Residents criticise key Harrogate planning document as ‘incoherent’

A residents group has criticised a key council planning document for the West of Harrogate as lacking detail and “incoherent”.

The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy was due for completion in May – but Harrogate Borough Council has now said it expects it to be published before the end of the year.

It forms part of the wider proposals for the area and builds upon the West Harrogate Parameters Plan, which sets out how the area’s infrastructure and services will cope with 4,000 new homes.

Residents said they were disappointed after a meeting earlier this month over some of the proposals in the delivery strategy.

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.

After the meeting with the council, the group said:

“On the day, we were asked to provide comments on a document that only consisted of a series of diagrams in relation to a number of road junctions without any supporting data. The whole of this work came over as incoherent and lacking any real structure.

“After more than two years we would have expected far more detail than we were presented with and we still have real concerns that the end result of all this time (more than two years) and work will not bring about any significant improvements to overall infrastructure or tackle the existing, and increasing, traffic problems. At the very least we would have expected clear statements on why this work is being done and what it will achieve.

“Our argument has always been that the end result of all the West Harrogate Parameters Plan (WHPP) and associated works should be a series of mitigations that prevents the overall infrastructure problems from getting any worse, and preferably should also help overcome some of the existing problems.”

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West Harrogate was identified for major expansion during the creation of the district’s Local Plan when a government inspector ordered the parameters plan to be made.

Once complete, both the delivery strategy and parameters plan will be used together to shape decisions on how west Harrogate will cope with 2,500 new homes – although as many as 4,000 properties are set to be built in the wider area by 2035.

A borough council spokesperson said the meeting was held to help design the strategy and further consultation will take place with residents groups later in the year.

In response to the concerns, they said:

“The West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy (WHIDS) document – that is designed to help the long term co-ordination of infrastructure across the West Harrogate sites – will be signed-off later in the year.

“The information sessions recently held are helping shape this document, along with the support and guidance from technical officers and our appointed consultants.

“There will be further targeted engagement with stakeholders later in the year before the documents are signed off.

“This engagement, will also help inform other working draft documents such as the cumulative transport strategy, which will be subject to public consultation before any decisions are made on live planning applications in West Harrogate.”

Council defends master plan to cope with 4,000 new homes in west Harrogate

Harrogate Borough Council has been forced on the defensive after revealing the draft version of a long-awaited master plan on how part of the town will cope with 4,000 new homes.

The West of Harrogate Parameters Plan was requested by government to identify infrastructure, transport and education needs in the area.

After months of delays, the 160-page plan was finally published last week but hopes it would provide a clear vision for the future were quickly dashed when residents reacted with disappointment.

Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association said the plan “totally avoids the heart of the problem” of thousands of new homes piling pressure on already congested roads.

The group also claimed the plan appeared to have been produced for the benefit of housing developers – not residents.

Harrogate Borough Council – which is working alongside North Yorkshire County Council – has now defended the plan which it insisted is still in draft form and will take account of residents’ concerns.

A council spokesperson said:

“The West of Harrogate Parameters Plan (WHPP) is a high-level master plan that seeks to deliver the policies set out in the adopted Local Plan, including those related to climate change, design and active travel.

“As we have explained previously, we do not have the powers to introduce new policy requirements through the WHPP.

“However, the WHPP will look ahead to planned changes to building regulations that are being introduced nationally and will continue to strongly encourage developers to meet high standards of design to help mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

Fears over schools and roads

Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council is another group which shares concerns over the impact of new housing developments on traffic congestion.

Its chairman, councillor Howard West, said the area’s infrastructure has suffered from years of “neglect” and that there is “no evidence whatsoever at this stage that any such provision has been made”.

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Rene Dziabas, chairman of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, also said the plan should give greater importance to the need for investment in areas including bus services, road junction improvements, the widening of footpaths and more cycling routes.

He also questioned how schools will cope with an expected shortfall of nearly 700 pupil places across Harrogate and Knaresborough by 2025/26. Mr Dziabas said:

“Many of the problems have existed for years, so we feel that it is about time that they were properly addressed.”

Final version coming

The WHPP includes provision for two new primary schools – one off Whinney Lane and another off Otley Road. It also identifies potential locations for sports pitches, employment areas, public transport routes, community centres, allotments and walking and cycling links.

Once approved, the plan will sit alongside the Harrogate District Local Plan as a guide for how future planning applications should be decided.

Several meetings have recently been held between council officials and residents to discuss the WHPP, and the council said feedback is now being taken onboard before a final version is prepared.

A council spokesperson said:

“Many of the community stakeholders – who have publicly stated that the plan should be published as soon as possible – have been involved since the preparation of the first draft of the WHPP over a year ago.

“And although there is no statutory requirement to consult, we are thankful for the ongoing constructive feedback we have received in response to the second working draft.

