Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred has issued a plea for Harrogate Borough Council to halt a controversial planning application for 181 homes on Kingsley Drive in Starbeck.

At a full council meeting last night, Cllr Aldred asked Conservative cabinet member for planning, Cllr Tim Myatt, if he would consider issuing a ‘moratorium’ on the plans, which were submitted this week by Persimmon Homes.

It is the third time the developer has submitted a proposal at the location, which used to form part of Kingsley Farm. A larger application for 217 homes was rejected by councillors in August.

Cllr Aldred, who currently represents the Fairfax ward, cited government Housing Delivery Test figures that revealed Harrogate Borough Council has exceeded its housebuilding target by almost 1,700 homes over the last three years.

He said he attended a meeting of Kingsley residents last month to discuss the application and heard how various housing schemes have heaped “misery” on local residents due to the disruption caused.

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Cllr Aldred said:

“We’ve met the target, so would the cabinet member be prepared to consider an immediate moratorium halting the proposed development of a further 181 homes that went into planning yesterday?

“It’s greatly affecting the physical and mental health of Kingsley residents.”

‘Intense period of development’

In response, Cllr Myatt, who represents High Harrogate on the council, said he had “great sympathy” for people affected by the “intense period of development” in the ward.

But he said over the past six years, the council was still below the housing need target identified in the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-2035, which maps out where development can take place until 2034.

Cllr Tim Myatt

The government and the council’s Local Plan have different housebuilding targets for the district.

Cllr Myatt said:

“I have been speaking with residents regularly about this application and about what I think the weaknesses are.

“We have a Local Plan, which was adopted recently. It has a target for local need for the past six years. It’s around 690 homes per year. If you look at those figures, we haven’t exceeded that target over the past six years, in fact we are slightly below it.”

Local Plan

The Local Plan was adopted in 2020 but can be reviewed after five years.

Cllr Myatt confirmed that officers are already working on the review, which could see some sites removed if it is deemed the housing need for the district has changed.

Cllr Myatt added:

“Can I order a cease of planning applications? That simply wouldn’t hold up on a national level and I think the councillor knows that, he was just trying to get me to say no. It’s not something within my gift to cease housing applications, if I tried to do so, it would be overturned nationally.

“Our Local Plan is in place, it was voted on by this council and received a strong approval.”

Harrogate Borough Council has approved a long-awaited plan that aims to solve how the west of Harrogate’s roads, schools and health services will cope with 2,000 extra homes.

The West Harrogate Parameters Plan will be used to identify what infrastructure is required and to help assess the planning merits of future developments in the area.

Council officials devised the document following discussions with the county council, developers and site promoters, along with community groups, parish councils and stakeholders.

Cllr Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning, said the plan would ensure “we have the necessary infrastructure to support these future communities on the west side of Harrogate”.

He said it included two new primary schools, four playing pitches and two new local centres for shops and health services, as well as land designated for employment, new cycle lanes, footpaths and bus routes.

Cllr Myatt added:

“A number of suggestions have helped shaped the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan and I’d like to thank stakeholders – and especially local community groups and residents’ associations – for their valuable feedback.

“This engagement has played an integral part in ensuring we have been able to produce a plan that clearly identifies what infrastructure is required, whether that’s community facilities, school provision, green infrastructure or sustainable travel opportunities, for example.

“It also sets a benchmark for future developments across the Harrogate district and ensures that we not only delivery much needed homes but also create communities that residents can be proud of to call home.”

Beckwithshaw is set to see an increase in through traffic due to new housing on Otley Road.

The council added that the document was designed to help “support the sustainable and coordinated” development of future homes in the west of Harrogate.

Council to draw up infrastructure strategy

Now the plans has been approved, the council will begin preparing a West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy (WHIDS) that will provide more detail about infrastructure requirements for West Harrogate and the associated cost.

It will include a review of existing capacity and timings for the phasing of key infrastructure, including education provision, health and wellbeing services, water and drainage, sport and playing fields provision, highways and open space.

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The plan is due to be completed in May and will also be used to inform section 106 agreements paid by developers to fund infrastructure associated with their schemes.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive councillor for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said the authority would continue to support the borough council on infrastructure.

He said:

“North Yorkshire will continue to work closely with the borough council as a key partner responsible for services like education, highways and transport.

“We will support investment in the local highways infrastructure, as is already taking place on Otley Road, but will place the greatest priority on the provision of excellent public transport and facilities for walking and cycling.”

Residents remain unhappy

However, David Siddans, secretary of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service previously:

“We, along with other organisations in the area, say that the council should not be approving the parameters plan until full details of the infrastructure package is agreed.

“We understand that is not expected before May this year.

“We have no confidence that this will happen and it is likely that developers will again be given the green light with the wider infrastructure needs remaining unaddressed.”

Harrogate Borough Council has held onto almost £4 million of unspent money given to it from housing developers for social and community projects.

The Section 106 cash is agreed during planning talks to offset the impact of new housing and is intended to be used for improvements such as village hall refurbishments and new sports facilities.

More than £613,000 was spent on projects during 2020/21 – and the council has been praised by some communities.

But with around £3,730,000 unspent at the end of that period, there are concerns that many residents are not feeling the benefits at a time when the construction of hundreds of new homes is piling pressure on the need for community facilities.

Residents left with no community improvements

John Hansard, a member of Kingsley Ward Action Group, said the area faced the construction of around 700 new homes but residents have had “nothing at all” in terms of community improvements.

He said:

“Some of this money needs to come our way.

“Harrogate can’t cope with much more new housing and to think they want to build an extra 700 homes in our area is absolutely crazy.”

Tim Ellis, who also lives in the Kingsley ward, added: 

“There is no community hall, no church halls and not even a pub any more, therefore nowhere local groups can have meetings.

“With all the new housing destroying the last of the fields, and new houses having tiny gardens, we will need a public park.

“The triangle of meadow and trees to the east of Kingsley Farmhouse bordering Kingsley Road would be ideal… but greedy developers are threatening to put houses even on this.”

Most of the money spent by Harrogate Borough Council during 2020/21 was on the purchase of affordable housing.

Cllr Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning at the council, described the funding as a tool to “support future communities across the Harrogate district” and said other projects included new play areas and open space.

He also said the authority helped North Yorkshire County Council secure around £1.2 million in the last year for improvements to roads, sustainable travel and schools.

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But when questioned by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the county council did not say how much unspent money it has held onto.

A county council spokesperson said Section 106 money has a “significant lifespan” and that the funds will be used for their intended purpose “at the appropriate time”.

Call for review of section 106 contributions

Harrogate Borough Council said it was “not unusual” for the authority to have large sums of unspent money and there were several reasons why this is the case.

It said the money is sometimes paid in instalments and cannot be spent until it has all been received. It also said parish councils often ask for the money to be saved up for larger projects.

Despite this, Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat party, said the almost £4 million unspent by Harrogate Borough Council “does seem a lot” and has called for more regular reviews of how the money is spent.

The council also collects cash through Community Infrastructure Levy contributions, which are another type of charge on new housing.

These work on a pounds-per-square-metre basis and because of recent changes to Harrogate Borough Council’s charging schedules no contributions were collected during the last financial year.

It is now intended that a review will be carried out to develop a list of spending priorities and projects.

Cllr Myatt added: 

“Payment of CIL is due upon commencement of development, therefore there will be a time lag of up to two years before the first CIL contributions are received.

“In the future, the CIL will provide us with a pot of money so that we can work with local communities and partners to provide the right infrastructure in the right places to support development and the continued growth of the Harrogate district.”