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.

Bilton homes would be ‘catastrophic’ for environment, residents say

A controversial 73-home development in Bilton would clog already busy roads with traffic and be ‘catastrophic’ for local wildlife, residents say.

The development at Knox Lane has had 222 objections. The formal consultation period for the houses was extended until Monday June 22 due to coronavirus.

Developer Jomast and Leeds-based architects Spawforths are behind the plans, which would see a mix of 1,2,3 and 4-bedroom homes built with 130 car parking spaces and new open public space.

As well as concerns over the environment and transport, residents said the development would effectively remove a valued green space and join Bilton and Knox together.

One resident told the Stray Ferret that the fields are currently home to several animals including deer and badgers.

“The local residents are distraught and can’t believe it’s happening. It would be catastrophic for the local environment.”

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Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Old Bilton Councillor Paul Haslam raised concerns over the number of homes proposed.

The site is designated as a site for development in Harrogate’s Local Plan, which was adopted in March. However, the plan identifies 52 potential homes for the site Jomast’s proposals include an extra 21 homes on land that is not designated in the Plan.

Cllr Haslam said:

“The Local Plan contains more than enough houses and there should be no need to build more.

“The extra area was deliberately left out of the Local Plan because it is prone to flooding.”

Jomast and Spawforths issued a joint statement to the Stray Ferret:

It said:

“The Planning Application has been carefully considered and is supported by a suite of technical reports including an Ecological Impact Assessment, trees reports, and a Landscape Visual Impact Assessment. These specialist reports demonstrate that the proposed development would not have a significant impact on the local environment.

“The planning application is supported by a Transport Assessment (TA) which has been produced by the Transport Consultant’s Fore.   The TA looked at the amount of traffic generated by the Proposal and concluded the traffic impacts associated with the development are limited.

“At peak times, the proposed development would result in fewer than 40 vehicles per hour in both directions on Knox Lane.  Therefore the changes in traffic flows associated with the development would not represent a significant impact on the operation of the highway network.”