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20
Feb 2023
Calls to delay plans for new town on A59 until after devolution
Parish councils have called for a halt to plans for a new settlement to the east of Knaresborough until after devolution takes place.
With the hand-over to the new unitary authority now just six weeks away, councillors in the area have asked the new North Yorkshire Council to prevent Harrogate Borough Council from spending any more time or money on its development plan document (DPD).
It follows news last month that one of the key landowners in the area earmarked for a new town near Cattal had pulled out of the plans, leaving question marks over their viability.
In a joint letter, representatives of Kirk Hammerton, Whixley, Green Hammerton, Moor Monkton, and Cattal, Hunsingore and Walshford parish councils asked Cllr Simon Myers, NYCC's executive member for housing, to "step in". They wrote:
HBC's planning policy manager Natasha Durham this week contacted parish councils in the area to invite them to a meeting next month.
She said work was being done to decide whether the DPD could be delivered on the remaining land.
Read more:
- Parish councils to get update on 'paused' plans for new town near Knaresborough
- Maltkiln developer still 'confident' in new town near Cattal
NYCC has said work by most of the district councils on local plans and DPDs had been paused until the new unitary authority came into effect, but it had agreed Harrogate should continue with its new settlement DPD because it was at an advanced stage.
However, Kirk Hammerton Parish Council chairman Paul Townsend responded to ask how work on the DPD could continue when the land it was based on could no longer be used.
He wrote:
Parish councillors have also claimed HBC had previously said it had a "duty to determine" a planning application for the site from Caddick, proposing a new town of up to 4,000 homes to be known as Maltkiln.
The councillors said the plans were being pushed through with undue haste in order to have the whole matter dealt with before HBC is abolished on April 1.
However, the council has strongly denied it ever said it had a "duty to determine" the application.
A spokesperson said:
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