Persimmon Homes will pay more than £1m to local schools including Grove Road and Harrogate Grammar School after North Yorkshire Council gave final approval for its 162-home Kingsley Drive development.

One of the last acts of Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee in February was to approve the controversial plans, subject to the completion of a section 106 agreement.

The agreement between the council and developer has now been agreed and covers Persimmon’s contribution to public services that the future residents will use such as education, roads as well as affordable housing.

According to a report written by planning officer Kate Broadbank, Permimmon will pay £600,000 to Grove Road Primary School, £400,000 to HGS, Harrogate High and Rossett and £120,000 for early years provision.

The developer will also pay £220,000 to the NHS for healthcare costs, £150,000 towards Kingsley Drive being resurfaced and an £80,000 contribution towards a new mini roundabout being built at the junction of Kingsley Road and the A59.

Read more:

• Kingsley residents call for halt to new housing decisions
• Council recommends controversial Kingsley Farm homes be approved

The site is allocated for development in the Harrogate local plan, which maps out where housebuilding can take place in the district and remains in use until North Yorkshire Councils agree its new county-wide plan.

The Kingsley proposals were unpopular with local residents who protested outside the Civic Centre before the planning committee meeting wearing t-shirts branded with slogans like “enough is enough” and “breaking point”.

Visuals of the Persimmon Home plan for homes on Kingsley Drive.

Many of the objections centred on nearby roads like Knaresborough Road and Bogs Lane and how they will cope with the increased traffic from new residents.

Around 500 homes could be built in the area if plans by different developers are eventually built.

Persimmon has included two access points for vehicles on Kingsley Drive, one to the west of Birstwith Road and one midway between Leyland Road and Rydal Road.

The first 92 homes will include air source heat pumps to provide 100% of the heating and hot water.

The remaining properties will have conventional gas boilers, however, the developer says these will be supplemented by solar panels and waste water heat recovery, which recycles energy in wastewater to pre-heat the mains cold supply before it is boosted by the boiler.

The scheme would also include 65 affordable homes through a mix of affordable rent and shared ownership sales.

Councillors will decide today whether to allow a new Tesco supermarket and two major housing schemes be built on the outskirts of Harrogate.

Tesco has applied to build a supermarket, petrol station and 209 car parking spaces on the site of the former gasworks off Skipton Road.

Persimmon Homes has submitted plans to erect 162 homes off Kingsley Drive and another developer, Jomast, wants to build 53 homes off Knox Lane in Bilton.

Harrogate Borough Council officers have recommended all three scheme be approved. But the Conservative-controlled planning committee will vote whether to approve or reject each recommendation. They could also defer a decision to request further information.

The meeting, which begins at 2pm, can be watched live on the council’s YouTube page here. People can also watch the meeting at the council offices at Knapping Mount.

The Stray Ferret will also cover the meeting.

Concerns about committee chair

Kingsley Ward Action Group, which campaigns to protect green spaces in the Kingsley area, where several hundred homes are in the process of being built, has written to members of the planning committee expressing concerns about the role of Cllr Rebecca Burnett, who chairs the planning committee.

The action group claims Cllr Burnett, a Conservative who represents Harrogate St Georges, has a “disclosable interest” in Kingsley planning matters, according to the council’s own planning code of good practice, which states members living “close to an application site” should — subject to an exception — declare it and leave the room while the application is discussed. The code says:

“A member who lives close to an application site, will usually have a disclosable interest to declare under the Code of Conduct. This means that, subject to the exception referred to in paragraph 1.5 (ix), they cannot take part in the decision and must declare the interest and leave the meeting room. A member in these circumstances may not stay to listen to such an application even if they are not a member of the committee making the decision. This may also be the case if a relation or friend of the member lives close to the application site or where the relative or friend has submitted the application.”

Cllr Burnett’s address listed on the council website is within about half a mile of the proposed Persimmon site.

The action group is desperate to prevent further development in Kingsley. The Stray Ferret has contacted the council and Cllr Burnett repeatedly to get a response to its claims but has not received a reply on the issue.

As chair, Cllr Bennett had the casting vote in favour of the 30-home Kingsley Farm scheme when the planning committee met last month and was tied 6-6 on whether to approve the scheme.

Read more:

• New Tesco supermarket would threaten future of Jennyfields Co-op, warns report
• Kingsley anger reaches ‘boiling point’ as another 162 homes set for approval

Two major housing schemes in Harrogate look set to be approved.

Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee have been recommended to back 162 new homes on Kingsley Drive and 53 houses on Knox Lane at a meeting next Tuesday (February 14).

Both applications have proved controversial with local residents.

Persimmon Homes lodged the proposal for Kingsley Drive in December after its original plan for 181 homes was met with 222 letters of objection. A prior application for 222 homes was refused.

In documents submitted to the council, Persimmon said it had reduced the size in response to comments from the authority and “other third parties”.

Read more:

• Contamination concerns delay decision on 53-home Knox Lane site
• Developer reduces planned Kinglsey Drive scheme to 162 homes

Residents in the area have held long concerns about the amount of housebuilding in the area and its affect on traffic, noise, health and loss of green space.

In a report prepared in advance of next week’s meeting, council officers said the scheme would “make a valuable contribution to meeting the district’s housing need”.

Officers have recommended the scheme be deferred to the executive officer for development management and building control for approval.

The site is included in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place.

Case officer Kate Broadbank concludes:

“The detailed layout, access, landscaping, appearance and design of the proposal are acceptable and are considered compliant with the overarching policies of the development plan and national requirements.

“The proposed development will make a valuable contribution to meeting the district’s housing need. The proposal will have an acceptable impact upon the character and appearance of the area. The development constitutes sustainable development.”

Knox Lane

Councillors will also be recommended to approve plans for 53 homes on Knox Lane in Harrogate which have been submitted by developer Jomast.

The scheme has been met by opposition from residents, including campaigners Keep Knox Natural who took to Nidderdale Greenway, off Bilton Lane, dressed as woodland creatures to collect signatures for a petition last November.

Site layout for the Knox Lane scheme.

Councillors deferred the application in October last year amid concern over contamination in the area.

At the time, Cllr Robert Windass, a Conservative who represents Boroughbridge, said much more work was needed on the proposals which he described as “wrong, wrong, wrong”. He said:

“I’ve heard nothing from the developers or our officers that would make me wish to support this application.

“Unless I feel the applicant has done a proper contamination assessment and got a full report when it comes back to this committee, I’m afraid I won’t be supportive.”

However, council officials have now said in a report prepared in advance of next week’s meeting the “applicant has provided additional information in respect of potential ground contamination”.

Councillors have been recommended to approve the proposal subject to conditions being agreed.

The report, compiled by case officer Andy Hough, says:

“The development of the site, which has been extensively amended and reduced since submission, will contribute towards the district’s housing need across the plan period.

“The site is located within a sustainable location for housing and has been designed in such a way that the layout takes into account the constraints of the site, whilst ensuring that it retains and builds upon the natural features of the site.

“The scheme provides a new pedestrian route through the site utilising the new green infrastructure to link directly into Knox Country Park, reducing the length of the Nidderdale Way, passing through the housing areas in Bilton.”

The Conservative-controlled planning committee will vote next week whether to accept the officers’ recommendations for the two housing schemes.

The meeting can be watched live at the council’s Civic Centre or on its YouTube channel.

A Knaresborough man has been jailed after admitting committing indecent exposure at Harrogate Library and on Kingsley Drive.

Billy Wood, 30, of Windsor Lane, was charged with committing the offences in summer last year.

He also pleaded guilty to using abusive words with intent to cause fear of violence and two counts of possessing cannabis.

Wood appeared before Harrogate Magistrates Court to be sentenced yesterday.

Sarah Tyrer, prosecuting, told the court the 30-year-old had been reported masturbating in front of staff in Harrogate Library on July 15, 2022.

The following month on August 11, a resident on Kingsley Drive saw a man wearing a white England football shirt across from his house in front of a neighbour’s property.

Reading the witness statement, Ms Tyrer said Wood had been sat on the garden wall and then walked across the driveway.

Wood then proceeded to masturbate in the street in front of the house, the court heard, and the resident called the police.

The witness said:

“I began to feel worried for my neighbour as I was aware she lived alone.”

After arresting Wood, police said the woman was informed of the incident and that she was unaware of his actions.

The 30-year-old was also found to be in possession of cannabis when taken to custody at Harrogate Police Station.

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Wood was also convicted of using threatening and abusive language towards bar staff in The Crown in Knaresborough in July 2022 after he was refused drinks, which staff suspected were being bought for customers who had already been refused them.

Police also found him to be in possession of cannabis after he was arrested on that night.

Sean Wilson, defending for Wood, told the court the 30-year-old had an undiagnosed mental health condition and that he was a drug user.

Mr Wilson said that the defendant had reduced his drug use and needed mental health support rather than a custodial sentence.

He said:

“He has reduced the amount of substances he has been taking. He does have an addictive personality.”

Mr Wilson added a prison sentence would be “more of a crash to his system” by removing access to drugs, but would not give him the mental health support he needed.

However, Magistrate Ms Allan sentenced Wood to 32 weeks in prison for the public exposure offences and a six-week sentence to be served concurrently for the threatening of violence charge.

She told Wood the sentence was “for the protection of the public”.

He was made to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and £85 in court costs.

Wood was also ordered to sign onto the sex offenders’ register for five years upon release.

Residents in the Kinglsey area of Harrogate have called for a halt to new housing decisions until North Yorkshire Council comes into force.

The Kingsley ward area will eventually see more than 600 homes built, including developments at Granby Farm and 149 homes on Kingsley Road.

The scale of housebuilding has led residents and councillors call for a stop to further decisions amid concern over noise, transport and open space.

In an email seen by the Stray Ferret circulated to both Harrogate borough and North Yorkshire councillors, Kingsley Ward Action Group pleaded for no further housing decisions to be made until April, when the North Yorkshire Council will take over from existing local authorities.

The group said the new council should be able to “assess the damage already caused and re-evaluate the need for any further development in this area”.

It said:

“You have an opportunity to right the wrongs inflicted on the Kingsley ward area by deferring all new applications until after the change of council boundaries and a new better thought out plan investigated. 

“It has been pointed out multiple times that this area of the plan was ill thought out and now you have the chance to put it right before it is too late. 

“For the sake of the residents and this area of Harrogate please take action because if you don’t it will be a stain on Harrogate and the reputation of the council.”

The plea comes as Persimmon Homes resubmitted a revised plan for 162 homes on Kingsley Drive.

It is the third time the developer has submitted a proposal at the location, which used to form part of Kingsley Farm.

Read more:

• Developer reduces planned Kinglsey Drive scheme to 162 homes
• Starbeck residents pledge to fight 181-home Kingsley Drive plans ‘tooth and nail’

Persimmon Homes had initially lodged plans to Harrogate Borough Council for 181 homes in March last year.

However, the proposal was met with concern from council officials and 222 letters of objection from residents.

The developer said it had reduced the size of the scheme in response to comments from the authority and “other third parties”.

It said:

“The development proposals have again been amended to respond directly to the comments and matters raised following the submission of amended documentation in August 2022.

“The proposed amendments to the scheme will deliver a green space and landscape driven development, which will enhance pedestrian and cycling connectivity within the local area, and which will overall provide a very high standard of residential amenity for prospective residents.”

A developer has reduced the size of a planned housing development on Kingsley Drive to 162 homes.

Persimmon Homes had initially lodged plans to Harrogate Borough Council for 181 homes in March this year.

However, the proposal was met with concern from council officials and 222 letters of objection from residents.

In documents submitted to the council, Persimmon said it has reduced the size in response to comments from the authority and “other third parties”.

It added that it had also enlarged garden plots, provided public open space and removed some housing designs.

In its amended plans, the developer said:

“The development proposals have again been amended to respond directly to the comments and matters raised following the submission of amended documentation in August 2022.

“The proposed amendments to the scheme will deliver a green space and landscape driven development, which will enhance pedestrian and cycling connectivity within the local area, and which will overall provide a very high standard of residential amenity for prospective residents.”

The amended layout of the Kingsley Drive scheme as submitted by Persimmon Homes.

The move comes as housing officers at the borough council raised concern over the design of the some of the properties.

Meanwhile, residents in the area have held long concerns about the amount of housebuilding in the area and its affect on traffic, noise and loss of green space.

Gillian Hamilton, one of the residents who wrote to the council to object, said in a letter to the authority:

“Local residents have had years of disruption due to building houses in the area. Road closures, noise, constant digging up of pathways and roads to facilitate the various essential utilities.

“The green spaces are disappearing and this further proposal to build houses off Kingsley Drive will result in no more green space left.”

Read more:

• Developer submits 181-home Kingsley Drive plan
• Starbeck residents pledge to fight 181-home Kingsley Drive plans ‘tooth and nail’

Persimmon Homes odged the fresh plan after Harrogate Borough Council rejected a development for 217 homes on the site back in August.

The application would see a mixture of one, two, three and four bedroom properties built.

It is the third time that the developer has submitted a proposal at the location, which used to form part of Kingsley Farm.