The Old Estate Office North Stainley HG4 3HT North Stainley Estate 01765 635 550 Company registered in No 02043818. Registered office: Estate Office North Stainley HG4 3HT VAT registration No.500 1726 06

17th October 2014

Dear Resident

Potential development within North Stainley to support the building of a new school, convenience store & other complimentary facilities

Whilst the majority of us have very little to do with the Village School, its future obviously affects us all and not only because of the link between a good school and local house prices. You may therefore already be aware of the aspirations in the Village to build a new school, following Richard Plummer’s announcement at a Parish Council meeting 23rd July 2013. As Head of the School’s Governors, he praised the achievements of Headmistress Liz Watts and her team, but warned of an uncertain future despite these successes (please see ‘North Stainley Village School Governors’ Statement attached).

Whilst North County Council (NYCC) fully recognises the issues detailed in the attached governors’ statement, the competition for funding is extremely fierce, naturally favouring larger schools and those offering potential for expansion. Village schools will always therefore be a lower priority. Furthermore, as every possible opportunity for improvement has already been taken advantage of at our School, its problems can unfortunately only be resolved by building new premises, a fact that becomes even more critical considering it is already over capacity, with demand forecast to increase even further in the foreseeable future.

The Governors of the School are not willing to accept that its otherwise bright future might one day be eclipsed due to the size and age of its premises, not at least if it is in their power to do something about it. Nor do they want our School to be viewed as a candidate for closure if there is ever a move towards district rationalisation. Building a new school could eliminate both of these issues, but will only ever be possible if the majority of funding can be secured privately. In most communities this would be an immediate showstopper, but I have every confidence that this will not be the case in North Stainley.

The precedent for this is of course our outstanding Village Hall. Facing a similar scenario, the Parish Council and a small number of residents worked on and agreed a plan with Robert Staveley, Head of North Stainley Estate (NSE) at the time, whereby the building of the houses at Watermill would subsidise the building of the Village Hall, and in recognition of the importance of its legacy, the whole scheme would be designed around the new building, making it the main focal point and hub of the Village. I hope you agree that the results speak for themselves.

North Stainley is now seen by many as a highly desirable place to live, providing a perfect example of how the building of new houses can foster an exceptionally strong community spirit. It’s hard not to notice this when you drive through the Village in summer, when dozens of excited children get together on The Rec for cricket practice. Passers-by frequently comment on this spectacle, often making reference to the unique look and feel of the Village.

Unfortunately however, comments around the state of the old shop and garage frequently follow. As the owner of this site, I readily admit to being embarrassed by it, not to mention my frustration with having to drive somewhere just to buy a pint of milk or newspaper. I know I’m not alone here and of course the situation is far more serious for those without a car, for some of our more elderly residents and for those with mobility issues, with several people feeling forced to move out of the Village as a result in recent years. Based on the number of people who signed the recent petition asking for something to be done about the current situation, few, if any, would object to the building of a new shop. Clearly such a shop must have the capacity to cater for a broad range of needs at a price and quality competitive to the major supermarkets. Unfortunately building a new shop is extremely expensive, particularly if we are to build premises of a sufficient size and quality to attract a retailer capable of providing a genuine alternative to the supermarkets. Whilst several such companies have expressed initial interest in the site, none so far have been willing to finance a new building and unfortunately NSE has too many other commitments. The only realistic solution therefore would appear to be similar to the one taken in respect to the building our fantastic Village Hall. In fact, this is the very same solution I immediately suggested could be extended to resolve the funding issue for a new school building, upon first hearing of our Governors’ predicament.

Whilst there is little doubting NYCC’s desire to help from a funding perspective, the only thing for certain at this stage is that the Village will have to lead the way in securing the future of our school and a new shop. There are many things in our favour here, including the gifting of a suitable site; the Church’s pledge to donate the proceeds from the sale of the existing school and our track record as a Village of overcoming similar challenges in the past, with many of the same people being willing to get involved. However, I cannot stress enough that success will ultimately depend on the majority of residents giving these plans their formal support. Without this, nothing will happen and the future of our community and local facilities will lie in the hands of a small number of residents - with their ‘Not In My Back Yard’ (NIMBY) based objections and members of Harrogate Borough Council’s Planning Department (HBC), all of whom living miles away, appear to have little interest in helping us achieve our aspirations.

I wish I could say that the disinterest from HBC was just down to our location, but unfortunately it appears there are more sinister prejudices at play, with a member of their leadership team recently confirming that North Stainley is seen by planners as a great success, despite being at odds with some aspects of local policy, but ultimately we should be happy with our lot and therefore our aspirations do not warrant any further consideration! They went on to state that there can be no exceptions to the rules, despite us constructively demonstrating serious shortfalls with these, including a ‘lack of alignment’ with National Policy. I am pleased to report that subsequent events, more specifically the recent collapse of HBC’s current Local Development Framework (LDF), HBC’s master plan to assess all planning applications against, has proved our understanding to be in fact correct. More importantly, we find ourselves facing a rare opportunity, unlikely to ever be repeated, whereby we can think beyond the many petty, often ill-conceived and bureaucratic local planning rules, concentrating our efforts on developing a scheme that could make North Stainley one of the best places to live in and possibly even the Country. Perhaps this is why HBC didn’t give our discussions the consideration they deserved, as after all, they couldn’t have a Village near Ripon steeling their crown.

