The last ever meeting of Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee will see it asked to give permission for a new home on its own land in Huby.

A report to the committee proposes the plans for a two-bedroom house are approved, subject to conditions including providing electric vehicle charging points at the property.

The council’s proposal would see the house added to the council’s affordable rental homes, which will be transferred to North Yorkshire Council from April 1.

Describing the proposal for land between 20 and 22 Kingsway in the village, a report for the committee by planning officer Arthama Lakhanpall says:

“Since the site is not currently used for any purpose, and is maintained as underused grassed land, the proposed plans are supported by the housing team who wish to see more social housing in the area to meet identified need. This site will help address that need.

“The housing team has confirmed that there are currently 2,199 households registered on the council’s waiting list for affordable rented accommodation across the district. There are currently 169 households registered for two-bed social rented housing within this sub-area.”

Since the plans were submitted, objections have been received from three neighbours. They raised concerns over the new property overlooking the existing homes, as well as the impact on what they said was an already busy road, often used for parking by people travelling by train from the nearby Weeton station.

Residents also said there was a lack of facilities in the village, forcing residents to drive elsewhere. They said the new house would have an impact on sunlight to other houses, as well as drainage and water supplies, which residents said were already problematic.

However, neither Yorkshire Water nor North Yorkshire County Council had any objections to the scheme, and Weeton Parish Council did not oppose the plans.

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The report to the planning committee said the proposed house did not have any side windows and that those at the front and rear of the property would not add to the way in which nearby houses already overlook each other.

The plans include a driveway large enough for two vehicles. The report added:

“The site is currently vacant from built development. It is accepted that the proposed dwelling would have some impact on the openness and spatial quality.

“The proposal however would be well confined within the site and read in relation to the scale, bulk and massing of the neighbouring dwellings within the street. It includes hardstanding and soft landscaping that would help preserve a state of openness.

“For that reason, the scale and massing of the proposed dwelling would not be visually dominant in this landscape. The impact on the openness of the green belt therefore would be limited.”

The planning meeting will be held at Harrogate Borough Council’s civic centre on St Luke’s Mount, Harrogate, on Tuesday, March 28 from 2pm. It will also be broadcast live via the council’s YouTube page.

Historic England, the government’s statutory adviser on the historic environment, has said it supports Ripon Cathedral’s £6 million plans to build a two-storey annex on Minster Gardens.

However, the national heritage watchdog’s views about the suitability of the proposed development site to the north of the cathedral are not shared by Ripon Civic Society.

The cathedral chapter submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council in January, seeking permission to construct a standalone two-storey annex on Minster Gardens.

It would include a song school, cafe, shop and the city centre’s first Changing Places toilet for disabled people.

The development has divided opinion, with concerns about the impact on retailers and the removal of 11 trees, including a beech categorised as a veteran tree by the Woodland Trust.

In a letter to Harrogate Borough Council planners, Historic England said:

“Historic England supports the location and design of this proposal, which will make a positive 21st century contribution to Ripon’s wonderful historic environment.”

The letter, which can be viewed on the council’s planning website also states:

“This application is highly sensitive due to the wonderful historic townscape of Ripon, its proximity and relationship to Ripon Cathedral, and from the heritage value of the site itself.

“The proposal would make a positive contribution to the historic environment of Ripon, sitting appropriately in location and design terms with the townscape and cathedral, and beginning to rearticulate the original cathedral precinct. However, the loss of open space and trees would have a minor impact on heritage significance.

“We consider that many elements of the proposal are in line with those parts of the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework) within our statutory remit.

“However, the NPPF also advises a need for an appropriate understanding of all heritage impacts before decisions are taken on applications. In this case, the archaeological impact of the proposal is unclear, and this issue needs to be resolved in advance of any planning decision.”

‘Unacceptable’

But Ripon Civic Society took a different view in its submission to the council. It said:

“While we do not disagree with the cathedral’s view that a new annex on the north side of the cathedral will contribute to the sustainable future of the cathedral and enhance the city of Ripon, we consider that siting an annex on Minster Gardens is unacceptable.”

The society added:

“The proposals in the application are unaltered from those we commented on in 2022.

“Ripon Civic Society wrote to the cathedral authorities in July 2022 supporting development on the north side of the Cathedral.

“We did not consider, however, that the proposed siting recognised the significance of Minster Gardens as an open space for the city, as set out in the Ripon Neighbourhood Plan that was agreed by referendum and adopted by Harrogate Borough Council as part of the Harrogate Local Plan.

“We therefore suggested the proper examination of the stone yard land for a redesigned building.”

