Housing 'hammering' town as 195 homes approved

The location of the proposed new housing site in Boroughbridge

Plans to build 195 homes in a town have been approved despite a local councillor noting that new housing had been "hammering" the area.

The development - proposed for land south of Chapel Hill in Boroughbridge - was unanimously passed by North Yorkshire Council's Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee.

Boroughbridge Town Council opposed the plans, citing a strain on existing infrastructure and a lack of proposed green spaces.

Councillor Robert Windass backed the plans, which mark the second phase of a wider housing development, and said that the site "needs to be built out now".

"Boroughbridge and the surrounding district has taken an absolute hammering with new homes, some of which have been in the [local] plan, many of which have not," he said.

"There has been some disquiet about it in Boroughbridge, but at the end of the day it is a site that needs to be worked on."

Windass added that the developer could repair a road in Chapel Hill which had sunk during the first phase of the scheme as a mitigation measure.

A prior phase for 256 homes built on a former poultry farm was approved in 2022, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The new development will include 78 affordable dwellings, including one, two, three and four-bedroom houses.

The council received 13 objections from the public, but members of the planning committee praised the application for its attenuation scheme to deal with waste water, and the inclusion of an edible plant garden.

Councillor Matt Walker supported the scheme, but called for the developer's proposed contribution of more than £1m towards local education provision to be made as soon as possible.

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