Exclusive: Building due to begin on £100m luxury country resort project

The Flaxby Country Resort development scheme, between York and Harrogate, has yet to start despite planning consent being granted more than 12 months ago.

The Skelwith Group, the York-based company behind the plans to create the five-star hotel, has been involved in lengthy discussions to ensure that major highways improvements are adequate to cope with the anticipated increase in traffic volumes.

North Yorkshire County Council, the lead authority in the talks which have also involved the Highways Agency and Harrogate Borough Council, confirmed the discussions were “progressing well” – although a spokeswoman stressed the negotiations had not yet reached the stage to allow work to begin.

The Skelwith Group’s managing director, Paul Ellis, admitted he was disappointed that work had yet to start on the hotel but he was adamant that the development remained on track despite the economic slump.

The site earmarked for the multi-million-pound project, which is just off the A1, had been prepared last summer but the company’s plans to start work have been delayed until now.

Mr Ellis said: “We are in the final discussions with all parties to sign the legal agreements which will allow us to start work properly on the Flaxby site and, subject to the final sign off, we hope to make a start in July.

“It was been a frustrating time but we are very confident the complex legal agreements will be signed imminently. Dealing with so many organisations has been a challenge and so we are pleased we are very nearly at the end of this lengthy process.

“The Flaxby Country Resort is a fantastic project that has been on the cards for a long time so we will be absolutely delighted to deliver a development that we feel will give the local and regional economy a huge boost in these uncertain economic times.”

Harrogate Council granted permission for the development on March 30 last year in a planning saga dating back to 1992 when the proposals were first mooted.

The Skelwith Group is already overseeing a £30m development to transform Raithwaite Hall into a 45-bedroom luxury hotel and spa on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. The Yorkshire Post revealed in March that Mr Ellis had claimed the Raithwaite Hall development, between Whitby and Sandsend, provided evidence that the Flaxby scheme would become a reality.

But building work on the multi-million-pound Flaxby project has been unable to start until the lengthy discussions to agree the Section 106 and 278 legal agreements have been completed.

Proposals include a £3m overhaul of the A59, with a new roundabout to service the site and an extra lane created up to junction 47 of the A1, as part of the enabling works for the main hotel.

Highways officials at the county council have stressed there is a need to monitor traffic flows over the next decade to establish if more upgrades are needed. Traffic is now due to be monitored over a 10-year period through an electronic system run by the county council.

The results could lead to major improvements to the highways network surrounding the Flaxby site, such as introducing full-time or part-time signals at the junction 47 roundabout.

If traffic flows to the site increase dramatically, another option could see the junction’s slip road to the A1 widened.

Vision unveiled three years ago

THE vision of creating the Flaxby Country Resort was first unveiled three years ago.

The five-star hotel, which will have rooms available for up to £800 a night, will be set in 283 acres of woodland and include four helipads, three restaurants, a luxury spa complex, bars and boutiques. It is expected that it will take up to 18 months to complete once work gets under way, and will employ more than 200 staff.