York’s Green Belt is set to be defined for the first time – and people are invited to have their say on the proposals.
A consultation has been launched on adjustments to the city’s proposed Local Plan, a document that outlines where new homes and workplaces can be built during the next 15 to 20 years.
The plan will see an average of 822 new homes built per year across the city until 2033 and outlines the areas for development.
There has also been a change to plans for housing in Strensall. A new policy says housebuilding must be controlled close to the special conservation area Strensall Common.
The proposals for a Local Plan for York have been hit by repeated delays. Government inspectors ordered the latest consultation on changes to the plan, as well as the council’s evidence for its decisions on how to define the Green Belt and how it set the number of new homes to be built.
There are also changes to plans for the Ministry of Defence-owned Queen Elizabeth Barracks site in Strensall, where 500 new homes were due to be built. It has been removed from the Local Plan following concerns about the impact on nearby Strensall Common which is a special area of conservation.
A change in policy says homes cannot be built within 400 metres of the common – and any non-residential development must be shown not to harm the site. Any housing development within 5.5 km of the common must not have an adverse impact on the site.
People will also be able to have their say on an economic outlook included in the plan, which forecasts 650 new jobs a year to be created in the city.
Most changes ‘are minor’
The majority of changes to the proposed Green Belt are minor and can be viewed in documents online here, the Local Plan team says.
Cllr Nigel Ayre said: “We’ve always had a sense of where the Green Belt stops in terms of outside the city. This is about where the Green Belt starts. It shows where that protection is around the outskirts of the city and how we’re trying to protect some of that urban sprawl.”
Mike Slater, assistant director of place at the council, added: “Once we get the Local Plan adopted and those Green Belt boundaries fixed, it’s a protection in terms of those green fields and spaces. It is really important and it’s a real milestone to move this forward.”
The Local Plan team will get extra help from temporary staff to work through the results of the consultation as quickly as possible. Inspectors will then hold evidence hearings on the plan in the autumn. The Local Plan needs to be backed by government and it is hoped it will be adopted by winter 2022.
The consultation launches today (Tuesday) and closes in six weeks.