Proposed Housing Development Sites in Escrick
Consultation Notice from Escrick Parish Council:
Introduction
Both Selby and York Councils are currently working on Local Plan reviews. Part of that process requires Local Authorities to ensure they allocate an adequate supply of housing land for their Plan period. Historically Escrick has been surrounded by Green Belt on all sides: within Selby, Escrick and the Green Belt boundaries were shown in the Selby District Local Plan, but York has not had an adopted Plan in recent history that has formally confirmed the detailed boundaries, although the York Green Belt is known to extend around 6 miles around York and previous draft documents (adopted for planning decision making purposes) showed it extending up to the edge of York’s administrative boundaries with Escrick. Following each Council calling for landowners and developers to submit land which would be suitable and available for development, various extensive sites on the edges of the village are now under consideration for housing by both Councils.
All of the sites under consideration lie within what has been shown as Green Belt on various Council Plans in the past. In order to meet their housing needs, both Councils, as part of the ongoing Local Plan (LDF) work, are having to review Green Belt boundaries to find short term housing sites and also to remove further land from the Green Belt to be ‘safeguarded’ to meet longer term development needs.
The Parish Council has until 16 July 2014 to respond to York City Council on a public consultation on a parcel of land they are proposing to allocate to the North of the village, outlined in green on the attached plan.However, before doing so, the Parish Council wants to make residents aware of the bigger picture and seek your views and comments to formulate a considered response. Please see the attached plan and comments below. (Note the black dotted line on the plan is the boundary between the two Districts.)
Current Local Plan (LDF) position
Selby District Council (SDC)
Selby Council has adopted its Core Strategy (subject to an ongoing judicial challenge) which confirms Escrick as a Designated Service Village (DSV - one of 18). Of the 7,200 homes (5,430 on new sites) needed to be built in Selby District in the Plan Period from 2011 - 2027, 33% (1780 dwellings) of new allocations will come from these DSVs. It is therefore reasonable to expect that some new housing, of a scale appropriate to the village, will be developed here. SDC will be publishing its own Sites and Policies Plan later this year. The Green Belt, which surrounds the village, is currently being examined to assess the best place that such a housing allocation could potentially be accommodated.
A previous public consultation exercise undertaken by the Parish Council in 2008 demonstrated that residents overwhelmingly objected to the land shown outlined in red to the West of the village being consider as suitable. The main reason given was that the scale of the proposed development would be out of keeping with the current village and level of services available (this despite a bypass being offered to alleviate traffic concerns).
The land to the East of the village shown outlined in blue has now also been submitted to SDC by the Owner as a site available and developable for housing. Indeed the much smaller area shown coloured brown was earlier suggested as a possible ‘affordable housing site’ but this was never pursued following a consultation exercise in the village which demonstrated a lack of need for Affordable Housing of this scale. Some or all of any of the sites coloured red, blue or brown on the attached plan may well be allocated by SDC for residential development within this next Plan Period.
York City Council (YCC)
York Council has its own separate housing needs and they have published a Further Sites Consultation in an attempt to find additional land now that its housing requirement has increased. York’s Core Strategy must find land for 22,000 homes in the Plan Period from 2011 – 2027. York has never previously considered Escrick as a potential village to accommodate some of its housing needs as the main village (and its population from whom the need would come) lies outside its administrative boundary and all its services are provided by SDC or NYCC. No previous YCC documents have ever shown a proposed housing allocation adjacent to Escrick and this land has always been considered Green Belt (as confirmed by the recent planning decisions to extend/redevelop the garage which were submitted and made on this basis). However, as Escrick has now been designated a DSV by Selby, York is now proposing the allocation of a Strategic Housing site to the North of the village (Site 183), within the area outlined in Green. Whilst a scheme has been drawn up by the landowner promoting housing development on the site as a whole (as shown at the recent Annual Parish Meeting), YCC is looking to exclude the land shown edged and hatched green from the Green Belt and allocate it for housing development in the short term. It is also proposing to allocate an additional area edged green and coloured yellow as ‘safeguarded land’, therefore also excluding it from the Green Belt and reserving it for future housing.
