9:00am Thursday 11th April 2013
A PLAN to build more than 250 homes in Kirkbymoorside on one site is to come under the spotlight at Monday’s town council meeting.
The application for outline planning permission has been submitted by Gladman Developments Ltd of Congleton in Cheshire.
It wants to develop 11.5 hectares at Westfield with up to 210 homes and 50 apartments with care for older people, coupled with the provision of land for Kirkbymoorside Primary School to expand on to, and landscaping and highway improvements.
The plans were first mooted some time ago but have now been resubmitted to Ryedale District Council where they are being scrutinised by planning officials.
Previously the town council, taking into account submissions by residents, expressed “serious concerns” about such a large development and its “significant” impact on the character of the town.
Discussion has centred on how the plan would fit in with national and local planning policies and ‘The Ryedale Plan – Local Plan Strategy’ covering the next 15 years.
But residents and the town council feel that the district council must place the needs of the local population at the forefront of its decision-making as well as protecting and enhancing the area.
The Ryedale Plan’s vision for the future of market towns states that Kirkbymoorside will remain the relatively small and busy local market town that it is today, focused on providing for the everyday needs of local people. Questions have been raised in the town as to how this would square with the proposal.
Other concerns centre on the availability of local jobs, and the extra traffic, pollution and congestion more commuting would cause.
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