Harrogate council approves parking plans for Claro Road depot

The depot is used to store and sort recycling, and the proposals include 47 staff parking spaces with ten electric charging points, 36 spaces for council vans and the same amount for bin lorries.

Six storage and workshop buildings will be demolished to also create room for a “more efficient and safe” site layout with a new one-way system.

The plans were approved at a meeting of the council’s planning committee today when councillor Pat Marsh questioned what will happen to the depot when the council is replaced by the new North Yorkshire Council in April 2023.

Councillor Andrew Paraskos, cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, responded to say he was “hopeful” that the site will be used in its current format in the future.

He said: “We will still need a waste transfer station somewhere in the Harrogate district even though we do empty residual waste at Allerton Park.

“Recycling is taken to Claro Road first and then decanted into wagons to be taken wherever it is recycled and turned back into other products.

“Hopefully the site will have a future going forward.”

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter