Top Harrogate businessman on why he has intervened in Harrogate College's £20 million expansion plans

Chris Bentley MBE of Hornbeam Park Developments, who owns the majority of Hornbeam Park, is the driving force behind a judicial review into how the planning application for the college's rebuild project has been handled by North Yorkshire Council.

Harrogate college fears any delays could jeopardise vital Government financial support for the major scheme which would involve replacing its main building on Hornbeam Park, where it relocated from Bower Road in 1985, as well as constructing a new state-of-the-art renewable energy skills hub.

But Mr Bentley believes that pausing for thought will allow a better solution to be examined, save taxpayers millions and allow for future expansion.

“What many people don’t realise is that the large, empty field next to the college site is controlled by the Department for Education,” he said.

“Instead of demolishing the existing building, a new college could be built on the adjoining land which would give it room to expand and would allow the college to sell the existing building for around £5million and would resolve the issue of car parking.

"The intention was to always use this land for college expansion.

“Selling the existing building via the open market would be a much more cost-effective solution.”

Mr Bentley, who has more than 35 years’ experience in property development, told the Harrogate Advertiser any suggestion that he was against the development of the college "couldn’t be further from the truth."

Chris Bentley said: “There have been suggestions that we are against the redevelopment of the college, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

"Simply rushing through the current proposals to meet a deadline to receive £16m of public money is the wrong solution for students, taxpayers and the local community.

"The Council would never support a private developer to take such a wasteful approach to development."

"The current plans are flawed because they require a ‘perfectly good’ building with a 100-year lifespan, to be demolished, just seven years after £5m of public funding was used to refurbish the building."

It's not the first time the Harrogate businessman has made an intervention in a major public project in recent years.

In 2023 Chris Bentley, who owns commercial property in Harrogate town centre, joined forces with fellow Harrogate businessman and philanthropist Dr Terry Bramall CBE to threaten a judicial review against the £12m Harrogate Gateway scheme for the Station Parade area proposed by North Yorkshire Council with funding from the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF).

The 'green' scheme to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians in Harrogate town centre was substantially watered down by North Yorkshire Council a few months later.

An anxious Harrogate college believes building the new campus would make it perfectly placed to support the region’s skills needs for the future, boosting the town’s businesses and economy while providing targeted training in key areas such as green technology.

As a Harrogate resident, Mr Bentley said he passionately believes in opportunities for the town but they must be the right ones.

He says he wants to see long-term growth for the college to give tomorrow’s employees the necessary skills and qualifications needed to thrive in a rapidly-evolving world

But, he says, he remains concerned about parking during the construction period at Harrogate College, and the substantially reduced parking provision for the new scheme.

Harrogate College recently received the very public backing for its expansion plans from York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon.

But Mr Bentley is now calling on both figures to liaise with the Department for Education to make his alternative version of the college's future happen.