County council agrees creation of 30-year housing plan

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to create a county-wide local plan that will plot where housing and development can take place over the next 30 years.

Conservative councillors on the authority’s executive met today to approve the creation of the document, which must be finalised within five years of the new North Yorkshire Council forming on April 1.

It will replace the seven local plans that are currently used by the soon-to-be abolished district councils.

This also means the reviews that are under way on the plans for Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council will be halted. However, both documents will still guide planning decisions until the new local plan is created.

Harrogate Borough Council’s local plan says around 13,000 homes can be built across the district between 2014 and 2034.

Conservative Mid-Craven councillor Simon Myers, executive member for planning for growth, told the meeting that the local plan will be “hugely important to the economic vitality of the county”.

He said:

“It’s hugely important for the provision of housing and for many strategic matters. It is imperative we have an ambitious local plan for North Yorkshire and that planning committees abide by it.”

Cllr Myers confirmed that the new council will create six new planning committees to oversee decisions across parliamentary constituency areas, such as Harrogate and Knaresborough, and Skipton and Ripon.

Linda Marfitt, acting head of place-shaping and economic growth at the council, said the creation of a new local plan is a “great opportunity to deliver some of the ambitions the new council will have”.

She said:

“A plan-led approach will ensure the new council is in the best possible place to guide quality development and infrastructure.”

Maltkiln

While a review into Harrogate council’s local plan will now not take place, work on the Maltkiln development plan document will continue.

Maltkiln is the name of a new settlement proposed by the Oakgate Group around Cattal railway station.

It is set to have between 3,000 and 4,000 homes, as well as two primary schools, shops and a GP surgery.

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The development plan is in the latter stages of development, after being worked on for the last two years. It sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how Maltkiln is designed and developed.

However, Arnold Warneken, Green Party councillor for Ouseburn division, described the process of forming it as “rushed” and said residents have unanswered questions over the boundary of the settlement as well as the position of a new relief road.

He said:

“The whole process, from my perspective and the eight parish councils it will affect, has been rushed. I’m really, really keen that if this settlement goes ahead it becomes the exemplar it’s meant to be. 

“I don’t want it to be rushed, I want it to be right. I want to exercise caution before the inspector gets his hands on it”.

In response, Cllr Michael Harrison, Conservative councillor for Killinghall, Hampsthwaite & Saltergate as well as executive member for health and adult said: 

“We want the Maltkiln DPD to be right and planning in Harrogate could never be described as rushed.”

He added: 

“If we pause progression of DPD it ceases to be a plan-led approach in the local area. 

“The worst thing we could do is to stop the Maltkiln DPD because we’d still have to determine those planning applications.”

New Harrogate district housing plan should not be ‘tickbox exercise’, says councillor

A new plan for housing across the Harrogate district should not be treated as “a tickbox exercise”, says a local councillor.

Senior councillors are set to back drawing up a new county-wide Local Plan ahead of the creation of North Yorkshire Council on April 1.

The blueprint would look ahead for a minimum of 15 years, and at least 30 years in relation to any larger scale developments, such as new settlements or significant urban extensions. It would encompass all areas of the county outside the national parks.

Cllr Arnold Warneken, a Green Party councillor on North Yorkshire County Council, told the Stray Ferret that the document had to look at the “bigger picture”.

He said the county council was in a position to be able to use the plan as a means of promoting sustainable homes, solar panels and affordable housing which is energy efficient.

Cllr Warneken said:

“We are not ticking boxes with this.

“We have to think of this as a bigger picture. It’s not just a case of putting this plan in place, it needs to be at the forefront of it all.”

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Meanwhile, Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the North Yorkshire Independent group on the county council, said the plan should also include a ban on fracking.

He added that the blueprint needs to take into account rural areas and health inequalities.

North Yorkshire County Council will be recommended to approve creating a new county-wide strategy at a meeting of its executive on December 13.

Cllr Matt Walker, Liberal Democrat councillor for Knaresborough West, said the move to create one plan was “common sense”.

He said:

“It is just common sense that we would think again about how and where we develop now we are part of the new North Yorkshire authority.

“Harrogate and Knaresborough has seen a huge amount of building in recent years. It has put too much strain on our roads and health services. We do need good affordable local housing, but we have to have the infrastructure to go with it. Now we are one authority, we need one local plan that addresses these issues.”

Harrogate Town Council should oversee planning

Chris Watt, vice-chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour party, said a Harrogate Town Council should be set up to oversee such planning matters.

He said:

“We need more genuinely affordable and sustainable homes, with proper provision of social housing and decent infrastructure.

“With more empty business premises due to the Tories crashing the economy, we should also be looking to see if any of those can be turned into affordable accommodation for people struggling with the cost of living crisis.

“We are concerned that without a new Harrogate Town Council in charge of these matters, decisions taken by the new North Yorkshire Council in Northallerton will ignore the needs of Harrogate and Knaresborough.”

ConservatIve Cllr Simon Myers, executive member for housing and growth on the council, said the plan would help towards the council’s “ambitious targets” on climate change.

He said:

“The plan will be vital to the new North Yorkshire Council’s ambitions to deliver sustainable economic growth, through good homes and jobs, as well as the best facilities and infrastructure for everyone who lives or works in the county.

“Planning guidance will also play a key role in meeting our ambitious targets to tackle climate change. In addition, it can support other services in meeting the needs of our many communities at a local level, taking into account everything from transport and education to housing, health and social care.”

Harrogate district Local Plan set to be scrapped

Harrogate Borough Council currently has its own Local Plan which outlines where development can take place across the district until 2035.

It is due to be reviewed by 2025 but this looks set to be scrapped because of the creation of a new unitary authority North Yorkshire Council and the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council on April 1.

However, a report to councillors who will decide whether to accept the recommendation says a review of the proposed Maltkiln development, which could see up to 4,000 homes built near Cattal, will continue as planned.

New housing plan to be created for Harrogate district

A new Local Plan guiding where land can be used for housing and employment for decades to come is to be drawn up for North Yorkshire.

Harrogate Borough Council currently has its own Local Plan which outlines where development can take place across the district until 2035.

It is due to be reviewed by 2025 but this looks set to be scrapped because of the creation of a new unitary authority North Yorkshire Council and the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council on April 1.

North Yorkshire County Council will be recommended to approve creating a new county-wide strategy at a meeting of its executive next week.

However, a report to councillors who will decide whether to accept the recommendation says a review of the proposed Maltkiln development, which could see up to 4,000 homes built near Cattal, will continue as planned.

The new Local Plan would look ahead for a minimum of 15 years, and at least 30 years in relation to any larger scale developments, such as new settlements or significant urban extensions. It would encompass all areas of the county outside the national parks.

Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative leader of the authority, said:

“A robust Local Plan that sets out an ambitious vision and a clear framework for growth will ensure that we keep control of how and where development takes place.

“By ensuring a local focus, we can protect and enhance the quality of the places in which we live, creating sustainable economic growth and prosperous communities while safeguarding the natural and heritage assets that are such an important aspect of our county.”

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Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for growth and housing, said

“The plan will be vital to the new North Yorkshire Council’s ambitions to deliver sustainable economic growth, through good homes and jobs, as well as the best facilities and infrastructure for everyone who lives or works in the county.

“Planning guidance will also play a key role in meeting our ambitious targets to tackle climate change. In addition, it can support other services in meeting the needs of our many communities at a local level, taking into account everything from transport and education to housing, health and social care.”

Council could create new Pannal business park

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 and public rights of way at the planned employment site on the A61 near PannalAccess 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 proposed layout of the employment site along the A61 near PannalThe 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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Key planning document delayed for west Harrogate residents facing 4,000 new homes

Residents worried that west Harrogate won’t be able to cope with thousands of new homes are facing further delays to see another key document on how under strain services should be improved.

The West Harrogate Parameters Plan was met with dismay when it was approved by Harrogate Borough Council in February after almost two years of work between council officers and housing developers.

It was criticised as a “developers’ charter” by locals who said the long-delayed plan failed to recognise the pressure that around 2,500 new homes will put on the area’s roads, schools and health services.

And now a delivery strategy on when proposed improvements will be carried out and how much they will cost has been hit by yet more delays.

The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy was due for completion in May – but the borough council has now failed to say whether it will be approved before the end of the year.

Cllr Howard West, chairman of Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council, said he had “little faith” in the outcome of the delivery strategy, but added he was prepared to accept the latest delays if it “yields the infrastructure we need”.

He said:

“Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council has offered to cooperate with Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council from day one regarding highway infrastructure for the new settlement on Harrogate’s Western Arc.

“Our offers of continuous involvement have constantly been rebuffed with a ‘we know best’ attitude that allows only a token consultation once the draft has already been made.”

West Harrogate was identified for major expansion during the creation of the district’s Local Plan when a government inspector ordered the parameters plan to be made.

Once complete, both the delivery strategy and parameters plan will be used together to shape decisions on how west Harrogate will cope with 2,500 new homes – although as many as 4,000 properties are set to be built in the wider area by 2035.

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There are proposals for two new primary schools and four playing pitches, as well as two new local centres for shops and health services.

Land has also been designated for other businesses, as well as new cycle lanes, footpaths and bus routes.

As part of the delivery strategy, a review of existing infrastructure is being carried out ahead of the document being published in draft form during a public consultation.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said it aims to publish the draft document in mid-July, but did not say when it could be signed off.

The spokesperson said:

“Since the completion of the West Harrogate Parameters Plan, we have been working with our appointed consultants to prepare the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy document.

“This has included topic based discussions with technical officers on matters such as education, sports and green space, transport and health alongside phasing and trajectory input from site promoters.

“We are currently in the process of pulling this information together to provide a document to help the long term coordination of infrastructure across the west Harrogate sites.

“We intend to hold an information session with local stakeholder groups in mid-July to present the draft West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy document, with a further session scheduled for autumn before the document is signed off.”

Plans for housing at Harlow Nurseries emerge

Two potential plans for housing at Harlow Nurseries in Harrogate have emerged.

The site next to the Pinewoods is owned by Harrogate Borough Council and sells plants, pots and compost to the public.

However, the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place, says 40 homes can be built there. The nursery will relocate if a development goes ahead.

Two options for how it could look were displayed at Pinewoods Conservation Group‘s annual general meeting on Monday by the charity’s chair Neil Hind. Both contain more than 40 homes.

The plans were drawn up by consultants on behalf of the council.

The first option includes 57 homes that are a mix of family homes and apartments.

The second option includes 62 homes and apartments and has less garden space than option one.

Both options include 30% ‘affordable’ homes. The two plans also say the development could achieve net-zero emissions, but don’t give further details on how this might be achieved.

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In September 2020, the council appointed three external consultants to draw up plans for the nurseries, as well as for two other brownfield sites in Harrogate.

The consultants will be paid with funding secured by the council in 2018.

The council received £200,000 from the Leeds City Region Business Rates Pool and £36,000 from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Impact on Pinewoods

The plans could still change before the final report is published in May.

It would need to be rubber-stamped by councillors before moving to the next stage, which could involve the sale of the site to a developer.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Hind said:

“My view is there is no point objecting, it’s in the Local Plan, it’s a brownfield site and it’s going to happen. Our role is to ensure it has as little impact on the Pinewoods as it can have.”

Pinewoods Conservation Group’s AGM on Monday evening.

Harrogate Spring Water

The AGM was attended by around 25 people. Also on the agenda was Harrogate Spring Water’s hopes to expand its bottling plant on Harlow Moor Road.

The Stray Ferret reported this week that Harrogate Borough Council has said it would consider selling Rotary Wood to the company, which is preparing to submit a new planning application.

Mr Hind told the meeting that Pinewoods Conservation Group had lawyers on hand to ensure due process on any sale was followed.

Plea for ‘moratorium’ on controversial 181-home Kingsley development

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred has issued a plea for Harrogate Borough Council to halt a controversial planning application for 181 homes on Kingsley Drive in Starbeck.

At a full council meeting last night, Cllr Aldred asked Conservative cabinet member for planning, Cllr Tim Myatt, if he would consider issuing a ‘moratorium’ on the plans, which were submitted this week by Persimmon Homes.

It is the third time the developer has submitted a proposal at the location, which used to form part of Kingsley Farm. A larger application for 217 homes was rejected by councillors in August.

Cllr Aldred, who currently represents the Fairfax ward, cited government Housing Delivery Test figures that revealed Harrogate Borough Council has exceeded its housebuilding target by almost 1,700 homes over the last three years.

He said he attended a meeting of Kingsley residents last month to discuss the application and heard how various housing schemes have heaped “misery” on local residents due to the disruption caused.

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Cllr Aldred said:

“We’ve met the target, so would the cabinet member be prepared to consider an immediate moratorium halting the proposed development of a further 181 homes that went into planning yesterday?

“It’s greatly affecting the physical and mental health of Kingsley residents.”

‘Intense period of development’

In response, Cllr Myatt, who represents High Harrogate on the council, said he had “great sympathy” for people affected by the “intense period of development” in the ward.

But he said over the past six years, the council was still below the housing need target identified in the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-2035, which maps out where development can take place until 2034.

Cllr Tim Myatt

The government and the council’s Local Plan have different housebuilding targets for the district.

Cllr Myatt said:

“I have been speaking with residents regularly about this application and about what I think the weaknesses are.

“We have a Local Plan, which was adopted recently. It has a target for local need for the past six years. It’s around 690 homes per year. If you look at those figures, we haven’t exceeded that target over the past six years, in fact we are slightly below it.”

Local Plan

The Local Plan was adopted in 2020 but can be reviewed after five years.

Cllr Myatt confirmed that officers are already working on the review, which could see some sites removed if it is deemed the housing need for the district has changed.

Cllr Myatt added:

“Can I order a cease of planning applications? That simply wouldn’t hold up on a national level and I think the councillor knows that, he was just trying to get me to say no. It’s not something within my gift to cease housing applications, if I tried to do so, it would be overturned nationally.

“Our Local Plan is in place, it was voted on by this council and received a strong approval.”

Harrogate council exceeds house-building targets by almost 1,700 homes

Harrogate Borough Council has exceeded its house-building target by almost 1,700 homes over the last three years, according to new government figures.

Statistics released in the government’s Housing Delivery Test reveal the district needed 987 new homes to meet demand between 2018 and 2021 – but 2,682 were delivered.

That is 1,641 homes – or 266% – above the target and has sparked fresh questions over whether this level of new housing is being matched with improvements in Harrogate’s struggling infrastructure, schools and health services.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson argued the government figures are only a minimum target and that its own ambitions in its Harrogate district Local Plan take greater account of the desperate need for more affordable housing.

They also described the current level of house-building as a “positive step” to tackle this problem.

The spokesperson said: 

“Our adopted Local Plan, underpinned by local evidence of housing need, seeks to tackle a number of long standing local issues.

“In particular, families and young people are facing increasing difficulty in buying their own home due to a lack of houses and high house prices.

“Local businesses also tell us that they struggle to recruit locally due to the high cost of housing.

“The level of new housing included in the Local Plan will help to address these issues and support our economic ambitions.”

It was six years in the making but the Local Plan was finally adopted in 2020 when Harrogate set its own target of delivering 637 new homes each year until 2035.

And while there was some controversy over which sites were allocated for development, local politicians of all stripes agreed it was better to have a plan, than no plan at all.

Housing ‘free for all’

Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the council’s opposition Liberal Democrat group, described the six years prior to the Local Plan’s adoption as a “free for all” of uncontrolled house-building.

She also said while the Local Plan has handed Harrogate greater control over its housing future, it had yet to be matched with meaningful improvements for communities which will feel the long-term effects of dramatic population growth.

Cllr Marsh

“The Lib Dems are very concerned about our infrastructure; it is not fit for purpose.

“The council now has a Community Infrastructure Levy, but before that the council could only ask for monies from developers if their development had a negative impact on existing nearby residents.

“Schools have been able to get monies through the legal Section 106 agreement to help with any extensions required because of the development but until very, very recently secondary schools were not considered or included at all.

“Medical services have never been included which is again ridiculous with all these extra demands on our doctors and dental services, police and our hospital.

“The government wants houses, but does not give councils the real powers to achieve what is required for the local infrastructure needs for all these large developments.”

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Parameters plan approved

Defending its record, the council also pointed towards the West Harrogate Parameters Plan – which sets out the needs for an extra 4,000 homes – as a measure to ensure the area has the “necessary infrastructure to support future communities”.

The plan has been recommended for approval at a meeting today and while it has been praised by the council, those living in the area have complained it does not go far enough and is being approved too soon to balance the impacts of what will be Harrogate’s biggest urban expansion in decades.

David Siddans, secretary of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, said: 

“Since 2018 we have been arguing that Harrogate Borough Council are planning for far more houses than the district actually needs, amounting to many thousands.

“Now they are giving developers permission for hundreds more on top of that, nearly all of them on greenfield sites.

“Every new house over and above the numbers needed adds to carbon emissions and also increases the pressure on infrastructure.

“From what we have seen with the emerging West Harrogate Parameters Plan, the authority is suggesting that a bus every 30 minutes and a shared footway/cycleway will address the travel needs of the additional 6,000 or so population, with minimal other changes to the network.

“We have also expressed our concern at the additional demands that will be placed on education, and the lack of a coherent strategy for secondary schooling.”

Mr Siddans added: 

“We, along with other organisations in the area, say that the council should not be approving the parameters plan until full details of the infrastructure package is agreed.

“We understand that is not expected before May this year.

“We have no confidence that this will happen and it is likely that developers will again be given the green light with the wider infrastructure needs remaining unaddressed.”

What is green belt land and how would Harrogate look without it?

It was first introduced in the 1960s to stop urban sprawl and protect Harrogate’s countryside from being dug up for developments.

The green belt is protected areas of rural land where the building of new homes and businesses is only allowed in special circumstances.

Its supporters say green belts have preserved landscapes across the country, while critics claim they protect the rich, stop houses being built and encourage commuting by cars.

But what would Harrogate look like if its protected areas of land had never been created?

36,000 acres of greenbelt

The green belt covers almost 36,000 acres across the district – equivalent to 11% of the total area.

It stretches along the district’s southern boundary with Leeds and up between Harrogate and Knaresborough to stop the two towns merging. There is also an area in the east of the district that forms part of the York green belt, which encircles the city.

Without the protection that the green belt offers, Harrogate and Knaresborough’s built-up areas – which sit just half a mile apart – could have formed one.

Other areas to the west including Otley and Ilkley could have also expanded ever-outwards and swallowed up the smaller settlements that surround them.

But the rules and regulations which make up green belt policy have not stopped developers coming forward with plans.

There have been almost 1,700 applications to Harrogate Borough Council in the protected areas since 2011. Most of these were for extensions and farm buildings, but others have been of some significance.

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In early 2020, a developer behind plans for 210 homes on the outskirts of Wetherby near Stockeld Park was refused planning permission by both the council and a government inspector at appeal.

On the flip side, the construction of Harrogate Rugby Club’s Rudding Lane ground would not have been possible if the council did not allow for “special circumstances” when plans were approved in 2013.

These are just two examples of when development can and can’t take place in the green belt, with the task of deciding which circumstances are “special” enough to justify development often resulting in interventions by government inspectors.

Protecting greenbelt ‘a core principle’, says council

Cllr Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning at Harrogate Borough Council, said the authority attaches great importance to protecting the green belt and that doing so is a key part of local and national policy.

He said: 

“Any proposal for development in the district’s two green belts – namely the West Yorkshire green belt and the York green belt – would need to be in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework, which makes clear that any development should not be approved except in very special circumstances.

“Protecting the green belt is one of the core planning principles of the NPPF and something our adopted Local Plan also specifies.”

The green belt between Harrogate and Knaresborough was reviewed in 1992 and minor changes were made when the district’s 2001 Local Plan was adopted.

However, the boundaries were not reviewed when the most recent Local Plan was adopted in 2020 – something residents in Harlow and Pannal Ash say should have happened.

David Siddans, secretary of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, said: 

“We would have liked to see the green belt extended to provide more protection to the landscape between Harrogate and Beckwithshaw.

“But that, we understand, would have required a formal review process, and Harrogate Borough Council was not receptive to the idea.”

Mr Siddans also said it is the development of greenfield land – not green belt – which presents the biggest threat to the environment and local area, which is facing the construction of hundreds of new homes.

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He said these greenfield sites – which are untouched areas not previously built on – were seen as “easy pickings” when Harrogate’s most recent Local Plan was being developed.

Mr Siddans said: 

“When the Local Plan was being prepared and sites were being sought to accommodate around 16,000 new houses, all the greenfields around the western arc which were not green belt were targeted for development.

“No major developments are proposed on the existing area zoned as green belt west of Harrogate.

“However, greenfield sites do not have the same protection, except that those located around the western arc are all within designated areas of special landscape value.

“In practice, the planning authority pays little attention to this protection, hence the massive and highly intrusive developments currently being proposed.”

Traffic fears over plans for 560 homes on Harrogate’s Otley Road

A proposed 560-home development on Harrogate’s Otley Road has sparked fears over traffic.

Homes England, which is the government’s housing agency, wants to build the homes at Bluecoat Wood Nurseries, which is where the charity Horticap is based.

Homes England has submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report to Harrogate Borough Council for the 26-hectare site, which is required ahead of a formal planning application.

The report proposes building 560 homes on the site — 25 per cent more than is allocated in Harrogate District Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines development in the district until 2035.

Council officials consulted a range of bodies on the environmental impact of the development and what would be needed to be addressed, such as traffic and infrastructure.

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Henry Pankhurst, of Harrogate Civic Society, which was among those consulted, said it objected to the plan on the grounds of traffic, encroachment onto greenfield land and adverse affect on the landscape.

Mr Pankhurst told the council in a letter:

“It seems logical that a much more intensive use of the land must have adverse consequences. The increase in dwellings, 110 units, from 450 to 560, is very significant – almost a quarter more.

“Traffic will increase, any buffer zones at the boundaries may well be reduced and amenity space both private and public may be compromised. Intensification in these and other ways will harm the special landscape area and harm the setting of the green belt.”

Meanwhile, the Harrogate Group of the Ramblers Association said the site had no recorded public right of ways or bridleways.

It said:

“With a site of this considerable size we would like to see a number of footpaths created through the site, and incorporated within natural green spaces.

“These should be of generous width, with a suitable surface, and routed logically. The routes should fulfil anticipated need.”

Homes England projects in Harrogate district

The proposed development is one of three sites in the district that Homes England has purchased for housing.

One of the other sites is the former Police Training Centre on Yew Tree Lane, which is earmarked for 200 homes. That site is in the Local Plan for 161 homes and faced similar criticism for “unjustifiable planning creep”.

The government agency has also submitted final plans for 390 homes at a site in Littlethorpe.

Homes England said previously that the environmental impact assessment for the Bluecoat site was an “early stage of the planning process” and that further consultation will be required for a formal planning application.