Ministers warned economy will suffer amid planning delays

Selby District Council is having to undertake a major revision of the action plan for development after concerns were raised by a Government-appointed planning inspector over house-building targets and whether green belt land would be encroached on.

Ministers have now been urged by senior councillors to ensure their pledge to provide local authorities with a greater say through the Localism Bill is realised.

Selby District Council’s executive member with responsibility for place shaping, Coun John Mackman, has also claimed a clearer indication needs to be given from Westminster about an impending overhaul of national planning guidance.

The Government is currently drawing up plans for the National Planning Policy Framework, which will replace previous national house-building targets.

Coun Mackman revealed £1.5m has been spent over the last four years on the Selby district’s Core Strategy, and he voiced concerns over the financial implications if the planning inspector decides not to agree to the revised plans.

He said: “The Government has said that localism is all about local authorities knowing how best to serve the needs of local communities.

“It needs to make sure that the Localism Bill does just that and gives more power to local authorities to make decisions.

“If we have to keep going out to public consultation, it is going to be expensive, time consuming and it is extremely frustrating.

“The uncertainty over planning policies in Selby is creating uncertainty in the constructiion industry at a time when we are attempting to kick-start the economy and address a lack of affordable housing.”

The Yorkshire Post revealed last month that Selby District Council’s Core Strategy, which sets out a development blueprint for the area up to 2026, had been suspended following an independent two-week hearing into the document.

The planning inspector acknowledged concerns from Yorkshire’s oldest brewery, Samuel Smith’s, and others that the council expanding into green-belt land to meet housing targets, and excessive growth planned for Tadcaster, represented deficiencies in the plan.

The council is also reconsidering overall housing targets due to evidence pointing to a level of need “significantly above” its present aim of delivering 440 homes a year.

An extraordinary executive meeting will be held today when councillors are due to discuss a revised timeline for the Selby district’s Core Strategy.

The council is due to reconvene with the inspector in April to debate the revised strategy in a public hearing. If the changes are approved, it is hoped the Core Strategy could be adopted in June next year.

A critical lack of affordable housing in North Yorkshire has been accentuated in the Selby area, which was named as one of the locations that have best weathered the national property slump.

The Selby area was named in July as the 20th most desirable location to live in the Unsung Property Heroes study, with the amount of homes being bought and sold remaining at 59 per cent of the 2007 peak – compared to a national average of 54 per cent.

According to the National Housing Federation, the average cost of a property in North Yorkshire is £223,065, while the average wage is just £19,958.

The Department for Communities and Local Government declined to comment yesterday as the inquiry into Selby District Council’s Core Strategy is ongoing.

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