Harrogate Borough Council’s housing shortage could be partly solved through the creation of a new village based at Flaxby Golf Course, just off the A59.
York developer Skelwith has plans to deliver up 2,500 new homes on the site of the Flaxby golf course, as well as the permitted hotel, as part of a revised masterplan for the site.
The development plans are at an early stage, but will include a primary school, a village centre with shops, a doctors surgery and business and office units. To ensure the development is as accessible as possible a number of bus routes will also be provided.
Skelwith secured planning permission from Harrogate Borough Council in 2011 for a major hotel and remain committed to delivering a hotel as part of the scheme.
Along with the new primary school, village centre and other local amenities, the development will also retain the green landscaping including the ten lakes and the 15,000 tree woodland which was planted in 2004.
Skelwith has already invested heavily in infrastructure, completing earlier this year a new £4 million roundabout for the site.
In June this year, Harrogate Borough Council withdrew its Draft Local Plan following criticism from the Government Planning Inspector, as the plan did not meet the housing needs for the area.
Commenting, a spokesman for Skelwith said: Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) needs to find a substantial amount of land for housing and employment development to maintain the districts’ prosperity in the years ahead.
It needs to avoid Green Belt sites, and to choose locations which are both sustainable in planning terms and which are in places where people want to live and work.
In this context, we believe the golf course and other land may have a role to play, and this possibility is currently being explored. However, the matter is at a very early stage, and the idea is still evolving.
