Plans revived to build flats off Stockwell Road in Knaresborough

Plans to build eight flats in Knaresborough have been submitted to North Yorkshire Council.

Applicant Paul Franklin has proposed building the flats on the site of one of the town’s oldest houses and its garden off Stockwell Road.

Under the plans, the existing property would be demolished and a two-storey building erected. The new building would house six two-bedroom flats and two one-bedroom apartments.

The plans also show landscaping and eight car parking places.

Mr Franklin submitted plans to the council last year for nine apartments on the plot. He told the Stray Ferret at the time the scheme would “provide local people a quality and sustainable place to live and enjoy Knaresborough”.

But those plans were withdrawn last summer after about 30 residents and Knaresborough Town Council objected. They raised concerns that the development would be “overbearing and will overlook neighbouring properties”, create parking problems and increase congestion.

The town council is among more than 20 objectors to the new plans.

It said in its submission to North Yorkshire Council:

“Knaresborough Town Council object to this application and sees no reason to change its objections from the previous applications at this site.”

The town council raised concerns about the increase in traffic, location of the refuse and recycling bins and “is not convinced that any lowering of levels will prevent overlooking onto neighbouring properties.”

 

13 Stockwell Rd flats floorplan. Image: DNA Group

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Plan to turn central Harrogate offices into flats

A new planning application in Harrogate has further highlighted the trend towards town centre living. 

An applicant named as Govind wants to turn the offices on the first, second and third floors of 5 Cambridge Road into three flats.

Each apartment will take up a whole floor and have two double bedrooms – one of them with en suite shower room – as well as an open-plan kitchen, living room and dining area. 

The property stands between William Hill and the Cambridge Café, opposite The Den. 

Changing the use of town centre properties from class E – the term used by planners to denote commercial, business and service usage – to C3, residential, has become increasingly common in recent years.

In 2021, the government introduced a new permitted development right  to allow changes from E to C3 without planning permission in most cases.

The aim was to reverse the decline of town and city centres that have experienced an exodus of retailers and company offices in the wake of covid. The increase in online shopping has led to falling footfall on shopping streets and the trend for home-working has resulted in less demand for office space.

The decision on this latest application, which is being handled by agent Elite Dwellings Ltd, will determine whether the conversion falls under the permitted development rules or whether the applicant needs to give prior notification of development.

The consultation period on the application will run until Monday, April 8, and council planning officers aim to make a decision on the case by Friday, May 3. 

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Derelict Ripon petrol station finally set to be redeveloped

A decades-long wait to build flats on a former petrol station at Skellbank in Ripon could finally end soon.

The site has been derelict for more than 20 years and has been described as an “eyesore” by local residents.

In 2003, Harrogate Borough Council approved a plan to demolish it in order to build eight flats but it never came to fruition with the permission now lapsed.

A similar plan was submitted in 2016 but was then withdrawn three years later.

However, Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams revealed at a recent meeting that he’s had confirmation from the site’s owner that it will submit a new planning application for eight flats in the next few weeks.

The former petrol station is in a residential area on the edge of the city centre and is on the route from Ripon towards popular tourist landmark Fountains Abbey.

Cllr Williams said:

“I’m hopeful that an application will be lodged in next few weeks that will hopefully, after decades of this land being derelict and an eyesore, mean it’s brought back into constructive use.

“Members of this council have repeatedly expressed concerns about this site and I’ve used what influence I have to get it this far. I’ve also had indication that the owner would consider screening the site in the interim.

“Residents in that area have for years had to look out onto that piece of land. I hope in the next 12 months that piece of land will be transformed into something much more appropriate.”

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14 Harrogate town centre flats to go on market

Fourteen newly built flats in the centre of Harrogate are set to go on the market in the next few days.

The Trinity House development, which was built on the site of the former River Island shop on Cambridge Street, consists of one and two-bedroom properties.

Prices for one-bedroom flats start at £300,000.

It is one of several schemes recently approved by planners to convert town centre retail units in Harrogate to residential homes.

The former main post office on Cambridge Road, the former Orvis shop on West Park and the former Kings Club strip club on Oxford Street, are all due to be transformed to homes.

Trinity Court features a central landscaped courtyard. Eight parking spaces are also available by separate negotiation to the flats.

