Questions remain about how an extra 480 homes near Harlow Hill will impact roads, schools and doctor’s surgeries, according to the new councillor for the area.
Homes England last week submitted plans for the development at Bluecoat Wood opposite Cardale Park.
The site covers 28 hectares of largely green fields and the homes would wrap around horticultural charity Horticap.
The proposals include new cricket and football pitches.
A mix of one, two, three, four and five-bedroom houses are proposed for the site. Homes England says 40% of the houses will be allocated as “affordable”.
“Fed up with housebuilding”
Michael Schofield is the Liberal Democrat councillor for Harlow & St George’s on North Yorkshire County Council, after being elected this month.
The councillor, who is also the landlord of the Shepherd’s Dog pub, claims there is “no provision” in the plans for services that residents will use.
Cllr Schofield said:
“Don’t get me wrong, the idea of playing fields and a cricket pitch is great, but you do have to think about extra traffic and infrastructure.
“There’s no provision for services. I’d like to see more planning for residents.
“Yes the homes look attractive, but there’s no clear plan for infrastructure. I don’t want them to do anything until they have one.”
Cllr Schofield said there is strong feeling locally about the scale and speed of housebuilding.
“I see residents out walking their dogs and it’s the main issue people are telling me, they are fed up of seeing building site after building site.”
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Last month, a separate application was submitted by Anwyl Land and national housebuilder Redrow Homes for 780 homes on fields opposite Bluecoat Wood on Otley Road.
At Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association‘s (Hapara) AGM in April, the group’s secretary David Siddans said residents are bracing themselves for “15 years of disruption” due to the sheer number of homes that will be built in phases around Otley Road.
Hapara has been highly critical of the delayed West Harrogate Parameters Plan (WHPP), a document drawn up by Harrogate Borough Council that is supposed to address the infrastructure associated with the different housing developments.
A final version of the plan has yet to be signed off by the council.
The plan will also be supplemented with an ‘infrastructure delivery document’ to nail down the infrastructure requirements in greater detail, but it’s yet to see the light of day.
‘Pause a decision’
Mr Siddans called on Harrogate Borough Council to pause any decision on Bluecoat Wood until the infrastructure delivery document is published.
He said:
“Hapara accepts that the principle of development on this site has been established through the Local Plan process, but considers it essential that the proposals are considered in the wider context of the whole western arc expansion, particularly regarding infrastructure provision, sustainability, landscape protection and adherence to net zero carbon targets.
“Low building density, high-quality design and appropriate housing mix with tree-lined streets are also matters that we will be looking at in our response. That is why no decisions should be made on this application or any of the adjacent sites until the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan is finalised, including the detail of the infrastructure delivery plan.”
Mr Siddans’s words were echoed by Cllr Howard West, chair of Beckwithshaw and Haverah Parish Council.
He said:
“The parish council’s standpoint is that the application should not even be logged, let alone considered, until the infrastructure delivery plan part of the WHPP has been finalised and approved.”
Homes England
A planning statement by Homes England says the development has been guided by the WHPP.
It says the sports pitch will be used by local schools, improving facilities for the area’s children.
On transport, it says the development will eventually link up with the Otley Road Cycle Path and an existing bus service to Cardale Park.
Siblings, 11 and 7, get creative to protest against new Knox Lane houses“The site has a good level of accessibility with Harrogate town centre, via a comprehensive network of footways and cycleways and is within a short cycling distance of Harrogate town centre.
“There are existing bus services which are accessible from the site and offer a relatively frequent level of services and Harrogate Rail Station, Hornbeam Rail Station and Pannal Rail Station which can be accessed as part of a multi-modal journey to [and] from the site.”
Two creative siblings have put up posters and written poems to protest against a housing development on Harrogate’s Knox Lane.
North-east property developer Jomast wants to build 53 homes on a field off Knox Lane in a green corner of Bilton that residents cherish.
Jasmine Stoyles, 7, and her brother Francis, 11, both go to Richard Taylor Church of England Primary School in Bilton.
They live close to where the homes could be built and enjoy admiring the deer, birds and other wildlife in the green fields.