It is far too early to start talking about the physical design of the school and shop, however just like the Village Hall, the new school must benefit everyone and not simply through higher house prices! One option would be to include a sports hall in the design, possibly including indoor cricket nets, a climbing wall and gym alongside the more traditional equipment. It is my understanding that the Cricket Club is now so popular, that it ideally needs its own junior members pitch, which could be incorporated in to the design of the school’s games field and would reduce the likelihood of a child getting hit by a cricket ball playing during a match day on the Rec, something I understand to be a serious concern.

Regarding the shop, it is critical to build a store large enough to enable residents to do their weekly shop without having to leave the Village. Success will ultimately boil down to our ability to make the site attractive to potential retailers and them having the confidence that the local population will make their business sustainable. Unfortunately the predictive models used by these companies - which take into account a wide range of factors including the location of their competitors, traffic volumes and local demographics - all currently conclude that the Village currently lacks sufficient ‘critical mass’ to warrant further consideration.

One also has to ask why the garage and shop failed in the first place and whilst the latter was too small to be of use to anyone, building only a slightly bigger one doesn’t solve the travel issue, nor would it generate anything like a sufficient return to warrant the initial costs and that’s before those relating to the removal of the old fuel and waste oil tanks are factored in. A bigger shop also affords the opportunity to include a Post Office into the design, particularly now they offer a range of everyday banking facilities. Whilst I am a frequent user of the Shop & Post Office and have nothing but admiration for the team behind it, I would nonetheless prefer not to have to get in a car every time I remember to buy a lottery ticket! I would also like to explore the possibility of including a deli/farm shop into the design and possibly a coffee shop to sit alongside the convenience store, with the primary aim of making the Village a destination in its own right. This should help to create a virtuous circle, whereby each component part mutually benefits the other through their sharing of common customer needs, just as was the case with the Coach House and Staveley Arms, and when all taken together, they have far greater appeal.

Similarly, it would help to attract a different breed of tenant to the pub, hopefully one with extensive industry experience, big ambitions and deep enough pockets. Given the pub’s current location constraints, we are unlikely to be the first choice for such individuals, but we have to put an end to the continuous churn of tenants endured over the last 10 years. The problem has been compounded by the outgoing tenants repeatedly fire selling the lease, with no consideration given to the desirable traits above and the owner being powerless to do anything about it. Steff and Bridget were clearly an exception to this pattern and I know many of us will seriously miss them! Whilst nothing is ever perfect and we all make mistakes, they should be proud of what they did achieve. They may well have made it with their plans to start regularly changing the menu and to look more beyond the Village for custom, but even with a substantial investment at the start, they simply didn’t have sufficient working capital and unfortunately by some way. Please be assured NSE did everything it could to prevent their departure, but the market forces working against village pubs these days are extremely unforgiving and when combined with the constraints of the building itself and its location, they are likely to prove too much for most. This obviously makes it even more imperative that we do everything we can as a community to attract the right tenants and to keep them. Many of us will remember the days when the pub was packed every night, even with an equally packed Carvery just up the road, so we know it’s possible to get it right. Given the importance of the pub to so many of us, the attached questionnaire has a dedicated section on what people would like to see happen to it in the future.

I hope this letter helps to demonstrate that I have given the challenges outlined above considerable thought and having seen the benefits first hand that the new housing in the Village has brought with it, it appears the only realistic solution to overcoming these is to follow a similar approach again. Building more houses will not only fund the new school, shop and other facilities mentioned, but at the same time create sufficient ‘critical mass’ to ensure all remain in good health for many generations to come. Despite the obvious benefits realised from the building of Watermill and its associated facilities and the considerable new benefits a new school and shop will undoubtedly bring to the Village, I am well aware that the building of more houses will still be a contentious issue for some.

Few can challenge the value these proposals would deliver, nor their ability to ‘lock in’ forever the community gains realised on the back of building Watermill and earlier predecessors, but some will argue they don’t go far enough if they don’t support the creation of new jobs. As the lifeblood of any community, every opportunity to create new jobs should be considered and it is therefore my intention to include a small Office Park in the proposals, on the site of the Old Piggery behind Lightwater Farm, as well as Assisted Living style accommodation in the field on the opposite side of the road, which would offer owners a range of services designed to make their lives easier as they get older. In my opinion, the latter is the best option to create a meaningful number of jobs that actually plays to our rural location, which is nearly always the biggest constraint to employment. The attached map will hopefully give you a better feel for our current thinking.

Many residents have endured considerable disruption during the building of Watermill and whilst I hope those most affected now feel this was worthwhile, people will naturally be concerned by the thought of more building. It is important therefore that I stress a number of points to help put people’s minds at rest. Firstly, I passionately believe the benefits these proposals will bring with them are so compelling that there is no reason why North Stainley shouldn’t aspire to be one of the very best places to live in the UK, if not the best! A big claim I appreciate, but not unfounded when you think what the Village looked like c. 30 years ago.

