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03
Jun
Questions mount over Brierley Homes £113,000 community payment for Kirkby Malzeard houses
Local councillors are demanding answers after a council-owned housebuilder has yet to agree to pay more than £110,000 in community contributions linked to a new housing development, despite residents already moving in.
Brierley Homes, which is owned by North Yorkshire Council, was granted planning permission for the 33-house Laverton Oaks development in Kirkby Malzeard on the condition that funding for village facilities was agreed before work started on the outer walls of the homes.
But, as previously reported by the Stray Ferret, while the first residents moved into the properties earlier this year, a deal has still not been reached with North Yorkshire Council’s planning department over the money.
Planning officers have identified community contributions totalling more than £113,000 for local facilities including Pine Fold Allotments, Highside amenity greenspace, Highside cricket pitch, Highside play area, the village cemetery and the Mechanics Institute.
Brierley Homes.
Kirkby Malzeard, Laverton and Dallowgill Parish Council has identified a number of projects that could benefit from the funding, including the installation of mains water to Pine Fold Allotments and the replacement of ageing play equipment at the village playground.
Correspondence from North Yorkshire Council planning officers confirms that the Section 106 agreement intended to secure these contributions is still being finalised between council lawyers and the developer’s solicitors
A draft agreement was issued earlier this year but has yet to be completed.
Questions for the council to answer
Councillor Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, who represents the Masham and Fountains division, has called on North Yorkshire Council to explain why the agreement has not been agreed.
The Liberal Democrat councillor said:
Residents are entitled to ask why this has still not been signed, sealed and delivered.
These contributions were identified as necessary to mitigate the impact of the development and support local facilities in the village.
Yet homes are already occupied and the legal agreement intended to secure these benefits remains incomplete.
What makes this particularly worrying is that North Yorkshire Council is effectively sitting on both sides of the negotiating table. It owns Brierley Homes, it acts as the planning authority, and it is responsible for making sure planning obligations are delivered.
She added:
If North Yorkshire Council cannot hold its own company to account for delivering promises made to local communities, what message does that send to commercial developers across the county?
Councillor Pippa Manson, chair of the parish council, has also spoken out about the issue.
She said:
We have projects in the village, such as replacing the equipment in the playground, and connecting the allotments to mains water, that are relying on the contribution from Brierley Homes to take place.
The impact of the new housing, both immediate and long term, was always going to be mitigated by this and there will be many residents who will feel very let down if this funding is not available.
A North Yorkshire Council spokesperson said:
This is a live planning matter with the final format of the agreement being progressed with our legal team. We are unable to comment further at this time.
It emerged last month that Brierley Homes made a loss of around £7.5 million last year, despite a profit being forecast.
The council has brought in financial investigators to look at why the losses occurred.
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