Plans to create a new business and industrial site on the southern approach to Harrogate could be progressed next week.
Harrogate Borough Council‘s cabinet will decide on Wednesday whether to begin speaking to developers to gauge interest in the site.
Allocated for employment use in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, the site lies along the eastern side of the A61 near Pannal. It is between the railway line and Crimple Beck, north of the Mercedes garage and the M&S Food shop at the petrol station.
A strategic sites masterplanning document prepared by consultants BDP and Colliers will be reviewed by the cabinet as part of the decision next week. It says:
“Crimple Valley Viaduct, to the north-east of the site, is a Grade II* listed building.
“Development of the site should minimise harm to the setting of this designated heritage asset and seek to enhance its significance; this should include retaining key views of the viaduct from within the site and from beyond the site through the site.”
An officer’s report summarising the document said the focus of any development should be on “high quality place-making and low carbon development”, referring to the council’s “aspirations for high-tech/high skilled job creation”.
Access to the site would be via public transport or the A61
The consultants’ report suggests the site could be accessed via traffic lights or a roundabout, with pedestrian and cycle access further south to link with bus stops on Leeds Road and the railway station in Pannal.
It says the site could be used for high-tech manufacturing, research and development, or business headquarters. Buildings would be up to three storeys and 5,000m sq in size.
The total office space allocated for the site is 10,000m sq alongside 31,500m sq of industrial space. The report says:
“In order to support the local economy there is a need to provide a range of office, manufacturing and warehousing accommodation from shared spaces to single occupiers.
“There is also the opportunity to include a hub building at the heart of the development that can offer a mix of business space and shared facilities for the business community.
“The site should feel like an extension of the existing community, rather than a gated ‘estate’. Access to the existing right of way along the eastern boundary of the site is to be retained and enhanced with new pedestrian connections through the site and safe crossing points on Leeds Road.”
With the site designed to encourage sustainable travel, one parking space has been allocated for each 40m sq of office space or 50m sq of industrial space.
As well as tree planting through the site, the document suggests a wildflower meadow and attenuation pond could be created to the north of the site, adjacent to Crimple Beck.
The suggested layout, with industrial space in orange and office in brown
The officers’ report acknowledges that any development of the site is likely to take place after Harrogate Borough Council is abolished next spring, when the new North Yorkshire Council comes into effect. It adds:
“Taking into consideration current market conditions/costs and uncertainties around the new strategic objectives of North Yorkshire Council from April 1, 2023, it is currently not clear how much direct involvement the council should or could have in the development of the site.
“Officers therefore recommend the next steps to be engagement in expressions of interest with developers to test market appetite, focussing on high quality place-making and low carbon development.
“This can then inform a future decision about the appropriate level of local authority involvement and timescales for delivery of the site.”
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