No dramas for Emmerdale set after tourism boost

UP to 42,000 people a year could visit the Emmerdale set in Harewood House on coach tours after it was recommended that councillors should defer approval to the chief planning officer.

Proposals submitted by Harewood House Trust, Harewood Estate and ITV Studios set out plans to welcome two coaches an hour for a two-hour tour of the set over weekends. From April to September, the set would be open for six hours a day on Saturday and Sunday, and four hours a day from October to March.

Objections related to traffic congestion, the impact of tours on public footpaths and the gardens, and that the original planning permission included a condition that the set was not to be used as a visitor attraction.

Harewood Parish Council, English Heritage and Yorkshire Gardens Trust did not object to amended proposals, but the Open Spaces Society and Leeds Local Access Forum maintained their opposition.

The proposals would create around 10 jobs.

Councillors will discuss the recommendations at a meeting next Thursday, July 30.