But they fear the idyllic scene won’t be there when they grow up.
Mum Caroline said the threat of development inspired the kids to get their pens out and protest. Over the weekend they put up posters and poems on trees and a notice board nearby.
Jasmine’s poem says it’s a “horrible sight looking at concrete and cement” and Francis’ poem pleads “see the trees that grew up there, soon it will be all bare”.
Ms Stoyles said:
“We just appreciated all through lockdown how many people come here. It’s a lovely place to be.
“To lose that connection to the countryside would totally change the nature of the area.”
Jasmine’s poem is below:
“Spring is a lovely time, but not when people are killing nature,
“People do not care about nature anymore because they are looking at their toes,
“Wrens and other birds are going to lose their homes because they are cutting down the trees,
“It is a horrible sight looking at concrete and cement,
“Nothing can replace Harrogate’s space.”
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Harrogate Grammar hopes to light up sports pitch until 8pm
Harrogate Grammar School has submitted plans to light up its games pitch until 8pm in a bid to boost youth sport in the wake of the pandemic.
An original application in 2015 restricts the use of floodlighting after 6pm.
However, the school said this year several youth teams had struggled to play, particularly during the winter months when ground conditions in town were poor.
In a letter to neighbouring residents asking for their support, business and operations manager, Tom Stephen, wrote:
“The last two years of the pandemic have been challenging for us all, not least in the impact of school closures and restrictions on team sports for young people.
“We want to support the growth of youth sport and one way in which we hope to achieve this is by increasing the access of our facilities.”
He added that in the context of increased demand and in an effort create opportunities for young people to recover from the pandemic, the school felt it was the right time to apply for the extension.
It would see the pitch open from 9am until 8pm Monday to Friday.
He said:
“We will only allow the astro to be used by youth coached teams in order to support our aim of the growth of youth sport.”
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Harrogate Borough Council environmental health officer, Gemma Demaline, said she had no objections to the plans.
She said:
“As the lights are likely to be required during the darker months when surrounding noise sensitive residents are likely to be inside their properties, the impact from noise from the proposed use of the site will be limited.”
Earlier this month St Aidan’s Church of England High School revealed its new floodlit artificial sports pitch was set to open from 6pm to 8pm for community clubs to use.
A spokesperson for Harrogate Grammar School said:
“We want to support the growth of youth sport after the restrictions the pandemic put on team sports and we hope to achieve this by increasing the access of our facilities.”
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will make a decision on the application at a later date.
Redevelopment of former Harrogate council headquarters approvedPlans to transform Harrogate Borough Council’s former headquarters with a two-storey extension and rooftop restaurant have been approved five years after the authority vacated the building.
The proposals for Crescent Gardens – which has sat empty since 2017 – also include a gym and new office space.
Harrogate-based property developers Impala Estates bought the building for £4 million in 2020 and are behind the plans after previous proposals for luxury apartments and an art gallery fell through.
Speaking at a council meeting today, David Hartley, director at Impala Estates, said the latest plans would bring “significant public benefits” to the town.
He said:
“Unusually for an application of this size, there have only been five letters of complaint from members of the public.
“The small number of complaints is perhaps testament to the level of pre-application public consultation we undertook and that the final design has, where possible, taken this into account.
“This scheme brings significant public benefits which include bringing an empty building back into use and creating quality office space.”
Knapping Mount
Crescent Gardens was vacated by the council when it moved into its new Knapping Mount headquarters in 2017.
At the time, the council announced it would sell the building to property developer Adam Thorpe who had plans for a £75 million redevelopment including luxury apartments, an art gallery, underground car park, swimming pool and restaurant.
However, Mr Thorpe’s company ATP Ltd then fell into administration with debts of almost £11 million, including £24,394 owed to the council.
The latest proposals from Impala Estates had attracted objections from Historic England which questioned the public benefits and said the roof extension should not exceed one storey.
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Some residents living on Swan Road raised further concerns over their privacy and how else the rooftop terrace could be used if the restaurant failed.
Speaking at today’s meeting, resident Jackie Davis said:
“Mr primary concern is the roof terrace – this must have adequate screening, preferably trees behind the roof glass balustrade to try to protect our privacy.
