Go-ahead for homes on store site

Yorkshire Housing Ltd will also have some of its costs – around £5,000 – paid by York City Council following the planning inspector’s ruling.

The council refused permission in January for the old Co-op building in Haxby Road to be demolished and replaced with seven houses and six two-bedroom apartments.

Yorkshire Housing was advised by planning consultants that it could win an appeal against the council’s claim that the development would adversely affect the character and appearance of the area and pedestrian and vehicle safety.

Steve Barker, managing director of Darlington-based Prism Planning, said: “The council claimed that the new development would be a worse option than the warehouse currently on the site in terms of scale and dominance.

“The inspector agreed that no realistic or convincing evidence was put forward to support this argument and that York City Council had acted unreasonably in imposing this second reason for refusal.”