'New build homes in Harrogate clash with town’s Victorian image' says councillor

Coun Andy Brown, who represents Aire Valley near Skipton for the Green Party, was speaking at a planning committee yesterday ahead of approval for 224 at Whinney Lane in Harrogate.

Huge housing schemes have been built on the edge of Harrogate in recent years including on Pennypot Lane and Skipton Road.

They have been built by national housebuilders like Persimmon Homes and it’s been argued that the estates look similar to those put up elsewhere in the country.

Local conservation group Harrogate Civic Society has previously said the town was losing its “feel good factor” due to the proliferation of large estates and said many of them have “little artistic merit”.

Coun Brown said North Yorkshire Council needs to do more to protect the image of Harrogate and “respect the local vernacular” as it prepares to approve a wave of schemes around the western edge of the town.

He said: “My understanding of the local vernacular of Harrogate is very different to what’s happened in recent developments. Harrogate has the most clear Victorian vernacular with particular stone and roof and styles.

“That’s what we’re supposed to have in Harrogate, not red brick. I’d ask you to engage and pay respect to that. We have a fabulous town because previous planners in the Victorian era insisted on a design palette. Now we’re saying this has no relevance. If you come into town from the Skipton Road entrance, it’s all red brick. It’s not even consistent red brick.”

The new Labour government has wasted no time introducing planning reforms that it hopes will get Britain building more new homes.

It has decided to remove references to “beauty” or the “beautiful” from the national planning policy framework, which is a document followed by local planning authorities including North Yorkshire Council.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2 last month, local government secretary Angela Rayner said the words were subjective and had held development back.

However, she said there were provisions within the planning framework to ensure that development would be in keeping with a local area.