North Yorkshire Council is set to bid for government funding to progress five social housing schemes in the Harrogate district.

The authority is set to apply for a grant from Homes England to help fund the projects, which include new build houses and conversion of a former Robert Street homeless hostel.

In a report due before senior councillors on Tuesday, council officers said the move would help to meet “huge demand” for social rented housing in Harrogate.

Currently, the council has 2,196 households on its housing waiting list in Harrogate alone.

Vicky Young, the council’s housing policy and strategy officer, said in her report:

“The tenure of the new build units will be social rent. 

“There is huge demand for social rented accommodation in the Harrogate locality, with 2,196 households currently registered on the Harrogate waiting list.”

Among the projects in the councils bid include new build homes on Poplar Grove and Gascoigne Crescent in Harrogate, Springfield Drive in Boroughbridge and Kingsway in Huby.

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Each of the homes are estimated to cost £375,000 to construct.

Meanwhile, the council also estimates that a plan to convert Cavendish House on Harrogate’s Robert Street into six flats would cost £400,000.

The former homeless hostel will be converted into a shared ownership property.

Councillors approved the conversion of the hostel in September. At the time, the council said in a report that the property would help to deliver “much needed affordable housing”.

It said:

“The building has been empty since November 2021. As such, it has a negative impact on residential amenity and increasingly risks attracting anti-social behaviour.

“The development proposals will deliver much needed affordable accommodation in a redundant building and a highly sustainable location, complying full with national and local planning policy guidance.”

The bid to Homes England would help towards 30% of the total cost of the five schemes.

According to the report, the projects would cost £1.9 million to build.

Senior councillors will discuss the bid at a council executive meeting on October 17.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee last act yesterday was to approve a new council house in Huby.

The committee of councillors has met about once a month to decide on some of the largest and most controversial developments in the district.

But in its final meeting it was asked to approve a two-bedroom council home on the Kingsway estate in Huby.

When the council was formed in 1974 it owned 7,000 council houses across the Harrogate district but this has fallen to 3,800 since the Conservative government introduced the Right to Buy scheme in the 1980s.

There are currently 2,199 households registered on the waiting list for council homes.

The two-storey home in Huby will include solar panels and an air source heat pump to provide future residents with renewable energy.

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Harrogate Borough Council housing officer Emily Shephard told councillors the authority still owns 80% of council homes on the Huby estate, which is next to Weeton train station.

Objector Susan Durrant told councillors the site would increase traffic in Huby and the empty grassland should be used by the community instead. 

She said:

“The highway is very difficult in that area for parking. You can only park on one side of the road. It’s hazardous. All the vehicles coming and going would create mayhem.

“The land could be used as common land for a play area for children. Why at this point in the day has it been decided to build upon there?”

The plans were approved by eight votes to four.

North Yorkshire Council will create new planning committees based on parliamentary constituency areas.

This means that from April 1, the Harrogate Borough Council area will be split into new committees for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Selby and Ainsty and Ripon and Skipton.

The last ever meeting of Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee will see it asked to give permission for a new home on its own land in Huby.

A report to the committee proposes the plans for a two-bedroom house are approved, subject to conditions including providing electric vehicle charging points at the property.

The council’s proposal would see the house added to the council’s affordable rental homes, which will be transferred to North Yorkshire Council from April 1.

Describing the proposal for land between 20 and 22 Kingsway in the village, a report for the committee by planning officer Arthama Lakhanpall says:

“Since the site is not currently used for any purpose, and is maintained as underused grassed land, the proposed plans are supported by the housing team who wish to see more social housing in the area to meet identified need. This site will help address that need.

“The housing team has confirmed that there are currently 2,199 households registered on the council’s waiting list for affordable rented accommodation across the district. There are currently 169 households registered for two-bed social rented housing within this sub-area.”

Since the plans were submitted, objections have been received from three neighbours. They raised concerns over the new property overlooking the existing homes, as well as the impact on what they said was an already busy road, often used for parking by people travelling by train from the nearby Weeton station.

