A FINAL decision on whether homes can be built on the site of a former mill in Gargrave is still to be made - five months after councillors gave their approval to the scheme.

Plans to build 12 new homes at the Old Sawmill in Marton Road - which is currently home to up to 25 permanent residential caravans - was given the go-ahead by the Skipton and Ripon area planning committee of North Yorkshire Council in June. Councillors, against the advice of planning officers were minded to approve the scheme which will also see the conversion of the former sawmill building into two apartments.

But, because the site, which is next to the River Aire and is deemed a flood risk by the Environment Agency, a final decision was left up to the Government's secretary of state for housing, who can either rubber-stamp the decision of the council, or call it in for further examination.

Plans to build houses at the site, which is outside the built-up limits of the village, have been on-going for more than four years. The latest plans were lodged with the former Craven District Council in July, 2022 and followed an earlier application that was refused by the now scrapped council in 2020. It was one of two planning applications - including plans to build holiday lodges at Hellifield Flashes, which it had been hoped would be determined by Craven Council before it was replaced by North Yorkshire Council in April 2023.

At June's planning meeting, Mid-Craven councillor Simon Myers said residents and Gargrave Parish Council were in favour of the scheme, which had “been on the books for far too long”.

The applicant had submitted a flood risk assessment from consultants at AECOM which concluded most of the site is not at risk of flooding.

Cllr Myers said at the time: “Anecdotally this site has never flooded. At the end of the day, it’s an underused unattractive residential site that would benefit from a very good scheme.”

Cllr Myers, at this week's meeting of Gargrave Parish Council said a decision whether or not to call the application in by the secretary of state had not yet been made.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Council said: "The Old Saw Mill application is still with the secretary of state for a decision on whether to call the application in or not. No timescales have been provided regarding when a decision will be made."