To create space for the annex, the existing toilet block, outbuildings and a wall would need to be demolished and trees removed.

The civic society said:

“The trees that are proposed to be removed are an important part of the character of the conservation area, which would be severely lessened by their removal and replacement with a large building.

“We consider that a redesigned building in the stone yard would be an acceptable alternative.”

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Concerns raised by hospitality and other businesses about the proposed £6 million Ripon Cathedral annex, with its cafe and gift shop, have prompted Ripon City Council to call for a retail impact assessment to be carried out.

Supporters and opponents of the cathedral’s application to build the two-storey building on Minster Gardens made their views known at last night’s full council meeting.

After hearing both sides, council leader Andrew Williams, who proposed the impact assessment, also called for the cathedral’s chapter to meet with businesses and Ripon Business Improvement District to listen to their concerns and answer any questions they have.

He said:

“I’m keeping an open mind until the application is considered later this year by (the new) North Yorkshire Council and my door is open to the cathedral and the traders who want to speak with me.

“We need to move forward in unity, minimise our differences and draw people together.”

Cllr Williams declared an interest prior to speaking about the application because he has been nominated to serve on the North Yorkshire Council planning committee, which will adjudicate on the proposal.

Kevin Hill, who owns the the Karma clothing and gift boutique on Kirkgate with his wife Liz and Helen Slater, owner of Cathedral View Cafe that faces onto the ancient building, both felt the annex on Minster Gardens with a direct route from the car park would ‘funnel’ visitors away from Kirkgate.

Stanley Mackintosh, who lives on Kirkgate, said the street which leads down to the cathedral has numerous independent cafes and restaurants, with more in the city centre. He claimed:

“There will be damage to small independent traders if the proposal is given the go-ahead.”

Mr Mackintosh had a copy of the longer-term masterplan vision for the cathedral quarter, which has elements that are not included in the annex planning application lodged with Harrogate Borough Council.

Minster Gardens

That wider masterplan, which would require a further planning application or applications, includes a proposed hotel with arts cafe underneath, which he said would further impact on hospitality businesses in the city.

Richard Taylor, co-chair of Ripon Civic Society, reiterated that the society supports development of new facilities for the cathedral but not at the proposed location. He said:

“Our concern was that the chosen site was one of great heritage and environmental sensitivity and we encouraged the cathedral to look at moving the new building a little further north into the stoneyard.

“More evidence has since come to light to show just how significant Minster Gardens are as a green space in the centre of the city framed by high-grade listed buildings.

“The importance of the fine group of trees there was recognised as long ago as 2009 in the Ripon Conservation Area Appraisal.

“They have recently been reassessed and the large beech tree in the centre of the garden has been added to the national register of veteran trees. Sweeping it away as the current proposal would do means losing an irreplaceable asset as highlighted by three of the borough council’s officers.”

New plans for 200 homes at the Harrogate’s former police training centre confirm that four sports pitches will be lost as part of the development.

The plans from Homes England and Countryside Properties include the conversion of several former training centre buildings into 16 homes and building 184 new properties.

Homes England, which is the government’s housing agency, already had permission to build 161 homes on the site but wanted to increase this by 23% to 200 homes by building on three planned football pitches and one cricket field.

To make up for the loss of sports facilities, it offered £595,000 towards Pannal Community Park on Leeds Road through a section 106 agreement that was backed by Sport England.

Harrogate Borough Council granted outline permission for the scheme to go ahead in December 2021.

Homes England appointed Countryside Properties in a £63m contract to build the homes and a reserved matters application has now been submitted for the scheme. This includes details such as landscaping, how the homes will look, and the site layout.

A planning statement says:

“Careful consideration has been given to the detailed design of the proposal to ensure that it creates a high-quality and distinctive development that establishes a strong sense of place and provides an attractive and comfortable place to live.”

Although there will no longer be football or cricket pitches there, the developer has included some open space at the south of the site for the public to use.

Detailed plans have now been submitted for the site

Thirty per cent of the homes will be affordable and they will be spread across the site.

The existing cast iron gates and stone gateposts located off the main driveway will be retained as an entrance feature to a new ‘village green’.

The main access will be created via a new priority junction on Yew Tree Lane. This will also provide the starting point for a new cycle route that will run the development.

The developer delivered leaflets about the application to 363 residents and businesses in the area before submission.

The former police site on Yew Tree Lane was used as a base to train more than 1,200 officers a year before it closed in 2011.

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Ripon Civic Society has reiterated its objection to the proposed location of a new £6 million cathedral building.

Ripon Cathedral has submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council to build a two-storey standalone annexe on the Minster Gardens site to the north of the cathedral.

The Dean of Ripon The Very Revd John Dobson has said plans to create a cathedral quarter would attract more visitors to the city and benefit the local economy.

But the society called for a rethink in August before formal plans were submitted. Now the planning application has been lodged, it has re-stated its position.

A statement from the heritage watchdog today said:

“The proposed location of a new structure to the north of Ripon Cathedral to serve as much-needed extra accommodation for the cathedral’s mission is strongly criticised by Ripon Civic Society.

“The society has long supported the cathedral’s aim to provide space for a song school, refectory, shop, toilets and storage space.  The society also agrees that any new building should be to the north of the cathedral rather than the south.  It cannot, however, support the intended position of the proposed new building, as set out in the latest planning application.”

Ripon Cathedral

It added:

“The cathedral’s intention is to build a two-storey structure on part of the public open space known as Minster Gardens.  This is an area of grass and mature trees that has been a green space to the north of the cathedral for more than two centuries – and that in the Middle Ages was the site of the Archbishop of York’s Ripon palace. It is surrounded by important Ripon listed buildings – the Old Court House, the Old Deanery and the Courthouse Museum.

“The proposal will take up approximately half the open space and will involve the felling of at least 10 trees which currently contribute to the green nature of the site.  One of the trees proposed for removal is a large beech tree in the centre of Minster Gardens, recognised as ‘entering veteran status’ and graded A1.  Proposals to plant new trees elsewhere — many of them outside the city — are intended as an attempt to offset the loss of these trees.

“The site of the proposed structure, which will abut Minster Road, is currently owned by Harrogate Borough Council and will pass to North Yorkshire Council in April.  It is protected as open space by policies in the Harrogate district Local Plan and in the Ripon Neighbourhood Plan.

The Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, has said the creation of a Cathedral Quarter would boost the city’s economy while providing an enhanced setting for the Grade I listed building.

His comments follow the submission of a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council seeking permission for construction of a two-storey standalone annexe on the Minster Gardens site to the north of the cathedral.

If planning consent is granted, the building would include a song school, gift shop, cafe and the city centre’s first Changing Places toilet, providing improved access to the city and the cathedral for disabled people.

The area of Minster Gardens where the proposed new building would be located

To accommodate the development, 11 trees would need to be removed from Minster Gardens and the existing toilet block demolished, along with outbuildings and a wall.

The proposal also includes landscaping of the gardens and improved links to Kirkgate and the Cathedral Car Park.

With these works added to the cost of construction, the new estimate for the project is in excess of £6 million.

Dean John, said:

“Taking down the trees and building in that area will need to be seen in context of this being a major development not only for the cathedral but for the city and the region.

“The development has to serve the needs of people coming to us as worshippers, pilgrims, holidaymakers, day trippers and people who come to concerts.”

He added that the planning application is:

“The culmination of years and years of work; building relationships, looking at all the different possibilities and options.

“It has been a huge job to get to this point but what people are excited about is we have at last found a solution to the age-old problem for the cathedral and city which will enable us to create the cathedral quarter and that is a wonderful prospect.

“Ripon is the cathedral city for entrance to the Dales and the region and these plans enhance not only the cathedral but the city as well, by bringing an increase in visitor numbers.”

With regard to the removal of trees, Dean John, said:

“In mitigation of losing 11 trees we will be planting over 300 trees, some on the site and others on land which is being provided for us.”

On the issue of Minster Road, he said:

“Some people in the city want to close Minster Road while the city council definitely does not. What we are saying is we need to find a way of calming and reducing the traffic so it can become a unified area which will also be safe for pedestrians and can be opened up as a public space to be used and for people to come and go.

“There are many similar areas around the country which work perfectly successfully so while details have to be worked out we are saying there are no plans to close Minster Road.”

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A 200-year-old building on the Ripley estate is set to be converted to support outdoor pursuits.

The bothy, adjacent to the east pavilion in the walled garden, will be fitted out with changing rooms, storage and toilets if a planning application is approved.

The proposals are to provide better facilities for Live For Today, an outdoor activities business based in the grounds of Ripley Castle.

Last year, the bothy had structural work done to improve its condition, including a new roof and repointing with lime mortar.

Sir Thomas Ingilby of Ripley Castle told the Stray Ferret:

“Live For Today need extra storage, so part of it is for that. We have got plans for toilets and locker rooms shared by Life For Today visitors to the gardens and garden staff.

“We’re hoping to do more work with community groups coming into the gardens. We’re really keen to get it done – we have spent a lot of money doing up the bothy and it will be nice to see if back in use.”

Now a listed building, the bothy is originally believed to have been the home of a gardener on the Ripley estate.

