Residents of Sowerby Gateway estate object to ‘eyesore’ proposal

The Sowerby Gateway site in 2022. Picture: Google

A proposal to launch a long-term storage facility by placing 76 storage containers on a greenfield site overlooking housing has met with opposition from residents of a housing estate which was also vigorously opposed by residents on the grounds it would harm views.

In a planning application to North Yorkshire Council, Scriven Limited has claimed placing the storage containers for up to three years on land off Cedar Road, Sowerby Gateway, which is designated in the Local Plan for employment use was “entirely appropriate”.

The application follows planning consent being granted in June last year to build 11 employment units on the site on the condition construction was started within five years.

The application states while the proposed site is within a built-up area it already “benefits from planning permission for employment units” and the Local Plan sets out that the area’s designated uses include for storage.

The documents state the applicant is “looking to utilise the vacant site on a temporary basis of up to three years for the siting of storage containers” until the 11 employment unit development “comes forward”, without specifying a target date.

Documents seeking to justify the development on the employment use site do not include a forecast of the number of people who might work at the storage facility.

The application states while the site is next to homes on Poppy Drive, there would be adequate separation distances of about five metres between the gardens of residential properties and the storage containers, which would be lower in height than the approved employment units.

The papers state: “On balance, the distance are considered to be acceptable because the height is comparable to a two-storey dwelling and there are no windows proposed which would compromise privacy.”

However, residents have claimed once given temporary consent it is unlikely further temporary permissions for the storage containers would be refused.

In objections to the council, residents living on the Sowerby Gateway estate have claimed the storage containers would be “an eyesore” on a site which had become home to “a plethora of wildlife”.

The Sowerby Gateway estate, some of which has now been built, sparked a vociferous and concert campaign of opposition from many residents in Sowerby ahead of it being approved in 2012, amid claims the area’s character and rural views would be lost forever.

In response to the latest Sowerby Gateway development proposal, one resident wrote: “The proposed development is based on an area of grassland which will be destroyed and replaced with unsightly metal containers.”

Another objector added: “This proposal will lower the tone of the area and as many young children live in the estate, will thus become a danger to them.

“This land would be better used by building commercial units such as a pub or restaurant or shops.

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