Numbers of dwellings
There are currently around 370 houses and a population of 1080 in Escrick. The 18 DSVs in Selby District range in size from 500 to 5000 residents. It is common planning practice for new housing allocations to reflect the size of the existing village with consideration to sustainability issues, the level of services available and environmental factors.
At this point in time we have no indication of the number of houses that SDC would be looking to allocate in Escrick or on which sites. A figure of 100 was mentioned at the recent Annual Parish Meeting but this is only an average (1780 no. required, divided by 18 DSVs). No formal guidance or figure has been issued by SDC as to how much housing they will allocate to Escrick later this year, but they have confirmed that as a DSV they are intending to review the Green Belt around Escrick to find the most suitable housing site (and potentially other ‘safeguarded land’ for future development). With regards the site in York’s administrative area immediately to the North of the village, we can advise from the Local Plan documents out for consultation on their website, that the indicative number of houses on the land proposed as a housing allocation outlined and hatched in Green is 128 (on an area of 6.1 ha). The indicative number shown on the ’Safeguarded land shaded Yellow is 63 (on an area of 3 ha). At the Annual Parish Meeting, the consultant who addressed the meeting showed a draft layout which indicated there could be between 200-250 dwellings in total, which is at variance with YCC’s suggested figures.
The Technical Site Assessment undertaken by York on the whole site as submitted and outlined in green concluded:
“The site is considered potentially suitable for development however there are issues regarding footpaths/ public rights of way into Escrick, connectivity with the rest of the village, sustainable transport access, drainage and noise impact from the A19. It is considered that the site area should be reduced to follow the field boundary in line with the existing extent of the buildings along the A19 so that the development area is more proportional to the size of the existing village and also to reduce the impact on the gap preventing coalescence between Escrick and Deighton”
Access to any new development would be taken from the mine road. This is currently shown as passing through the safeguarded land, but this is only indicative and in our opinion its position could be adjusted.
To see YCC’s documents, please Google City of York Local Plan Consultation 2014 or go to http://www.york.gov.uk/downloads/download/3350/further_sites_consultation_report_2014_and_technical_appendices
Public Participation
The public consultation being undertaken by YCC on its Further Sites Consultation document runs until 16 July 2014 and all responses, including those of the Parish Council, must be made by that date. In order to ensure that we understand residents’ views, the Parish Council has produced a general questionnaire on New Housing within the Village (copy attached) and we would ask that as many residents as possible complete these as soon as possible in the short timescale available. Whilst we do not yet know the details of Selby’s housing intentions for the village, your views will assist us in responding to York City Council in the short term and Selby in due course. Your views on what is an appropriate level of development that the village can accommodate – and potentially the best place that it should be located - will help guide us as to the residents’ views and how we should respond on behalf of the village. We know that Local Authorities have a statutory Duty to Cooperate over Local Plan preparation issues and we need to act quickly to try to ensure that only the appropriate number of dwellings will be built and in the most suitable location. We therefore need as many of you as possible to respond so that we understand your views. Please complete the questionnaire and return it by 29 June to the Village Shop or post it in the Village Hall post box, or respond on-line via the Parish Council website. The results of the consultation will be discussed at the next Parish Council meeting on Monday 7th July, when a response to YCC will be agreed.
It is also important that as many people as possible respond directly to York City Council on the proposals so that they understand local views and issues of concern. Comments can be made by completing a Local Plan Further Sites Consultation comments form available on https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y6KYYZV or you can email your comments to localplan@york.gov.uk or post them to: FREEPOST RTEG-TYYU-KLTZ, City of York Council, West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA.
The Parish Council will endeavor to keep you informed of developments.
Please see this website www.escrick.org for further information and updates - you can register to receive email updates here.
Documents
Housing Consultation Map or view interactive map online
Questionnaire
Download and print questionnaire or complete it online
June 2014
