‘We desperately need change’, says Skipton and Ripon Lib Dem candidateRipon council leader calls for decision on 1,300 homes to be deferred

The leader of Ripon City Council is to call for a decision on whether to allow 1,300 homes to be built in the city to be deferred today.

Government agency Homes England has applied to redevelop Ministry of Defence land in the north-west of the city, between Clotherhome Road and Kirkby Road,

North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee, which adjudicates on large applications, has been recommended to approve the scheme when it meets at 10am this morning.

Cllr Williams warned the plans would lead to “traffic chaos” and the “destruction” of key military heritage sites. He said it would be premature to make a decision until these issues are resolved.

Cllr Williams, who also represents Ripon Minster and Moorside on North Yorkshire Council, told the Stray Ferret:

“I am attending the meeting and will be calling in the strongest terms for members of the strategic planning committee to defer their decision on the Homes England application.

“The application is premature and I find it disingenuous of Homes England to agree to meet with the city council in July to discuss unresolved matters of major concern to the people of Ripon, while seeking approval for their proposals today.”

Cllr Williams added:

“These matters include the city council’s unanimous call for the protection of military heritage on the barracks site and concerns we have also raised about a proposed change to the Somerset Row and Low Skellgate junction.

“As the application stands, the military heritage, which is part of Ripon’s history, is threatened with destruction, which is totally unacceptable, while the planned junction change, which would prevent those heading towards the city from turning right, would lead to traffic chaos, as drivers will either have to go to the Bedern Bank roundabout and double back on themselves or face a long detour on unsuitable roads.”

The 98-page report by council case officer Kate Broadbank recognises the significance of Ripon’s military heritage. It says “Deverell Barracks has extensive heritage significance” and that the demolition of buildings, such as a 1939 military camp and training bridges “represents the most severe harm to significance as it and most of the components within it will be lost”.

One of the bridges.

The report talks about including measures such as a “public art strategy reflecting the history of the barracks” and installing interpretation boards with details about the site’s military history but adds “it is not possible to require assets to be retained”.

The lack of guarantees has heightened Ripon Military Heritage Trust‘s concerns that key military sites will be bulldozed.

The trust said in a statement it was only informed of the recommendation six days before the meeting, even though it had been talking to North Yorkshire Council and Homes England about the military concerns for 15 months.

The statement said:

“It is clear to us that not a single one of our concerns has been addressed. We are extremely disappointed that there seems so little regard for these heritage assets, their significance and their long-term preservation.”

The meeting is due to be broadcast on the council’s YouTube channel here at 10am.

The Stray Ferret is backing Ripon Military Heritage Trust’s campaign to save key military heritage sites at Clotherholme, as reported here. Please join the campaign and sign the petition here. If it gets 500 signatures it will be debated by North Yorkshire Council’s Skipton and Ripon planning committee.

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Developer to seek costs over Knox Lane housing appeal

A developer behind an appeal to build 53 homes on Knox Lane in Harrogate will seek costs from North Yorkshire Council.

Councillors on the authority’s Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee rejected plans for the homes off the street in the Bilton area in September last year.

Teesside developer Jomast has appealed to the government’s Planning Inspectorate after it said the plans were recommended for approval by council officers on four separate occasions.

A public inquiry into the matter is due to be held on July 23 and is expected to last for five days. A venue is yet to be confirmed.

The Planning Inspectorate will then make a decision at a later date.

Knox Lane

Meanwhile, the developer has applied to be awarded costs as part of its appeal.

In documents submitted to the government, Patrick Stone, of planning agent Spawforths which is representing Jomast, said the authority “demonstrated unreasonable behaviour” during the planning process.

He said:

“The council acted unreasonably in overturning the professional judgement of the case officer that the application was assessed to be in line with local and national policies and recommended for approval.”

The move means the council could face high costs if it loses on appeal.

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The council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee rejected the application in September 2023.

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

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

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

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

Government approves 23-home plan in Bishop Monkton

The government has given the go-ahead for 23 new homes in Bishop Monkton despite concerns over drainage and sewage from residents.

Kebbell Development Ltd tabled a plan to build the houses on Knaresborough Road in the village, but it was refused by councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s planning committee in August last year.

The developer took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, the body which deals with planning disputes, and argued there were “no material considerations that indicate planning permission should not be granted”.

However, in December, Bishop Monkton Action Group urged the government to throw out the appeal.

In a 26-page letter of objection submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, the campaign group said the scheme would “threaten the sustainability of our village”.

The group said it had concerns over the impact on drainage and sewage, as well as a “historic lack of investment” in the area’s sewer system.

Now, planning inspector T Burnham has approved the scheme on appeal.

In a decision notice published yesterday, the inspector said the proposal would have “no unacceptable impact on the local sewerage system”.

However, they noted that a loss of hedgerow on Knaresborough Road would have an impact on the Church of St John the Baptist, but it would be “less than substantial”.

The inspector said:

“I have afforded the less than substantial harm to the setting of the designated heritage assets considerable importance and weight.