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Live For Today runs activities including paddle boarding, axe throwing, body zorbing, kayaking, bushcraft and escape rooms at the Ripley estate.

It currently uses the east pavilion for storage, which the application said was causing damage to the fabric of the building because of poor ventilation. Moving storage to the bothy would allow the pavilion to be used by the public.

Life For Today’s current facilities include portable toilets and makeshift changing rooms in the woods, which the application described as “inadequate and unsatisfactory”. The application said the newly-converted bothy would be an asset both to the business and to the estate.

To view or comment on the application, visit the planning section of Harrogate Borough Council’s website and use reference 22/04111/LB.

The most significant development in hundreds of years for Ripon Cathedral has been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council’s (HBC) planning department. 

If planning consent is granted, it will see the construction of a two-storey standalone building to the north of the  Grade I listed cathedral, which would include a refectory, song school and the city centre’s first Changing Places toilet, providing access for disabled people.

The £6m scheme also involves demolition of the existing toilet block on the site, along with outbuildings and a stone wall.

Documents  on HBC’s planning portal show that the development on Minster Gardens involves the removal of 11 trees – one of which was assigned by the council as having ‘veteran status.’

In its planning statement in support of the application, Rose Consulting, says:

“The proposal does involve the removal of eleven trees, including a tree to which HBC have assigned veteran status but with compensatory planting on a ratio of five new trees to each one removed.

“This number of lost trees has been reduced to a minimum as a result of discussions with the council.”

At its December meeting, where a pre-application presentation was made on the cathedral’s proposed development, Ripon city councillors gave their support in principle, with the caveat that they could not agree to any future closure of Minster Road – which runs past the ancient building.

The application submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, does not include plans for the closure of Minster Road  to through traffic – though it is a longer-term ambition

Speaking at that meeting, leader of the council Andrew Williams, said:

“We will be looking at the finer detail when the planning application is submitted, but the city council supports the general principle of this development, with the exception of the proposed closure of Minster Road, which we cannot agree with because diverting traffic elsewhere would cause many problems.”

In its submission to HBC planners, Ripon Cathedral Chapter points out:

“Ultimately it is hoped that closure of Minster Road to through traffic may one day arise – for which there is growing political and community consensus but is a benefit which is not deliverable within this application, as it is not in Chapter’s gift.”

The cathedral, which celebrated its 1,350th anniversary last year, has a national and international reputation which has seen visitors grow year on year to in excess of 100,000 in 2022.

A Harrogate town centre property that was devastated by fire in 2019 has undergone its latest transformation, to residential accommodation. 

Number 28 Beulah Street, in Harrogate, was the epicentre of a blaze four summers ago that ripped through shops and took eight crews of firefighters hours to put out.  

Now, retrospective planning permission has been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council to change the use of the first and second floors from a sandwich shop to a single dwelling.

The ground floor is occupied by a café, Coffee 28, and is not included in the application. 

The application was validated on December 14, 2022, and is awaiting a decision by planning officers. 

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Planners have refused to grant permission for a development in Boroughbridge to go ahead because the applicant has failed to provide sufficient information.

Barratt and David Wilson Homes were criticised by Harrogate Borough Council for not submitting the required documents for the southern half of the Stump Cross development, despite repeated requests.

Planning officer Kate Broadbank told the planning committee yesterday:

“Without information relating to scale, design and appearance of houses, which would be affordable and where the open spaces and landscaping would be, it’s not possible to assess the relationship between the buildings, routes and open spaces to confirm whether this layout would be acceptable.”

The site, which is east of the A168 and is included in the local plan, already has outline planning permission for 450 homes granted in 2019.

A condition of that outline permission was that full details would be submitted for approval within three years, which would have been last April.

Ms Broadbank added:

“We have had no applications for the remaining reserved matters and the applicant is out of time for the submission of these, therefore the outline permission can no longer be taken forward.”

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Details of the first phase of development on the northern half of the site have already been submitted and were approved last February, with 256 homes included.

If the second phase were to be approved with the proposed 214 homes, it would bring the total to 470.

Speaking at yesterday’s committee meeting, Conservative Cllr Robert Windass said the council had worked with the developer on the first half of the site. He added:

“I’m totally and utterly surprised that they haven’t engaged with us as they did last time, because we came to a very amicable conclusion on that one, but this beggars belief.”

Ms Broadbank agreed, saying:

“They have had plenty of opportunity to engage with us and to discuss everything with us that we’ve asked for.

“We have had various meetings and they’ve kept saying, ‘it will be coming, it will be coming’, but it’s got to the point where enough is enough.”