A FRESH row has erupted over York's Local Plan after secret emails suggested senior councillors at City of York Council pushed ahead with high housing targets, against advice from experts and their own officers.

Emails between planning staff at City of York Council and experts at consultants Arup, and obtained by Cllr Nigel Ayre, show that as long ago as April 2013 top Labour councillors were told they should revise the plans ready for a public consultation after new Government figures put York's basic housing need at 750 - not 850 - homes per year.

Cllr Ayre said: “Cllr Merrett’s position as chairman of the Local Plan Working Group is untenable. Cllr Merrett lost his cabinet job after the botched Lendal Bridge trial and should now resign from this position. The emails show he and other members of the Labour Cabinet deliberately misled residents and published a report containing information they knew was out-of-date and incorrect.

“Council officers tried to persuade them to change the figures, but the Labour cabinet pushed on regardless. This was a cabinet which included Labour’s current Leader and Deputy Leader. The revelations prove that Labour’s housing proposals are politically-driven and Labour are prepared to ignore evidence and exaggerate housing need to push through plans to build thousands of houses on York’s Green Belt.”

Even though senior planning official pushed for a reduction in the numbers at a behind-closed-doors private cabinet meeting, Labour councillors pushed ahead and used the 850 figure for the public consultation launched later that month, he added.

But Cllr Merrett, who has rejected the resignation calls, said neither the 750 and 850 figures took into account economic growth and the need for affordable housing - both of which would be vital for a workable Local Plan - and could only be treated as a starting point.

He added: “The consultation was one part of a long running debate in the city about the level of new housing needed, with Labour keen to ensure all of the next generation of York residents, not just the wealthy, has the choice to remain living in the city they were born in.

“The consultation document included the figure of 850 as one of four options, this figure reflecting the evidence base the council had when it was prepared for publication, but it clearly stated that a new figure was imminent and expected to be lower.

“It’s important to remember this was a consultation on various options. The latest version of the proposed Local Plan reflected the public response to that consultation and is based on the latest national guidelines and household projections which may well be revised down again when new Government figures are released later this month”.