Planning officers have recommended that proposals for what’s been described as the UK’s largest garden centre be approved by local councillors.
The £16m outlet would be built at Scotch Corner and operated by Blue Diamond.
The garden centre would cover 10,761sq m and would include indoor and outdoor sales areas, as well as a cafe, restaurant and car park.
Developers behind the scheme say it will only bring “positive benefits” to the area, but businesses in the area have disagreed.
Richmond Business and Tourism Association submitted an objection saying members believed there was potential damage from the proposed development to Richmond retailers and other garden centres in a wide area.
The planning report claimed the scheme would bring “substantial economic investment and job creation in the local area along with the ability to accelerate the creation and delivery of a true retail destination alongside the DOV scheme that would attract many visitors to the area”.
It continued: “The benefits to be derived from the scheme are significant and fundamentally outweigh the limited policy conflicts highlighted in this report to the extent that planning permission should be granted.”
Members of Richmondshire District Council planning committee will meet on Tuesday to discuss the application.