Councillors asked to approve 38-home Gargrave scheme

A North Yorkshire Council officer has recommended Councillors on the Skipton and Ripon planning committee approve 38 homes in Gargrave when it meets next Tuesday.

The application was submitted by R N Wooler and Co Ltd and follows a previous bid for housing on the site that was deferred last month.

Councillors voiced concerns about pedestrians walking on the busy Marton Road.

Objectors have said it will be dangerous for residents wanting to walk to and from the village.

Since the previous deferral, the council has recommended including a footpath on Marton Road to improve pedestrian safety.

The footpath will run on the northern side of the road which will
allow footfall from the new development to use the new link to Walton Close, cross Marton Road and progress to the existing footpath alongside the river.

The plans consist of a mix of terraced, semi-detached, and detached sandstone homes ranging from one to four bedrooms.

The site would be accessed directly off Marton Road via a new junction.

At the last planning committee, Gregory Butt from Gargrave Parish Council said hundreds of people had objected with road safety the “paramount concern”.

Councillors heard that a dairy farm near the site recently intensified its operations which has resulted in a large increase in agricultural traffic.
A statement attached to the application from the developer said the scheme would benefit the local area and help deliver housebuilding targets.

It said: “The proposals do not just involve the creation of new dwellings, they also involve the creation of a beautiful, landscaped scheme of gardens and open space that ensures sensitive interaction and integration with the surrounding built and rural contexts.”
The planning committee will meet at 1pm on Tuesday August 6 and it will be streamed live on North Yorkshire Council’s YouTube channel.