26 November 2007:  Harrogate Borough Council's influential District Development Committee, made up of 32 of the council's 54 members, will have the opportunity early next month to give its views on the recommended sites for new homes and business locations up to 2020.

 

Three four-hour meetings have been scheduled for 6, 10 and 11 December

when planning officers will present their recommendations for sites to provide land for 390 new homes throughout the district each year for the life of the plan.

 

Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport, Don Mackenzie, says this is the biggest challenge the council has ever had in terms of identifying land for development.  He said: "The Government is very serious about identifying specific sites for housing developments.  Our district has a very high environmental quality and that means we have few easy options.

 

"Many councillors would rather not give approval to further growth but we have no choice.  In common with every planning authority in England, Harrogate district is required by the Government to provide for more homes.  The challenge for us is to select the best sites for sustainable growth and to ensure that first-class infrastructure improvements take place at the same time.  We have slowed down the rate of house building and we will continue to protect our open countryside for as long as we possibly can.  However, there is a great need for affordable homes for local people and we need to bear that in mind before we raise objections."

 

Although not a member of the District Development Committee, Councillor Mackenzie will attend the meetings to listen to the views of the Committee, before he puts out the final draft document for public consultation in January 2008.

 

In July this year, the council approved the key document that sets down in broad terms where land for homes should be provided but, at this stage, it is not making a final decision about any specific sites.  It will listen to what people say and then decide which sites could be developed.  The council will be issuing an explanatory newspaper to every household in January and will also be holding a further series of consultation workshops.  The final approved document will then be submitted to the Secretary of State when there will also be another formal opportunity to comment.

 

Cllr Mackenzie said that if the council fails to make provision for sufficient land it is more likely that developers will submit applications, which could be approved on appeal even if the council turned them down.  "We already have developers snapping at our heels.  The best way we have of controlling development is through this district framework.  This district is one of the largest in the country and we are not short of land, but homes need to be located in areas where our studies have shown homes are needed for local people.  They should be near public transport and near to jobs and, preferably, they should be built on previously developed land and not on greenfield sites or in the open countryside.    More ...

 

"The officers have done an excellent job in consulting widely and I believe they are recommending to us the most appropriate sites known to them.  I now look forward to hearing the opinions of the members of the District Development Committee.  I hope that they approach their task as councillors for the whole district.  It will be tempting to reject any recommended site in one's own ward.  I hope that members will look first at the detailed evidence provided by the officers, decide then what is best for the whole district and for the needs of local people, and do not just say no to any possible development in their own ward."   ENDS

 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:  The percentage of recommended sites includes: Harrogate (48 per cent of the 390 homes), Knaresborough (14 per cent), Ripon (8 per cent), Boroughbridge (3.5 per cent), Pateley Bridge (3 per cent) and Masham (2 per cent). The remaining 21.5 per cent of land would come from villages and countryside. 

 

In addition to the site allocations for homes and jobs, the committee will also be asked for their views on plans for Community Sports' Regeneration and on a review of local landscape designations.