With unprecedented levels of housing planned for the western fringes of Harrogate, a new campaign group has called for developments to have a greater focus on sustainability and infrastructure.
The Western Arc Coordination Group brings together organisations including Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, Duchy Residents’ Association, Hampsthwaite Action Group, Zero Carbon Harrogate, Harrogate District Cycle Action and Pannal & Burn Bridge Parish Council.
As many as 4,000 houses could be built in the area by 2035. Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan includes 800 homes at Windmill Farm on Otley Road and 200 homes at the former police training centre on Yew Tree Lane.
Several other sites have either been recently completed or are under construction, such as Persimmon’s 600-home King Edwin Park development on Pennypot Lane and Stonebridge Homes 130-home scheme on Whinney Lane.
With construction set to continue in the area for at least the next 15 years, the group has produced a document warning of “serious disruption” to people living in what is one of Harrogate’s most popular areas.
Read the document in full here.
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‘Severe’ congestion
Queueing traffic in Burn Bridge this year.
The new group predicts the majority of developments in the western arc of Harrogate will be car-dependent, which will require a “major upgrade” of roads.
It says since North Yorkshire County Council scrapped plans for a controversial “relief road” last year, there has been little progress in tackling congestion.
It warns “accepted congestion problems” have been left unaddressed and says nearby villages such as North Rigton, Burn Bridge and Pannal will bear the brunt of increased traffic in and out of Harrogate. The document says:
“All the communities we represent already experience severe congestion and the environmental and road safety problems from existing volumes of traffic.”
Tackling climate change
A key focus of the group will be putting pressure on developers and the council to ensure homes are future-proofed to mitigate the effects of climate change.
However, it says current housing developments in Harrogate fall short of the mark when it comes to the environment. It says planners, developers and house builders have a “huge responsibility” to do their bit and recognise that the decisions they take will have ramifications for climate change.
It calls on house builders to ditch their dependence on old fashioned building techniques and move towards renewable energy and off-site construction methods, which it argues will slash carbon emissions during the production process and after residents move in.
The document says:
“We would like to see that any developments in this area are exemplars of the way in which new housing addresses the net zero challenge of the next decades.”
What do local councils say?
A spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council told the Stray Ferret that the Local Plan provided a “clear and robust” framework for developments, including the requirement for a “parameters plan” that will organise infrastructure.
He added:
“North Yorkshire County Council are carrying out a series of sustainable transport improvements following investment from central government, ourselves and developer contributions.
“These improvements, that will include smart traffic lights, improvements to the junction of Harlow Moor Road and Otley Road, a new off-road cycle route on Otley Road and new or improved pedestrian crossings, will help to improve safety and alleviate the current level of congestion and accommodate the future growth.”
Members of WACG spoke at North Yorkshire County Council’s area constituency committee this morning.
NYCC’s executive member for highways, Cllr Don Mackenzie, said the authority hopes to work together with the group going forward.
He said:
“I did comment on the contents of their Campaign for Sustainability of Development publication, asking for more clarity on the group’s precise aims, since it seemed to be calling for new highways infrastructure and downplaying the effectiveness of sustainable travel measures at the same time as advocating low carbon dependency infrastructure.
“I assured the delegates that NYCC wishes to continue the dialogue with their group and to work with them to introduce effective measures in the west of Harrogate to address the challenges of congestion which the high level of residential development in that area will bring.”
‘Disappointed and bemused’: junior football clubs react to shutdown
Junior football clubs in Harrogate and Knaresborough say they are “disappointed and bemused” at the decision to suspend all matches and training sessions from Thursday.
Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of a new one month lockdown, the FA released a statement yesterday that said all fixtures and training for youth football must end in line with the lockdown.
Chris McVey, chair of Pannal Ash juniors, a well established club that runs boys and girls teams from ages 5 to 18, told the Stray Ferret the enforced break will have a big impact on children’s lives and he is “struggling to come to terms” with the decision.
“The kids love the training so the boys, girls and the parents are all disappointed. Junior football only happens for a number of years, you don’t really appreciate it until it’s taken away from you. This is an important time in their lives, but when it’s gone it’s gone. They make friends for life playing junior football.”
The links between exercise and mental health are well known and Mr McVey believes the break will have a “massive” impact on children’s mental health.
He added:
“I fear that this time of year, when it’s dark, the kids won’t get out at all. That does affect them mentally just as much as physically.
“After last lockdown, the joy when the boys and girls came back was amazing. It was a real focus being with their friends again and getting fit.”
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Knaresborough Celtic have been a cornerstone of the community for many years. Club chair Matthew Wood told the Stray Ferret he disagreed with the implication that junior football is unsafe and said the lockdown is “a shame for the kids”.
“I have no evidence of anyone catching covid from playing junior football. We have a one-way system, sanitising, we haven’t had any cases. There isn’t much risk, I don’t think.”
With games cancelled during the first lockdown, Knaresborough Celtic gave parents partial subscription refunds. Mr Wood said the club is in a “challenging” financial environment but hope to receive grants from the FA or government, like last time.
“Who knows where we will end up. We still have our bills to pay, maintencnce, grass still needs cutting. A lot of parents dont realise happen.”
Some of their teams will have one last emotional training session tonight at King James’ school’s 3G pitch, which opened in February but hasn’t been fully utilised due to both lockdowns.
He said:
“There’ll be no skills or tactics, we’ll just let them play for an hour then we’ll see them again in the new year, I guess.”