Decision deferred on Ripon petrol station site flats plan
A decision on whether to allow flats to be built on the site of a former petrol station in Ripon has been deferred by councillors.Tate Fuel Oils had sought permission from North Yorkshire Council to build a four-storey six-apartment block on the site of Skellbank Garage, in Skellbank.At a meeting on Monday, councillors heard the application was "strongly" supported by Ripon City Council, while Ripon Civic Society had welcomed changes to the original proposals.However, officials recommended the plans be turned down as the height of the new building would be "harmful" to the setting of a nearby listed building, and councillors decided to discuss the application again at a future date.
A report seen by councillors stated that the design of the proposed development, which included three two-bed flats and three one-bed flats, "fails to reflect local characteristics of the Ripon Conservation Area at ground floor level".It would prove "harmful to the character of that conservation area and, through its form, the setting of the adjacent listed building", it said.Meanwhile, the report also raised concerns that no ground stability report had been carried out, despite the site being in "an area with shallow gypsum that could cause subsidence".Documents supporting the application stated that the site, which had been vacant for over 20 years, was currently boarded off and in poor condition, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.The underground tanks from the former petrol station had been removed, the documents stated.Councillors heard that Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished in 2023, approved a plan in 2003 to demolish the former petrol station and build eight flats.However, that work never took place and the permission had since lapsed, and a similar plan for the site which was submitted in 2016 was withdrawn three years later.
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