36-home Ripon development rejected by Harrogate councillors

A proposal for 36 new homes in a field near Ripon has been rejected by planning committee members.
Harrogate Borough Council.Harrogate Borough Council.
Harrogate Borough Council.

S Harrison Developments Ltd had applied for permission to demolish one existing residence and erect 36 new ones off of Littlethorpe Road in the south of the city.

The proposal included plans for a mixture of two, three and four bedroom houses, with 11 of them to be affordable housing.

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The plan would have required the demolition of a single bungalow on Littlethorpe Road to allow vehicle access to the site.

However, councillors went against the council report which recommended the project for approval, instead rejecting it on the grounds of its impact on nearby residents and concerns over its accessibility via footpath.

Ripon City Council were among the 90 objectors to the project when it went to public consultation, with concerns raised about the surrounding road network, narrow roads with no footpaths, and the site currently being greenfield.

They were issues that were reiterated by Councillor Stuart Martin (Cons, Ripon Moorside) who said that an application for 35 houses at the site had previously been rejected.

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“Could you please explain what's changed?” he asked council officers.

Officers responded that there was "a lot more technical information now" about the site.

Coun Martin responded that he couldn't support the project given housing land supply levels were no longer marginal.

“I shan't be supporting this," he said.

"With the new Ripon City plan we could have certainly supported the intentions behind that plan, (but) I think given our state with the housing land supply at the moment there's no need to push this development through.”

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Councillors then helped the legal officer flesh out reasons for rejection to be used in the event of an appeal from the applicant, which included concerns over residential amenity, impact on the rural nature of the site, and the overbearing nature of the development.

Lachlan Leeming, Local Democracy Reporter