years ago after becoming demoralised with the cost of housing in the town, urged the council to consider selling Harlow Nurseries to it rather than a private developer.

Ms Hart thinks Harrogate CLT, which has 39 individual members, could provide homes the current property market does not cater for.

Harrogate Borough Council requires developers to include 40% affordable housing, which includes social housing, shared ownership schemes, and homes sold at lower than the market rate.

But Ms Hart said these options are still out of reach for too many people, forcing some to move outside of the district.

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Highly sensitive development

Any housing on the popular Harlow Nurseries site is likely to be controversial, especially after the local community recently rallied against Harrogate Spring Water’s controversial expansion plans into Rotary Wood.

Ms Hart says the “highly sensitive” nature of any development made it ideal for community-led housing that put the needs of local people first.

Her vision is to create homes for older people who want to downsize, people at the end of the council’s social housing waiting list, and people trapped in the private rented sector due to high rents.

She added:

“If you do housing from the bottom up you can find out what people really need.

“You hear people’s frustrations [about Harlow Nurseries]. So instead of being against a development, it’s better to bring people along”

Flagship scheme

Last week the local Green Party also suggested a housing development at Harlow Nurseries could be Harrogate’s flagship community-led housing scheme.

Residents in community-led housing schemes govern themselves to keep housing affordable in perpetuity.

A well-known local example is LILAC, which is a community of 20 eco-build households in west Leeds.

Raising capital to buy the Harlow Nurseries site would be a hurdle for Harrogate CLT.

Ms Hart said the group was in discussions with a local housebuilding company about working in partnership on the scheme.

She added she wanted Harrogate CLT to be “around the table” with the council before the land is sold.

A council spokesperson said:

“We have now appointed a specialist to progress with masterplanning work on the three strategic sites allocated in our Local Plan.

“We will be working closely with them to engage with and involve key stakeholders and local groups to ensure we create the right type of communities for existing and future residents of the Harrogate district.”

Calls for community involvement in Harlow Nurseries housing

The local Green Party says a future housing development that will be built at Harlow Nurseries could be Harrogate’s “flagship” community-led housing scheme.

Harlow Nurseries, next to the Pinewoods, is owned by Harrogate Borough Council and sells plants, pots and compost to the public.

However, the council’s Local Plan says 40 homes can be built on the site with the nursery relocating if the development went ahead.

What is community-led housing?

Community-led housing developments are designed and managed by local people and built to meet the needs of the community, such as for more affordable or low-carbon housing.

Rebecca Maunder, Harrogate & District Green Party campaigner for Harlow says the site offers a “great opportunity” for the council to support community-led housing.

This means the council would offer the site to a community group rather than selling it to a property developer, who may choose to maximise the land for profit.

Ms Maunder wrote to HBC’s director of economy and culture Trevor Watson calling on the council to explore offering the site to the community:

“The site provides an ideal opportunity for any new development to be led by the community for the community.

“The proximity to the Pinewoods means special consideration should be given to integrate it into the landscape, prioritising wildlife and biodiversity, alongside mental and physical health.

“Such a sensitive site would benefit from maximum community input and help to create a sense of ownership and full integration with the existing community and landscape.”

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The council is moving forward with plans to develop the nurseries and has appointed three external consultants who will draw up a programme for what might happen to the site before the end of the year.

If the local community decided it wanted to get involved, it would first need to form a Community Land Trust (CLT).

HBC is able to issue financial grants to CLTs to help establish themselves and to conduct feasibility studies for potential schemes.

A HBC spokesperson said:

“We thank Harlow Greens for their letter and will respond shortly.

“We have now appointed a specialist to progress with masterplanning work on the three strategic sites allocated in our Local Plan.

“We will be working closely with them to engage with and involve key stakeholders and local groups to ensure we create the right type of communities for existing and future residents of the Harrogate district.”

 

 

Plans for major retirement development in Knaresborough

Councillors will next week consider proposals for 69 retirement apartments with care near to St James Retail Park in Knaresborough — but concerns have been raised that it will worsen traffic on Grimbald Bridge.

Adlington, part of the Gladman group, is behind the development which would be built on land adjacent to the single-track Grimbald Bridge on Wetherby Road which passes the River Nidd.

Adlington has built similar developments for retirees across the north of England, including Adlington House on Bridge Street in Otley.

The company said the Knaresborough scheme will follow its ‘extra care’ model which tries to maintain the residents’ independence.

It said in its plans:

“Residents can live with as much independence as they wish, but have care support available to suit their needs with advancing age, without moving to more specialised accommodation.”

