Development of 88 homes in Yorkshire village rejected over roads that have been unadopted since 2015

Hambleton District councillors said while extensive efforts had been made to iron out several obstacles with developer Blind Lane Land Limited’s planned 88-home scheme in Aiskew, near Bedale, key nearby access roads had yet to be adopted despite residents having lived on them since 2015.

Elected community representatives warned the authority against compounding the issue in roads such as Sycamore Avenue and Bluebell Lane off Blind Lane and creating a situation similar to one facing residents in the East Yorkshire town of Brough.

Both estates have seen a wrangle between developers, Yorkshire Water and highways bosses over surface water which has resulted in access roads not being adopted by the local authority.

An adopted road is a highway that was privately-owned road, but has become a public road, managed and maintained by the highway authority.

It emerged earlier this month residents of the Bovis estate in Brough have paid full council tax for 20 years, but cannot call on East Riding Council to do work, such as repairing pavements or filling potholes near their homes, as it has not been adopted by the local authority.

Residents who moved into the Bovis estate almost 20 years ago were told then the roads would be adopted when the development was completed and are still waiting.

The Hambleton planning meeting heard Aiskew landowner Mark Sampson highlight concerns over how wide the adoption the lanes would be as the ownership of part of the proposed access to the estate remained unknown and Blind Lane had been maintained as a private road by just one person since the 1970s.

He said people who had recently managed to claim ownership of parts of Blind Lane had never taken any part in maintaining and that he was confident they would not do so in future.

Aiskew councillor Mike Barningham said it appeared progress was being made on issues preventing the adoption, but they would not be resolved until at least 2024.

Referring to the planning controversy in Brough, Coun Barningham said: “It doesn’t give you a lot of confidence when you hear issues like that.”

Ahead of members rejecting the proposal, fellow ward member Councillor John Noone added: “Do we really want to leave this community in Aiskew with the same problem? I don’t think so. It seems to me the more we delve into this proposed site and the access the more serious problems we encounter.”