Tesco has submitted a planning application to build a new supermarket on the former gasworks site on Skipton Road in Harrogate.

The new store would be 38,795 square feet and include a petrol filling station, 200 car parking spaces, electric vehicle charging points and 24 cycle spaces. Tesco says 100 new jobs would be created.

For access, a new roundabout would be created on Skipton Road. It would be built close to the New Park roundabout.

Tesco ran two-week consultation on the plans in September and October and received feedback from 190 people. Tesco said 70% of respondents supported its proposals.

If Harrogate Borough Council approves the plans, Tesco said it hopes to open the store in 2023.

Andy Boucher, development executive at Tesco, said:

“We are thrilled with the response we have received from local residents to our consultation and I would like to thank all of those people who took part.

“Our consultation found a majority of local residents support the proposed new supermarket.

“We will now be working closely with Harrogate Borough Council and hope to receive planning permission next year.”

Read more:

• Tesco Skipton Road supermarket ‘could put us out of business’
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A 20-year history

Tesco has harboured ambitions to build a supermarket on the site for almost 20 years.

The Stray Ferret obtained Land Registry documents that reveal Tesco bought the site for £2.8m in 2003.

It submitted a proposal to build a supermarket there in 2009, which was approved by Harrogate Borough Council in 2012.

However, Tesco pulled out in 2016 following a changing retail landscape and years of opposition from retailers, which said the supermarket would damage local trade. An Aldi supermarket opened on the retail park just off Skipton Road in 2016.

In 2021, Tesco has signalled its intention to return to opening new large-scale supermarkets in the UK.

This year, it opened its first new superstore in six years in Penwortham, Lancashire. Four more supermarkets are scheduled to open this year.

In July, Harrogate Spring Water promised to publish “within weeks” details of a new planning application to expand its bottling plant in the Pinewoods. But as the end of the year approaches, it looks no nearer to being made public.

The company’s pledge followed January’s high-profile refusal to expand the plant, which would have meant destroying public woodland planted by local families in the area of Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.

To compensate, Harrogate Spring Water offered to replant trees, create scrubland and build a pond on private land behind Harlow Carr Gardens.

But the loss of trees at Rotary Wood provoked a major backlash and councillors on Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee voted overwhelmingly to reject it.

Harrogate Spring Water already has outline permission dating back to 2016 to expand its bottling plant, but the company said in July it was working on a completely new application and the old application would be disregarded.

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The company pledged to consult with the community before pursuing a formal planning application to the council.

However, the Stray Ferret has been told that no meaningful talks with community groups have taken place since January’s refusal.

Groups that are still in the dark about what the new application will look like include the Rotary Club, which planted the trees in Rotary Wood, and Pinewoods Conservation Group, a charity that works to preserve the Pinewoods.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water said:

“Harrogate Spring Water is still in the process of talking to all relevant parties. We will communicate any update as and when it happens.”

Sicklinghall Cricket Club has submitted plans to build a new clubhouse and scoreboard after an arson attack destroyed their previous building.

The club has been using temporary shipping containers since the fire in 2016 while fundraising for a replacement clubhouse. A JustGiving campaign raised over £6,500.

The club, which is between Wetherby and Kirkby Overblow, has played in the village since 1925 and is currently in the top tier of the Leeds and Wetherby Cricket League.

It has submitted plans to Harrogate Borough Council for a clubhouse with home and away changing rooms, kitchen, storage facility, toilet and scorer’s box. The club says it could be used for other community or sports events.

The club is within walking distance of Sicklinghall and the application could provide sports facilities for local children.

Read more:

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An image of the fire in 2016

Starbeck could have an addition to its high street if planning permission is approved to open a new bar.

Local pub company Appetite for Life is planning to open its eighth bar at the former Greenalls carpet shop at the junction with Spa Lane.

It already runs a number of bars in the Harrogate district including the So Bars in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon, and the Tap on Tower Street.

The owners said they hope to be open in May if covid restrictions are eased and that the new venue will offer something for everyone, including live music.

The building, 34 High Street, was previously occupied by Greenalls and Your Factory Bed Shop, but has stood empty for some time.

Read more:

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Robert Thompson, director of Appetite for Life, hopes to open a brand new “quality independent cafe bar” called The Waiting Room, tying in to its location near Starbeck railway station.

If all plans are approved, the space will become a licensed craft beer and coffee shop, with a deli counter open during the day. At night the owners say it will have more of a bar feel.

Mr Thompson said it will have a modern feel which he hopes will appeal to people from across the district and create a buzz in Starbeck, adding:

“We have had Starbeck in our sights for a long time. We see it as a bustling, up-and-coming area within Harrogate that offers a vibrant retail, commercial and residential market for us to expand in.

“We feel that there is an opportunity to open a quality independent cafe bar and really add to the development of Starbeck.”

If approved, the plans will see the unit returned to one open space with the removal of a partition wall. An area to the rear will also be converted into a storage room from a bathroom.

Mr Thompson’s application for an alcohol and music licence will be heard by Harrogate Borough Council next week. An application has also been submitted for a change of use of the building from a shop to a restaurant/cafe and take-away.

Objections have been raised by Pannal residents after plans were revealed to demolish eight garages and build two new houses.

The plans for the site on Pannal Green have been submitted by Harrogate Borough Council, which owns the garages and wants to replace them with two semi-detached “family” homes for social rent.

One of the homes would have two double bedrooms, while the other would have a double and two singles.

As well as the garages, the application states there would be a loss of one on-street parking space, with part of the green itself used to create new parking bays.

