CASTLE HILL WEST, HARROGATE Proposed Housing Development PLANNING STATEMENT © The Banks Group. All rights reserved. This document has been provided for your reference by The Banks Group. No material from this document may be otherwise copied, altered, republished, transmitted or distributed in any way without permission. Aerial photographs are © Getmapping PLC and © AirFotos Ltd as indicated and are also subject to the conditions above. All map data is reproduced from Raster 10,000 and Raster 50,000 by permission of Ordnance Survey registered on behalf of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown Copyright 2001, 2002, 20003, 2004, 2005. All Rights Reserved. AL 100017630. Preface This Planning Statement has been prepared to support an application by Banks Property Ltd for outline planning permission for 270 dwellings and a new school with associated roads, parking, landscaping, drainage and open space at land at Castle Hill West, Whinney Lane, Harrogate. The Castle Hill West site is located to the south west of Harrogate in the area known as Pannal Ash. The application has been prepared by Banks Property Ltd (part of the Banks Group) and the Local Planning Authority is Harrogate Borough Council (HBC). TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 5 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) METHODOLOGY ....................... 7 3. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................ 10 4. NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY .............................................................................. 17 5. LOCAL PLANNING POLICY .................................................................................... 21 6. STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT .................................................... 31 7. DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT .................................................................... 34 8. ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT ........................................................................... 47 9. BIODIVERSITY ....................................................................................................... 49 10. LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT ...................................................................... 77 11. ARCHAEOLOGY ................................................................................................... 129 12. HISTORIC BUILDINGS ......................................................................................... 130 13. TRANSPORT AND ACCESSIBILITY ..................................................................... 148 14. AIR QUALITY ........................................................................................................ 172 15. DRAINAGE & FLOOD RISK .................................................................................. 203 16. GROUND CONDITIONS ....................................................................................... 210 17. AGRICULTURAL LAND VALUE ............................................................................ 212 18. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE ................................. 213 19. SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS.............................................................................. 219 20. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................... 241 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This statement is split into two parts which fulfil the following functions: Chapters 1-7 provide details of the proposals along with a vision for the development and a reasoned case for approving planning the application in the context of local and national planning policies. Chapters 8-19 provide an Environmental Statement to satisfy the requirements of regulations with the information necessary to enable a proper environmental assessment of the proposals which will enable the local authority to make an informed decision. 1.2 The application is in outline, for 270 residential dwellings and a new school with associated roads, parking, landscaping, drainage and open space on land to the west of Whinney Lane, Harrogate. The site is known as Castle Hill West. 1.3 The general site location is shown in drawing PA01 with the detailed site boundary shown on drawing PA02. The applicant is Banks Property Ltd (BPL) which is part of the Banks Group. BACKGROUND 1.4 In 2019 BPL gained outline planning approval for 130 dwellings on land to the east of Whinney Lane, Harrogate and are now working with Stonebridge Homes to bring forward the first new houses in 2020. This was designed so it could be phase one of a larger development which would continue west of Whinney Lane in line with the Harrogate Local Plan which was under preparation. The construction of a roundabout to serve both sites was evidence of the joined-up approach to designing a site layout. 1.5 The Local Plan was subject of a public examination in 2019 and in January 2020 the inspector published his report which concluded that policy H51 should remain in the plan. This policy allocates the land between Whinney Lane and Lady Lane for a mixture of housing and employment uses. The Local Plan was adopted in March 2020 and there is now a presumption that this application should be determined in accordance with the Plan. 1.6 It is vital that Harrogate meets its housing needs in the years to come. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) advises that local authorities should boost significantly the supply of housing by providing five years’ worth of housing against their requirements with an additional buffer of 20% to address historic under delivery and to ensure choice and competition in the market for land. This is what Harrogate will be able to do as a result of publishing a well-considered and justified plan. The application site will form a logical extension to Harrogate. The site is close to many local services and only 3 km from the town centre. BENEFITS 1.7 The proposals will bring significant benefits to the local community which are described in greater detail in this statement. The main areas to benefit would be: Economic - Direct and indirect employment during the construction phase, significant levels of additional expenditure in Harrogate, developer contributions to support new infrastructure and services. 5 Castle Hill West Planning & Environmental Statement Social - Providing much needed new homes for local people, promoting walking and cycling and supporting local facilities. Also providing a new primary school which will have wider social benefits in the local area. Environmental - Creation of new open space, biodiversity enhancements and management of surface water. THE BANKS GROUP 1.8 The Banks Group have been based in County Durham for 44 years. The company employs around 360 people in three main business areas; coal mining, renewable energy and property. 1.9 The Banks Group is committed to development with care and the engagement of local communities in all its developments. The Banks Group has carried out many developments across the North East and Yorkshire including a housing development at Methley, Leeds and a wind farm at Hook Moor, Leeds. 1.10 Our development with care approach seeks to understand the community’s perceptions of a site in its local context, as well as any views that they have related to the proposed development. Where practicable, the community is asked to participate and is given an opportunity to influence the design of the development proposed. PROJECT TEAM AND COMPETENCY 1.11 Preparation of the planning application and coordination of the Environmental Statement has been undertaken by Justin Hancock MRTPI, Principal Development Planner with the Banks Group. Justin Hancock has over 25 years’ experience of preparing planning applications and coordinating ES including minerals, housing, renewable energy and brownfield remediation schemes. 1.12 The following project team has worked on the proposals and assessments contained within this planning application. Each of their reports sets out their expertise and competency within their particular discipline. Project Management, Planning, Engineering, Community Engagement – Banks Property Design and Access – Pegasus Planning Landscape, Air Quality – Surface Property Consultants Transport, Arboriculture – WYG Consultants Flood Risk and Drainage – Wardell Armstrong Ecology – BSG Ecology Archaeology – Archaeological Services WYAS Historic Buildings – M B Heritage Agricultural Land Quality – GSC Grays 6 Castle Hill West Planning & Environmental Statement 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) METHODOLOGY REQUIREMENT FOR EIA 2.1 The purpose of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to the protect the environment by ensuring that a local planning authority, when deciding whether to grant planning permission for a project which is likely to have significant effects on the environment, does so in the full knowledge of the significant effects, and takes this into account in the decision making process. EIA also aims to ensure that the public are given early and effective opportunity to participate in decision making procedures. 2.2 The proposed development falls under Part 10(b) of Schedule 2 of the EIA Regulations, as an urban development project including more than 150 dwellings. Projects of this nature will require an EIA to be undertaken where a development is likely to have a significant effect on the environment due to factors including its size, characteristics or location. 2.3 BPL (in consultation