Homes plan for controversial site

Developer insists the scheme is viable

DEVELOPMENT: Thousands of homes could be built after a developer drew up plans for land in North Yorkshire which was controversially allocated for housing.

A planning application to build 3,000 homes near Green Hammerton, between Harrogate and York, has been submitted.

THOUSANDS OF homes could be built after a developer drew up plans for land in North Yorkshire which was controversially allocated for housing.

A planning application to build 3,000 homes near Green Hammerton, between Harrogate and York, has been submitted by Commercial Estates Group (CEG). The land near the A59 and Harrogate railway line was identified as a site for housing as part of Harrogate Borough’s Local Plan, a blueprint for where new homes will be built over the next 20 years.

CEG group said the development would include upgrades to nearby roads and 20,000 sq m of office space to help create jobs for people living there.

Steve McBurney, head of planning North at CEG, said: “The CEG Hammerton scheme is viable and deliverable and is the most sustainable solution in accordance with the council’s emerging Local Plan.

“It benefits from existing services such as two local railway stations, local schools and community facilities and further investment into improved and new infrastructure will be delivered alongside high-quality, characterful homes and new employment opportunities designed on garden village principles.”

CEG said improvements would be made to facilities at Cattal and Hammerton railway stations as part of the scheme. A minimum of 50 hectares of open space would be provided, along with a pedestrian and cycle route.

Road upgrades would include two new roundabout junctions on the A59.

It is part of Harrogate Borough Council’s plan to build up to 14,000 homes by 2035. Last November, a campaign was launched by action group Keep Green Hammerton Green over the proposals.

Group member Susan GossClements said concerns included the impact of extra traffic on nearby roads and the loss of agricultural land.

She said: “These 3,000 houses will bring something like 6,000 cars to the A59. There just isn’t the infrastructure.

“I live in Green Hammerton and I know how long it takes to get onto the A59 junction. It’s a nightmare. The local school is over-subscribed.

“At the doctors’s surgery it can take up to two weeks to get an appointment. This just isn’t viable.”

Flagship redevelopment schemes in Leeds are among CEG’s existing portfolio of building projects.

It is the firm behind the city’s £400m Kirkstall Forge development, which includes more than 1,000 new homes and 400,000 sq ft of offices and retail space.

A new railway station has been built as part of the project.

CEG bought Temple Works, a Grade I-listed former Mill just outside Leeds city centre, last December. The company is also involved with four of the Government’s new “garden village” schemes.

The 14 villages will provide almost 50,000 new homes around England.

There just isn’t the infrastructure. It’s just not viable.

Susan Goss-Clements, of action group Keep Green Hammerton Green.