Potential New Planning application for Spofforth Hill (February 2025)
Better Wetherby have become aware of a consultation to regarding the development of a site in North Yorkshire, immediately to the north of Wetherby.  This is the same site that Hallam Land Management/Stockeld Park attempted to develop in 2018/2019.  This proposal led to the formation of Better Wetherby and was succesfully stopped in early 2020 at a Public Inquiry.

BW will be responding in full to this in the near future, but in the meantime below are some comments from Councillor Alan Lamb on Social Media:

While the application is very concerning and, in my view, unwelcome. I’d like to set out some facts that will hopefully provide some reassurance.
1. There is no planning application as yet, this is simply a pre-application consultation.
2. The site is in North Yorkshire rather than Leeds
3. The site was rejected by an inspector at an appeal who deemed it was not suitable for housing
4. The site is not allocated for housing or any other type of development
5. North Yorkshire Council are currently preparing their local housing plan. Any application before that process is complete is premature and should be rejected.
I’m going to organise a public meeting asap to brief residents and answer questions.  "

A Public Meeting was organised  for Saturday 1st March  at 10.30 am in the Methodist Church in Wetherby to discuss the 210 house proposal off Spofforth Hill (see March newsletter for details)

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The information below dates from early 2020, further information can be found on the Public Inquiry page and subsequent links

​Stockeld Park / Spofforth Hill planning application.
Following a 2-year campaign, a protracted planning application to build 210 new houses on the North Yorkshire side of the boundary with Wetherby was finally refused.
This was welcome news for the people of Wetherby and surrounding villages and the culmination of a campaign that had many setbacks along the way. 
Initially considered by the Harrogate Planning Committee in April 2018, the application attracted well over 300 objections. It was rejected by the Planning Committee in August 2018, but just a few weeks later on 25th September 2018, the application was taken back before the Committee who overturned their initial decision and approved the application.
Following a great deal of effort by Better Wetherby to have the decision reversed, Harrogate Planners reconsidered the situation and the Planning Committee voted unanimously on 17th September 2019 to refuse the application.
Hallam Land Management, the agents for Stockeld Park, then launched an appeal and the application became subject to a Public Inquiry in Harrogate between 17th and 20th December 2019. The outcome of that Inquiry was published in February 2020.

Details of this successful Public Inquiry are available here: