Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
26
Jan
Update in proposed 1,100-home development in Tockwith
North Yorkshire Council has ruled plans for 1,100 homes in the Harrogate district would need to be accompanied by an environmental impact assessment.
Hallam Land identified Tockwith Airfield for the development, as reported by the Stray Ferret last month, which would also include a primary school, a convenience store, a health centre, a community hub and sports pitches.
The location is within 600 metres of the site of the Battle of Marston Moor, where more than 4,000 people died in 1644.
No formal planning application has been submitted yet, and the proposal is still very much in its infancy, but Hallam Land last month submitted a scoping opinion to the council to determine whether the scheme would require an environmental impact assessment (EIA) as part of the planning process.
The council this week decided an EIA must be put forward when an official application is lodged.
According to a council report, the scale of the scheme is “such that it is considered that significant environmental effects are likely subject to appropriate assessment and mitigation”.
The report says topics such as traffic and transport, ecology and biodiversity, water management and flooding, noise and climate change should all be considered in the environmental assessment.
Natural England believes the proposed development is “unlikely to adversely impact any European or internationally designated nature conservation sites”, but the assessment should consider any impacts upon local wildlife and geological sites, including nature reserves.
The council’s environmental health team advised the potential noise impact on the existing industrial, agricultural and commercial operations near the site should be assessed.
The Environment Agency also agreed an EIA was needed, but said it “may object” to the plans if a preliminary risk assessment is not submitted.
Early stages
Hallam Land’s scoping onion says the firm has “secured contractual agreements with all landowners across the site, meaning the full site has a simple, robust ownership position which would allow development to come forward at the site without any undue delay.”
The agent expects the development to take 13 years to build and hopes to begin construction in early 2029.
“It is therefore anticipated that the construction period will reach completion in 2042”, the scoping opinion added.
Should the plans come to fruition, the development would be close to the proposed new settlement, Matlkiln, where 3,000 homes could be built.
It is not known when a formal planning application for the 1,100 homes could be submitted.
The New Farm land (top right) as included in the DPD for Maltkiln. Picture: North Yorkshire Council.
‘This is an extremely tentative enquiry’
Councillor Arnold Warneken, chair of Tockwith Parish Council, previously said it had held initial talks with Hallam Land and reiterated that things were at a very early stage.
He added:
This is an extremely tentative enquiry. They are testing the water based on local government guidelines and the national planning policy framework.
We have to accept that this kind of enquiry from opportunist land promoters is going to happen on a regular basis.
Cllr Warneken also said the land was included in North Yorkshire Council’s recent call for sites, during which the authority invited proposals for land that could be developed as part of the new local plan.
The scheme would double the size of Tockwith, which is between Harrogate and York, according to Cllr Warneken.
0