Secondly, the positives appear to far outweigh any negatives, which really do appear to be very few, discounting the usual NIMBY based objections, particularly those from anyone who bought a new house in the Village, despite it undoubted impact on someone else’s view. I have to plead guilty here myself, personally objecting to a new development in the last village I lived in, despite buying a new house which blocked someone else’s view to open country side completely. The difference with these proposals is that our intention to build on Cockpit Green has always been well known, even evidenced by the road spurs ending suddenly to the front and rear of Church Farm and I genuinely hope that the small number of individuals whose views will be affected most by the new housing, will still nonetheless support these plans due to the massive gains they will undoubtedly bring with them to the community as a whole.

We have taken the comments on board from our first public consultation back in July 2013 about the scale of the main building at the centre of the Assisted Living accommodation, hence our decision to move this to the field opposite Lightwater Farm House where it will not impact anyone’s view. This has the added advantage of making motorists much more aware that they are entering a residential area, hopefully encouraging them to therefore slow down much sooner.

The single biggest positive, even if we would prefer not to recognise it as so, is the impact a good school and shop has on house prices, particularly on those in a rural environment. The other facilities suggested will obviously also have a positive impact, however the critical point to remember is that without the proposed housing, there is unlikely to ever be a new school or shop and critically, the new housing will help ensure any new facilities will be sustainable for many generations to come.

Regarding the physical implementation of these proposals, please be assured that we will be taking a phased approach and that all construction traffic will be prevented from coming into the Village via the main road and wherever possible, we will try and screen of any building work.

Finally, I hope residents already know that all of the building work will be completed to the highest possible standards (it is our intention to build one of the ‘greenest’ developments ever seen in the UK) and that NSE is not a developer looking to make a quick buck, as not only do we have to live with the consequences, but we are extremely proud of our involvement with the Village over the years (500 to be precise in 2016!) and I personally have no intention of ever leaving North Stainley, unless forced to do so. This will hopefully never be the case, not only for myself and family members, but everyone else who loves living here as there should be no reason if these proposals are widely supported why an individual born in the Village, shouldn’t be able to go to school in the Village, have a career in the Village and ultimately retire in the Village.

Given the impact these proposals could have on everyone and the need to secure millions of pounds of finance just to build the new school and shop, there is a strong argument that if the majority of people are in favour of what is being proposed, we should also consider any other possible needs the Village may have over the next 20 – 30 years, as it obviously makes sense to try and deal with these all at the same time. Somewhat ironically, it appears that generally the bigger a project, the easier it becomes to raise the necessary finance. In addition, the project will be a huge undertaking for all involved and I for one, would prefer to kill as many birds as possible with one stone. In addition, given my comments around trying to make the Village more of a destination, it is highly likely that any alternative ideas regarding other possible facilities will only help to make our case more compelling, as well as help ‘lock in’ the resultant community benefits even more so.

I would therefore be extremely grateful if you would find the time to fill in the attached questionnaire to help us assess what level of support there is in the Parish to build a new school and shop in particular, but given the opportunity created by the collapse of HBC’s Local Development Framework, to establish what else people want to achieve. Once HBC have signed off a replacement Local Development Framework, we will no doubt be forced back into thinking purely on a short term basis and encouraged to get back in our box. Time therefore is very much of the essence.

I look forward to receiving your feedback and hopefully working with you to make North Stainley an even better place to live. Please don’t forget that absolutely nothing will happen if we are unable to formally evidence a clear majority of support.

Yours sincerely,

Kind Regards

James Staveley North Stainley Estate

Enc:

North Stainley Village School Governors’ Statement North Stainley Development Questionnaire – The next 20 years & beyond North Stainley Proposed Master Plan

North Stainley Village School Governors’ Statement

North Stainley Primary School is at the heart of life in the village and we expect that all who live here will want to secure it for future generations. Pupils receive a high standard of education in spite of the existing building’s shortcomings but the school’s continuing success depends to a large extent on how these are addressed.

The school believes that the case for a new school building to overcome the shortcomings of the current building is clear - even as a steady state, the school is too small and there are significant condition and suitability issues. Without a new building, the school will continue to operate as now, with the village hall being used for additional teaching space. While it continues to provide a high standard of education to our children, the school believes that this is far from an optimum solution for the longer term.

The school is exploring how a new building could be built as part of the overall developments in the village being considered by the Staveley family, with some of the proceeds from the developments being used to contribute to the cost of the new building.

At this stage, no designs have been developed, the expected cost is not established, the location is not confirmed and the funding is not in place. However, our ambition is to provide a new school within the village that is a modern, suitable environment for approximately 80- 90 children with a nursery attached. We expect that it would have 3 classrooms (Reception/Year 1, Years 2-4, and Years 5-6), a hall, parking and hard and soft play areas, with dining facilities on site.

We expect that the new school will be within the village but no location has been confirmed or planning application made. We are very grateful to the Staveley family for offering part of the Front Field, which would be ideal, and the school are willing to work with them on that basis, but other locations could be considered. Since the Staveley family have agreed to make the Front Field site available for the school, we would not need to buy a site if that is the chosen site.