York new homes target lowered to '˜protect heritage'

Proposals drawn up by York Council after years of political rows show the total amount of land designated for new homes in the city’s long-awaited draft Local Plan will be halved - from 960 hectares (ha) to 480ha.

The amount of greenfield land earmarked for development - a long running source of contention - has also been halved, while 57ha of land is planned for employment sites; four less than before.

It is an approach that the council said means detailed Green Belt boundaries would be set around the city for the first time.

At least 8,277 homes would be built by 2032, another 2,450 homes by 2037, and up to 11,000 new jobs would be created, according to the new draft plan drawn up under the council’s Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition leadership.

Three years ago, the-then Labour-led council’s draft plan set out to deliver 22,000 new homes and up to 16,000 new jobs in the same period.

But the revised proposals are more suitable for the city’s development, said council leader and Conservative councillor David Carr.

Coun Carr told The Yorkshire Post: “The figures in this plan are evidence based on forecasts made by experts who looked at population growth figures and household formation.

“This is a very workable plan that strikes the right balance between economic growth and protecting the heritage setting of the city.”

The majority of greenfield sites that had been earmarked for housing have now either been discounted, altered or reduced in size, a new ‘Preferred Sites’ document published by the council shows.

Some 366ha of greenfield land is identified for housing, compared to the 862ha proposed in 2014. City planners are instead focusing more on redeveloping brownfield sites - with 101ha earmarked for housing in the new draft plan; 16ha more than in 2014.

Some 1,500 new homes are proposed for York Central alone - a huge rise from the previous target of 410.

Other key housing development sites identified in the city belong to British Sugar and Nestlé.

Lib Dem councillor Keith Aspden, the council’s deputy leader, said: “The last version of the plan represented a big growth strategy that communities and parish councils did not accept. This version protects the character of the city.”

Other revisions include removing 335ha of ‘safeguarded land’, while more than 50ha of employment land has been identified for future development at York University, in York Central and at Northminster Business Park.