Housing petition over plan for village

OUTRAGED RESIDENTS in a picturesque North Yorkshire village dubbed the ‘gateway to the Dales’ are to present a petition to the local authority in opposition to controversial housing plans.

Land in Hampsthwaite, a village of 450 homes on the edge of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB), has been highlighted under Harrogate’s Local Plan as a potential additional site for housing. Consultation is under way until tomorrow and now residents, who have formed the Hands Off Hampsthwaite Village Action Group, are to deliver the petition with 500 signatures to Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) as they call on the authority to rethink its proposals.

“Residents are outraged at these proposals and have been overwhelmingly supportive of the campaign to stop further development in Hampsthwaite,” said action group chairman Terry Mounsey. “There are plans in the next few years to build a potential 350 extra houses in our village. That’s pretty much going to double the size of Hampsthwaite.”

HBC planners say the figure is closer to 200 – with housing commitments and allocations totalling 193. More homes are urgently needed in the area, Coun Rebecca Burnett, cabinet member for planning said, with higher-thanaverage house prices meaning many can’t afford to live there.

“People across the district are aware of the need for more housing, but they can be reluctant for them to be built where they live,” she said. “Clearly, if everybody holds this position and we accept that everyone is correct then no houses can be built anywhere. Our district is facing a number of issues which could have a detrimental impact on our future prosperity and by providing adequate housing we will be able to tackle these issues.”

Every site has been assessed on its planning merits, Coun Burnett said, adding that comments in the consultation will be taken into account before any decisions are made.

But campaigners claim HBC’s Local Plan threatens to put up to 26 per cent of its new housing provision on outlying villages, with a “disproportionate” impact on rural communities. Around 500 signatures have now been collected, with 300 formal written objections submitted as part of the formal consultation.

“That shows, over a small village with 450 houses, the strength of feeling,” said Mr Mounsey. “It’s a vibrant community. We’re not actually in the AONB but we’re on the edge of it.

“We are objecting to the fact it is going to ruin this village. Why are they putting such a huge proportion of these houses in villages?”

We are objecting to the fact it is going to ruin this village. Terry Mounsey, Hands Off Hampsthwaite Village Action Group.