Plan to build 14 new homes in Ripon rejected by council due to objection from highways department

Athelstan Court was originally part of Ripon College before being rented to HM Inland Revenue and used as offices until the organisation moved out in 2009.

It was last occupied in 2013.

Harrogate Borough Council accepted a change of use application for the conversion of the main building into 16 flats earlier this year.

Ripon-based Atzaro Box Clever Ltd hoped to develop an additional part of the former site into a mix of three and four-bedroom properties, with 30 per cent being classed as affordable.

Access to the homes was proposed from Kearsley Road which joins the A6018 Palace Road.

However, North Yorkshire Council’s highways department said the roads within the site would not suitable for development so the scheme should be refused.

It said: “The roads within the site are, due to their poor alignments, poor junctions and lack of appropriate footways/lighting/turning area, considered unsuitable by the LHA and therefore refuse the application in its current form.”

The council said a number of amendments would need to be made including changing the placement of several properties to reduce speeds on site, introducing a crossing point and relocating visitor parking.