Housing development in village set to grow by 45 per cent unanimously approved

North Yorkshire Council’s Richmond constituency planning committee passed Loxley Homes proposal to build 23 homes, 30 per cent of which would be affordable, on agricultural land off Manor House Walk and St Lamberts Drive, Burneston, near Bedale.

Councillors considering the proposal were told while principle of building housing on the site was set in stone with the site having been allocated in the Local Plan, the developnent would extend the village into open countryside and could only be accessed by small residential roads off the village centre and by passing schools.

A significant number of villagers looked on as an agent for the developer told the meeting some 14 months of work had been carried out to fine tune the application and address concerns.

A senior planning officer told members “clearly there are issues in the village” relating to traffic, including speeding and on-street parking, but highway officers had concluded the development would not have a severe impact on highway safety, the standard planning applications need to meet.

Burneston, Swainby with Allerthorpe and Theakston Parish Council had objected to the proposal highlighting how a week-long study had found vast majority of vehicles in the village exceeded the 30mph limit, with one car recorded driving through the village at 73mph.

The north of the village saw an average of 1,339 vehicles a day of which only 421 were adhering to the speed limit. An average of 71 vehicles a day were found to be at 45mph or above.

Parish councillor Linda Nugent said the development would bring “no benefits whatsoever” to the village and that it would “stick out like a sore thumb” as it was the highest point in the area.

The meeting was told an overwhelming proportion of villagers were opposed to the scheme, and that school pick up and drop off times were “a disaster waiting to happen”.

She said the village had expanded by 20 per cent increase over the past two years and further proposals, including the caravan site to the north of the village, would mean the historic settlement increasing by 45 per cent.

Coun Nugent told the councillors: “If you believe in democracy you will refuse this planning permission.”

Calling for construction traffic to be managed, particularly during school drop off times, Councillor Bryn Griffiths said the scheme was a great improvement on a previous proposal for the site which had been refused.

Councillor Stephen Watson added: “A lot of work has gone into bringing this site up to a standard and officers have put numerous conditions to ensure it is delivered to that standard.”