Former Debenhams set to be converted into flats

Harrogate's former Debenhams store is set to be converted into 34 flats after councillors backed the scheme.

The site had been a retail staple on Parliament Street for more than a century and housed the department chain from the 1960s.

Plans include nine one-bedroom apartments, 25 two-bedroom apartments, commercial space and an extension to the roof.

The existing frontage of the 1960s part of the building would also be replaced with a new stone-clad façade.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said members of the Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee had voted in favour of "being minded to grant" planning permission on Tuesday.

The final decision was delegated to North Yorkshire Council officers, who will give the go-ahead when they are satisfied various conditions have been met.

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred described the scheme as a "splendid example" of what can be achieved when organisations work together.

Councillor Philip Broadbank added: "It's good to see the site being used again.

"Residential developments in the town centre will become more common as we go as there are big changes in the way we buy things.

"More and more town centres will become places of leisure as well as retail."

The meeting heard there were only six parking spaces for the 34 apartments planned, but the building was close to both the bus and train station, as well as town centre car parks.

The plans, submitted on behalf of developer Stirling Prescient, got support from Historic England and the Harrogate Civic Society.

SAVE Britain's Heritage, which named the building as one of 18 former "cathedrals of commerce" that should be spared from demolition and repurposed, also backed the proposal.

A previous application to demolish the former store to build a modern apartment block was withdrawn, after it received opposition from the former Harrogate Borough Council and heritage groups.

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