Rudding Park reveals plans to create Yorkshire's first five-star country club

A major £30m scheme has been announced by the family who own Rudding Park in Harrogate – with the plan to upgrade its luxury facilities as well as having a positive impact on the natural area surround the resort and creating new jobs. Around 75 jobs will be created under the scheme.

The Mackaness family, who bought Rudding Park in 1972 and have since continually invested in the area, hopes to submit the planning application to Harrogate Borough Council by the end of March.

Over the last 50 years, the estate has been turned into a luxury hotel, spa, golf and conference resort.

The plans were revealed at an open day held at the luxury spa this weekend. Precise details of the upgrades and the sequence and timing of the work involved is likely to be determined after the plans have been officially submitted to the council. However at the open weekend, the team behind the plans revealed their commitments to the scheme.

Rudding Park said it will add outdoor tennis courts and a pavilion to its facilities, as well as restoring the walled garden and becoming Yorkshire’s first five-star country club. It also aimed to plant more than 10,000 trees, create three new wetland areas and hopes to bring around £14m into the local economy each year.

The golf club house was built in 1995, originally as a temporary facility, but Rudding Park says it has “outside its useful life” and so will be upgraded and “significantly redesigned”. Gym and swimming facilities, for both adults and children, will also be upgraded.

A statement from Rudding Park said: “The development will reduce the existing built land in the Green Belt by 45 per cent, through consolidation of current buildings. We will also plant over 10,000 trees and create three new wetland areas which, overall the project will have a net zero impact on biodiversity. This is not good enough for us and we will strive for a significant positive biodiversity impact.

“In 2023 Rudding Park will generate in excess of £56m for the local economy through employment, additional tourism spends, and using local suppliers. This development will dramatically grow this local contribution to over £70m annually and demonstrate consistent and ongoing major contribution to the economy and local area.”

The spa is one of the highest rated in Europe and recently won the Best Spa Hotel award from the World Wellness Awards. Its restaurants, Horto Restaurant and Clocktower Brasserie, have been awarded 3 AA rosettes and 2 AA rosettes respectively.