“Throughout the preparation of the plan, we have consistently aimed to deliver quality place-making that will provide a wide-range of private and affordable homes to meet the current housing demand, while also ensuring we have the necessary infrastructure to support these future communities.

“This feedback will be carefully considered as we prepare the final version for recommendation to the cabinet member.”

Infrastructure plan for 4,000 homes in west Harrogate ‘a missed opportunity’

A long-awaited plan to solve how the west of Harrogate’s roads, schools, and health services will cope with 4,000 extra homes has been branded a “missed opportunity”.

The comments have come from The Western Arc Coordination Group and Zero Carbon Harrogate, which had a meeting with council officers on Thursday to discuss  a draft version of the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan.

The Western Arc Coordination Group includes Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association (Hapara), Duchy Residents’ Association, Hampsthwaite Action Group, North Rigton Parish Council and Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council.

Proposed housing schemes in the area include the 1,000-home Windmill Farm development on Otley Road and 560 homes at Blue Coat Wood. The plan was written with input from developers, including Homes England and Gladman Developments.

It includes proposals for two new primary schools and a possible new GP surgery — which have been previously announced. The plan has yet to be released to the general public.

‘Almost as if no problems exist’

Rene Dziabas, chair of Hapara, told the Stray Ferret the plan “totally avoids the heart of the problem”.

At over 100 pages long, he said it lacked a summary at the start clearly explaining its purpose to address the area’s current “weak infrastructure”, such as roads.

He said:

“The purpose of this document is not made clear and totally avoids the heart of the problem in that an urban expansion is being proposed in a part of Harrogate with a weak infrastructure.

“There is no attempt at clearly stating what the problems are, and no attempt at associated analysis. HAPARA, as well as Pannal and Burn Bridge, North Rigton and Beckwithshaw Parish councils have been arguing this case for many years and there is no recognition within this document of their concerns. It is almost as if no problems exist. There needs to be a far clearer `entire West of Harrogate` context for this report.”

Mr Dziabas said that the WACG was disappointed the plan does not address how key arteries into the town, such as Otley Road, as well as country lanes around Pannal, Beckwithshaw and North Rigton, will cope with the inevitable increase in traffic.

Over 1,000 homes are set to be built on both sides of this section of Otley Road.

Mr Dziabas added:

“[Over the last eight years] there has been no improvement to the road system, many of which are country lanes, no real betterment of public transport, and little has happened on the active travel front which will only ever be a very small part of any overall solution”.

He added there needed to be “far more” in the plan about improvements to bus services.

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Secondary school places

The Stray Ferret reported this month that nearly 700 secondary school places will be needed in Harrogate and Knaresborough by 2025/26 to keep up with demand caused by new housing.

Mr Dziabas said the new homes would put further pressure on Harrogate Grammar School and Rossett School in particular.

He said:

“Whilst primary schools are covered in this document, little mention is made of secondary school places. The west of Harrogate has two busy secondary schools, and both are at or above capacity.”

Car culture

Jemima Parker, chair of Zero Carbon Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret the plan contained a “major omission” around energy for new homes, with no mention of onsite renewable energy, solar panels, small wind turbines or ground source heat pumps.

With spiralling energy costs, Ms Parker said greener homes would make people more resilient to the volatile market.

She said:

“There are pages and pages about design, but not a single mention of building design for energy-efficient homes, like passive houses. This ignores the council’s own planning policy guidance as set out in the Local Plan. We want residents’ homes to be built to zero-carbon standards now, not needing to be retrofitted later, and for low-carbon construction materials to be used.”

A passive house on Bogs Lane in Harrogate

Ms Parker believes the plan focuses too heavily on car-friendly developments.

“We are saddened to see that the plan still has a car culture, reliant on private ownership rather than shared transport and active travel. Given the location on the West of Harrogate we would like to see an imaginative ‘work from home’ settlement, picking up on the 15-minute neighbourhoods seen in other UK towns with plenty of access to car clubs.

“Overall it is disappointing the west of Harrogate may miss out on the opportunity to be designed appropriately both to reduce its carbon footprint and to be resilient to our changing climate.”

Council’s response

The draft plan is still to be ratified by the council.

A council spokesperson said:

“The development of west Harrogate provides an exciting opportunity to deliver quality place-making, a wide-range of private and affordable homes to meet the current housing demand, while also ensuring we have the necessary infrastructure to support these future communities.

“Once approved, the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan will create clear goals and objectives by identifying what infrastructure is required. For example, first-class community facilities, school provision, green infrastructure and sustainable travel opportunities.

“A number of suggestions have already helped shaped the West of Harrogate Parameters Plan and I’d like to thank those local residents groups and parish councils for their valuable feedback.”