Councillors have given their support to plans for up to 150 homes on the edge of Pickering — although concerns remain over the scheme.
Members of North Yorkshire Council’s Thirsk and Malton area planning committee said they were minded to approve an outline planning application for the development on land off Whitby Road.
The scheme would provide a mix of housing, including 35 per cent affordable homes, alongside areas of public open space, landscaping and biodiversity improvements.
Planning officers at North Yorkshire Council recommended that councillors approve the application when they met at Ryedale House, in Malton.
But councillors raised a number of issues, including concern over an objection from Yorkshire Water that the public sewer network and wastewater treatment works did not have capacity for the new homes.
Members also questioned what mitigation measures were in place to stop lighting from the scheme impacting the Dark Skies initiative running in the nearby North York Moors National Park.
Councillors proposed that the meeting be deferred for these issues to be examined by officers.
But instead, it was agreed that by voting in favour of a ‘minded to approve’ motion, council officers could then address the issues raised without the scheme having to come back to the committee.
Officers added that despite Yorkshire Water’s objection, water companies were duty bound to provide the necessary infrastructure if housing was approved and that the authority could put in place conditions on the development to ensure that happened.
The recommendation from officers to approve the scheme came despite them acknowledging that the site lies beyond the town’s defined development limits, where new housing would not usually be supported under the local plan.
A report stated that in “normal circumstances, the principle of development would not be supported” due to conflict with policy. However, officers note that the authority was unable to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing land, as now required by the government.
Where that target cannot be met, the balance tips in favour of planning applications for housing being approved.
The council received 15 objections from local residents, with one respondent supporting the scheme.
Objectors raised concerns about highway safety and increased traffic congestion, arguing that access to the site is inadequate.
They also questioned whether local services and infrastructure could cope with the additional homes, citing concerns over drainage capacity, environmental impacts and effects on local ecology.
