SENIOR Labour councillors have voted to press ahead with a consultation on controversial Local Plan proposals, claiming they were crucial to tackle York’s growing housing crisis.

City of York Council cabinet members, including council leader James Alexander, Tracey Simpson-Laing and Janet Looker, lined up last night to say new travellers’ sites and many thousands of new homes were not only demanded by the Government, but also morally right.

They warned that young adults in York were having to live with their parents and teachers were having to live long distances away and commute to work in York because houses were so scarce and expensive.

But within minutes of the decision, Tories called it in for scrutiny, claiming it would cause widespread destruction of the green belt and accusing Labour of cynically manipulating housing numbers.

The party’s Local Plan spokesperson, Cllr Joe Wat,t said the Labour administration had ignored the "thoughtful input" of residents who recognised that all areas of York needed to accept their share of new development, but did not recognise the picture painted by Labour of a city needing to expand so rapidly that thousands of houses needed to be built on the green belt.

The Plan also met with further opposition from a Rufforth and Knapton Parish Council representative, who spoke out against recently unveiled plans to allocate land locally for a travellers’ site and a solar energy farm.

And Alan Charlesworth, a representative of an action group at Earswick, slated plans to "safeguard" land in the area for huge future development.

He said campaigners had no objection to "organic and sustainable" growth but did object to the village of 250 homes being "engulfed" by another 2,000 properties, changing its character forever.

However, a representative of Tees Valley Housing Association claimed land at Earswick should be allocated for new housing straight away, saying the association wanted to deliver 1,000 homes there, 50 per cent of which would be affordable.