Cathy Evans, head of Preston Baker land and new homes, which is the sales agent for Trinity House, said the flats “epitomise luxury living” and were “sure to be extremely popular”. She added:

“They are exquisitely crafted to provide an unrivalled living experience with an emphasis on space and style.”

Trinity House spans three floors and includes a lift, entry video intercom, private balconies in some apartments, CCTV in communal areas, underfloor heating throughout and hardwood floors.

The scheme is being delivered by Doncaster-based developer Swan Homes, part of the Vigo Group.

Nathan Brough, managing director of Swan Homes, said:

“We are thrilled to have completed the development of Trinity House. The 14 apartments will make beautiful homes for people who wish to live or work in Harrogate.”

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Plan to build nine flats on on site of former Harrogate council building approved

A plan has been approved to build nine new flats on the site of a former council office in Harrogate.

The site at 18 Victoria Avenue was previously home to Victoria Park House, which was demolished in December 2021.

Planning permission was granted in late 2018 for an office building to be built by new owner Hornbeam Park Developments. The plans proposed using the original facade, and the stonework was retained to do so.

However, plans have been submitted by Long Marston-based Echo Green Developments, through agent Savills, to create nine residential apartments on the site.

The developer argued that attempts to market the building for office use had failed over a number of years.

Plans for apartments on the site of the old Victoria Park House

Plans for apartments on the site of the old Victoria Park House.

Now, North Yorkshire Council has approved plans for the flats to be built.

In documents submitted to the authority, the developer said the plan will help to meet the need for accommodation in the area.

It said:

“The proposal will be a high quality apartment building in keeping with the Victorian villa’s of the area which will revitalise the site and provides an enhancement to the public streetscape.

“The proposal will provide much needed residential accommodation to the area.”

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Ripon housing scheme withdrawn after highways objection

Plans to build 14 homes at Athelstan Court in Ripon have been withdrawn after North Yorkshire Council’s highways department objected.

Athelstan Court was originally part of Ripon College before being rented to HM Inland Revenue and used as offices until the organisation moved out in 2009. It was last occupied in 2013.

Harrogate Borough Council accepted a change of use application for the conversion of the main building into 16 flats this year.

Ripon-based Atzaro Box Clever Ltd hoped to develop an additional part of the former site into a mix of three and four-bedroom properties, with 30 per cent being classed as affordable.

Access to the homes was proposed from Kearsley Road, which joins the A6018 Palace Road.

However, North Yorkshire Council’s highways department said the roads within the site would not be suitable for development so the scheme should be refused.

It said:

“The roads within the site are, due to their poor alignments, poor junctions and lack of appropriate footways/lighting/turning area, considered unsuitable by the local highways authority and therefore refuse the application in its current form.”

The council said a number of amendments would need to be made including changing the placement of several properties to reduce speeds on site, introducing a crossing point and relocating visitor parking.

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14 Harrogate town centre flats ‘to be completed by spring’

Flats being built on the site of the former River Island premises in Harrogate town centre are due to be completed in spring next year, the agent has said. 

Work on the 14 one- and two-bed apartments at Trinity House, opposite Primark on Cambridge Street, began in June, and estate agent Preston Baker is now inviting expressions of interest. 

Cathy Evans, head of land and new homes at Preston Baker, said: 

“The Trinity House website only went live on Monday, and we’ve already had some enquiries.

“We’re expecting the apartments will be completed by spring 2024, but we’re hoping to be able to go live to market around the end of this month or the beginning of September.” 

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Work at the site includes the construction of a roof extension and central courtyard overlooked by the apartments’ balconies, as well as eight parking spaces. 

The property is owned by a Santander pension fund and is being developed by Doncaster-based Swan Homes.  

Trinity House was named after Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, in recognition of the property’s location on Cambridge Street. The University of Cambridge is the alma mater of Tariq Shah, director of Swan Homes’ parent company, Vigo Group. 

Town centre living trend gathers pace in Harrogate

New plans have been submitted to change the use of a former Harrogate shop into flats as the trend towards town centre living gathers pace.

York-based Andrew Farr has applied to create six flats on West Park above the former Orvis store, which closed in April 2022 after 25 years of trading in the town.

It follows similar recent planning applications to change the use of town centre retail units into flats.

The former River Island shop on Cambridge Street is in the process of being converted to 15 flats and similar residential schemes have been proposed for the former main post office on Cambridge Road and the ex-King’s Club strip club on Oxford Street.

