A NEW planning application to build a country house on the site of a former Ilkley hospital is under consideration by Harrogate Borough Council.

Eldwick-based Halton Homes is marketing the six-bedroom 'Middleton Hall' on the site of the Middleton Hospital, Carters Lane, in a scenic spot north of the River Wharfe.

The house would be building in a Georgian style, situated within a 58-acre estate, featuring six bedrooms, a swimming pool, gym and changing rooms, stables, tennis court and formal gardens.

A n identical planning permission, submitted by Middleton Regeneration LLP, gained permission from Harrogate Borough Council in 2011, but planning permission has now expired, and the site has now changed hands.

A design and access statement report by Campbell Driver Partnership Ltd and CDP Sustainability says the application is the same as the previously-approved plan.

It said: "This application expired without the scheme being implemented but following a change in ownership of the site, it is the current applicants’ intention to resurrect the planning permission for that same development. As such the application drawings remain identical.

Originally a TB hospital, the Middleton Hospital closed in 1990, and the land has been the subject of a number of planning applications since that time.

These ranged from plans to build a Dales village within the grounds, to an environmentally-friendly sustainable community.

Halton Homes says the buyer will have the opportunity to influence the internal design of the house.

Concerns about possible contamination on the land have been raised around previous planning applications, and an environmental investigation and risk assessment report accompanies the application.

The standard consultation expiry date for the plan is November 11.

The design of the building has been inspired by other Wharfedale country houses, including the nearby Denton Hall and Harewood House.

The proposals also include a gatehouse, plus landscape restoration and nature conservation management.