Update: Church Bank wall repairs
08 Aug 2020
Further Update on Church Bank:
22.10.20
As an update to the information below it has been confirmed that the matter will now be dealt with by the HBC Planning Committee on October 28. We also understand that the Church Authorities have now granted the Faculty necessary for work to commence. Hopefully it will therefore be possible for work to commence in the not too distant future.
30.09.20
The Parish Council has been advised by Harrogate Council that there is likely to be a further delay to the commencement of the proposed works as concerns have now been raised by Historic England about the finished appearance of the repair scheme.
The Planning Application had been due to be dealt with early next month but will now have to go before a later Planning Committee whilst these concerns are considered, probably on October 28. In practice there are still other aspects to be resolved with the Church Authorities but even so the Parish Council intend to express its concern to the Planning Department about this delay, given the inadequacies of the diversion route.
05.09.20
Unfortunately it looks like Church bank will remain closed for a while longer yet, following the wall collapse earlier in the year.
As you may appreciate this has been quite a complicated project for Harrogate Borough Council to manage, as it impacts both the road and the church (a listed building). A contractor has been appointed, the planning and faculty applications have been submitted, and the archaeologist has recorded the existing monuments that may be affected by the proposed repair work and satisfy the requirements of the archaeological watch brief.
The proposal is to undertake enabling works (stone moving, cleaning and palletising etc.) first, to assess the condition of the remaining lower section of wall below the collapsed section prior to the main soil nailing and rebuilding works.
Because of this we haven't yet been given have a firm date of when the road will re-open - but realistically we can't see it happening before November at the earliest. The Parish Council is in regular communication with the project manager at HBC though - and when we find out more we'll pass it on.