Deciding on where new homes should be built in the region
Following the adoption of the planning core strategy which sets out the framework for the future development and conservation of the Harrogate district, planners at Harrogate Borough Council are asking residents and businesses to work with them to identify specific sites, and policies to manage development, up to 2023.
The results of a number of consultations carried out so far are now available on the council’s website
Harrogate Borough Council became one of the first local authorities in the country to have its core strategy endorsed by a government appointed independent Inspector under the new rules of Local Development Framework.
The core strategy identifies a need up to 2023 for 390 new homes per year to be built in the district. Whilst preferred sites for homes and jobs have been identified for the rural areas with detailed consultation carried out in the autumn of last year, the council is still looking at options for the urban areas of Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.
These three areas will take the major share of the new homes needed for the district and the council will start its detailed consultation later this year on options for the preferred sites’ documentation.
Councillor Jim Clark, Cabinet Member for Planning, Transport and Economic Development, says that in the run up to the urban area consultation the council is publishing a number of evidenced-based reports as well as results from the wide-ranging consultation undertaken so far. He added: “The planners have been very pleased with the public response so far and I would like to thank everyone who has got involved. On the rural areas consultation, we have received over 1000 responses. These are currently being assessed before any final decisions are taken. In the meantime, a summary of the responses is available on our website.
“We also held an innovative Be a Planner for a Day late last year which invited residents to put themselves in a planner’s shoes, added Cllr Clark. “ We were able to gain a lot of useful and helpful information from this event about where new homes should be located , This new way of consulting was very well received by those attending. We have now published a detailed report setting out what we learned all of which is going to assist us in the next round of consultation. I do hope that residents, businesses and other interested parties carry on being engaged and involved in this planning process which is so important for the district’s future.”
