Harrogate Borough Council has refused plans to build 22 “affordable” homes in Staveley.

Jack Lunn Properties hoped to build three one-bedroom, 13 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom homes on Main Street in the village, which is four miles north of Knaresborough.

The site isn’t in the council’s Local Plan outlining where development can take place in the district, which in normal circumstances would mean it’s highly unlikely the development would be granted planning permission.

However, the application had been brought forward through a rural exception scheme, which allows councils to grant planning permission for affordable housing in the open countryside if a developer can prove there is a need for it.

The government defines affordable as homes sold at 80% of the market rate, homes for social rent or sold through shared ownership schemes.

In the council’s refusal, chief planner John Worthington said there were “no exceptional circumstances” for granting the application and that it did not satisfy the requirements of the affordable housing exception scheme.

A similar plan by the same developer to build 23 affordable homes in Scotton was refused last month.

Carl Wright, director of Jack Lunn, said the company was considering an appeal.

He said:

“We’ve only received a copy of the decision today and have yet to fully digest the same. Suffice to say we are somewhat disappointed that the council have included reasons for refusal that we have not been allowed to comment on or respond to prior to issue.

“Naturally this is disappointing to say the least and we will now take further advice from our consultants prior to deciding whether we ought to appeal or take matters further.”

Read more:

• Staveley ‘legend’, 87, raises £100,000 in table tennis marathons
• Staveley villagers begin fight against 22-home development

Villagers formed a group called SV2 to fight against the plans.

Julie Bowland from SV2 said she was relieved that the council refused the proposal.

Ms Bowland said:

“I can only applaud, with a certain level of relief, that planning law has been upheld robustly and with great regard to the potentially catastrophic damage to the Staveley conservation area and the wildlife that proliferates this beautiful village.”

A plan to build 23 affordable homes in Scotton has been rejected.

Harrogate Borough Council turned down the proposal from Jack Lunn (Properties) Ltd, which was earmarked for a site on Ripley Road in the village.

The plan would have seen a mix of one, two and three-bedroom affordable homes built on the site.

Affordable housing is defined as housing for people who cannot afford to buy or rent homes on the open market. The price varies locally.

The council estimates the district needs 6,600 affordable homes built between 2014 and 2035, which is the equivalent of 313 per year.

Read more:

• Harrogate council receives £85,000 to help residents at risk of eviction
• Masham Parish Council agrees to plans for up to 60 homes

However, the council turned down the application on the grounds that the site was outside the development boundary for the village.

In its decision, the council said:

“The proposal would result in an incongruous projection out of the existing settlement into open countryside. 

“The proposed development is not small in scale and is not an infill development that relates well to the existing built form of the settlement.”

The proposal also received 20 letters of objection from residents calling for the application to be turned down.

Scotton and Lingerfield Parish Council said in its objection that the scale of the development was not justified for the village.

It said:

“The National Planning Policy Framework is quite clear how exceptions sites should only be released for local affordable housing needs and not to meet general affordable housing needs. 

“The level of local affordable housing need has not been identified within Scotton and Lingerfield parish area to justify the scale of development being proposed.”

In documents submitted to the council, the developer said that the homes would make a “positive contribution” to the area.

It said:

“The design proposal intends to provide a sympathetic response to the surrounding context.

“The homes use materials indicative of the local area whilst the layout seeks to provide a range of homes as part of the development to allow for a positive contribution to the local community.”

Residents in Staveley are mobilising against a 22-home development that they say will damage the appearance of the picturesque village.

Two weeks ago Jack Lunn Properties submitted plans to Harrogate Borough Council to build three one-bedroom, 13 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom homes on Main Street in Staveley.

The rural site is not allocated for development in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where planning will take place.

Residents say this means that the development should not go ahead.

Residents met at the village hall on Thursday evening to form an action group to fight the plans.

Staveley resident Graham Bowland, who is a member of the group named SV2, called on HBC to refuse the plans.

He said:

“Once a field is given over to developers, it’s lost forever and the nature and ecological benefits it provides are given over to concrete, cars and CO2 emissions. Housing is needed of that we can all agree, it’s a question of where and how many.”

The village has a population of 430 and is between Boroughbridge and Knaresborough.

Read more:

• 22 affordable homes proposed for Staveley
• Lost planning appeals have cost Harrogate district taxpayers £209,000 in legal fees

The site isn’t in the Local Plan, which in normal circumstances would mean it’s highly unlikely the development would be granted planning permission.

However, the application has been brought forward through a rural exception scheme, which allows councils to grant planning permission for affordable housing in the open countryside if a developer can prove there is a need for it.

The government defines affordable as homes sold at 80% of the market rate or homes for social rent. 

Mr Bowland said villagers fought against a previous application for 13 homes on the site in 2019 but it was withdrawn.

“We expressed their anger at the application and we had substantial support and well-argued planning points against the proposal.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Jack Lunn Properties for a response but we did not receive one at the time of publication.

A total of 22 affordable homes have been proposed to be built in Staveley by developer Jack Lunn Properties.

The company hopes to build three one-bedroom, 13 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom homes in the village, which has a population of 430 and is between Boroughbridge and Knaresborough,

The rural site is not allocated for development in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where planning will take place.

But the application has been brought forward through a rural exception scheme, which allows councils to grant planning permission for affordable housing in the open countryside if a developer can prove there is a need for it.

A planning document lodged with Harrogate Borough Council cites affordable housing figures that show a shortfall in the number of new affordable houses built over the last five years.

It says:

“The only sustainable way of making housing more affordable in the long term is to build more homes in the right places. High house prices can prevent people from living near the best job opportunities for them, limiting the productivity of companies that might have employed them.”

Read more:

• Plans submitted to demolish burned-out Starbeck building
• Still no decision on future of Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens