York garden village scheme given green light after inquiry partly on basis of housing need
The government has approved a 970-home development on the edge of York following a public inquiry.
In a decision notice published yesterday, housing minister Lucy Frazer approved the Redrow scheme on behalf of the housing secretary, despite accepting the development will significantly harm the green belt.
Redrow had appealed after York council failed to determine the housebuilder’s application for outline planning on a site in Huntingdon, to the north of York.
The proposed scheme will include 970 homes, including 30% affordable, a new primary school, a children’s play area, a convenience store and a new country park.
The decision notice said that the secretary of agreed that the garden village scheme “would represent inappropriate development” as it would “result in significant harm to the openness of the green belt.” It said that the current site checks the “unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas and assists “safeguarding the countryside from encroachment”.
However a planning inspector and the secretary of state agreed that the harm to the green belt is “clearly” outweighed by the benefits of the proposal so special circumstances apply.
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The council is not able currently to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing sites, and the secretary of state said the scheme therefore makes an important contribution to housing delivery.
It said the provision of 30% affordable in the tenure mix is a “further social and economic benefit to which significant weight should be attached”. It also said the proposed country park plans, while only illustrative, would result in social and environmental benefits, while the planned primary school and early years centre is an “important benefit”
The decision notice said: “The Secretary of State has considered whether the harm to the green belt, and the other harm he has identified, are clearly outweighed by other considerations.
“Overall, the Secretary of State considers that the benefits of the proposal are collectively sufficient to clearly outweigh the harm to the green belt and other harm such that very special circumstances exist to justify permitting the development. As such, he finds no conflict with green belt policy.”
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