Homes England will not be allowed to ‘ride roughshod’ over the wishes of people in Ripon and must renew consultation with the city council.
That was the unanimous view this week of elected members, who have described the proposed traffic plan for the 1,300-home Clotherholme development on the barracks site as ‘unacceptable’.
Speaking at Monday’s city council meeting, Conservatives Stuart Martin and Mike Chambers, who are also district and county councillors, joined Conservative parish councillors and the ruling Independents in voicing concerns.
Cllr Martin said:
“At the outline planning stage, this is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we have to get things right on the traffic front.
“If we don’t, the city will suffer the consequences for years to come.”
City centre roads ‘at capacity’
Cllr Chambers added:
“The city centre roads are at capacity and we must make it known to Harrogate Borough Council that this plan does not work and will not work, if Homes England doesn’t come forward with new traffic mitigation measures.”
Homes England, which is the government housing agency also owns the West Lane site in Ripon where 390 homes will be built by Taylor Wimpey after outline planning permission was granted last month.
City council leader Andrew Williams said:
“Between the two sites they have almost 1,700 houses and I recommend that we say we are willing to accept 800 homes at Clotherholme and hold back on making a decision on the other 500 until this council is satisfied that Homes England has properly and thoroughly addressed the traffic issue.
“We will not allow people who don’t live in Ripon to make decisions from afar that ride roughshod over the wishes of local residents, who don’t want a city that is in perpetual gridlock.”
The busy junction of Somerset Row with High and Low Skellgate, where vehicles would not be able to turn right under the Homes England traffic plan.
“One of the unacceptable proposals in the plan is to prevent traffic at the junction of Somerset Row with Low Skellgate from turning right, meaning a detour for thousands of motorists a week.”
Cllr Williams’ proposed staged approach to handling planning for the Clotherholme scheme, was supported by all councillors, who also called for Harrogate planners and Homes England to come to the city council to hear the views of members.
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Cllr Pauline McHardy said;
“We haven’t met with them for over a year and it’s about time for them to get around the table with us, so we can let them know about the concerns people from all parts of the city are expressing about the traffic impact that the barracks site will have.”
Support for Ripon Military Heritage Trust
Prior to their discussion about the Clotherholme scheme, Christopher Hughes, chairman of Ripon Civic Society and Alan Skidmore, a trustee of the the Ripon Military Heritage Trust, addressed the council.
They provided an update on proposals to seek protection for historically-significant structures at the barracks site, which are currently threatened with demolition to make way for the new homes development.
It was agreed that in its correspondence with Harrogate planners, the city council will confirm that the trust’s proposals have the unanimous support of the council.
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