Date for completion of new Knaresborough homes revealed

A Linden Homes development similar to what is planned at Manse Farm.

The first homes at major Knaresborough development Manse Farm should be completed by September 2020, an update from the company behind the project has announced.

Linden Homes West Yorkshire announced this week it was poised to launch its new 300-home development, which is yet to be named, at the Manse Farm site on York Road.

It comes as initial infrastructure works proceed at the site, with the first of the 300 new homes due for completion in September 2020.

According to the developer, there are plans to have an on-site sales presence by November, with the new homes to consist of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties.

A show home is expected to open next Spring.

The entire Manse Farm site has approval for 600 homes.

Directly neighbouring with the development is the 402-home Highfield Farm, on York Road, which was approved by Harrogate Borough Council in August.

It means that more than 1000 new homes could be built on the stretch of land in the coming years.

Earlier this year, the project sparked controversy when Linden Homes, who are developing Manse Farm in conjunction with Taylor Wimpey UK, removed hedgerows during bird nesting season.The developer was cleared of any wrongdoing, but concerns remain about the level of building activity taking place on the eastern outskirts of the town.

In approving the neighbouring Highfield Farm in August, councillors expressed their fears over the amount of new homes being built in the area.Coun Pat Marsh said that the developments would be "like a new village" on the side of Knaresborough.

"For me Manse Farm was bad enough, but now this is making it 1000 new houses tacked on the side of Knaresborough," Coun Pat Marsh said in August.

“Its like a new village, it’ll have nothing to do with Knaresborough. It's a step too far."

Lachlan Leeming, Local Democracy Reporter