Former Yorkshire Water sites to be developed into residential areas

Keyland Developments Ltd, a sister company to Yorkshire Water that manages the redevelopment and regeneration of surplus and redundant Yorkshire Water operational sites, is securing planning for residential projects on several historical and unique locations in the region.

The plans will be undertaken on several former Yorkshire Water sites including a redundant farm complex on the banks of Grimwith Reservoir in Appletreewick within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, as well as a former stable block on the southern banks of Gouthwaite Reservoir near the Michelin starred Yorke Arms in Pateley Bridge.

Planning permission has also been secured on a former stable block on the southern banks of Gouthwaite Reservoir near the Michelin starred Yorke Arms in Pateley Bridge. Keyland has secured permission for the conversion of the old stables into a luxurious home.

The company has also submitted a planning application to Harrogate District Council to convert the listed Beecroft Barn in Timble - located in a woodland setting just 600m from Fewston Reservoir - into a house.

A redundant farm in Fewston has also been sold with planning permission to convert into a house, as well as the sale of a water pumping station in Pickhill, with plans of converting the property into an eco-home.

Keyland, which has been regenerating redundant former Yorkshire Water sites for over 20 years, believe these unusual and historic sites have the potential to produce residential accommodations in desirable locations with Yorkshire.

Matthew Naylor, development planning manager at Keyland, said: “By their nature, former Yorkshire Water sites typically have significant land surroundings with impressive outlooks. These North Yorkshire reservoir properties are some of the most dramatic we have encountered and in particular, Grimwith House is a once-in-a-lifetime sort of opportunity for someone to create their dream home in an incredible location.

“The exciting part of working on and bringing sites such as these to life is that you couldn’t emulate the kind of history and surroundings that comes with them when developing from scratch. As they are all lying vacant due to being surplus to Yorkshire Water’s requirements, we can bring them back into use once again for people with that vision to create somewhere truly unique to live.”

Furthermore, the Keyland team has also unveiled plans to expand its services into more regions around the north of England. Previously working exclusively on redundant former Yorkshire Water sites, the team is now holding discussions with representatives of a number of major landowners with an aim of bringing forward development on other strategic sites.