Luxury hotel and spa Grantley Hall has submitted a fresh planning application to North Yorkshire Council seeking permission to increase the number of days each month on which helicopters can land at its Grade II*-listed estate near Ripon.

The five-star hotel, which operates a private helipad within the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), is asking the council to allow flights on up to eight days per month, up from the current limit of four. It also wants to increase the number of permitted daily helicopter visits from two to four.

However, the total number of flights per year would remain capped at 72 visits—equivalent to a maximum of 144 take-off and landing movements. Grantley Hall stresses that it is not seeking to expand overall helicopter activity, but to spread the same number of flights more flexibly across the year.

The request follows a successful planning appeal in December 2023, when a planning inspector overturned an enforcement notice and formally approved the helipad along with tightly controlled aviation operations. Since then, the hotel says it has operated within the conditions “for well over a year without complaint.”

According to the newly submitted Planning Statement, the hotel’s high-net-worth clientele increasingly expect to travel by helicopter, particularly during peak seasons and for major events. The limited number of monthly flight days, the hotel argues, is creating operational pressures despite the annual cap being met comfortably.

placeholder image — Grantley Hall near Ripon

Noise impact and aviation reports submitted with the application emphasise that the adjustment would not increase overall noise in the area. Consultants say that flight paths will remain unchanged and avoid nearby villages and sensitive heritage sites, including Fountains Abbey. All flights would continue to take place between 9am and 7pm, with no night-time flying permitted.

The Noise Impact Assessment states that individual helicopter events would remain short—typically five to ten minutes from first to last audibility—and below national guideline thresholds. It adds that the wider area is already exposed to intermittent aviation noise from commercial flights, private helicopters and low-flying RAF jets.

Aviation consultants Avigation report that no complaints have been recorded by either the hotel or the Civil Aviation Authority since operations began under the current permission. They conclude that the proposed changes present “no technical aviation, regulatory or noise impact constraints,” as average annual aviation noise would remain unchanged.

Grantley Hall says the flexibility is vital to its business model and would support the wider rural economy. The hotel, which includes a Michelin-starred restaurant and 47 luxury rooms, is a major local employer and argues that helicopter access helps attract high-spending visitors.

The Planning Statement concludes that the changes would cause “no substantial harm” to the estate’s heritage assets or the surrounding AONB, noting that helicopter use would remain infrequent across the year—absent on roughly 80% of days.

North Yorkshire Council will now consider the application, with statutory consultees and local residents expected to have the opportunity to comment in the coming weeks.

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