Maltkiln: Council agrees potential compulsory purchase for new town land

Maltkiln would be built towards York near the villages of Cattal, Whixley, Green Hammerton and Kirk Hammerton

A council could use a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to secure land in North Yorkshire earmarked for the Maltkiln 4,000-home housing scheme.

On Tuesday, North Yorkshire Council's executive agreed to the potential move, which could be deployed as a last resort, an authority report said.

A key landowner who owns part of the proposed site pulled out in January.

The town would be built towards York near the villages of Cattal, Whixley, Green Hammerton and Kirk Hammerton.

The landowner who withdrew from the scheme, which is being developed by the Caddick Group, owns fields making up around half of the proposed site.

Parish councillors at the meeting in Northallerton questioned whether future CPOs would be an appropriate move for the authority, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Responsibility to deliver housing'

Derek Bastiman, the Conservative-run council's executive member for open to business, emphasised that a CPO would only be used as a final measure and was not being suggested as a threat.

He said a development document would soon be submitted to the secretary of state, who would scrutinise whether the scheme was deliverable.

Simon Myers, the council's executive member for housing, said CPOs had been used by public bodies throughout history to deliver housing.

"If push comes to shove, we have a responsibility to deliver housing," he said.

"We have 8,500 people on housing waiting lists in North Yorkshire."

Paul Townsend, chair of Kirk Hammerton Parish Council, said it was "time to draw a line and move on" from Maltkiln.

He said: "We urge the executive to be very cautious spending taxpayers' money at a time when many councils are on the verge of bankruptcy."