Joe Willis

Stonegate Group has appealed North Yorkshire Council’s refusal of retrospective planning permission for improvements to The Talbot Hotel’s beer garden in Richmond. The work involved patio surfacing and timber fencing, which the council said formalised the garden and intensified use near neighbouring homes. Residents, Richmond Town Council and environmental health officers raised concerns about evening noise, customer activity and light spill, while 28 supporters backed the pub’s role in the town centre. Stonegate argues that the area was already used for outdoor seating, that the changes reduced capacity and added screening, and that customer-related issues should be managed through the premises licence. The company says the improvements are important to the pub’s commercial viability and local jobs.

Plans for up to 52 homes on 3.2 hectares adjoining The Pastures in Sherburn, near Malton, are recommended for approval by North Yorkshire Council despite 40 public objections. Residents and the parish council cite pressure on schools, healthcare, roads and bus services, as well as flooding, loss of farmland and impacts on wildlife. Officers say the council’s shortage of housing land means national planning rules create a presumption in favour of sustainable development. The proposal includes 35% affordable housing, public open space, a play area and biodiversity improvements, but would cause some harm to the setting of the Grade II-listed Brewery House. A £61,368 healthcare contribution is proposed, although the local medical practice says it lacks capacity.

North Yorkshire Council has approved £360,000 from its strategic capacity reserve to advance design work, surveys and technical planning for redevelopments of leisure and wellbeing hubs in Skipton and Selby. The projects form part of a wider £36 million investment programme covering four facilities, including Whitby Leisure Centre and Ryedale Swim and Fitness in Pickering. Proposed improvements include upgraded gyms, additional studio space, refurbished swimming pools and changing rooms, accessible pool facilities, Changing Places amenities and improved public areas. A further £3 million is planned for gym and fitness equipment upgrades at 12 other council-run leisure sites.

Parish councillors and local residents are opposing Balance Power Projects Ltd's proposal for a 40-year battery energy storage facility on farmland at Fence Dike Lane near Scruton, North Yorkshire. The scheme would include 48 battery units and associated electrical infrastructure connected to Leeming Bar Substation. Councillors argue that the development would permanently remove high-quality agricultural land, is unnecessary given nearby and planned storage capacity, and poses risks from battery fires and vapour-cloud explosions. The developer says the facility would store surplus renewable electricity, support grid stability and operate with remote monitoring, automatic fire suppression, landscaping and biodiversity measures. North Yorkshire Council will determine the planning application.

North Yorkshire councillors voted, by the chair’s casting vote, to be minded to approve plans for up to 130 homes on land off Chapel Hill in Boroughbridge. The decision followed warnings from council officers that a refusal could expose the authority to an appeal it might struggle to defend. Boroughbridge mayor Zoe Metcalfe and councillor Robert Windass opposed the scheme, citing recurring sewage problems, traffic congestion and concerns that the site was not included in the local plan. The development would include 40% affordable housing, while legal agreements would secure funding for education, open space and bus services. Conditions may require sewer improvements before construction begins.

Mountaineer Alan Hinkes has opposed plans by Fred. Olsen Renewables for 23 turbines, each over 200 metres high, on moorland between Arkengarthdale and Teesdale. He accepts the need for renewable energy and climate action but argues that the scheme would industrialise a nationally important landscape, damage peatland carbon stores and potentially interfere with military low-flying routes. The developer says the project could power about 135,000 homes and support the UK’s net-zero targets, while local residents, parish councils and campaigners also oppose the proposal. Hinkes, now an ambassador for the Hope Moor Action Group, argues that major energy infrastructure should be placed in less environmentally sensitive or more industrialised areas.