Landowner offers £10m to save site from development

Details have been unveiled of a £10m offer save the Crimple Valley area in Harrogate from housing development.

Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan would see homes and industrial units built on 36-hectares of land in the Crimple Valley, removing virtually all green space between Harrogate and Pannal.

These controversial plans have been met with opposition by Pannal residents and politicians.

However, landowner Forward Investments has presented the council with an offer to purchase land in the Crimple Valley and gift this land to the community in such a way that it could be afforded a protected status.

To ensure that the council can still meet its housing and employment targets for Pannal, instead of developing homes and industry on Crimple Valley, Forward Investments also offered to work with Harrogate Borough Council to deliver a sustainable development on land next to the under-construction Dunlopillo housing scheme.

This land, situated between the A61 and main Leeds – Harrogate – York railway line, would enable the construction of new homes, community facilities and a primary school using the new road infrastructure that has been built.

This proposal will develop less land than the council currently considers necessary for development in the Crimple Valley. Whilst the land is in the Green Belt – Forward Investments has submitted evidence to the council to show that development here would have a much less impact on the environment than developing on the Crimple Valley.

Rupert Visick, on behalf of Forward Investments, said: “I’m delighted to be able to make public our offer to save the Crimple Valley. I live in Harrogate and would be incredibly saddened to see one of the most iconic views of Harrogate forming the Southern Gateway to the Town lost together with more of our precious, key green space.

“I believe Pannal should remain a village in its own right, but building on the Crimple Valley would see it become a de facto suburb of Harrogate. By making this offer, Forward Investments is offering to save the future of Pannal as a separate village.

“However, we all recognise that with a growing population, Harrogate and the whole of the UK requires more homes. I believe the alternative plans – for land next to the Dunlopillo site – represent a vastly better option to satisfy Harrogate Borough Council’s requirement to build in Pannal.”

Visick added: “The land is naturally screened from the surrounding area sitting in the valley bottom and therefore the impact of the development would be negligible.

“We want to engage with Harrogate Borough Council, the residents of Pannal, and other stakeholders to explain our offer and show them how we can preserve Crimple Valley in perpetuity whilst helping to solve the much needed housing and school overcrowding crisis. The time to protect the future of Pannal is now.”

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