Tate Fuel Oils has applied for planning permission to knockdown a derelict former petrol station and build seven apartments in its place.
The proposal seeks to demolish the existing garage structure at Skellbank, Ripon, re-landscape the area and construct a new five-storey apartment building.
The site currently comprises a derelict single-storey building and its associated land on the south-west approach into Ripon, formerly used as a petrol filling station, workshop and shop.
Paperwork supporting the application states that the petrol station’s below-ground tanks have been removed and the remaining structure is in a poor state of repair and largely overgrown by vegetation, having been vacant since circa 2008/2009.
Previous approval was granted in 2002 for the demolition of the existing structures and its redevelopment as a residential block of eight apartments. This approval lapsed and a second, similar, scheme was submitted in 2016. No plans went forward and the application was closed in 2018. The site has since remained vacant and ‘contributes negatively’ to the conservation area.
The latest application says it has been designed to take into account the specific character of the site and its setting within a conservation area. The new building would be set to the back of the site aligned with the frontages of the adjacent properties to minimise the visual impact of vehicles at the the site
To further limit the visual impact of the new building, the ground floor entrance level would be set lower than the existing level of the garage structure, creating a near level access externally from the highway and back-of-pavement line.
The application said the proposal will regenerate a derelict brownfield site by developing seven self-contained apartments, which in turn will contribute towards achieving the district’s annual housing requirement of 637 dwellings.
North Yorkshire Council is expected to grant planning permission.