However, residents say the loss of eight garages is only part of the issue: the development would also reduce the on-street parking, meaning an overall loss of up to 12 parking spaces. They have raised concerns about the impact in an area which is already under significant pressure, with visitors to the nearby primary school and care home adding to traffic issues.

Louisa Humpage, who lives with her husband and two children in one of the houses adjoining the site, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are already in a deficit of spaces as it is. These are all originally council houses and when they were built, each family didn’t have one car, let alone two. Now, most families have two cars so we’re already squeezed for space.”

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Mrs Humpage’s garden will be along the boundary of one of the new homes if they are built, removing the family’s access to the back garden via a gate, which she said was a selling point when they bought it.

She said she was also worried about access for deliveries and emergency vehicles, with several elderly and disabled residents living in the mix of council and privately-owned homes around Pannal Green.

Access to a footpath through to St Robert’s Church could also be lost if the new homes are built, and residents have raised concerns about a ripple effect on parking in the surrounding streets. It is particularly challenging at pick-up and drop-off times for the nearby Pannal Primary School, when Main Street is reduced to single file for through traffic thanks to cars parked either side of the road.

One letter said:

“If a resident cannot park their car close to their home, there is nowhere in the whole village to park, as the whole area has the same problem.”

Mrs Humpage added:

“The only option for us is the church car park or even Main Street, but then people will have to walk a long distance to their houses. The church car park isn’t lit and in the winter it’s slippy, with leaves everywhere. You’re asking people to put themselves into jeopardy just to get to their front door.”

Residents say there is even greater pressure on parking locally at school pick-up and drop-off times

Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council is due to discuss the plans this evening and Mrs Humpage plans to ask councillors to object to the proposals. She has also spoken to Cllr John Mann, who represents Pannal on Harrogate Borough Council, to ask for his support.

She added:

“I know they have a long list of people requiring social housing, but there has to be more suitable places to build houses for them. It’s just two houses – is it really cost-effective to do that just to knock two people off the list?

“There has to be some sort of duty of care to existing residents.”

The Stray Ferret approached Cllr Mann, Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council, and Harrogate Borough Council for comment on the proposals, but none had responded at the time of publication.

A planning application has been submitted to replace four garages with townhouses in the centre of Ripon.

The garages, to the north of Court Terrace just off Kirkgate, would be demolished so the four two-bedroomed townhouses could be built.

Each of the four homes would have a small courtyard of around 9 square metres to the rear, along with a cobble-set frontage of 13.5 square metres. There would be space for four cars to be parked outside.

An application submitted last year was turned down by Harrogate Borough Council over fears that the area, known for gypsum deposits, was not proven to be stable for development. Although the applicant, Mike Kell, provided a report from an environmental consultancy, the council’s decision notice said:

“The submitted gypsum report and associated declaration form are not considered to comply with Policy NE9 of the emerging local plan by virtue that they do not sufficiently demonstrate that the site can be developed without creating issues of ground instability and the signatory does not meet the definitition of a ‘competent person’ within this policy.”

A new geotechnical report on the site has been submitted with the current application.

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Objections to the original plans for three-storey homes were raised by Historic England, leading the applicant to submit new plans for two-storey homes instead. Planners acknowledged the run-down appearance of the site was out of keeping with the historic surroundings, less than 100m from Ripon Cathedral. Their 2019 report said:

“The design is similar to that of the cottages to the south of the site and is considered to be an improvement on the overall appearance of the local area and would have a positive impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area.”

The new application can be viewed in full on the planning pages of Harrogate Borough Council’s website using reference 20/02809/FUL.

Residents living near a proposed motorway service area are preparing to fight a fifth application to develop the site.

Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services (RAMS) say they will protest at developer Applegreen’s AGM in Dublin, if current travel restrictions are lifted.

The company’s application for the site along the A1(M) was rejected by Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee in November last year, but an appeal was lodged in February. Now, the residents’ group is urging Applegreen to drop the plans rather than waste further money in pursuing the project.

Coun Nick Brown, who represents the ward on Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“As a former main board director of a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange, I would like to ask CEO Bob Etchingham and the directors of Applegreen to take a really close look at what they are doing here.

Speculatively ‘having a go’ at getting planning permission is one thing, but the Local Planning Authority has given six good reasons for refusal, on the back of four previous projects at this site that have gone the same way, three of them after Public Inquiry. Given the current business climate, I don’t understand why Applegreen is continuing to invest in such a controversial project, with so little prospect of success, contrary to the social and environmental credentials they claim for their brand.

If ever there was a time for management to cut their losses on this project, it is now.”

Kirby Hill RAMS has been fighting against applications for motorway services on the site for almost a quarter of a century, after the first plans were put forward in 1996. HBC said the current application would cause substantial harm to the surrounding countryside and environment of the village, as well as to the economy of neighbouring Boroughbridge.

Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services protested against the proposals by Applegreen, which was rejected in 2019

RAMS chairman Gareth Owens said:

“Kirby Hill is Britain’s most controversial proposed MSA site for a good reason: it is a completely inappropriate location for this type of development, which would cause substantial harm.For 24 years, decision-makers in the planning system and in the courts have agreed with us… We feel very strongly that the company should now respect Harrogate Borough Council’s decision.”

Eugene Moore, Applegreen’s chief development director, said:

“Applegreen has lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate to consider the planning decision for the Vale of York motorway service area proposals. We don’t believe it is appropriate to comment on the process further until the appeal has been heard.”