Developers' reassurances fail to sway Harrogate residents as they complain of house building nightmare in Kingsley area

A stormy meeting in Harrogate last night heard a major housing developer expected construction work on proposed new housing in a crowded residential area to go on until 2028 approximately if it wins planning permission.
Kingsley Ward Action Group's Catherine Maguire and protesters pictured in 2021 opposing a new housing development near Kingsley Drive in Harrogate.Kingsley Ward Action Group's Catherine Maguire and protesters pictured in 2021 opposing a new housing development near Kingsley Drive in Harrogate.
Kingsley Ward Action Group's Catherine Maguire and protesters pictured in 2021 opposing a new housing development near Kingsley Drive in Harrogate.

As wind and rain lashed the roof of Welcome Centre at St Andrew's Church in Starbeck, alarmed residents were given a detailed run-through of the substantial revisions to H21.- a long fought-over plan to bring another major housing development to the crowded rat-run area centered round Kingsley Drive/Bogs Lane/Birstwith Road.

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Hosted by Kingsley Ward Action Group and the Starbeck Residents Association, a three-man team from Persimmon answered questions from the packed crowd for two hours about the latest version of their building plans in the Kingsley area.

Paul Butler, an agent for the developers, was happy to field all questions from a well-informed but occasionally exasperated and angry audience about the plans (planning reference it's 19/03497/FULMAJ)..

At a meeting chaired by Starbeck Lib Dem Coun Philip Broadbank, Mr Butler explained that, not only had the proposed size of the development been cut by Persimmon to 181 houses and the density of the site reduced but the percentage of open space and green land had also been increased.

He added that the percentage of large, four-bedroom homes was now lower and the percentage of affordable homes healthy.

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Finally, parking provision on the site was now equally generous to avoid new residents parking on roads outside the site.

Mr Butler added that the new revised version of the plans, which had yet to be submitted and would involved a six to eight week period of public comment before any decision was made by councillors on Harrogate Borough Council, was quite "unusual" for Persimmon.

Persimmon expected to build 40 to 50 new homes per year at the site with work being completed by 2027-2028.

It was hoped, if approved, that construction at the site would begin late this year or early next year.

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But, after already enduring four years of dirt, disruption, diggers and heavy lorries on the narrow streets of the Kingsley area caused by a wave of housing building by a variety of developers including Barratt Homes, Stonebridge Homes and Richborough Estates, the crowd of 70 to 80 people who had braved Storm Dudley to attend the meeting, pointed to a series of problems still facing their community as a result of all the developments.

These included:

Irrespective of Persimmon's plans , the overall amount of new housing in the area is far too much for the Kingsley area.

New housing will bring an explosion of cars which will further clog up the area's roads and feed into existing congestion on Starbeck High Street and Knaresborough Road.

There is inadequate road access to new housing development.

Irrespective of Persimmon's plans, there has not been enough provision of cycling lanes or walking paths to cope with all the new housing in the Kingsley area.

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Irrespective of Persimmon's plans, the overall amount of new housing in the area is damaging to the area's existing wildlife and biodiversity.

Persimmon's latest proposals for new housing meant that, by the end, the residents of the Kingsley area will have endured nearly ten years of disruption and temporary road closures during construction.

In response, time and time again, on behalf of Persimmon, Paul Butler, while sympathetic to the residents' complaints, explained that they had met rules set by the planning process and Harrogate's Local Plan - and that many of these issues of infrastructure lay in the hands of North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council.

The Kingsley ward is one of the busiest areas for new builds in Harrogate with around 700 new homes already built or currently under construction, and with more in the pipeline.

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Persimmon's plans for the Kingsley Drive site which were first submitted in 2019, were rejected by members of Harrogate Borough Council's planning committee in August 2021 despite the company scaling back house numbers from 244.

At the time Kingsley Ward Action Group said there was still a "long road ahead" to protect its community from a tidal wave of new housing.

Despite last night's reassurances, they have not changed their minds.

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