Housing plan in North Yorkshire triggers concern for wildlife havens
Council officers have advised planning inspectors to reject an appeal
Last updated 7th Aug 2024
Planning inspectors should reject an appeal over a proposal to build a 200-home estate in a North Yorkshire village, council officers have advised, due to its potential impact on designated nature conservation sites including the UK’s greatest area of high-quality lowland hay meadows.
North Yorkshire Council planning officers have issued the recommendation to the authority’s Selby constituency planning committee which next Wednesday (August 14th) will consider Hallam Land Management’s ambition for 9.5 hectares of arable farmland off Mill Lane, Carlton.
As the firm has issued an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate over the council not making a decision over the proposal that was lodged last July, councillors will be tasked with deciding the position the authority will take at an upcoming hearing.
In documents submitted to the authority the firm said it believed the scheme satisfied national and local policies and represented a suitable and sustainable development for the site.
Hallam has claimed the development would assist the council in being able to demonstrate a five-year supply of houses which could be developed while the emerging Local Plan was being advanced.
However, the proposal has attracted a significant amount of opposition from local residents, with more than 100 letters of objection being sent to the authority, highlighting concerns including its impact on wildlife and that it would “exacerbate school and medical practice capacity problems”.
Carlton Parish Council said traffic from the development would create “a massive safety concern”, particularly for pensioners living near the proposed development and pupils at the village primary school.
In addition, Natural England said the application could have potential significant effects on the Lower Derwent Valley Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar site, the Humber Estuary SPA and Ramsar site, and the Derwent Ings Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Humber Estuary SSSI.
The Lower Derwent Valley supports a breeding and wintering bird population of more than 80 species and contains a greater area of high-quality examples of lowland hay meadows than any other UK site, featuring an abundance of the rare narrow-leaved water-dropwort.
The Humber Estuary SPA is the second-largest coastal plain estuary in the UK, and the largest coastal plain estuary on the east coast of Britain, supporting wildlife such as grey seals and lamprey.
Recommending councillors move to reject the proposal, a planning officer’s report to the meeting underlines the development would be contrary to the council’s policy as it would create a significant housing estate in the countryside outside the village’s development limit.
The report stated:
“The application proposes ten per cent affordable housing without submitting a viability appraisal to show why a departure from the target of 40 per cent affordable housing should be supported.”
The report added while the proposal would support the Government’s objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes, some 85 per cent of the proposed site is graded best and most versatile farmland which would harm the drive towards food self-sufficiency.
The report concludes although the potential impacts on protected species are acceptable and biodiversity net gain could be delivered “the proposal does not demonstrate that the impact upon nature conservation sites is acceptable”.