Campaigners call on Government to probe plans to build Travelodge and Starbucks on farmland in Thirsk

Thirsk Friends of the Earth will request a screening direction from Michael Gove, following Hambleton District Council concluding an EIA was unnecessary for a proposal to build a 40,000sq ft carpets showroom, a 74-bedroom Travelodge hotel and a Starbucks off the A170 York Road at one of the market town’s main gateways.

Ahead of the £16m scheme being lodged with the council this week it attracted dozens of objections from Thirsk and Sowerby residents upset at the prospect of the farmland close to the popular Flatts fields being built over.

The development is forecast to create up to 30 full-time equivalent jobs on the site when complete and feature some 115 car park spaces across the two agricultural fields currently used for the grazing of livestock.

In submitted planning documents, agents for Calvert Carpets, which is behind the proposal, said it wanted the expansive building to become its main distribution centre for its 16 stores.

Over the last decade the council has twice refused proposals to create a caravan park on the site due to the harm to the character and appearance of Sowerby Flatts and the appearance of Thirsk Conservation Area.

Documents submitted to Hambleton District Council state the development would be off the A170 York Road, beside a fuel station, a McDonalds and a Costa drive-thru, food store and lorry park development approved by the authority amid controversy.

However, Thirsk Friends of the Earth said following the council’s controversial decision to approve a proposal for a fuel station, convenience store, Costa outlet and McDonalds next to the Calvert proposal site, the latest scheme appeared to be “a prime example of piecemeal development and salami slicing” to avoid a time-consuming EIA.

A spokesperson for the group said: “Both planning regulations and the courts say this should be avoided. The planning department do not seem to have considered the cumulative impact of this proposal.

“Together with the fuel station and McDonalds under construction, the proposed new development would take the loss of green space on land not allocated for development, close to a conservation area and the ecologically rich and much-loved Cod Beck green corridor to nearly six hectares.”

Such large-scale schemes often take years to reach planning committees after being lodged, and it remains unclear whether Hambleton council will look to determine the scheme before it is abolished on March 31.

A Hambleton District Council spokesperson said although an EIA was not required, a detailed report has assessed and addressed the relevant environmental criteria which included the impact of the development work.

She said: “Impacts considered as part of this report, were the road networks, ecology – including Cod Beck, loss of agricultural land and the impact on heritage assets – including the Thirsk and Sowerby conservation area.”