Residents also said there was a lack of facilities in the village, forcing residents to drive elsewhere. They said the new house would have an impact on sunlight to other houses, as well as drainage and water supplies, which residents said were already problematic.

However, neither Yorkshire Water nor North Yorkshire County Council had any objections to the scheme, and Weeton Parish Council did not oppose the plans.

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The report to the planning committee said the proposed house did not have any side windows and that those at the front and rear of the property would not add to the way in which nearby houses already overlook each other.

The plans include a driveway large enough for two vehicles. The report added:

“The site is currently vacant from built development. It is accepted that the proposed dwelling would have some impact on the openness and spatial quality.

“The proposal however would be well confined within the site and read in relation to the scale, bulk and massing of the neighbouring dwellings within the street. It includes hardstanding and soft landscaping that would help preserve a state of openness.

“For that reason, the scale and massing of the proposed dwelling would not be visually dominant in this landscape. The impact on the openness of the green belt therefore would be limited.”

The planning meeting will be held at Harrogate Borough Council’s civic centre on St Luke’s Mount, Harrogate, on Tuesday, March 28 from 2pm. It will also be broadcast live via the council’s YouTube page.

A dog walker has expressed concern after discovering 10 canisters of laughing gas dumped by the side of the road.

John Chadwick stumbled across the canisters on the rural Gravelly Hill Lane in Huby.

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is the second most-used drug among UK 16- to 24-year-olds. It can induce euphoria and relaxation, as well as hallucinations.

The drug can lead to various health problems but is not currently illegal to possess. However, selling it to children is prohibited.

Mr Chadwick said this was the first time he’d seen the canisters and it “highlights what I believe is becoming an increasing health and behavioural issue predominately amongst younger people”.

He added:

“I’ve heard lots about it on phone-ins, I guess maybe I didn’t expect it in a rural environment. In that sense it was a bit of a shock – a bit like seeing a few old fridges dumped. A violation of our village.

“I am concerned that what could be seen as some harmless fun could escalate into something worse.

“Had somebody driven to this place to inhale the gas for fun and then driven off? In that case there is a danger to the perpetrator and others. Or was it just littering?”

The canisters were dumped by the side of a rural lane.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said:

“There are significant dangers associated with using nitrous oxide. Inhaling it can lead to unconsciousness and ultimately suffocation as the body is essentially starved of oxygen.

“There is also evidence to show that people with heart conditions can be at risk of higher harm and that inhalation can lead to anaemia or long-term nerve damage.

“We would ask parents to be vigilant for the signs that their children may be purchasing the substance online.

“Anyone who is found guilty of supplying nitrous oxide could face up to six months in prison or an unlimited fine.”

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The inquest of Harrogate woman Judith Holliday, who died after going missing for two weeks last summer, was opened today.

Ms Holliday was 73 when she left her care home in Harrogate on a Saturday morning last September.

When she did not return, her family alerted the police and a search began. Over the following days, the search involved mountain rescue services and the use of drones to try to locate her.

Her family made repeated appeals to try to trace her movements, and sightings were confirmed at Harrogate bus station and on the way to North Rigton.

However, after two weeks of searching, Ms Holliday’s body was found adjacent to the level crossing on Dunkeswick Lane, Weeton.

North Yorkshire assistant coroner Alison Norton opened the hearing in Northallerton this morning.

She confirmed Ms Holliday was born in Zimbabwe in July 1949, and died in Weeton on September 10, 2022.

The coroner said a post mortem found the cause of death was unexplained. The inquest was adjourned to a date to be confirmed.

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A dramatic photo released by Harrogate Fire Station shows the extent of the damage done in a barn fire near Huby yesterday.

Fire crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough joined two more appliances from West Yorkshire to tackle the fire at about 2pm.

It took place in a barn measuring around 25 metres by 25 metres, containing straw. Firefighters used hose reel jets to put the fire out.

Once the scene was safe, they also took the opportunity to meet a few of the farm’s occupants.

A firefighter makes friends with a cow after putting out a nearby barn fire. Photo: Harrogate Fire Station.

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