Hope for rural housing plan objectors as opposition builds

Major consultation on a scheme to build nearly 1,500 homes in rural villages and market towns across the district – part of plans to provide more than 5,000 new homes around Harrogate in the next 14 years – came to an end on Friday.

Harrogate Borough Council says the homes are needed to address concerns over escalating house prices which has left the vast majority of first-time buyers unable to get on the property ladder.

But critics say many of the rural development sites chosen for the massive housebuilding programme are totally inappropriate, particularly around Pateley Bridge and Pannal, where hundreds of new homes could be constructed.

Coun Jim Clark, cabinet member for planning, transport and economic development, said: "There is always a lot of controversy about where we decide to put new houses and especially affordable homes.

"It is not a foregone conclusion and it is important that people realise that.

"We have had a robust response from a lot of areas about where the houses are going to be.

"Now that the consultation in the rural areas has finished we are going to look closely at all the suggestions and all the points that have been made.

"We will now review the results of the consultation then in the spring of next year we will be bringing forward the proposals."

Pateley Bridge mayor Chris Henderson said: "There is certainly a need for affordable housing here but not on the scale that the council is proposing.

"The discussions we have had during the consultation process have been very worthwhile and we are not giving up and will be monitoring the situation closely."

Harrogate Borough Council has set a housing growth target of 390 new homes for each year throughout the district up to 2023-24 in a bid to provide homes at a price tag which is affordable to local people.

The housebuilding targets to provide more affordable accommodation have been set out in the Harrogate district core strategy, which was adopted by the council in February of last year.