Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Chair and Vice Chair the Democratic Services Officer sought nominations for a Chair from the Members present.

It was proposed by Councillor Philip Broadbank and seconded by Councillor Robert Windass that Councillor Paul Haslam by elected as Chair for the meeting.  A vote was taken, and the decision was carried unanimously.

Resolved

That Councillor Paul Haslam be duly elected as Chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Planning Committee for this meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mann, Aldred, Gostlow and Lacey.  Councillors Monika Slater, Andrew Timothy and Sam Gibbs acted as substitutes.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 January 2025 were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

Councillor Monika Slater declared an interest in item 4 of the agenda, purely for transparency, as until the end of this academic year her son attended Harrogate College.  She confirmed that she would keep an open mind, and that this would not affect her decision.

Councillor Andrew Timothy declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 4 of the agenda, as he was employed by Tom Gordon MP, the Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough, who had had involvement with the funding of the college.  He confirmed that he would be keeping an open mind.

For transparency, Councillor Philip Broadbank stated that he was related, very distantly, to the planning case officer for agenda item 4.  He confirmed that he would be keeping an open mind, and that he would speak and vote on the item.

The Assistant Director Planning, Community Development Services sought determination of a planning application for the demolition of existing buildings and construction of a new teaching building, new workshop building and cycle shelter with associated access, parking, drainage, landscaping, ancillary roof top plant and solar panels at Harrogate College, Hornbeam Park Avenue, Harrogate, HG2 8QT.

The application had been referred to the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Planning Committee at the request of the local ward councillor.

The Principal Planning Officer presented the report and highlighted the location and site description; context to the application and the proposals for parking both during the construction period and once operational.

Providing an update to their report, the officer advised Members of the following.

·       At paragraph 10.71, the increase in hedgerow units would be 116.45% rather than the 73.41% stated within the report.

·       Since publication of the agenda pack a further 12 letters of objection to the scheme had been received by the planning authority from local residents, Hornbeam Park Developments and the Oatlands and Pannal Ash Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign.  All the comments except for the letter from the Active Travel Campaign group, which had just been received, were available to read on the North Yorkshire Council Public Access pages on the website. The letters raised concerns regarding the lack of off-street parking for staff and students during construction, the lack of operational parking to meet demand, the parking survey was not carried out at an appropriate time, parking disruption during construction and lack of available spaces on site which would lead to inconvenience, safety concerns for local residents and inadequate parking once operational which would have a negative impact on the surrounding residential streets with increased congestion.  It was felt that the old building was not suitable for conversion and new facilities were essential for the college’s future development, however, the loss of parking spaces would have a serious impact on traffic flow and that a temporary car park should be created on adjacent land.  Potential conflict and potential safety issues for children on their way to and from school. It had been requested that the Committee consider conditions and mitigations during construction and queried if a speed restriction could be imposed.    

·       The applicant had also submitted a further supporting letter which was available to read on NYC Public Access. 

·       The officer confirmed that all the concerns raised in the additional letters had been taken into account during consideration of the application.

·       With regard to the Flood Risk Sequential Assessment at paragraph 10.67 of the report, for clarification, as this was a demolition and rebuild of new buildings and not an extension that reference to the National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) was not considered relevant and there were no sequentially preferrable sites available.

·       In relation to the Equality Act it had been confirmed that the proposals had ensured that there would be no disadvantage to elderly or disabled persons due to the parking arrangements, as accessible spaces would remain available during  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Any other items which the Chair agrees should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

There were no other items.

Tuesday, 24 June 2025 at 2.00pm.

Tuesday 24 June 2025 at 2.00 pm.