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20
Sept
Council faces pressure from Maltkiln developer on cycling
A debate over how to ensure the 4,000-home Maltkiln scheme will be an “exemplar” for cycling dominated the third afternoon of the Maltkiln public examination.
Government-appointed planning inspector Clive Coyne is judging if the council’s Development Plan Document (DPD), which will guide how Maltkiln is developed, meets national planning policies and if it’s legally sound.
North Yorkshire Council has lofty ambitions for walking and cycling at Maltkiln and says it’s a “top priority”.
Caddick Group has proposed building cycle routes throughout the development and said it wants to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home as they go to work.
The council has insisted that there should be a dedicated space to store a bicycle for every bedroom that is built.
For example, this would mean in a four-bedroom house the developer would need to provide four bicycle storage spaces outside the property.
This would help encourage residents to ride a bike as they will be assured that it can be stored safely and securely.
At the examination yesterday (September 19) in Harrogate, the council clashed with representatives from Caddick who described the cycle storage requirements as “excessive”.
The developer asked the inspector to make changes to the DPD so the storage requirements are less prescriptive.
Planning agent Stuart Natkus said:
This isn’t us saying we don’t want parking for bikes. We keep hearing exemplar but we would be putting a shed in every garden for four bikes. Let’s have a more proportional approach. It seems very high for every house to have that number.
Darran Kitchener from Caddick said the developer wants to introduce a cycle hire scheme by Cattal railway station to encourage residents to ride their bike before catching a train.
But he said the cycle storage requirements would “undermine the viability” of the hire scheme as more residents would likely own their bikes.
Mr Kitchener said:
Nobody’s trying to get out of cycle parking spaces but it’s a lot of space this minimum requirement would take up.
Paul Brown KC, representing the council, attempted to stand up to the developer and insisted the council would be holding firm on the storage requirement.
He said:
We’ve budged and been flexible where we think it’s appropriate but we’re not backing down on this. We should be aspirational. There’s no point providing infrastructure if people don’t have the storage space.
Mr Brown was supported by Paul Townsend, chair of Kirk Hammerton Parish Council, who said North Yorkshire Council and Harrogate Borough Council had been steadfast in their commitment to cycling at Maltkiln since work on the DPD began five years ago.
He said:
From day one the council has been clear that cycling was going to be an integral part of the transport arrangements, so I have some sympathy with them insisting on this.
However, North Yorkshire Council look set to be forced to water down the storage requirements after inspector Clive Coyne asked the authority to “look at the wording” in the DPD so it can be “a bit more flexible”.
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