The developer wants to demolish a derelict bungalow and house that is currently on the site. The three-storey development includes 22 one-bedroom, 37 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom apartments.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will meet a week on Tuesday (February 16) to consider the proposals, which have been recommended for approval by a council officer.

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Grimbald Bridge is a pressure point for congestion and the proposals include a new, single priority-controlled junction on Wetherby Road.

The development would be built to the left of Grimbald Bridge on Wetherby Road.

However, this has not been enough to allay concerns over traffic and pedestrian safety, with both Knaresborough Civic Society and Knaresborough Town Council objecting on transport grounds.

Knaresborough Town Council called the development “over-intense with poor access”.

It added:

“The scale of the development is overpowering, blocking natural daylight from adjacent properties.”

Housing developers pay £1.2m to fund Harrogate projects

Harrogate Borough Council charged housing developers £1.2m in 2019/20 to fund infrastructure projects, such as children’s play equipment and village halls.

The figure is revealed in the council’s first infrastructure funding statement.

The statement includes details of section 106 payments, which developers pay as part of the planning process to fund infrastructure that residents will use. 

A report to councillors revealed that of the £1.2 million generated, the council has so far collected £550,000.

Almost £200,000 of this has already been spent on schemes such as children’s play equipment, allotments, cemeteries, open spaces, village hall improvements and outdoor sports repairs around the district.

Examples of specific projects include: improving the toilets at Killinghall village hall, improving a multi-use games area in Kirkby Malzeard, installing planters in Darley and erecting village signs in Little Ouseburn

Harrogate Borough Council’s section 106 payments relate only to open space, village halls and affordable housing.

Developers also pay section 106 payments to improve education, roads and public transport but these are collected and monitored by North Yorkshire County Council.

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The report also reveals the council has collected £2.4 million in section 106 payments from previous years, which it has not yet spent.

The document says section 106 payments can only be spent when the final payment from a development has been received.

It also says it keeps the money to “avoid the risks associated with developers going out of business”.

The report is expected to be rubber-stamped by the council’s cabinet member for planning, councillor Tim Myatt, on Tuesday.

37 homes in Ripon look set for go ahead

Thirty-seven houses look set to be built on the site of former warehouses in Ripon after Harrogate Borough Council granted outline planning permission this week.

Prime Talent Ltd submitted plans to demolish vacant buildings at the Old Goods Yard, 2 Hutton Bank, which were previously used by companies such as Millennium Windows and Power Plastics, and build the homes.

Originally, 43 homes were mooted but the number was reduced after concerns were raised about the loss of the site for employment use.

An updated scheme was put forward with fewer homes and six units, which can be used by local businesses.

In August 2019, the council’s planning committee deferred approval to the chief planner subject to conditions, which included the completion of a legal agreement that dealt with the number of affordable homes.

Councillors also asked for a study on how the homes would be protected against subsidence.

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Because the development involves bringing a vacant brownfield site back into use, the developer was able to apply a vacant building credit.

The government introduced vacant building credits to encourage developers to bring back into use previously developed sites containing vacant buildings by reducing the number of affordable homes they are obliged to build.

This reduced the number of affordable homes for this development to six, which is 16% of the development.

Normally on brownfield sites, the council asks developers to include 30% affordable housing.

As the site is in an area that may be subject to gypsum-related subsidence, developers undertook a study that recommends using rafting foundations on the buildings to mitigate any potential subsidence issues.

The developer is now set to submit a reserved matters application, which deals with the site’s appearance and types of homes.

120-home Knaresborough development to begin this month

Work is set to begin this month to build 120 homes in Knaresborough after Yorkshire Housing purchased the site from Gladman Developments.

The 18-acre site on Boroughbridge Road is allocated for development in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan and planning permission was granted in August last year, despite objections.

Yorkshire Housing, which is a housing association, hopes the two, three, and four-bedroom homes will begin to be ready in January next year.

Andy Gamble, director of development at Yorkshire Housing, said:

“The 120 new homes will be mixed tenure and will provide homes for shared ownership, affordable rent, rent-to-buy and market sale.

“We want to continue creating new communities that bring more, much-needed homes to Yorkshire where our customers are proud to live and call home.”

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Scriven Parish Council said the homes would result in “saturation” for Knaresborough and its facilities when the plans were submitted.

The objection said:

“Knaresborough is under tremendous pressure and the historic market town, which all the residents recognise and enjoy, is being destroyed by over development.”

Former Yorkshire pub of the year could be turned into a home

A former winner of the Yorkshire Pub of the Year title could be turned into a five-bedroom home.

The Crown Inn pub in Great Ouseburn won the prize at the White Rose Awards in 2011 but plans have now been submitted to convert it into a family home.

