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02
Dec 2020
Flaxby and Green Hammerton saga could be concluded next week
A report evaluating the environmental implications of building 3,000 homes in either Green Hammerton or Flaxby will be considered by councillors next week.
It follows a High Court ruling last week in the long-running saga about Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to choose Green Hammerton over Flaxby as the site for a major new settlement in the district.
Mr Justice Holgate ruled in the council's favour by saying the decision did not have to be made again.
But he said the full council did have to consider the report, known as a strategic environmental assessment, before it could proceed.
The council has wasted no time preparing the document: its cabinet will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to adopt the report as part of its Local Plan. The full council will then vote on it later that day.
If councillors are satisfied the report would not have affected their decision to choose Green Hammerton over Flaxby, it would correct the "legal error" that Mr Justice Holgate identified in the judicial review and finally put to bed the question of where the new settlement will be built.
Legal costs
The judge did, however, order Harrogate Borough Council to pay 15% of the legal costs of Flaxby Park Ltd, which brought the case against the council, as well as its own.
A spokesperson from Flaxby Park Ltd told the Stray Ferret it expected the council would have to pay it a "significant five-figure sum".
The Stray Ferret has asked the council how much it estimated its legal costs to be. The council replied it did not yet have a final figure.
Read more:
- Flaxby fails to stop Green Hammerton development at High Court
- Flaxby vs Green Hammerton: the saga so far…
Public consultation
Meanwhile, a public consultation on the Green Hammerton/Cattal settlement proposals is running until January 22.
Following the judicial review judgement last week, campaign group Keep Green Hammerton Green released a statement urging the council to pause the consultation due to impending local government reorganisation and government planning reforms.
A council spokesman said:
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