“As we already know, many restaurant spaces are empty in Harrogate. The Royal Baths directly opposite the building has recently failed.
“I worry that this venue will follow the same fate over the years, leading to the possibility of a bar or perhaps a nightclub ending up there.”
In response, council officers said licensing restrictions would be put on the building’s use.
It was also agreed that extra screening would be installed on the rooftop terrace.
Furthermore, Mr Hartley said double-yellow lines would be introduced on the nearby Swan Lane to reduce disruption from parking and deliveries which he added would be “significantly less” than when the council occupied the building.
Long-running saga
Today’s decision to grant approval will have felt like a big weight off the shoulders of the council which is keen to see the long-running saga of Crescent Gardens come to an end.
But attention will soon turn to the future of its new Knapping Mount headquarters which has been brought into question ever since last year’s announcement that the council will be abolished in April 2023.
The council said the building cost £13 million. However, the Stray Ferret investigated the overall cost of the move from Crescent Gardens and put the figure closer to £17 million.
A decision on how the site is used in the future could well fall into the hands of the newly-elected members of the forthcoming North Yorkshire Council.
Badgers delay approval of 133 homes at Kingsley RoadFinal approval for 133 homes on Kingsley Road in Harrogate has been delayed whilst more badger surveys are undertaken in the area.
Redrow Homes won outline planning permission to build the development on appeal in August 2020 after it was initially refused by Harrogate Borough Council.
As part of the application, the developer submitted two ecology studies that found there were four badger setts in the area but only one or two were still actively used.
A previous ecological study undertaken in 2019 by a different developer found no evidence of badgers.
Members of Kingsley Ward Action Group (KWAG) bought a trail cam, which is a camera that is left outside and captures the movement of animals.
They claim their investigation found evidence of 11 badger setts, six of which are still active.
Badger activity
Badgers and their setts are protected by law.
Developers must have a licence from Natural England to remove or modify a badger sett.
This afternoon, councillors on the council’s planning committee met to discuss a reserved matters application that dealt with the appearance and layout of the homes.
However, the four-legged mammals dominated the debate.
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To the north of the proposed site are train tracks owned by Network Rail.
Dan McAndrew, the council’s principal ecologist, said most of the badger setts are more than 30m away from the site on land owned by the rail body.
Mr McAndrew said he was satisfied the developer had put measures in place to protect the badgers.
He said:
“Badgers actually do well in urban fringe areas, they are able to adapt to those conditions. The key issue is, where are the setts located and can they be maintained?
“The main sett will not be affected and will be left in place.”
However, John Hansard from KWAG said his group’s badger surveys were at odds with the developer’s surveys. He criticised the 2019 survey.
He said:
“If you know what you’re looking for, signs of badger activity were plentiful, clear and unmissable, so why were they missed or ignored?”
‘Somebody has got to speak for the badgers’
Both Sue Lumby, Conservative member for Coppice Valley, and Victoria Oldham, Conservative member for Washburn, cast doubt on the developer’s claims that badgers would not be harmed by the development.
Cllr Lumby said:
“Somebody has got to speak for the badgers and that’s what we are trying to do.
“This population of badgers would have lived here for generations. I’m very, very concerned why the 2019 survey didn’t find any badgers.”
Cllr Oldham added:
“On the assumption you do get licence from Natural England, what mitigation are you prepared to offer for remaining badgers to forage? You are going to put tarmac, concrete where they like to dig for worms, for setts. What are you offering? What wildlife enhancement will there be on this estate?”
In response, Mike Ashworth, on behalf of Redrow Homes, said
“A significant area of site will be undeveloped and landscaped, 30% of the site, a lot more than a normal housing estate. In there you’d have a combination of planting of trees, wildflower, shrubs.”
An unimpressed Cllr Oldham responded:
“Badgers don’t eat pretty flowers, they like to eat worms.”
Further surveys
Mr Ashworth revealed the developer received permission from Network Rail last week to survey the land above the site for badgers.
After councillors rejected the council’s recommendation to approve the scheme, committee chair Cllr John Mann proposed deferment pending the publication of the badger survey, which councillors agreed to unanimously.
Flood fears halt 61-bed Knaresborough retirement homeDevelopers behind plans for a Knaresborough retirement home have been told to make the building smaller and move it further away from the River Nidd.
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee today deferred a decision on the proposals for 61 extra care apartments near Grimbald Bridge after continued concerns were raised over flooding and the impact on local health services.
This was despite the Environment Agency and flooding specialists at North Yorkshire County Council raising no objections.
The developers, Adlington Retirement Living, also said there is “no record” of the site flooding and have agreed to pay £40,000 to help fund expansions at GP surgeries in the area.
However, local people claim the River Nidd has overflowed at the site as recently as February.
Resident Steve Benn told a meeting today:
“Although pictures on the planning portal show the land dry, the debris on the bank indicates that the site has recently flooded.”
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Mr Benn also claimed there are photos of the site flooded, but council officers said they have not seen any evidence.
Kate Broadbank, case officer at the council, said:
“We haven’t received any verified information that contradicts the applicant’s information which states the river did not overtop its banks on the site in either historic events or more recently in February.
“Irrespective of what has happened in the past, both the Environment Agency and the Lead Local Flood Authority are satisfied that the application provides acceptable mitigation.”
‘Overload’ health services
The Wetherby Road development was refused last year before councillors voted for a deferral in March when the NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) lodged an objection.
The CCG previously said it was “extremely concerned” that another care facility in the area could “overload” local health services.
However, this objection has now been withdrawn after the £40,000 payment from the developers was agreed.
As well as this, Adlington Retirement Living have offered to pay for a new footpath connecting Grimbald Bridge as well as upgraded crossings after road safety concerns were raised by residents.
These proposals have been agreed in principle by highways officials at the county council.
‘It is too large’
Speaking at today’s meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh said the retirement home amounted to “overdevelopment” of the site and that it should be reduced in size “considerably”. She said:
“It is the numbers that are being asked for on this site which are problematic.
“It is too large. If they want to do it, I would like to see them cut the numbers down considerably and move that building further away from the river.”
A revised application is now expected at a later date.
Harrogate district village wins eight-year battle for more planning controlA small parish council in the Harrogate district has won an eight-year campaign to have greater control over local planning decisions.
Roecliffe and Westwick Parish Council started creating a neighbourhood plan in 2014 amid concerns about green space being lost to developers.
Last week, villagers overwhelmingly approved the adoption of the plan in a referendum by 78 votes to seven.
Neighbourhood plans, which were introduced by the government in the Localism Act 2011, set out planning policies for a local area.
They must have regard to national planning policy and conform with local development plans — in this case the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which sets out where development can take place.
Once adopted by a local referendum, the local authority is obliged to consider it as part of the planning process, which according to the government makes the plans “important and powerful tools that gives communities statutory powers to shape how their communities develop”.
Jim Bolland
Jim Bolland, chair of Roecliffe and Westwick Parish Council, has led the campaign to create a plan, which he believes is the first by a small village in the Harrogate district. He told the Stray Ferret:
“We are delighted. We did this because we didn’t want too many new houses in Roecliffe and Westwick.
“There are a lot of major businesses on the road from Boroughbridge to Roecliffe and we want to preserve a green channel. Housing has got a little bit out of control in the Boroughbridge area, in my opinion.”
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Mr Bolland urged other parish councils to consider creating neighbourhood plans.
He said Roecliffe and Westwick Parish Council initially expected the process to take two years rather than eight, and advised any groups going down the route to be proactive and start early rather than wait for a major planning application because the process wouldn’t be quick enough to influence individual applications.
Nevertheless Mr Bolland, who is stepping down as chairman next week, said the plans were worth the effort:
“If parish councils feel they have a lot of land that could be built upon then it is well worth doing.”
The referendum result was announced at last week’s North Yorkshire Council local election count in Harrogate.
County council says Bilton housing scheme ‘should be refused’
North Yorkshire County Council has said the layout of a 53-home development in Bilton is ‘not acceptable’ and the plan should be refused unless the developer agrees to pay for the widening of Knox Lane.
