Plan for Terraced Houses near Scarborough Hospital Rejected as ‘Unacceptable’

Friday, 28 March 2025 06:00

By Anttoni James Numminen, Local Democracy Reporter

North Yorkshire Council has rejected ‘unacceptable’ plans to construct four terraced houses near Scarborough Hospital.

The plans have been rejected by the council over concerns about a lack of parking and poor residential amenity.

The scheme proposed building four terraced properties next to the Duchess pub at 152 Hovingham Drive, Scarborough on land that currently consists of an area of hard standing containing a bin store, a grassed area, and a children’s play park.

The dwellings would have been situated to the north of the site and the existing car park would have been split into a private car park of eight spaces for residents, and the remaining car park would have been for the use of visitors to the two-storey Duchess pub.

However, objections to the proposal were lodged by the Highway Authority and one member of the public.

The Highway Authority said that reducing the available public parking within the pub car park would have an adverse effect on the on-street parking in the surrounding area, including Hovingham Drive and Woodlands Drive.

The Duchess is a popular venue for events, such as wakes, due to its proximity to the Crematorium on Woodlands Drive, the Highway Authority noted, and said that “during these times the existing car-parking is at or exceeds the current capacity”.

Planning officers said that “the provision of four dwellings in this location as proposed consists of a poor layout” and that the properties would be “constrained to a small parcel of land”.

They also raised concerns that the properties would have “a poor outlook onto the existing car park”.

A report prepared by the planning authority stated that the central two properties were “not considered to be able to provide sufficient outdoor amenity space for future residents, and thus would offer a low standard of residential amenity”.

In rejecting the application, North Yorkshire Council said that the reasons for refusal “are so fundamental that it is not considered that they could be addressed within this outline application, nor any future reserved matters stage”.

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