Work to progress on 3,000-home village development

The proposed development would see 3,000 homes built between York and Harrogate

Councillors have given the go ahead for work on a new 3,000-home development to progress.

North Yorkshire Council has voted in favour of adopting the development plan for the Maltkiln village scheme, centred around Cattal railway station.

The development, between Harrogate and York, also includes plans for two primary schools and a nursery, as well as retail, health and sports facilities.

Approval was given to the plan on Wednesday despite Kirk Hammerton Parish Council, which neighbours the site of the proposed development, asking for the decision to be deferred.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, whose Ouseburn division includes the location of the planned scheme, said the villagers were "not nimbys".

He said: "They are not an anti-Maltkiln. What they are concerned about is what started off as a garden village all those years ago has drifted into being what appears to be a conventional type of housing development."

The meeting heard the council might use a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to acquire some of the land needed for the scheme after a landowner pulled out.

Mr Warneken questioned how much a CPO would cost the authority.

Maltkiln will offer 3,000 new homes along with health facilities, schools and shops

In response to the concerns, North Yorkshire Council executive member Mark Crane said modifications made to the plans after one landowner pulled out were not significant.

He said: "Kirk Hammerton are, understandably I think, very nervous about this large settlement on their doorstep.

"There continues to be separation between Maltkiln and Kirk Hammerton so it will be very much a separate settlement."

He added if the council agreed to go ahead with Maltkiln as a new settlement, they would go back into negotiation discussions with the people who had withdrawn their land.

"We have been clear in the past that we can and would be willing to CPO that land if necessary," Mr Crane said.

"I believe that is the right decision in order to make Maltkiln happen if we need to do it."

Mr Crane acknowledged it would cost a "significant sum of money" to buy the land but it would then be sold to a developer for housing and the council would recover its costs from the sale.

The location for the new community at Maltkiln was chosen in 2018 the-then Harrogate Borough Council in order to meet the demand for homes in the area.

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