Police station plans go to the council
HARROGATE'S new police station has moved a step closer to reality, with the application being received by council planners.
If approved, the proposals would see the construction of a three-storey station, with accompanying two-level car park and security fencing, along with the felling of more than 50 trees at the site off Beckwith Head Road.
The application states that the building would contain 16 custody cells – fewer than the 24 originally planned – and would be operational 24 hours a day.
The report by I D Planning, on behalf of Harrogate Police, said there was an "identified need for a state-of-the-art modern police station in Harrogate", noting that the current centre at North Park Road "was built nearly 90 years ago and therefore does not meet modern policing operational requirements".
Its report offered assurances to the council that the development would not "prejudice the amenity" of local householders. But district residents have raised concerns about the felling of trees, which they say will destroy an important part of the local landscape.
The police's plans reveal the six other sites considered for the new station and explain why these were dismissed.
Harrogate Rugby Club on Claro Road and playing fields at Harrogate College, Hornbeam Park both made the shortlist, but were rejected by the applicant.
This was because building on sports grounds without making alternative provision for local teams would conflict with council policy.
Owners of the former gas works site at Ripon Road, now the subject of an application for a Tesco store, were already in talks with an unnamed supermarket, making that a no-go. A redundant office building on Otley Road was said to be in a good location, but with no scope for expansion, while another proposed site at Cardale Park was deemed too expensive.
The other potential spot, a former BT site on St George's Road, was thought to put constraints on "blue light services" due to being surrounded by residential developments.
Harrogate Police plan to have the new station operational by 2012, with around 50 staff transferring from other locations within North Yorkshire.
The building, covering 5,198 square metres of ground space, has been billed as a "like for like" replacement, but would include additional custody cells and a disaster recovery suite. It would be built on so-called "greenfield" land - a previously undeveloped area - though the council granted permission for 7,179 sq m of office accommodation on the site in August, 2008.
I D Planning's report urged the council to back the scheme, saying: "The development proposal has been design and policy-led, with specific regard having been given to the character and constraints of the site and of the surrounding area."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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