Plans unveiled for eco-friendly holiday resort at former golf course in Yorkshire

Flaxby Park Ltd has asked Harrogate Borough Council for planning permission to build 400 eco-lodges, a 30-bed hotel, swimming pool and spa, sports facilities, shops and pub/restaurant at the abandoned golf site near the A1.

The developers previously put forward plans for 2,750 homes but were rejected by the council in a decision which wound up in a legal battle over the district’s Local Plan.

Under the new proposals, Flaxby Park Ltd said the eco-resort would create 129 full-time jobs and generate up to £53m a year of visitor spending.

“The development of this unique, environmentally conscious eco-lodge holiday complex would generate significant benefits for the local economy and that of the wider region,” documents said.

“This facility will provide exceptional contemporary eco-lodges, intended to attract the most discerning visitors.”

Documents added there would be a focus on renewable technology and building materials to cut carbon emissions at the site which would act as a base for exploring the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks.

Flaxby Park also said it expected staycations will remain at the forefront of hospitality stays in the future and that the site has good transport links to allow families to “reconnect with nature”.

The former golf course closed in 2014 before Flaxby Park Ltd moved to acquire the site a year later.

Its plans for 2,750 homes were left out of Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan last year in favour of a 3,000-home site just five miles away near Green Hammerton and Cattal.

A decision to formally reject the Flaxby housing plans was made in October last year before the council and developers contested in a High Court judicial review.

A judge ruled the council’s decision to favour Green Hammerton and Cattal did not have to be made again, but he did find a flaw in the Local Plan process which required a revote from Harrogate’s 40 council members.

A decision on the eco-resort plans is expected later this year and if approved it could be built by 2024.