North East firm Jomast wants to build the homes on a field on Knox Lane in an application that has been reduced from 73 homes.
The county council, which is in charge of the Harrogate district’s roads, has submitted a response to the application as part of the consultation process.
It warned the development does not comply with standards it sets around roads and new housing schemes.
The section of Knox Lane where the homes would be built is narrow and leads towards a popular beauty spot.
Residents have long argued the road is unsuitable for any extra traffic the homes would bring but the developer’s transport report concluded the development would not lead to congestion.
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Paul Roberts, the county council’s highways officer, wrote to Harrogate Borough Council last week and said the development should be refused unless changes are made to Knox Lane as well as private roads within the site.
He wrote:
“The highway authority therefore advise that the application should be refused unless further information is provided by the developer. The layout of the site is not acceptable and will need to be amended to comply with the highway authority guidance/standards.”
Mr Roberts said Knox Lane should be widened to 5.5 metres with a two-metre footpath.
He added:
“This work shall be implemented as part of the project and if the application is approved implemented under a S278 agreement with the highway authority which the authority may wish to lead on.”
Residents’ concerns
The Stray Ferret met a group of Bilton residents in February who raised their concerns about the development and its impact on local roads.
With the busy Skipton Road nearby, and Knox Lane itself a narrow thoroughfare, Bob Wrightson said the roads surrounding the development would soon be gridlocked.
Mr Wrightson said:
“Fifty-two houses — a lot of people have cars, which has not been addressed. There might be another 100 cars using these roads and it will be gridlock.”
In February, Jomast and planning consultants Spawforths issued the following joint statement to the Stray Ferret:
“The planning application is supported by a number of specialist technical reports, including a transport assessment, which demonstrates the proposed development would not lead to any additional congestion of the local roads.”
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will decide on the application.
Harrogate cafe offers taste of TurkeySirius is a new cafe on Beulah Street that offers homemade food inspired by Turkey.
Istanbul is said to have the world’s oldest cafe culture, and Cuneyt Yazicioglu wants to bring some flavours from his home city to Harrogate.
Dishes at Sirius include kumpir, which is a Turkish jacket potato with a wide range of toppings to choose from.
Homemade sweets include the pistachio-flavored baklava. Turkish coffee and tea are also available.
Inside Sirius on Beulah Street
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Mr Yazicioglu has lived in North Yorkshire for 24 years and previously ran a Turkish restaurant in Ripon.
Pictures of famous Turkish singers, actors and comedians adorn the walls of the cafe, which used to be a card shop and is next door to Costa.
It’s the ‘Turkish breakfast’ that takes top billing on the menu. It’s a twist on the English breakfast and includes feta cheese, olives, Turkish pepperoni and honey.
As well as offering Turkish treats, the kitchen serves English breakfast, sandwiches, pizza, paninis and omelettes.
Sirius is open from 9am to 5pm seven days a week at 9 Beulah Street, Harrogate.
64 homes at former Knaresborough factory set for approvalA 64-home development on the site of a former factory in Knaresborough has been recommended for approval.
Developer Countryside Properties has earmarked the former Trelleborg factory on Halfpenny Lane for the houses.
The site is not allocated for housing in Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan, which describes where development can take place. But it is included on the council’s Brownfield Land Register, which identifies locations considered to be appropriate for redevelopment for residential use.
The original proposal was for 77 dwellings. However, a group of mature trees on the site recently received tree preservation orders, which prompted the developer to reduce the number of homes. Twenty of them would be classed as ‘affordable’.
The site has been empty since 2016.
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The application faced an objection from Knaresborough Town Council, which said
“These houses are not needed, as sufficient house building is allocated elsewhere in the Local Plan and is being delivered.”
Network Rail also raised concerns about how close the homes will be to an operational railway crossing.
However, council officer Graham Smith backed the scheme, saying it would bring a derelict site back into use whilst boosting housing in the town.
He said:
“The proposal would contribute towards ensuring the district’s housing needs are met, including the provision of 20 affordable dwellings as well as properties that are designed to be accessible and adaptable.”
Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee will consider the plans next Tuesday.