The proposals include four first-floor bedrooms, two with en suites, as well as a guest room on the ground floor. There would also be a cinema room and a single garage, with the proposals including creating a two-storey extension.

The full details can be viewed on the planning section of the Harrogate Borough Council website, using reference 20/04342/FUL.

The pub has been vacant for several years, closing in June 2016. The village, which is five miles from Boroughbridge, is currently served by one pub, the Lime Tree on Branton Lane.

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In October plans were submitted to convert the Green Tree pub in nearby Little Ouseburn into housing. The pub, which is on the main B6265 from Green Hammerton to Boroughbridge, closed in late 2019.

Ripon housing development on old industrial site refused

Harrogate Borough Council has refused a 13-home development in Ripon city centre due to its impact on local heritage.

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.

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

“In order to create a high-quality residential scheme which achieves all of the required standards it is essential that the building is replaced.”

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The building in 1929.

However, Christopher Hughes, chairman of the Ripon Civic Society objected to the plans and said the structure should be retained due to its historical importance.

He said:

“It’s an important survival of Ripon’s industrial heritage and its importance is underestimated and in this application totally overlooked.”

The council’s chief planner John Worthington refused the plans which he said would cause “unacceptable harm” to the Ripon Conservation Area. He also criticised the plans for offering no affordable homes.

The Stray Ferret asked Red Tree Developments for a response but we did not receive one at the time of publication.

‘We couldn’t afford to buy a home in Knaresborough’

In previous generations, getting on the housing ladder for a young couple with steady incomes was a given.

But in today’s housing crisis, it’s a pipe dream for too many people, particularly in high-value areas like Knaresborough and Harrogate.

Married Knaresborough couple Steph Getao, 32 and Scott Gibson 35, spent three years looking for their perfect property in Knaresborough and Harrogate — but failed to find one within their budget.

It forced them to look further afield and they recently purchased a two-bedroom house with a conservatory and garden in Allerton Bywater, a village south-east of Leeds.

At £175,000, Steph said the home was much cheaper than similar properties locally.

Scott works for an electrical manufacturer in Boroughbridge and Steph works in an office in Harrogate. Steph told the Stray Ferret it was “upsetting” that they couldn’t buy a home closer to Scott’s hometown.

She said:

“We both love it here. He has his childhood friends here. It was so depressing. It was either get what you can in Knaresborough or Harrogate or have a choice and look further afield.”

According to property website Rightmove, the average property price in Knaresborough last year was £320,000

In new housing developments, Harrogate Borough Council demands that 40% of all homes are classed as “affordable”.

The government defines affordable as homes sold at a discounted rate, homes for social rent, or through shared ownership schemes.

Steph dismissed shared ownership schemes as a “different face of renting” and questioned how “affordable” these homes really are.

“An affordable home was £200,000 plus. I don’t understand what they mean by affordable. You can’t put that amount of money down and call it affordable.”

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Steph is a director of Knaresborough Community Land Trust, a not-for-profit organisation that is hoping to develop a disused area in the town centre into three flats as affordable housing.

Such initiatives provide small scale solutions. But for Knaresborough to flourish, Steph says the town needs young people to stay and put down roots.

She added:

“Without young people, Knaresborough will get more and more sleepy. The high street is basically all old dear shops! Knaresborough needs its young.

“Scott’s parents and aunts all have houses locally, then you go to the next generation and we’ve all moved out of Knaresborough [due to house prices].

“You’ve got to do what’s best for your pocket, so we went Allerton Bywater. I wish we had more local people being able to purchase within Knaresborough. If we had an influx of young people, we’d see a change in the high street immediately.”

Harrogate sees biggest increase in new homes in 20 years

There was a net increase of 975 homes in Harrogate during 2019/20, the biggest increase in at least 20 years.

The latest figures were published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and show a sharp rise in new housing compared with previous years.

The figures go back to 2001/2 and cover new builds, conversions, changes of use, and demolitions.

in 2018/19 there was an increase of 682 and in 2017/18 it was 611 — but in the ten years prior the average figure was 291 homes a year.

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The figures show the impact of Harrogate’s Local Plan, finally adopted earlier this year after over a decade of wrangling. The plan calls for  637 homes to be built in the district every year until 2035.

Last week, the Stray Ferret published a major investigation that explored the impact of the Local Plan on the people living in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.

According to the Harrogate Borough Council Housing Strategy 2019-2024, Harrogate is the least affordable area in the north of England.

Spiralling house prices have affected people like Megan McHugh, 24, who has lived in Harrogate all her life. She told the Stray Ferret it’s “heartbreaking” that she cannot afford to buy a house in her hometown. 

She said:

“If you’re like me and you want to buy your own home in Harrogate, you’ve got absolutely no chance. I feel stuck.”