District ‘may miss out on business growth’ if its delays long-term vision

ONE OF Yorkshire’s most affluent districts could continue to miss out on new enterprises if it delays its long-term development vision, it has been claimed.

Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet members made the claim at a briefing yesterday on the district’s draft Local Plan, which is due to go before a session of full council for approval.

While close to two per cent of annual growth is anticipated for the Harrogate district’s economy, the council believes the plan could encourage businesses to expand within the district.

Coun Rebecca Burnett, the cabinet member for planning, said: “Both housing and employment have been looked at together in establishing this plan. We have made sure in doing that across the planning period we ensure that we are giving businesses the space needed to expand.

“We have of course seen issues with businesses like Beer Hawk and now we know that Covance has opened a York site because they could not expand here.”

She added: “The Local Plan is in this way a two-pronged attack in addressing this kind of issue, by providing space that is needed for both housing and employment.”

Currently 95,800 people are employed in Harrogate across 9,000 businesses, according to figures from Oxford Economics. This is expected to increase by 12,200 new jobs across the Local Plan period.

With the inclusion of a buffer, 669 homes are projected as being needed to meet demand, with a total of 16,077 properties to be constructed across 21 years.

By supporting growth in highpaid sectors along with affordable housing, the council says it could also address issues such as congestion in the district.

Council leader Coun Richard Cooper highlighted figures collected through a study on commuting to the district.

Coun Cooper said: “Every morning 11,500 people are making journeys by vehicle out of the district.

“At the same time 10,000 people are making their way in to the district.

“These are people who work in low-paid jobs and cannot afford to live here; it is 13 times the average salary to do so.”