“Nonetheless, that harm is outweighed by the substantial economic and social benefits of delivering 23 dwellings, which would be enjoyed by many people over the years, a proportion of which would be affordable dwellings on a site which is allocated for residential development.”

The inspector also awarded partial costs against North Yorkshire Council for “unreasonable behaviour that has resulted in unnecessary and wasted expense in the appeals process”.

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Residents react to revised Maltkiln plans

Residents have been urged to give their views on revised plans for a new town the size of Thirsk seven miles from Knaresborough.

Yorkshire developers Caddick Group, which applied for outline planning permission in 2019, plans to build up to 4,000 homes near Kirk Hammerton, Cattal and Green Hammerton.

Caddick held a public consultation at Kirk Hammerton Village Hall on Tuesday (May 7) to share its updated plans for the settlement known as Maltkiln.

The town will include affordable and eco-friendly houses, as well as two primary schools, a mixed-use local centre, a sports hub and green spaces.

The changes announced included moving the site boundary to the north east and east to provide access into the first phase of development from the A59.

The two roundabouts proposed to access the site have also been moved, with one on the east and one on the west of the site along the A59.

The amended locations of the two roundabouts. Pic: Maltkiln Consultation

There is also set to be an additional new road bridge over the railway line on the eastern edge of the site.

The firm added plans for the mixed-use local centre had extended east of Station Road and north of the railway station. In addition, the proposed location of the northern primary school has been amended.

Caddick also said delivery of the development will now start with a first phase in the north east and continue in a clockwise direction.

The revised plans and key. Pic: Stantec / Maltkiln Consultation

The scheme has faced backlash from some nearby residents since its inception and progress remains uncertain since the council threatened to compulsory purchase land for the new town.

Rural feel

The Stray Ferret attended the consultation event to speak to residents and Caddick representatives.

Kirk Hammerton resident James Browne (pictured above) told us people needed to have a “balanced approached” to the proposal.

He said:

“I share others’ concerns. I hope the amount of tension around the development means that things will be done in the right manner and not disrupt the rural feel around here.”

Mr Brown told the Stray Ferret he hopes, if the development goes ahead, there would be “benefits to amenities, cyclists, roads, shops and education” in what is a relatively “isolated area”.

He added:

“I’m hoping if it does go ahead, it would be delivered sympathetically, but once plans are approved, would it just become a case of delivering sheer volume?”

People at the consultation event.

Sue Husband, another nearby resident, questioned whether the potential number of houses was “really necessary”.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“We do need some housing – I get that. My preference is that it’s ecological housing that supports climate change, rather than just luxury homes. We also need a wider community. But do we actually need this number of houses?

“If the plans were to create a small village and there was the potential to expand it gradually, I think people would be able to accept it more. But because it’s this big, sudden expansion people can’t necessarily adjust to it.”

Ms Husband also said she would “consider moving house” if the plans were approved. She added:

“I moved here because it’s so peaceful and quiet.”

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Infrastructure fears

The Stray Ferret also contacted Green Party councillor for Ouseburn, Arnold Warneken, about the new plans.

He said the “biggest concerns from residents in his inbox” included the infrastructure of the existing roads and drainage systems.

Cllr Warneken said:

“People feel there could, in reality, be thousands of additional cars around the settlement and they are concerned about the existing road networks.

“They’re also worried about existing sewage systems. Residents have contacted me to say they don’t feel the sewage system can cope as it is, let alone with new houses being built.”

Cllr Warneken said residents also expressed concerns about a GP practice not being included in phase one of the development process, particularly as Springbank Surgery in Green Hammerton is “already oversubscribed”.

Developer wants community to ‘shape masterplan’

The consultation comes after North Yorkshire Council submitted the Maltkiln development plan document to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for independent examination.

People now have the opportunity to give feedback on Caddick’s revised plans.

Chris Procter, director at Caddick Group, said in a statement:

“We’re particularly keen for communities in the area to shape key areas of the masterplan, including the design of the local centre, as well as the upcoming residential design code.

“All the information for the consultation is available on the Maltkiln website and we would really like people to get involved and give us their views. All feedback will be analysed and considered as part of our application for the first stage of the project, which we are anticipating submitting later this year.”

You can give your view on the refreshed plans and leave feedback here until Friday, May 27.

New Clotherholme plans heighten fears for Ripon’s military heritage

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

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

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

The demolition training bridge. Pic: Ripon Military Heritage Trust

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

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

Trust chairman Guy Wilson said:

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

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

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

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

How the site will look. Pic: Homes England

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

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

Mr Wilson said:

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

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

He added:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He said:

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

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

Mr Siddans added:

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

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

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

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

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

Yew Tree Lane and Whinney Lane updates

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Developer appeals decision to refuse 53 homes in Harrogate

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

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

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

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

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

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

The council must now decide whether to contest the appeal.

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

The site earmarked for houses.

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

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

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

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

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Disability charity unveils assisted living flats in Harrogate

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Revised plans submitted for 126 homes in Knaresborough

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hay-a-Park, site of special scientific interest 

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