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14
May 2021
Wetherby Road residents call for expert help to fight Starbucks plan
Residents fighting a plan for a drive-thru Starbucks on Wetherby Road have called for expert help ahead of an appeal hearing.
Harrogate Borough Council decided to drop its objection earlier this week, warning the cost of the hearing could be £50,000.
Euro Garages, the retail firm behind the proposal, is taking the council to appeal over a decision tor refuse the plan for a drive-thru coffee shop on the former 1st Dental Surgery site.
Residents have decided to defend the council’s refusal themselves at the inquiry on June 15.
Read more:
- Wetherby Road Starbucks drive-thru plan to go to appeal
- Harrogate councillors cave in over Starbucks drive-thru plans
- Angry residents to fight controversial Wetherby Road Starbucks plan at appeal
After a meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Pat Marsh, who represents the area, called for support from experts for residents to help with their case.
She said:
Euro Garages has spent almost a decade trying to win permission to open the coffee shop on Wetherby Road, Harrogate but has been refused three times by councillors and once by a government inspector.
Earlier this week, John Worthington, the council’s executive officer for development management, said officers could not stand successfully at appeal because their previous recommendation would “undermine” their case and that losing also risked legal costs of more than £50,000.
After the meeting, a council spokesman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that not contesting the appeal “hasn’t been an easy decision to make” but was “the best way forward in this instance”.
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