Final decision on Harrogate's Local Plan to be made this week

Now, the borough council’s Local Plan looks set to receive a final stamp of approval from councillors.

The plan is a crucial blueprint which dictates where new developments should - and shouldn’t - be built in the region over the next 15 years.

After weeks of examinations, a government planning inspector last month concluded the plan to be “sound” - and it will now be voted on at a Harrogate Borough Council meeting on Wednesday, March 4.

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A report put to councillors ahead of the meeting has warned the council could face further delays, costs and even interventions from the Secretary of State if the plan is not adopted.

It said: “As outlined in the corporate plan, the local plan is a key mechanism for delivering the council’s corporate priorities. It provides a clear and robust framework to ensure the council is able to proactively achieve sustainable growth, deliver infrastructure and protect and enhance the natural environment.

“To not adopt would compromise the council’s ability to meet its objectives, particularly in relation to promoting a strong local economy, sustainable environment and supporting communities."

Councillors will be asked to either support, or reject, the 564-page plan which has been recommended for a list of modifications.

It comes after planning inspector Richard Schofield concluded housing targets in the district are too high, with one major housing development in Pannal removed from the final plan.

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The proposed modifications include reducing the housing need in the district from 669 to 637 dwellings per year (32 fewer) and, in the overall period of the local plan (2014 to 2035), from 14,049 to 13,377 (672 fewer).

If approved, it should put the council in a better position to legally challenge house-builders.

But some residents who have been campaigning for three years are not happy with the plan - with villagers in the Green Hammerton, Kirk Hammerton and Cattal area facing a new town of 3,000 homes being built on their doorstep.

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Chris Eaton, co-chair of the Keep The Hammertons Green Action Group, previously said members were "hugely disappointed" when the plan received the backing from the inspector.

The group had argued that Flaxby Park - a disused golf course near Knaresborough and Harrogate - would have been a better location for the new settlement.

A council spokesman said: “Adopting the local plan, that the inspector has judged as ‘sound’, will provide a clear and robust framework for development in the future. It will ensure we are able to proactively achieve sustainable growth, deliver infrastructure and protect and enhance the natural environment.”

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter