FURY: 'It shouldn't have happened - I was told town boundary would never be crossed'

Tom Cox strongly opposes the development on Knox Lane
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Harrogate residents have been left furious after a controversial housing development was given the green light despite being rejected by the council four times.

Originally proposed in April 2020, the houses will be built along Knox Lane in Bilton, Harrogate, just outside of the town. The plan was rejected multiple times by North Yorkshire Council, which last rejected it in October 2023.

However, developers Jomast appealed this decision and in August 2024, the plans were given the go-ahead after being recommended for approval by a government inspector. A total of 53 homes would be built on the site, and locals view the plan as a disaster.

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The houses would link Bilton with Knox Village further down the road, and residents there have been left furious by the decision. Tom Cox, 80, lives next to where the development will be built and strongly opposes the plans.

"I think it should never have happened," he said.

Deer often cross the land the homes would be built on
Deer often cross the land the homes would be built on

In particular, Mr Cox, who has lived there for 53 years, is concerned about the impact the buildings might have on the nature, such as deer, badgers and other animals that make use of the field and often walk through.

There are also issues surrounding traffic, particularly further up at Crab Lane, where he says congestion is particularly bad during peak hours. He added: "Because it's 53 houses they're going to build, you know that's 53 cars plus probably another 25, so you're looking at putting another 75 cars that are going to be in this area. They're going to use those two roads that exit out onto the A59.

"At certain times of the day, it's a nightmare now. You've got Crab Lane and there's parking on both sides of the road."

He fears there will also be problems with drainage on the site, which often runs down to the village below. He fears the development will only make matters worse. In addition, there are also electricity pylons close to the site and an old train line used to run over the land.

The buildings would be constructed on a raised area and so Mr Cox believes the buildings may tower over his home completely.

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He said: "Unhappy about it? Yes. I've lived here for 53 years and when I moved here I was told that the wall at the top of the field there was the town boundary and would never be crossed."

The site where the houses would be built
The site where the houses would be built

Other neighbours share the same views, including Nigel Hill, who said the plot should "never" have been included on the local plan at all. Mr Hill said this had contributed a "great deal" to the fact that the development was approved after the appeal was made.

He added: "I'm afraid I don't think there's anything more that we can do. It would be very expensive to take it any further. I think local people feel that our opinions, our views, were not taken into account sufficiently."

In particular, Mr Hill fears the traffic will be much worse following the development. He said: "With all the building that's going on in this area, up Skipton Road and so on, I think everybody is noticing that Skipton Road is even worse than it was."

Crab Lane was highlighted by residents as a particularly bad area for traffic during peak hours
Crab Lane was highlighted by residents as a particularly bad area for traffic during peak hours

Hermann Rowinski shared similar thoughts, adding: "The problem is, it was put in the plan. If something's in the plan, it's there to be approved to be built on, so it shouldn't have been in the plan, that's where the mistake has been made."

He also said he feared the traffic would be made much worse.

Kathryn Shearsmith also lives in the area and said she was disappointed by the decision, and felt that many of the residents had put a good case to the council. She said: "We've been putting in objections year after year, every time it came round again and, yeah, very, very, very upset about it to be honest."

Knox Village at the bottom of Knox Lane
Knox Village at the bottom of Knox Lane

Another local, Anita Fawcett, said she was "absolutely shocked" the plans had now been approved. She added: "I genuinely thought that they would turn it down because of the road, because there's traffic, because it's impinging on a very rural part of Harrogate.

"There are so many other places in Harrogate where they could build, I mean, this is known as Knox Village, it's always been Knox Village and, the more they come down here the less it is a village, because they're just going to join us on the edge of Harrogate."

Ms Fawcett was full of praise for the other residents who had done their best to stop the development, but she felt their complaints fell on "deaf ears", despite the multiple rejections by the council. She said: "In fact, we're actually thinking about selling up because of the impact of it."

Protest signs on Knox Lane
Protest signs on Knox Lane

It is not just people who live in Knox Lane who disapprove of the plans, as residents of Bilton are also upset. Kathryn O'Loughlin said the plan was "totally the wrong thing to do".

"Number one, the site is just not suitable. There was a railway there, sort of industrial type things, with contaminants in the soil and that sort of thing,", Ms O'Loughlin said.

She also said the angle of the site means there's little flat land to be built on and the water already runs off the site to the beck below. With the added construction, she fears it could lead to even more flooding, while the congestion problems are serious.

Schools and doctors' surgeries are also already completely full in the area, meaning Ms O'Loughlin fears any new residents may struggle to find space at these places. In regards to nature, she added: "It's a lovely little area. It's a lovely little oasis in the middle of a very big town.

"And the more we encroach on these little oases, Harrogate is going to lose its character."

Yorkshire Live approached the developers for comment.