Letter: Local plan - Ridiculous idea for south west

On the housing strategy, we supported the concept of a new settlement close to the major road and rail systems. With careful planning and proper infrastructure, this would contribute significantly to providing much needed housing in the years ahead.

If we had proposed that a new settlement should be created nowhere near a railway station and accessed only by a narrow B-road and a country lane, our suggestion would have been dismissed as unsustainable and ridiculous.

Yet that is exactly what the draft Local Plan proposes for the South West of Harrogate.

Council officers and members now have several months to consider the comments submitted on the draft Local Plan before coming up with a revised plan to submit to the Government.

Let us hope they use this period to remove the threat of a Harrogate South West settlement and amend the plan so that it will conform to their own policy of focusing housing where it is sustainable and the infrastructure is there to support it.

David Siddans

Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association

Richard Thomas

Duchy Residents’ Association

Dr Michael Clarke

Beckwithshaw Parish Council

Mary Hopkins

North Rigton Parish Council