Work has begun on converting the former River Island shop into flats.

This is the second time Mr Farr has brought forward the scheme.

He withdrew plans in March to convert the upper floors of the former Orvis to six flats and create bin and bike storage. Planning documents say that application was halted “following the receipt of the comments from the council’s private section housing officer”.

They add the “revised proposal is largely identical” except for amendments to the internal layout.

It would see the upper floors of numbers 21a, 21 and 22 West Park converted.

Since Orvis closed, a bridal shop has opened on the ground floor of the premises.

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A planning and heritage statement sent to the council in support of Mr Farr’s application says future residents of the flats would be able to apply for monthly or annual parking pass for West Park multi-storey car parking.

It adds the scheme would “enhance the vitality of the Harrogate town centre” and bring vacant floors back into use “without any identified harm to the character of the host building and the neighbouring Harrogate Conservation Area”. It concludes:

“It is considered that the proposed scheme responds to the constraints of the site, planning policy constraints and its heritage context and should fall within the parameters of acceptable development.”

 

Call for entries as In Bloom contest returns across Harrogate

Hotels, pubs, restaurants, care homes and communities are being called on to be part of a floral competition in Harrogate for the first time since before the pandemic.

Harrogate in Bloom (HIB) has launched its annual contest for businesses and community organisations this summer.

It will be the first time the competition has been run in full since 2019, after being called off in 2020.

HIB member Mary Mann, who helps to organise the competition, told the Stray Ferret:

“We couldn’t meet or go round to see the gardens during covid.

“We did a small competition last year, but we’re determined it’s going to get back to normal this year. We used to have masses of entries before covid.”

The competition has four categories: bars and restaurants, hotels and guesthouses, residential communities, and communal gardens.

The latter is aimed at public places such as churches which have outside space, while residential communities are often blocks of flats with communal gardens.

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The size of the garden is not important in any of the categories – the judges will be looking at the way the space is maintained and the use of flowers, including those in containers.

Each entrant will be judged against RHS criteria and given an award for the standard it achieves, from a certificate of merit up to a gold award. A winner will be announced in each category in September.

Judging will be carried out by Chris Beard and Roger Brownbridge, both experienced Yorkshire in Bloom and Harrogate in Bloom judges.

To find out more about the competition, or enter by the deadline of June 30, click here.

Meanwhile, Harrogate is also gearing up for judging in the regional Yorkshire in Bloom contest.

Members of HIB and other organisations have been working hard to ensure the town is shown off at its best over the summer, maintaining its long tradition of success in floral competitions.

Harrogate BID, meanwhile, has been selected for Britain in Bloom after winning gold in last year’s Yorkshire Contest. The business organisation will be supported by members of HIB to prepare for judging.

Harrogate’s Parliament House to be converted to flats and shops

Plans have been approved to convert a building in Harrogate’s Montpellier Quarter into eight flats and two retail units.

Parliament House on Montpellier Street is currently home to Harrogate Wines shop and a vacant gym and is spread across three floors.

North Yorkshire Council approved an application to convert the building last week.

Developer ATC Properties said the flats will be aimed specifically at young professionals and key workers who are looking to get onto the property ladder.

Each flat will have an ensuite double bedroom with an open plan kitchen, dining and living area.

Documents attached to the application described the site as an “intrusive utilitarian building” at odds with one of Harrogate’s most architecturally-appealing areas.

They added the conversion provided an opportunity to “significantly refurbish a prominent building of poor architectural quality and detailing”.

Civic society objection

A third floor extension was removed following concerns from Harrogate Civic Society, which objected to the plans.

The conservation group said the remodelling of the building “does not reflect the local historic style of the conservation area.”

Other prominent town centre buildings, including the former post office on Cambridge Street, have seen applications to convert them into flats approved in recent months. However, the civic society’s objection letter raised concerns about the trend. It said:

“In principle we are keen to see sustainable town centre living but
are always concerned that local commercial uses will not make for a low standard of residential amenity.”

Concerns were also raised by local residents and business owners about parking.

However, the council wrote in its decision report that the site
was in an accessible town centre location, close to shops, facilities and public transport connections, and secure cycle storage would be provided within the building.

The plans were ultimately approved by the new council as one of its first acts as the new planning authority for Harrogate, replacing Harrogate Borough Council.

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